As I wrote over in BookFace: "I can't get Whitney Houston songs out of my head this week. She had the most beautiful female voice I've ever heard. Silky, resonate, powerful. Not nasal like Streisand, more resonant than Celine Dion, and not airy like Mariah and Beyonce. It was the most perfect voice. So sad." I listen to a lot of music and I just don't think there's a voice that compares to Whitney in her prime. Here are my favorite top 10 Whitney songs because absolutely none of you asked:
1. Star Spangled Banner: To me, there is no better version of the Star Spangled Banner than the one that Whitney did during Desert Storm 1 in Tampa Bay--(but which Youtube has removed so here's another one). No one else comes close to knocking this song out of the park like she did that day. This is the way the song was made to be sung.
2. I Wanna Dance With Somebody: This is really my favorite "Whitney song." Just fun and light-hearted.
3. So Emotional: This one is so 80's in its sound, how could I NOT love it.
4. You Give Good Love: The first time I ever saw Whitney was for this first video. She looked so elegant, classy, and old. I think she was just a teenager, but her voice was so mature and full that it was hard to believe she was so young. I thought she was close to 30.
5. Saving All My Love For You: Nobody can even cover a Whitney song without sounding hollow and light-weight.
6. Exhale: The Shoop Song: This song is so under-stated. But Whitney's voice was so full and beautiful that she didn't need to always be screaming at the top of her lungs or doing the Mariah Carey dog-whistle. I love this quiet performance.
7. I Have Nothing: From the Bodyguard soundtrack. That big voice!
8. Where Do Broken Hearts Go: Get out your hankies on this one.
9. How Will I Know? Whitney being cheeky. This was a great single back in the mid-80's.
10. Take Good Care of My Heart (with Jermaine Jackson): This is where I first heard Whitney Houston. She did a duet with Jermaine Jackson on his album "Dynamite." That album, by the way is totally underrated. It's very, very good and came out just after Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Anyway, it was Arista Records and that's how Clive Davis introduced Whitney. He put her on that song.
I wasn't even really a fan, but I just thought her voice was amazing.