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Whitney Houston Remembered: 'I Wanna Dance' Songwriters Mourn 'Sad Ending'

Patrick Demarchelier

Whitney Houston's early hits in the mid to late '80s were mostly ballads, such as 'Saving All My Love For You,' 'The Greatest Love of All' and 'Didn't We Almost Have It All,' but the singer also brought an infectious energy to more uptempo material. Two of those memorable upbeat songs -- 'How Will I Know' (1985) and 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)' (1987) -- both went No. 1 on the Billboard charts and were written by the songwriting duo of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam.

"I must say that we were fortunate to have Whitney sing our songs," Rubicam tells Spinner after Houston's death last Saturday. "She just nailed them both with her incredible voice, taking them to heights that I'm certain only she could have done."

Merrill and Rubicam -- who are also the musical act Boy Meets Girl, known for their song 'Waiting for a Star to Fall' -- were originally commissioned by their publishing company to write a song for Janet Jackson.

"What we knew of Janet's voice at the time was from her first album, on which she sang very soft and sweet. So we wrote and submitted 'How Will I Know,' drawing inspiration from that often-asked romantic question. Her record company turned it down, because she had already begun work on her concept album called 'Control,' and our song would simply not have fit with that collection.

"The song was then sent to Clive Davis -- head of Arista Records at the time -- who was looking for material for the then-unknown young singer, Whitney Houston. Clive loved the song, passed it on to Narada Michael Walden to produce, and with his punchy production magic, the song became the full-blown hit that so many people have heard throughout the world."

The duo would have another hit song for Houston with 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).'

Watch Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' Video

"When George called Clive to let him know we had a song for him," says Rubicam, "he said he was at LAX about to board a plane. George told Clive he was just an eight-minute drive away, so George blazed down to the airport where he met up with Clive and handed him the demo. Clive thought the song was perfect, so it made the album, much to our excitement.

"And yes, you never know who will sing one of your songs and how good a match it will be. But in both cases, our songs went to one of the best singers on the planet who proceeded to sing them better than we ever could have imagined was possible. Nobody sang the way Whitney did. Definitely a thrill!"

Merrill recalls when he and Rubicam met Houston backstage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

"She was there with her mom and dad," he says. "It was so wonderfully innocent. She was likely 22 at the time; she'd just given a stunning performance and even got an L.A. crowd on their feet and screaming with 'How Will I Know,' so she was excited. And yes ... it was obvious she was an unusually bright star!"

He remembers getting the news of Houston's passing on Saturday through text messages.

"With the first one, I was just confused," he says. "It made no sense ... and then as a flood of texts came in, I was shocked and continue to feel that it was a sad ending. And now I've joined most everyone in celebrating her brilliant shining self by playing the music."

Rubicam says she'll remember Houston as "that fresh, young, beautiful singer with the magnificently powerful voice capable of inspiring millions of people the world over. She touched so many people of all ages and blazed a new trail for other young hopefuls to follow. She was a gift, and much loved."
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jupl1

Just a humble thought

-In light of such tragedies what if we all worked as community on lyrics, poem, etc.? Where we work together… where no one is better than anyone else?

-Why not?

-Below is extremely rough/rushed drafts for example/Extremely sorry about that!

Please feel free to do what ever desired with following:

(Please know not trying to make any statements with following, etc! Don’t pretend to have any answers about such subjects! Thank you for understanding!)

(Nay sayers, etc. please don't apply, etc.)

Come in out of the darkness
There’s enough light for us two
Stop chasing shadows
For they can soon stand taller than you

Everyone needs somewhere they can walk to
Somewhere someplace to call their home

Everyone needs someone they can talk to
Someone somebody when they are all alone

Come in out of storm’s rain
For there’s shelter here for us all
Tears can sadly go unnoticed
When shed in lives of pain

Let them fall

Let us comfort you

One and all

Let them fall
Let them fall

For the Sun will shine once again

Not for one but for in doing so… by comforting one another… then for us all

========= Below is another extremely rough/rushed drafts for example/Extremely sorry about that!


Speaks volumes
When the sensitive die
Are we too insensitive
Even just to try
To ask the real reasons why?

She is beautiful
Inside and out
Dies beneath spirit’s surface… amongst waters of doubt
When will the wise be the ones
To ask what these tragedies are truly all about?

What if we were wrong
About the judgements of History
What really killed him
When all along
Could it not have been you and me?

To say the least
Sadly the countless more
We are all in need of revelations… reach out… save… heal one another
Otherwise what are we truly living for?

When one reaches out… bares their souls
Should these strengths not be praised
For is it not more noble
To seek our own strengths
By eternally comforting those needing to be consoled
Than hiding in the futility of comforting our own insecurities
Judgement's evils and questions raised… need not control?

Bottom line is
We’re all in this life together
And yes we all do rely on one another
For in our present time
And the best of all worlds
Peace without peace within
Never allows for that one true blessed gift
The blessed gifts of peace of the mind

Now if we all always needed somewhere to walk to
Somewhere someplace to call home?

And if we all always needed someone to talk to
Someone somebody when they’re all alone?

What kind of world would that be?

When it’s very simple...
What it comes down to is up to you and me

You and me
You and me

Seek what it means to truly be free

You and me
You and me

For sometimes within such simplicity
Awaits the answers of truly being free
You and me

February 23 2012 at 4:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jupl1

Just a humble thought

-In light of recent tragedies what if we all worked as community on lyrics, poem, etc.? Where we work together… where no one is better than anyone else?

-Why not?

-Below is extremely rough/rushed drafts for example/Extremely sorry about that!

Please feel free to do what ever desired with following:

(Please know not trying to make any statements with following, etc! Don’t pretend to have any answers about such subjects! Thank you for understanding!)

(Nay sayers, etc. please don't apply, etc.)

Speaks volumes
When the sensitive die
Are we too insensitive
Even just to try
To ask the real reasons why?

She is beautiful
Inside and out
But dies alone beneath spirit’s surface… amongst waters of doubt
When will the wise be the ones
To ask what these tragedies are truly all about?

What if we were wrong
About the judgements of History
What really killed him
When all along
Could it not have been you and me?

To say the least
Sadly the countless more
We are all in need of revelations… reach out… save… heal one another
Otherwise what are we truly living for?

When one reaches out… bares their souls
Should these strengths not be praised
For is it not more noble
To seek our own strengths
By eternally comforting those needing to be consoled
Than hiding in the futility of comforting our own insecurities
Judgement's evils and questions raised… need not control?

Bottom line is
We’re all in this life together
And yes we all do rely on one another
For in our present time
And the best of all worlds
Peace without peace within
Never allows for that one true blessed gift
The blessed gifts of peace of the mind

Now if we all always needed somewhere to walk to
Somewhere someplace to call home?

And if we all always needed someone to talk to
Someone somebody when they’re all alone?

What kind of world would that be?

When it’s very simple...
What it comes down to is up to you and me

You and me
You and me

Seek what it means to truly be free

You and me
You and me

For sometimes within such simplicity
Awaits the answers of truly being free
You and me

========

Come in out of the darkness
There’s enough light for us two
Stop chasing shadows
For they can soon stand taller than you

Everyone needs somewhere they can walk to
Somewhere someplace to call their home

Everyone needs someone they can talk to
Someone somebody when they are all alone

Come in out of storm’s rain
For there’s shelter here for us all
Tears can sadly go unnoticed
When shed in lives of pain

Let them fall

Let us comfort you

One and all

Let them fall
Let them fall

For the Sun will shine once again

Not for one but for in doing so… by comforting one another… then for us all

February 16 2012 at 5:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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