User talk:Ryoga Godai/HWIK
One of the album's many undoubted highlights was the uptempo strains of the Narada Michael Walden produced track, "How Will I Know". The pop orientated feel of the song was probably somewhat instrumental in the decision to release this song as the album's third single. It was accompanied by a suitably 'up' video and in America, the large amount of exposure afforded to the video by MTV, helped it to follow in the footsteps of "Saving All My Love for You" to the top of the American Billboard Top 100 singles chart.
The song also performed well in the British charts when released in January of 1986, climbing as high as Number 5 and spending twelve weeks on the chart.
Ironically, 'How Will I Know' had not originally been intended for use by Whitney as it had in fact been written by writers George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam and Narada Michael Walden with another artist, no less than Janet Jackson, in mind. Janet Jackson's management advisors however passed on the song deciding that it was not sort of material for which they were looking for janet to record. This disappointed one of the writers, George Merrill, who later said that, "We were pretty upset, (by the rejection), because we thought it was perfect for janet jackson at the time. We had written it with her completely in mind." (p16)
'How Will I Know' was, though, too strong a song to be left idly sitting on the shelf and a cassette of it finally fell into the hands of Gerry Griffith at Arista Records. He instantly thought it would be a perfect song for inclusion on Whitney's album. He would later say of the decision to record it for Whitney's debut album, "We had a lot of R&B based tunes, we had a few ballads, but we didn't really have a pop crossover song. But when I heard 'How Will I Know' I said, this is absolutely perfect. I played it to Clive Davis and he fell in love with it as well." Once the decision had been taken to record the song for the album, the idea was suggested also that it would be a good idea for one of the song's writers, whi was also a much sought after and respected producer, Narada Michael Walden, to come in and produce it.
Narada Michael Walden was and indeed still is very much in demand as a producer, however, and at the time he was busy working together with Aretha Franklin on her album, Who's Zoomin' Who?. When the proposal came forward for him to produce the track he was initially somewhat reluctant to tackle the task, later explaining that, "Gerry Griffith called and begged me to produce this song for Whitney Houston. I had no idea who Whitney Houston was at the time, in fact none of us did. I had to explain to him that the Aretha record was a very important album and it wasn't the kind of thing we wanted to take time out of. He persuaded me to listen to the song though and to give it some serious thought." Another fairly lacklustre reception to the idea of Whitney recording 'How Will I Know' also came from one of the other song's writers George Merrill, whi said, "I wasn't very familiar with her family background, I didn't realize that even at the time there was a pretty big industry buzz going on about her future." After listening to the track Narada Michael Walden decided that it might be possible to do something with it, perhaps with Whitney. However, one of his criteria for taking the job on board was that he wanted to make some changes to the structure of the song. In order to do this he had to seek permission from the two other co-writers, Merrill and Shannon Rubicam. They, however, were not keen on having their work tampered with and initially refused permission for the song to be changed in any way. (p 17) This all made Narada Michael Walden become disillusioned with the whole project and he began to lose what initial little interest he had in it. Walden said, "I called Gerry Griffith and said this whole thing is not going to happen. First of all, the songwriters don't want me to touch their song and second of all, I don't know who Whitney Houston is. I don't have time to mess with her." Walden, however, preserved with the song and eventually found a way to persuade Merrill and Rubicam to approve it and indeed write some more lyrics to an added verse after Walden had compose it. Eventually, the new shape of the song started to emerge although in somewhat different from to the original. Merrill later said of this new version of their song, "It was a pretty different version from our demo. At first listening we really didn't get it." Shannon Rubicam herself was also unsure at first, but later admitted that although it took a bit of getting used to, in the end the song worked very well. She herself would later say of the finished produce that, "It turned out fine in the end. The reason we balked at first though about it was that we hadn't ever co-written with anybody like that before. We didn't know Narada and had never met him. We certainly weren't used to the idea of someone changing one of our songs. But we were happy enough in the end with the final outcome."
