Whitney Houston: I'm your baby tonight

Whitney Houston was born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9th of 1963 in Newark, New Jersey. She is the youngest, and no doubt the most talented, of three children. Her mother was cousin to Dionne Warwick and her godmother is singing legend Aretha Franklin, all three women have shaped the woman she has become.

Whitney sang along with her mother, and other great singers, for a number of years before going it alone. She was modelling prior to hitting it big as a singer. She graced the cover of Seventeen Magazine and did commercials. Clive Davis of Arista Records saw her in one of those performances and was impressed enough to sign her with his prestigious organization. She debuted on the Merv Griffin show in 1983, did an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine soon afterward, and the New York Times said her first album was slated for certain success in the R & B platform. She enjoyed some success in the R & B sector of music. However, it was not until she crossed over into the Pop forum that her career really, really took off.

Ms. Houston won her first Grammy in 1984 for her ´Language of Love´ album. She also got Best Pop Performance by Female and Outstanding Individual Performance in Variety Music that same year. In 1987 she won seven Grammy's! 1988 she was nominated for three more Grammy's. Those would not be her only claims to fame.

In 1990 Whitney embarked on her ´I'm your Baby Tonight´ Tour and I was pleased to be part of it. I was living in Miami, Florida where a friend of my friend had hooked me up with this short term employment contract and promises of more to come, if I were so inclined. I was apprehensive initially, but decided to give it a whirl. This little job was very lucrative--cash paid daily to the tune of $150, and lots of fun! I had never been up close or personal with a star of her quality ever before and it was a moving and memorable experience.

I was hired to be what the Hollywood segment calls a PA or Production Assistant. I was a glorified gopher. I drove a van ever day from their hotel to the practice site, which was a large auditorium west of the City of Miami, FL. The day began early and ended late. I was charged with driving the back-up singers, dancers, and choreographers. They were a rowdy bunch of talented, driven people who always thanked me for getting them to practice on time and never fell short of interesting stories to fill our time to and fro.

I vividly recall the first time I heard Whitney sing. I had just followed the dancers, choreographers, and costume designers in to the auditorium. There was a buzz of excitement to the room. The room fell silent as Whitney approached the stage. There was no music behind her voice or other noise in the entire practice auditorium. All eyes were upon her. She strolled over and sat upon a wooden stool with no microphone wearing a white t-shirt, tennis shoes, and jeans. The light and sound crews were practicing, adjusting what colors of light to stream in and out, and how loud to adjust the sound, etc.., Men talking into headsets chattered back and forth until they had everything just right. The bright lights shone down on Whitney. As the light converged upon her we caught a giant fleck of brilliant light on Whitney's engagement ring finger. It was fire and ice like an instant laser show. She was unmistakably sporting a giant diamond ring. Behind the scenes there was much discussion as to who her new beau, Bobby Brown, was and where this relationship was headed. There were a variety of opinions and not all were good. [I had no idea who Bobby Brown was at that time, but would learn more as time marched onward.] Once the lights and sound was set Whitney began to sing. Her incredible voice rang clear, strong, and loud. She sang with such passion and heart. I was awestruck! Her words in song were so bold and beautiful it was abundantly apparent that I was in the company of greatness. As I stood there awestruck, I knew that her career was only going to soar, and for a time it did.

As practice progressed, day after day, and hour after hour, I noticed that Whitney was a pure songstress. As a pure songstress dance had not been a part of that singing equation. However, those times were changing and dance was now practiced too. The back-up dancers did all sorts of moves and flew through the air as effortless as a butterfly, landing silently on the stage. They swirled and twirled and gyrated as the music played. Dance was not where Whitney particularly wanted to excel, but she was giving it her all and looking good doing it. Her dancers and choreographers were on the top of their games as music and dance merged and the stage was ignited and filled with life and energy. [MTV's music videos had changed the landscape of how songs were sung. It added a dimension that was previously not highlighted, dance and choreography, but would increasingly become important to the world of music and Whitney was not immune to that change.]

During the weeks that I was in Whitney's employ all of her people treated me as if I were one of them. They were honest and earthy. They were humble and meek. I was in the presence of greatness. Some of the back-up singers and dancers shared stories of other famous people that were honored to work with and for. We got to know each other fairly well from those early morning curtain calls until those late night end of practice sessions. I admired their dedication to their craft immensely and hoped to one day find something I could be equally as passionate about. They worked long and hard, sometimes without many breaks and yet never complained.

This job lasted ten weeks and during that time Whitney's Aunt Bea was our go-between. Aunt Bea took an instant shine to me and I was honoured to be her pet. Whitney liked white pizza and I was sent out for that and other things between driving the dancers, choreographers, and back-up singers back and forth. Aunt Bea always gave me cash, always provided me with a nice tip, bright smile, and thank you for my services. I recall her as a warm and gentle woman who cared a great deal for her niece. Whitney was a shy, hugely talented, and graceful young woman with a rising star in her zodiac sign.

The ´I'm Your Baby Tonight´ Tour album was released in November of 1990 and was a resounding success. Whitney continued to sing and release new albums, but she also ventured into the acting arena with movies like; ´The Bodyguard´, ´Waiting to Exhale´, and ´How Stella got her Groove Back´. Worldwide her movies grossed billions of dollars and gave her even more fame.

After marrying Bobby Brown, Whitney's career was less up and more stagnant. She has some brushes with the law over drugs that were never part of her life before this union. It appeared she was spiralling downward and the media had all but written her off. However, Whitney is resilient. She comes from strong stock. After a while out of the limelight she appears to be back on track. She has a new album out this year and looks better than ever! For more information about her latest albums please log on to her web site www.whitneyhouston.com.

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Whitney Houston: I'm your baby tonight

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