R.I.P. Whitney Houston: The Definitive Tribute

Everyone knew Whitney Houston's demons were as massive and inescapable as her gifts. Like many people, I admired her but thought her talent and charisma were wasted a little bit on overproduced pop ballads, though as far as overproduced pop ballads go, they were top-shelf.

A personal favorite from the Houston hit parade was 1986's "How Will I Know," a delightfully chewy piece of bubblegum that showed her at her most likable. Looking at it now, a fall from grace seems both unimaginable and inevitable.

Back in the day people like me with hipper than thou music taste would profess to only listening to The Smiths, R.E.M., New Order and the like.

But if we were in a bar with a few beers in us and "How Will I Know" came on the jukebox, we would admit we loved it. And really, from the song to the video to the beautiful 23 year-old singing it, what's not to love?



Though she was married to Bobby Brown, Whitney was also looked after by many of the best in the business, including the legendary A&R man Clive Davis. I always thought that eventually the forces of good in her life would lead her out of the darkness and back into the light and she would record something that bluesy and real, something that was infused with the struggles and hard lessons she learned, something like Billie Holiday recorded in her later years. (Though who knows, maybe there's some stuff in the vaults.)




R.I.P. Ms. Houston, the only person to turn Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner" into a hit single. We salute you.



Get Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits on iTunes here.