Whitney Houston

Cover of Whitney Houston’s self titled debut album.

Whitney Houston is the self-titled debut album of American R&B and pop singer Whitney Houston, released February 14, 1985 on Arista Records. The album initially had a slow commercial response but began getting more popular in the summer of 1985. Eventually it topped the Billboard 200 chart for 14 weeks in 1986 and generated three number-one singles—”Saving All My Love for You”, “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All”—on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the first debut album and the first album by a female artist to achieve that feat. The album was one of those very rare cases that enjoyed global success by a new black female artist, topping the albums chart in many countries such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland. The album was certified diamond for shipments of 10 million units or more on March 16, 1999, and later 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 29, 1999. It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.

At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nominations including Album of the Year and won one of which, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “Saving All My Love for You”. For the 29th Grammy Awards of 1987, the album earned one nomination for Record of the Year for “Greatest Love of All”. In 2003, the album was ranked number 254 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In honor of its 25th anniversary, the album was re-released on January 26, 2010, in an expanded edition with five bonus tracks and a DVD.

TracklistDetailsCreditsThanksSinglesChartsPictures

Tracklist


1.	You Give Good Love Written by: LaLa Produced and Arranged by: Kashif Engineered and Mixed by: Michael O'Reilly	4:37
2.	Thinking About You Written by: Kashif and LaLa Produced and Arranged by: Kashif Engineered and Mixed by: Michael O'Reilly	5:26
3.	Someone for Me Written by: Raymond Jones, Freddie Washington Produced by: Jermaine Jackson Mixed by: Billy Bottrell and Michael O'Reilly	5:01
4.	Saving All My Love for You Written by: Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin Produced by: Michael Masser Mixed by: Bill Schnee Engineers: Michael Mancini and Russel Schmitt	3:58
5.	Nobody Loves Me Like You Do (Duet with Jermain Jackson) Written by: James P. Dunne and Pamela Phillips Produced by: Jermaine Jackson Mixed by: Billy Bottrell and Michael O'Reilly	3:49
6.	How Will I Know Written by: James Patrick Dunne and Pamela Phillips-Oland Produced by: Narada Michael Walden Engineered and Mixed by: Mike Barbiero	4:36
7.	All At Once Written by: Michael Masser, Jeffrey Osborne Produced by: Michael Masser Mixed by: Bill Schnee Engineers: Michael Mancini	4:29
8.	Take Good Care of My Heart (Duet with Jermain Jackson) Written by: Peter McCann and Steve Dorff Produced by: Jermaine Jackson Mixed by: Billy Bottrell	4:16
9.	Greatest Love of All Written by: Michael Masser and Linda Creed Produced by: Michael Masser Mixed by: Bill Schnee Engineers: Michael Mancini and Russel Schmitt	4:51
10.	Hold Me (Duet with Teddy Pendergrass) Witten by: Michael Masser and Linda Creed Produced by: Michael Masser Mixed by: Bill Schnee Engineers: Michael Mancini	6:00

Details

Released: February 14, 1985 (US), March 14, 1985 (DE),

Recorded: 1984–85

Genre: Pop, dance, R&B

Length: 47:23

Label: Arista

Producer: Jermaine Jackson, Kashif, Michael Masser, Narada Michael Walden

Credits

The Players on “Someone For Me”, “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do”, “Take Good Care of My Heart” are:

John Brnes, Nathan East, Ed Greene, Jermain Jackson, Paul Jackson Jr., Tim May, Greg Phillinghanes, John Robinson, Steve Rucker, Ready Freddie Washington, Ernie Watts and David Williams.

The Players on “Thinking About You”, “You Give Good Love” are:

Bashiri Johnson, Kashif, LaLa, Yogi Lee, J.T. Lewis, Ira Siegal and Roy Wotten.

The Players on “Hold Me”, “Saving All My Love For You”, “All At Once”, “Greatest Love OF All” are:

Robbie Buchmann, Nathan East, Dann Huff, Paul Jackson Jr., Randy Kreber, Richard Marx, Lou Shelton, Debbie Thomas, Jula Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters.

The Players on “How Will I Know” are:

Mary Canty, Preston Glass, Cissy Houston, Randy Jackson, Yvonne Lewis, Corrado Rustici, Premik Russell Tubbs, Narada Michael Walden.

Photographer: Gary Gross

Fashion Stylist: Tiagi Lambert

Gown by: Giovanne De Maura, Bating Suit: by Norma Kamali

Hair: Jeffrey Woodley

Makeup: Quietfire

Coordinator: Brenda Grosky

Art Direction: Donn Davenport

Executive Producer: Clive Davis