Saving All My Love for You

The story behind Saving All My Love for You is that of a song that, after an initial step in 1978 with Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. on their album Marilyn & Billy, found its definitive home in the voice of Whitney Houston. Songwriter Michael Masser, upon hearing a young Houston perform another of his compositions, The Greatest Love of All, in a New York club, was impressed. It was an invitation from Clive Davis, president of Arista Records, that led him to that meeting. After that performance, Houston commented to Masser that the song was one of her favorites. Shortly after, Masser was tasked with producing some tracks for Whitney Houston's debut album, and among them was this ballad. The producer was convinced it would be "a woman's song," anticipating the special connection women would feel with it. Curiously, Clive Davis initially considered it "too old-fashioned," but eventually gave the green light for its recording.

The decision to release Saving All My Love for You as a single was not immediate. After the success of the first cut, You Give Good Love, the record label was considering another song. Michael Masser, upon learning this, made a friendly bet with Clive Davis during a Whitney Houston performance at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles in May 1985. He proposed that if all the women in the audience stood up upon hearing Saving All My Love for You, then Davis would agree to release it as the next single. The bet worked, and the song was released on August 13, 1985, as the second single in the United States and the third worldwide. This rendition, recorded in August 1984, became a global hit, reaching number one in four countries and the top 10 in many other regions. It was her first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for one week. The song, with a duration of 3:58, is a soul and R&B piece with a slow tempo of 84 beats per minute, and it stands out for Houston's emotional performance, which she handles with a bittersweet lightness and palpable urgency, even adding lyrics that were not in the original 1978 version. At the 1986 Annual Grammy Awards, this performance earned Whitney Houston her first Grammy in the category of Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.