Whitney Houston.

[bubinga5]

Easy to forget how good she was. No lip synch, no auto tune back then. She came from the church and a bonafide gospel singer from a teenager. Just huge power and control in her voice. 

[dmccombe7]

An amazing voice and talent. Such a shame to lose her. Her voice would literally make the hairs on my neck stand and its not a style of music i normally listen to but incredible talent will do that to you no matter what style it might be.

Great choice

Dave

[TheGreek]

Only now, after her death, do I really appreciate her talent.

One of my previous girlfriends was a big fan - had all the albums and would play them constantly (Whitney and Luther). Too much really - sometimes less is more.

[steantval]

Amazing vocalist, such a tragic end to her life and her daughters also.

[mikel]

Hell of a voice but all the yodeling and vocal gymnastics put me off. Most times, for me, less is more.

[BrunoBass]

1 hour ago, mikel said:

Hell of a voice but all the yodeling and vocal gymnastics put me off. Most times, for me, less is more.

Agreed. Impressively powerful voice but often to the detriment of the song. I found her material generally bland; given her obvious talent I’d have liked to have heard her do a really rootsy, soul album. Crack session band,  Memphis studio, could’ve been awesome.

[casapete]

2 hours ago, mikel said:

Hell of a voice but all the yodeling and vocal gymnastics put me off. Most times, for me, less is more.

Agree that some of the later stuff could get a bit like that, but for me her first couple of albums were truly outstanding, full of great songs demonstrating an amazing vocal talent. It grates on me a bit when Whitney gets lumped in with Maria Carey etc as a vocal gymnast, she was so much more and had such a sad end to her far too short life. I saw her live in concert in Monaco just before things started going awry for her and she was incredible.

[AndyTravis]

In 2010 she was on a tour, it was plagued with health deterioration and I recall a few shocking videos came out where it was obvious that WH wasn’t at her best.

Her band ended up in my shop in Manchester and they were really fed up, their gear was all in storage and they had had issues with soundcheck delays, cancellations across the entire tour.

They bought some instruments just to get them through, keep them playing while they waited for the call to say she would or wouldn’t be pulling the dates as they basically travelled around...waiting. 
 

Think they played 2 dates in Manchester and she cut one performance short and then was really off colour and gruff/weak on the other.

Then the videos came thick and fast, I’m sure there were folks demanding refunds.

She was at a real low ebb.

Tragic. And I had always admired her talent, and absolutely always fancied her, a very beautiful lady.

They're doing one of those really creepy Holographic arena tours in 2020. 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[AndyTravis]

5 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Fantastic band. Crack head for a husband. I think he’ll always be remembered for the undoing of an incredible talent. Such a shame.

She was involved in drugs before BB. Think it was a cousin who started her off.

[lowdown]

18 hours ago, casapete said:

Agree that some of the later stuff could get a bit like that, but for me her first couple of albums were truly outstanding, full of great songs demonstrating an amazing vocal talent. It grates on me a bit when Whitney gets lumped in with Maria Carey etc as a vocal gymnast, she was so much more and had such a sad end to her far too short life. 

 How I saw it (or heard it) as well.

👍

 

[itu]

Tammi Terrell, Minnie Riperton, Patsy Cline, Dana Dawson, Laura Branigan, Amy Winehouse... too early gone just like Whitney. Too bad. But that's life.

I know, you were thinking of F. Sinatra, but this late singer had The Voice. So ladies and genitals: A. Franklin!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XESo86WgOrE

[phil.c60]

For me, just too screechy most of the time. Too be fair I'm not really a soprano fan, contralto is more my bag.

 

[stewblack]

A fine voice, tragic story. As others have said would have been good to hear her sing some decent soul tunes. That cheesy 80s pop sound never floated my boat. Bland, wallpaper music, with a weak, mass produced feel for the most part. 

[Barking Spiders]

To me she was Year Zero for the  horrible style of vocal gymnastics perpetrated on us by the likes of Mariah Carey and the myriad of anonymous X Factor drones wanting to be like her. Sure she had the range , timbre etc but her material was very meh.  I detest her version of I Will Always Love You. It's only when you hear the Dolly Parton original you realise how much of the soul and feeling Houston had sucked out of it.

Edited November 4, 2019 by Barking Spiders

[DJpullchord]

Don’t smoke crack, kids!

[Barking Spiders]

16 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I feel exactly the same way about Nothing Compares 2 U. Whenever I hear ‘her’ recording of it, it just makes my skin crawl. The live version performed by Prince and The New Power Generation, featuring the wonderful Rosie Gaines, is also superb.

Yep, with you there all the way.  It may be though I've always found SoC so irritatingly right-on and self-righteous that it brings out my inner Tory boy from the recesses of the darkest part of my soul and so taint my view of her music

[chris_b]

23 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

To me she was Year Zero for the  horrible style of vocal gymnastics perpetrated on us by the likes of Mariah Carey and the myriad of anonymous X Factor drones wanting to be like her.

I think Year Zero for this vocal style is buried way back in the black gospel tradition, but Aretha Franklin put it into the mainstream in the mid 60's. The difference was, she could sound good doing the vocal gymnastics, many others don't.

There is much to like about the likes of Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan (mostly their bands) but those vocals are always a turn off for me. Whitney goes from good to "shouty" at the drop of a hat and Chaka just shrieks her way through too many songs!!

[NoRhino]

On ‎04‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 11:09, Barking Spiders said:

I Will Always Love You. It's only when you hear the Dolly Parton original you realise how much of the soul and feeling Houston had sucked out of it.

Dolly's version makes me fill up. Whitney's version makes me switch it off.

[casapete]

3 hours ago, NoRhino said:

Dolly's version makes me fill up. Whitney's version makes me switch it off.

I actually like both versions - Dolly's for it's charm and simplicity, Whitney's for it's amazing arrangement and vocal.