Whitney's vocals for the song were recorded in one day at studios in New York. The following day her mother Cissy also came into the studio to sing backing vocals on it, with the intention of Whitney singing them as well. This though took a bit of persuading on Whitney's part as she was happy enough just to sit and watch her mother's enormous talents at work in the studio environment. It took some persuading on Narada Michael Walden's part to get Whitney into the studio as well to join in on the background vocals, but as he later explained the end product made it well worth it. Of the recording session with both Whitney and her mother together he said, "I asked Whitney to sing on the background session, she was reluctant though because she wanted to enjoy hearing her mother sing, I said 'No, get out there too and sing,' so she did. The background sounds incredible." Clive Davis was equally impressed by the final product, proclaiming the finished record as being, "A ten." (p18)
Miami Herald text edit
VIDEO DRAMA: CAN TALENT BEAT OUT ROCK SCHLOCK?
Miami Herald, The (FL) - Friday, September 5, 1986
Author: RYAN MURPHY Herald Staff
Can you find a simple way to say "spectacle"?
A simple way to say "Lycra/Spandex sheaths covering huge expanses of rock and roll flesh"?
A simple way to say "more Final-Net consumed per individual than ever in the history of the universe?"
Of course you can. Just utter "The Third Annual MTV Music Awards," bucko, and you've done it.
Tonight live from 9 p.m. to whenever marks the reappearance of MTV's video honors, an affair that has become "our Super Bowl," says Les Garland, senior vice president of MTV programming.
The awards will be broadcast simultaneously from the Palladium in New York and the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, with additional satellite pickups from around the world. Garland says the show will be different, if not out-and- out wild.
"When you're dealing with rock and roll people on live television, you never know what will happen," he says. "This can't just be a white and black affair, you know? It's got to be different. We're dealing with types here that aren't just going to walk down the aisle, accept their awards and thank their mothers."
On with the show.
Best Overall Performance in a Video -- Two nominees here are completely undeserving, with the most startling nod given to the David Bowie/Mick Jagger combination (Dancing in the Street). Revoltingly camp, the two skip along in some obscure housing project while Bowie mimes in that irritating Edith Piaf way and Jagger shakes his booty and pouts. No way.
No way, also, to Dire Straits' Money for Nothing, a heartless effort that has the band stomping around in a set straight out of Fantasia, never offering even a smirk to get us through the oblique Tinkertoy animation sequences.
The other offerings (have mercy) are legitimate. Sting (If You Love Somebody Set Them Free) and Bruce Springsteen (Glory Days) are endearing, but the winner seems sure to be Robert Palmer (Addicted to Love). Cool as Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, Palmer grinds with abandon while the camera gives us close-ups of nasty broads wearing too much Firecracker Red No. 15 lipstick and not enough chest support. The result is a complete send-up of today's formulaic video -- hot girls, straight faces, mindless choreography -- that illustrates how knowing Palmer can be.
Best New Artist in a Video -- The Pet Shop Boys, who do nothing in their video (West End Girls) but pose, and Simply Red, who do nothing in their video (Holding Back the Years) but mourn, are overpowered here. The Hooters (And We Danced) offer a bouncy if bland look at nostalgia while a-ha sweeps through Take On Me like new wave Liverpudlians with a definite presence. Both appeared in fine products.
Not as fine, however, as Whitney Houston's How Will I Know, the year's brightest video. Houston's verve is set off by a Technicolor funhouse set, which highlights a fine concept (Whitney trapped in a romantic dream) and a throbbing score. Best of all is the fleeting moment where Houston claps her hands, looks to the heavens and shimmies like a woman possessed. That move alone merits this accolade.
Best Stage Performance in a Video -- Pete Townshend still knows how to shake the house. He did it throughout his stint with The Who and he does it again on his latest solo video, Face to Face.
Face to Face is mesmerizing, almost entirely because it stars this icon who has more guts and appeal than any of the young rockin' goobs of today. Face has the heroic Pete sliding all over a packed stage, tearing out his hair and emoting with the best of them. This is the winner.
Townshend might get a run for his money, however, from either Palmer (Addicted to Love) or the Tina Turner/Bryan Adams techno duet (It's Only Love). A Palmer win would be justified -- a Tina coup would not. Turner, with Adams only along for the ride, has become a bit of a rock and roll martyr these days, honored whenever she stands up straight or fluffs that wig. She's good and powerful -- but not that good and powerful -- in this video with Adams. Dire Straits (Money for Nothing) and Huey Lewis (The Power of Love) don't need to show up.
