Readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.
So, as our retrospective segments, ‘From the Vault’ and ‘TGJ Replay,’ allow us the chance to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday of one artist, our newest feature Chart Rewind serves as a variation of our Retro Rewind assay to salute an entire era of music history.
This week, we’re taking it back to one of Whitney Houston‘s greatest songs – ‘Greatest Love Of All,’ her third in a history-making string of seven #1 hits.
Join us inside:
Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album was by no means an out-of-the-box success. Released February 14, 1985, the set didn’t premiere on the Billboard 200 until over a month later – making an unimpressive #166 debut on the tally.
However, after the critical acclaim of its official first and second worldwide singles, ‘You Give Good Love’ and ‘All at Once’ respectively, the then-burgeoning diva notched two back-to-back Hot 100 chart-toppers (‘Saving All My Love For You’ and ‘How Will I Know’) by Valentine’s Day of the following year.
With the tunes’ parent album hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 in March 1986, Houston’s label president and mentor – Clive Davis – sought to capitalize on ‘Whitney-mania’ by appointing ‘Greatest Love of All’ as the LP’s next single. A remake of the 1977 George Benson hit of the same name, the pick came as an interesting choice for Davis given his protest to her recording the song in the first place.
The move quickly proved lucrative, however.
Just two months after its March 1986 premiere, the song shot to #1 on the Hot 100 (where it was found this week that year). Her third consecutive chart-topper, as a result Houston became the first artist to garner three #1 singles from a debut album. Eventually, the tune went Platinum and even earned a ‘Record of the Year’ nomination at the 1987 GRAMMYs.
On this side of history ‘Greatest’ not only stands as her third biggest hit (physical sales, streams, digital downloads, and radio airplay considered) behind ‘I Will Always Love You’ and ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody,’ but also her second longest-running #1 hit (behind ‘I Will Always Love You’). Most importantly, as it relates to the totality of her prized discography, it is easily a frontrunner on the list of fan favorites and go-to songs for singers seeking to showcase their vocal prowesses.
As we salute the classic, look below to see who joins Houston in the top 25 this week 34 years ago.
Hot 100 This Week in 1986
Hot 100 This Week
Click here to read this week’s full TGJ Chart Check: Hot 100.