“Saving All My Love For You” by Whitney Houston

Dim the lights, light a candle or two, and celebrate the 40th anniversary of Whitney Houston's glittering debut album.

It's the end of the week, and I want to send everyone off into the weekend with the best vibes possible. That’s why the Daily Music Picks newsletter features a weekly segment called Fun Song Fridays! Regardless of era, genre, or style, the criterion is simple: it must deliver the joy and excitement we all need in our lives.

You can access the entire Fun Song Fridays archive here. While you’re at it, add the companion playlist to your favorite streaming platform.

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Today’s music pick dims the lights and gets you in the right mood for Valentine’s Day by celebrating the 40th anniversary of Whitney Houston’s debut album.

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Genre: Pop, R&B

Label: Arista

Release Date: August 13, 1985

Vibe: 💓💓💓💓💓

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👉 Click the GIF to stream the album on your favorite platform

Here’s how you know Whitney Houston was one of the all-time great pop singers: She turned forgettable R&B records into staples, most often with ballads that were tweaked to play on her strengths as a performer. “I Will Always Love You” is the best-known of that bunch, but you also have tracks like “For the Love of You,” “Higher Love,” and this one, “Saving All My Love For You,” that would become pop culture staples. It didn’t really matter who initially wrote the lyrics or who recorded it before she did. As soon as it joined her impressive stable of hits, most casual music fans knew it as a Whitney song from that point on.

“Saving” was penned by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin and originally released by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. on their 1978 LP, Marilyn & Billy. After Masser saw Houston perform another one of his songs, “The Greatest Love of All,” live, Clive Davis later added him to the production roster for Houston’s proper studio debut. Masser not only guaranteed that “Saving” would become a “woman’s song” but is the reason the track was released as a single in the first place. The story goes that Masser made a friendly bet with Davis when the label was indecisive about which song to push as the album’s next single. If all the women in the audience at that night’s Whitney concert got on their feet when she sang it, the Arista head should prioritize it for radio play.

It was Whitney’s camp’s best decision to that point in her career. “Saving” eventually spent 22 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 1 and starting a record-setting run of seven consecutive chart-toppers for Houston. Part of why I think it’s endured in the decades since is how comparatively subtle it is to some of her later work. Her voice is still powerful, but it burns with the quiet, confident seduction that fits the “other woman” role she’s playing within the song’s lyrical context. She can ratchet up the drama without hitting you over the head with the sheer horsepower of her vocals. Nathan East’s bass and Tom Scott’s sax solo give her ample atmosphere to play off of, making it easy to picture her in a candlelit apartment dinette or a hotel room with the curtains drawn, eagerly anticipating the night’s activities.

I’m sure you can fill in the rest of the blanks from there.