Best Group Video -- I'll give Dire Straits this one. After all, this is the group that does capitalize on video mania in their project (Money for Nothing, which contains the infamous lyric: "I want my MTV") and voters are bound to love that even if the result was extremely tepid.
Runners-up will be either a-ha's Take on Me or the Rolling Stones' Harlem Shuffle. The Stones got over Mick's refusal to cooperate with anything connected to their Dirty Work album by sticking in a lot of horny overblown artwork here where the bumps and grinds should have been. INXS' What You Need and the Talking Heads' And She Was are obligatory nominees, and that's about all.
Best Concept Video -- A toss-up between Godley and Creme's Cry and a-ha's Take On Me. Cry is by far the better product. It's emotional, fluid, well-conceived. The problem is we're talking concept here -- as in beginning, middle, end -- and Cry is so innovative and effortless-looking that it has none of those three factors. Enter a-ha's Take On Me, which tells a story, has pretty characters and ends on a happy note.
Which one would you vote for? Exactly.
The Talking Heads' two entries in this category (And She Was and Road to Nowhere) are excellent, but, alas, too intellectual for the medium they are presented in. Why should MTV voters cast their ballots for something that deals with moral turmoil and depressed fantasy? A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Oops. Forgot Dire Straits' Money for Nothing. Again, if voters jump on the one video of the year that strokes their institution's ego, this puppy has it in the bag.
Best Female Video -- A battle between the reigning queen of soul (Aretha Franklin) and her challenger (Whitney Houston).
Franklin's Freeway of Love -- a giddy creation that has Aretha strutting her stuff all over Detroit in her (ahem) pink Cadillac -- was the woman's performance comeback. It's terrific, hindered only by a moment or two of stiffness and a slow beginning.
Houston's How Will I Know, however, is just as funky as Freeway of Love, and it's aided by one important thing -- no inhibition. While Aretha only goes so far with her performance, Houston goes for broke, flirting outrageously with dancers and wearing this great little silver number that threatens at any moment to spill off and melt. Not only does she do all this, but she also manages one of the year's perfect lip-syncs! What a woman. Anyone who can mouth the phrase "Ooooooh tell me, how will I know?" 10 times in succession perfectly deserves this statue.
Grace Jones (Slave to the Rhythm), Tina Turner (We Don't Need Another Hero) and Kate Bush (Running Up That Hill) sport hideous hairdos in their videos and thus should not even have been nominated.
Best Male Video -- The toughest category to call, simply because all the nominees represent for MTV voters (1) the big brother you always wanted if you're a male, or (2) the good guy you like to wed if you're a female. Bryan Adams (Summer of '69) and Sting (If You Love Somebody Set Them Free) have troubles remembering the words in their videos, however, and are automatically disqualified.
Left, then, are Bruce Springsteen (Glory Days), Phil Collins (Take Me Home) and Robert Palmer (Addicted to Love). Springsteen is all but wearing an apron in this slice of domesticity and is charming, while Collins mugs wonderfully through a transcontinental journey that appears never to end. Both are contenders.
The best of the bunch is Palmer's Addicted. It's fluid and more masculine than a bottle of Old Spice. Question: What else does one need to win a Best Male Video award? Answer: Not much.
Best Video of the Year Award -- MTV's Garland says when he first saw the video version of Dire Straits' Money for Nothing, "I just went crazy. We all did." That's not surprising. An anthem for anyone who works at/watches/has heard of MTV, Money is by far the golden child of the network and is sure to win the funky moonman statue in this category.
It shouldn't be this way. Cry is worlds better, Take On Me far more surprising and watchable. No matter. Those two techno offerings -- along with Palmer's Addicted to Love and the Talking Heads' Road to Nowhere -- are sure to be left in the dust by the video that proudly sums up a new genre of entertainment in a matter of minutes.
Caption:photo: Robert PALMER, GODLEY AND CREME, Whitney HOUSTON, DIRE STRAITS
Memo: THE ELECTRONIC HOME: VIDEO CLIPS
Edition: FINAL Section: LIVING TODAY Page: 1B Record Number: 8603100198
Source: [1]