WHITNEY HOUSTON – "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

yes, this is great, bubbly, glossy and joyful. it’s not just whitney, I think, post motown I’m not sure there are that many examples (though we’ll get to a few) of a proper big voice being used to make something thrilling – those great roaring ‘ohhhh’s, the sudden swoops into the stratosphere, the growls in the verses – not hear me roar-ery.

My main memory of this song is Whitney looking absolutely delighted in every frame of her video, which appeared to take place in the same set a-ha used for “Take on Me”.

This is still such a great, great song. It reminds me a lot of “Let’s Hear It For the Boy” by Deniece Williams; among other similarities it’s got the same totally joyous feeling that anything is possible.

I’d only rate it a 7, personally, and yet at the same time I feel like this song is completely unimpeachable, and that anyone who would rate it lower than that is simply not paying attention. Who could argue against it?

And with this, Whitney Joined The Jams. Even if she didn’t know about it at the time.

This always reminded me of a review of John Gielgud’s performance in Michael Winner’s gobsmackingly awful remake of “The Wicked Lady” – “technique wasted on trivia”.

I think all the positive reviews above are probably right-it’s just me that doesn’t like happy songs.

A big five weeks at number one in Australia. I can appreciate the gusto, the song and Whitney’s vocals, but something about the production just feels too dated – more in the intro than once it gets going, but still. That gives “Saving All My Love” the edge over it for me, and makes it a 6. Gasp, sacrilege, etc.

A joyous upbeat pop record with a winning vocal. The production didn’t do it for me at the time, but I’m less bothered about that now. I can appreciate it today as a fine pop single.

I started reading Tom’s review thinking “God, more awful 1980s shiny clattering” but by the end he’d reminded me that it is a great record indeed. And I didn’t even have to listen to it again, though I think if I did I might find it a tad noisy and busy (which I did back then)

I wouldn’t put this in the same bracket as “Saving All My Love”, but this is still hugely enjoyable, and more to the point it looks and sounds like all concerned are having a ball, at least they manage to convince me that they are! It’s not “we’re instructing you to have fun”, it’s “we’re having fun and would like you to be having fun too”. And a triffic vocal too.

Number 2 Watch – Johnny Logan’s second Eurovision winner, “Hold Me Now”. Thanks Whit!

Oh, and this was number one when I met my wife :))

…and back from the days when I used to DJ 80s music to a couple of thousand students a week – a pitch- (before the key change), tempo- and phrasing-perfect mix into ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’. (For bonus points, mix 2 beats of whoosh plus 8 bars of intro of the latter under second 8 bars of the second chorus of the former then cut).

Its glorious, but a couple of fiddly bits – especially the middle-eight – detract from it a little bit for me. The version that I remember in my head is about a minute shorter, and is undeviatingly euphoric!

Not keen on this record but without it we wouldn’t have had the original version of “5,6,7,8” by Shut Up and Dance which used vast swathes of the instrumentation.

And that one really does bring the memories back…hearing it pumping out of Centreforce FM and vague memories of this wafting over near the cars at about 6 in the morning at Sunrise’s party at Longwick in 1989.

They were never gonna get that sample cleared though were they!?

Don’t forget Richard X and the I Wanna Dance With Numbers song. Richard X later produced a number 1 of his own.

@jezza, 26. Wow, thanks. I wanna dance with numbers is simply fantastic. Is there anything Kraftwerk can’t do/improve? [Say in the Homer donuts voice.]

Free associating a bit: the always higher higher Skins Season 2 intro theme has always reminded me of this cluster of merrill/rubicam-written songs that Whitney hit out of the park.

Where “Saving All My Love For You” sought to make Whitney prematurely middle-aged, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” her only non-ballad UK number one, sparkles with an ebullience more properly befitting her age. From its expectant, quivering intro of Linn congas and shuddering synth bass, suddenly propelled by Whitney’s “Whoo!” and an upwards-unzipping keyboard flourish into a celebratory dance – despite, or perhaps because of, the song’s underlying closeted desperation (“It’s the light of day that shows me how/But when the night falls/The loneliness calls”), it anticipates the immediate and unexpected revival of the bubblegum ethic in mainstream American pop, as at least two further number ones within the next six months will demonstrate.

Architecturally the record’s continued subtle build-up is exemplary (brilliantly choreographed by producer/arranger Narada Michael Walden); the plateau of rest where Whitney momentarily meditates in the middle eight (“Somebody whoooo…”) before she braces herself up for the ascending key change and the ecstatic final choruses where she cheerfully trades fours with her backing singers – “Don’tyouwannadance Sayyouwannadance Don’tyouwannaDANCE!” Her “uh huhs,” whoops and laughs at the climax sound and feel natural, and for one of the pitifully few times in her life Whitney is having fun and experiencing uncomplicated happiness. Even Bill “No Music Day” Drummond had to acknowledge great pop when he recognised and felt it; his own ecstasy as the opening strains of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” ease their way into “Whitney Joins The JAMMs” is infectious and truthful. It remains one of the great tragedies of recent pop that this Whitney Houston wasn’t allowed more air to breathe her joy.

TOTPWatch: Whitney Houston performed ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ on the Top of the Pops transmitted on May 21st 1987. Also in the studio that week were; Marillion, Wet Wet Wet and Cameo. Peter Powell and Simon Bates were the hosts.

I was looking for this the other day. i dont usually post in forums but i wanted to say thank you!

yhhhhjew

Not many comments for this, so can I just add that I think Whitney is the only artist who I remember emerging onto the scene, going on to produce music and memories which have distinctly made me happier and then sadly, died too soon.

Lots of love to you Whitney and thank you for all the joy you brought.

Critic watch:

1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, and 10,001 You Must Download (2010) 1002
Blender (USA) – Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s (2005) 275
Bruce Pollock (USA) – The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 (2005)
OUT (USA) – The 25 Gayest Songs of the 1980s (2011)
Slant (USA) – The 100 Best Singles of the 1980s (2012) 62
Spex (Germany) – The Best Singles of the Century (1999)
Giannis Petridis (Greece) – 2004 of the Best Songs of the Century (2003)

I honestly need to say this right now upfront. Out of the four UK number one singles Whitney Houston had, this is – without a shadow of a doubt – my favorite of the bunch.

No, I am not kidding.

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