Whitney Houston -- How Will I Know

 

So far, in the Reminiscings of Youth file, I've only put up one Whitney Houston article and that was for the fabulous "Saving All My Love for You". She was one of the great love song balladeers.

But of course, Houston could do the upbeat stuff, too. And this one, her November 1985 single "How Will I Know" was one long-lasting hit on the airwaves as well as the video ones. I think it was pretty much fait accompli that I would see the music video for "How Will I Know" weekly for months on end. My impression of the video was that Whitney and her dancers were going through a labyrinth designed jointly by United Colors of Benetton and the makers of fruit-bottom yogurt. The song was a synthpop-funk treat that was created by George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam and Narada Michael Walden, and I couldn't quite believe that it had been first offered to Janet Jackson but was passed over to Houston.

In Canada, "How Will I Know" reached No. 1 while in America, the song was also a No. 1 hit. It also hit the top spot in Iceland. At the time, everything Houston touched turned to gold. So, what else was hitting the charts over in Japan on November 25th 1985, a few days after "How Will I Know" had been released?

1. Akiko Kobayashi -- Koi ni Ochite (恋におちて）

2. Checkers -- Kamisama Help!（神様ヘルプ！）

3. Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe -- Garasu no Palm Tree（ガラスのPALM TREE）