Whitney Houston Sang “How Will I Know” in One Take and It Was Originally Written for Janet Jackson
In 1985, George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam were signed to A & M records as the group Boy Meets Girl. Although they would have their own hit “Waiting For A Star To Fall” in 1988, their first major break came in 1985 when A & M executive John McCain sought their songwriting talent. McCain — a key player in pairing Janet Jackson with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis — asked the duo to write a song for Jackson’s Control album.
After completing “How Will I Know” they were confident they’d written a flawless record for Jackson and were optimistic when they handed a demo recording of the song to McCain. Unfortunately, Janet and her team decided to go in a different direction. “Janet and her management passed on the song. We were pretty upset because we thought it was perfect for her at the time,” Merrill said in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.
Despite their disappointment, a second chance came when Gerry Griffith entered the picture. Griffith, who worked in the A & R department of Arista Records at the time, was searching for a hit record that fused pop and R & B together. “We had a lot of R & B-based tunes, we had a few ballads, but we didn’t have a pop crossover song, Griffith said.
“They played it over the phone, and I swear, her voice, hearing the first take of ‘How Will I Know’ on the phone we knew we were on to something special, too.”
— George Merrill
As Griffith sought out potential songs for his new artist Whitney Houston, Merrill and Rubicam’s publishing company sent him “How Will I Know”. “Our publishing company played it for Gerry Griffith when he was in Los Angeles gathering material for the unknown Whitney Houston. He loved it, sent it to Clive (Davis), and Clive said, ‘We must have it,’” Rubicam told the website Songfacts.
Eager to find the right person to pair with his newfound potential hit, Griffith sought the services of super producer Narada Michael Walden, who would later produce Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. Walden, who was hard at work on Aretha Franklin’s Who’s Zoomin’ Who? album, was hesitant to take on a project with the then unknown Houston. “I had no idea who Whitney Houston was; none of us knew who Whitney Houston was,” he later admitted to Billboard.
Despite his initial hesitation, Walden decided to give it a shot. But it wasn’t long before the song hit another snag when Merrill and Rubicam refused to let Walden make changes to their song. Frustrated by their refusal and still unsure of what a massive success Houston would become, Walden came very close to calling off the whole project. “We didn’t know Narada and we had never spoken to him before. We weren’t used to the idea of someone changing our song,” Rubicam said. “Now it’s easier to let go, but at that time it was hard to be flexible.”
“Clive Davis heard the mix and immediately proclaimed it a 10, which is outrageous for him, because he doesn’t like anything!” — Narada Michael Walden
Eventually a compromise was reached and Walden agreed to produce the song, earning himself a songwriting credit in the process. Once they were in the studio together, Walden was stunned by Houston’s efficiency. “She did ‘How Will I Know’ in one take. Maybe I’d fix one thing here and one thing there, but the majority of it is one take,” he explained to Songfacts.
Merrill and Rubicam’s friends happened to be recording Walden and Houston’s session and gave the songwriting duo a preview of the magic that was taking place over the phone. “They said, ‘Guys, you’ve got to hear this.’ They played it over the phone, and I swear, her voice, hearing the first take of ‘How Will I Know’ on the phone we knew we were on to something special, too,” Merrill recalled.
The finishing touch was Walden’s decision to have Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston accompany Whitney on background vocals. Although Whitney resisted the idea at first, she finally agreed to sing with her mom and the results were pitch perfect. Even the notoriously picky Arista Records founder and president Clive Davis was in awe. “The background sounds incredible,” Walden told Billboard. “Clive Davis heard the mix and immediately proclaimed it a 10, which is outrageous for him, because he doesn’t like anything!”
Connect with Narada Michael Walden on Facebook, YouTube, and on Twitter @NaradaMWalden.
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