RIP
― White 'Poop' Jesus (snoball), Sunday, 12 February 2012 09:01 (twelve years ago) link
really sad news to wake up to. RIP :(
― marcus junius ubiquitus (c sharp major), Sunday, 12 February 2012 09:22 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYTFJvgxx5Q
― James Mitchell, Sunday, 12 February 2012 10:18 (twelve years ago) link
"How Will I Know" is probably my ultimate favourite, but I love all of the big songs from The Bodyguard, esp. "I Have Nothing". I don't care how schlocky it is. It's like a tidal wave.
RIP Whitney.
― Tim F, Sunday, 12 February 2012 11:28 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Sgnlz719Q
;_; RIP
― lag∞n affiliated (The Reverend), Sunday, 12 February 2012 11:39 (twelve years ago) link
'tidal wave', 'massively massive' indeed...
:-(
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 12 February 2012 12:14 (twelve years ago) link
That 98/99 Whitney comeback was really great - certainly better than the Bodyguard balladosaurus era. 80s dancepop Whitney forever though. RIP.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 12 February 2012 12:19 (twelve years ago) link
Works shockingly well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7DHjUH2UbM
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:02 (twelve years ago) link
Wait, this is the better one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKjZAsbLCxQ
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:06 (twelve years ago) link
I really like the Whitney mash-ups, because they underscore something in her voice that the boilerplate '80s pop backing didn't always convey. And again, that's the real tragedy, that she was rarely matched with music that truly suited her vocal talent. And she truly didn't give a shit, either.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:08 (twelve years ago) link
2nd one is great
― da croupier, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:09 (twelve years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:18 (twelve years ago) link
It's pretty much the classical definition of a tragedy, isn't it?
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:19 (twelve years ago) link
I dunno, I think the original music for "How Will I Know" is fabulous.
― Tim F, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:28 (twelve years ago) link
The Material collaboration is an anomaly; her voice was still embryonic. Houston was custom designed for big productions.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:31 (twelve years ago) link
It's a crying shame we never got Whitney Houston Tortoise dubs.
― Andy K, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:36 (twelve years ago) link
xpost "How Will I Know" would have been fabulous for anyone.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:42 (twelve years ago) link
damn -- I didn't know Jermaine Jackson had three productions on the debut album (only knew the duet).
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:42 (twelve years ago) link
The only cluster of songs which leaves me cold: the blockbuster trilogy from Whitney ("So Emotional," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go").
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:43 (twelve years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:54 (twelve years ago) link
Well, it is a waste of epic proportions. No one would fault her voice, an incredible thing. The tragedy is that despite that voice, and beauty, and fame and money and success, fate had other plans for her. Hooking up with Bobby Brown, of all people, only enhanced the classical Greek aspect of her fall.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:57 (twelve years ago) link
Like, most people confuse tragedy with anything bad that happens. But in the classic sense, it's really inevitable self-destruction. See: I believe we are in the catharsis stage of the narrative.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:59 (twelve years ago) link
(Creepy true story: in I want to say elementary school music class, all those years ago, the day the teacher taught us what a "figure" was he used Whitney Houston as an example. Like, a creepy punny example, as in, "check out Whitney's figure!" Left an impression, I guess.)
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:02 (twelve years ago) link
...because they underscore something in her voice that the boilerplate '80s pop backing didn't always convey. And again, that's the real tragedy, that she was rarely matched with music that truly suited her vocal talent...
which is why when her vocals were isolated as in the first few minutes of this, it is utterly wondrous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enbfmqmBBqI
― danzig, Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:02 (twelve years ago) link
It would have been nice if she made a full album with Kashif and Paul Laurence around '82-'84, or Jam and Lewis around '85/'86, or Foster and McElroy around '90/'91. She still MOVED/affected millions of people! I see no "waste of epic proportions" in that.
― Andy K, Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:18 (twelve years ago) link
OTM andy k
the "boilerplate backings" weren't the point.
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:19 (twelve years ago) link
Man...the musician deaths in the last 2 years have been brutal. :(
RIP Whitney
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:24 (twelve years ago) link
would not want to be in a karaoke bar tonight.
― pplains, Saturday, February 11, 2012 8:29 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
I was. only one person did an attempt at a 'tribute' song tho thankfully....
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:26 (twelve years ago) link
― Tim F, Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:28 AM (1 hour ago)
yeah i never knew people preferred the acappella version before! song is perfect as is!
― diln (k3vin k.), Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:40 (twelve years ago) link
i don't think anyone does prefer the acappella, it's just a pretty astonishing demonstration of her voice
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:42 (twelve years ago) link
this sucks
watching videos of her when she first became a star and then thinking of what she became when she got into drugs is just ridiculously tough to reconcile
anyway RIP, life is mad short
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:45 (twelve years ago) link
from Newark, so RIP
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:56 (twelve years ago) link
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Sunday, February 12, 2012 9:42 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalin
right--i love the music to that song but i think the acappella is what we need today; that shit just haunted me last night.
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 12 February 2012 14:59 (twelve years ago) link
She still MOVED/affected millions of people!
