"Love Will Save the Day" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston from her second diamond studio album Whitney (1987). The song was released in May 1988 by Arista Records as the album's fifth single. The song did not have a music video but was still successful, climbing into the US top ten. Written by Toni C and produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez, it is one of the uptempo singles on the album that also includes "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and "So Emotional".
| "Love Will Save the Day" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Whitney Houston | ||||
| from the album Whitney | ||||
| B-side | "How Will I Know" | |||
| Released | May 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1986–1987 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:25 (album version) 4:22 (single version) | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Toni C. (Toni Colandreo) | |||
| Producer(s) | John "Jellybean" Benitez | |||
| Whitney Houston singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Whitney Houston - Love Will Save the Day (Official Audio)" on YouTube | ||||
Critical reception
editLos Angeles Times editor Robert Hilburn described the song as a "hollow dance track that tries to mix social comment with dance-floor vigor."[1] Rolling Stone's Vince Alleti wrote: "Jellybean clicks neatly with "Love Will Save the Day," the only song to even remotely acknowledge the problems of the world at large and the most vivaciously percussive track on the record."[3] Whitney fanpage described this song as Latin influenced, sparkling song.[4] St. Petersburg Times editors Eric Snider and Annelise Wamsley described Love Will Save the Day: "a unique tune on an extremely mainstream album. Its lively Afro-Cuban flavor, driven by a wall of clattering percussion, is truly joyous."[5]
Chart performance
editAt the time, Whitney Houston had achieved a record-breaking string of seven consecutive number-one hits, with four of those number-ones from her current album Whitney. "Love Will Save the Day" did not become Houston's eighth consecutive number one, but continued her trend of hit singles by peaking in the US top 10. The song also made the top 10 without an accompanying music video.
The song remained in the top 40 for 11 weeks, and reached #5 on the US R&B chart, and #1 on the Hot Club/Dance Play Tracks chart. On the Billboard singles chart, the song debuted at #52 on the July 2, 1988 issue; after five weeks it reached and peaked at #9, staying there for two weeks and staying on the top 10 of the chart for four weeks. The single remained on the chart for a total of ten weeks.[6]
In the Netherlands it reached number 6, number 10 in the United Kingdom, and the top 20 in Switzerland.
After her death in 2012, Entertainment Weekly ranked the song #20 on its "Whitney Houston: Her 25 Best Songs" list and stated: "the Miami bass and spicy horns on this high-BPM (beats per minute) dance-pop workout pointed to Houston's willingness to experiment and evolve."[7]
Track listings and formats
edit
|
Versions
- Extended remix – 7:58
- Extended remix edit – 6:55
- 7" version – 4:22
- 12" version – 5:21
- 12" version (instrumental) – 5:21 (not released)
- Acappella – 5:14
- Dub Will Save the Day – 4:58
- Jellybean remix – 7:28
- The Underground mix – 7:30
- The Underground edit – 5:40
- Dub – 6:00
- Instrumental dub – 6:00
Personnel
edit- Executive producer – Clive Davis
- Produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez
- Arranged by Jack Waldman and Toni C.
- Vocals arranged by Whitney Houston
- Engineered by Doc Dougherty and Michael Hutchinson
- Additional engineering by Dennis McKay
- Mix engineer by Michael Hutchinson
- Written by Toni C.
- Jellybean – drum programming
- Linden Aaron – Simmons toms
- Jack Waldman, Fred Zarr – synths
- Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitar
- Roy Ayers – vibes
- Paulinho da Costa, Bashiri Johnson, Sammy Figueroa – percussion
- Background vocals – Whitney Houston
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Album Review : Houston: Commercial Sparkle, Artistic Fizz - Los Angeles Times
- ^ Molanphy, Chris (May 20, 2021). "Blame It on the Feign Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Whitney | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone
- ^ "Whitney-Fan.com: Whitney Houston's Music Reviews". Archived from the original on 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ Whitney pulls out another bag of hits Series: RECORDS
- ^ "Love will save the day".
- ^ "Whitney Houston: Her 25 best songs". Entertainment Weekly. February 17, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ Discogs.com, Love Will Save the Day - US 7" Vinyl Single, Single details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ Discogs.com, Love Will Save the Day - US CD Maxi-Single Promo, Single details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ Discogs.com, UK 12" vinyl, Single Details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ Discogs.com, Canada 12" vinyl, Single details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ Discogs.com, Germany 12" vinyl, Single details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ Discogs.com, Australia & New Zealand 12" vinyl, Single details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ Discogs.com, Spain 12" vinyl, Single details - Retrieved on November 26, 2008
- ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received June 17, 2014". imgur.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ^ "Whitney Houston – Love Will Save the Day" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8552." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
- ^ Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. p. 135. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
- ^ "Whitney Houston – Love Will Save the Day" (in French). Les classement single.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Whitney Houston". Irish Singles Chart.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Whitney Houston" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ^ "Whitney Houston – Love Will Save the Day" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
- ^ "Whitney Houston – dorobek wykonawcy na LP3" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. p. 698. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ^ "Whitney Houston – Love Will Save the Day". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ "Whitney Houston: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Whitney Houston".
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Whitney Houston – Love Will Save the Day" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
- ^ "Top 100 Singles of '88" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49, no. 10. December 24, 1988. p. 9. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ "Top 25 Dance Singles of '88" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49, no. 10. December 24, 1988. p. 10. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl - Jaaroverzichten - Single 1988" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
- ^ "1988 The Year in Music & Video: Top Black Singles" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 52. December 24, 1988. p. Y-23. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
- ^ "1988 The Year in Music & Video: Top Dance Club Play Singles" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 52. December 24, 1988. p. Y-25. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