Dunno how old you are, but I imagine there are at least as many people who know her best as a drug-damaged wreck than as a pop force. MJ's global ubiquity transcended his infamy. But Whitney's reality show descent I think proved far more damaging to her career. Lots of folks have moved and affected millions. Far fewer so perfectly eroded such good will. That, I'd argue, is her legacy, not some ace pop tunes released nearly 30 years ago.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:03 (twelve years ago) link
You sound as if her hits aren't played on the radio. I hear them all the time!
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:05 (twelve years ago) link
her global ubiquity DID transcend her infamy
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
uh....no, I think most people remember her as both. Like do you really think her songs haven't survived the test of time and the damage she did to her rep, because you're definitely wrong if so. xxpost
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
Lots of folks have moved and affected millions. Far fewer so perfectly eroded such good will. That, I'd argue, is her legacy, not some ace pop tunes released nearly 30 years ago.
feel like the second part of this isn't really connected to the first... whether or not her "legacy" is her descent into drugs or the songs she put out before that (the reality of course is that the entire thing is her legacy) is irrelevant to whether or not she moved and affected millions of people
i'm young enough and have friends young enough to basically only remember her in her addict period, but most reactions from ppl younger and older than me that i've seen have remembered who she was before that, so idk.
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
Alfred otm. FFS I still hear her songs all over the place, and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" was always one of the most popular choices at the local 'rising star' karaoke joint. in clubs people still dance to the goddamn song (usually at 80s nights but still).
I have many friends (ages ranged from like 20-45) who loved (and often publicly performed) her music. mostly singers, but they both embraced her music while still acknowledging her personal issues. They're devastated atm. But the idea that her music has fallen out of public favor is LOLworthy. maybe some of her lesser 80s hits, but for God's sake, stuff like "I Will Always Love You" and "I Have Nothing" is timeless.
Stunningly, so far, the public reception to her death in my general circle has been less "ehh she got what was coming" than with say Amy Winehouse...I really think the public was sympathetic to her trying to make a comeback, that and possibly because most of her personal drama was private and not as public as Amy's. I don't think her addiction issues are damaging her legacy anywhere near as much as other deceased singers.
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
the thing with whitney and drugs is that while it's overwhelmingly sad to have seem her throw a large portion of her life away... i don't think most ppl feel like we didn't get enough out of her, musically speaking. she's not someone that lost her life at the prime of her career because of her addictions... it's more of a michael situation where you're just generally smh at what can happen to people, but it's not like there isn't a deep catalog of music to go back to
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:14 (twelve years ago) link
^^^ also otm
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:19 (twelve years ago) link
i think amy was also contemporary enough that people (inc the dicks making jokes) felt able to have ~opinions~ on whether she was any good or not, whereas whitney and michael's legacies are a) so obvious b) so far back in the past that it's kind of pointless to argue their validity
or put another way, one's opinions on amy could be seen as integral to constructing one's taste set in 2011; whitney and MJ, not so much.
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:19 (twelve years ago) link
or, like, if you didn't like amy's music, that's an ongoing conversation you'd have been having when you died. if you didn't like MJ's music or whitney's music, those would have been old thoughts, pointless to dredge up at a time like this.
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:20 (twelve years ago) link
any auditions portion of any given season of american idol (and i would assume other singing contest shows from around the globe) is pretty much enough to put the kibosh on the idea that whitney songs (at least the monster ballads) are considered by the youngs to be off-limits/forgotten/the embarrassing evidence of a drug casualty rather than (for better or worse) the big lung-busting showstopper standards of their generation.
― jesus christ (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:21 (twelve years ago) link
<---- drowning in a sea of OTM posts
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:21 (twelve years ago) link
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" was always one of the most popular choices at the local 'rising star' karaoke joint.
I got big applause when I did this at karaoke a few years ago. I pretty much never hear her songs anymore (don't listen to much MIX-FM-type radio), but people have a lot of fond memories...
― jaymc, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:22 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, like these young kids actually pick those songs. Young kids had their Christinas and Mariahs, who granted, were not possibly, maybe, without Whitney, but I'm not so sure how much someone born in the '90s cares about Whitney any more than they care about Motown.
I guess that's the part I'm having trouble coming to grips with. Undeniably, she's popular, or was popular, but I never go the sense there was as much affection for her as there was for someone like Michael Jackson. Like, I'm sure people were rooting for a comeback, but unlike MJ, I'm not entirely sure how devastating it is that it never arrived. Just sad. But I could be wrong, I guess.
And really
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" was always one of the most popular choices at the local 'rising star' karaoke joint. in clubs people still dance to the goddamn song (usually at 80s nights but still).
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:23 (twelve years ago) link
(sorry for typos and xposts)
One crucial difference: MJ (and Winehouse to a lesser extent) boasted dozens of critics who considered Off The Wall and Thriller classic albums whereas Houston endured a lot of sneers for most of her career.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:24 (twelve years ago) link
anyway r.i.p. lady. my mom was a big fan and the 80s pop hits are ingrained in me from childhood and those late '90s club mixes were an essential part of my going out experiences in the major period when i bothered to go out. i always kinda hoped you'd do more house diva stuff.
― jesus christ (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Sunday, 12 February 2012 15:24 (twelve years ago) link