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Post-Dispatch Ugly WH Article
Concert date: 7/24/99 St. Louis, MO
Review of the show:
Signs say we won't always love you, Whitney Houston
By Kevin C. Johnson
Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic
* As the singer comes to The Fox, her CD sales are sagging, bookings are being canceled and she is having trouble with her throat and her image.
"It's Not Right But It's OK," Whitney Houston sings on her latest hit single, telling her man he can pack his bags and leave because she's going to make it without him. The song is meant as a declaration of female empowerment.
But the line "It's Not Right But It's OK" could also summarize Houston's career these days.
After Houston formed the blueprint for singers Toni Braxton and Deborah Cox and gave Mariah Carey a model to copy note for note, the record-breaking, chart-topping, Grammy-winning super vocalist has seen her immense popularity wane.
She's no longer America's sweetheart, not with a rabble-rousing headline-magnet of a husband like Bobby Brown, or persistent, image-damaging rumors we won't spell out here (although it doesn't take much sniffing around to catch the worst of them).
Houston's current concert tour is not exactly doing gangbuster business. The biggest buzz is that ticket prices are too high. The better seats cost $125 (those are gone) for Saturday's appearance at the Fox Theatre, where the R&B group 112 will open. When the only discussion about a show revolves around ticket prices, there's a problem.
It would be incorrect to say that the tour is in trouble, but last-minute changes to the itinerary raise questions about Houston's ability to draw big audiences. She originally scheduled two performances at the Fox this weekend, but the concerts were consolidated into one so that Houston can perform in Memphis tonight instead of St. Louis.
But if the two St. Louis shows had sold well, would this have happened? Also, why was a recent Cleveland show so vastly under-attended?
In some cities, Houston is playing theaters rather than the arenas she performed in a few years ago. Of course, there's a familiar spin on that. "I've turned down a lot of arena dates because I've done the big-arena thing. Now I want to do something where people can feel me and I can feel them," Houston said in a statement.
Fans in Washington, and the crowd that showed up for her homecoming concert in Newark, haven't felt her yet. The show in the nation's capital was canceled because of illness. Houston said her vocal cords were swollen and she needed a break.
Ads for the Washington concert said the air conditioning would not be operating - air conditioning restricts some singers' vocal chords. But fans weren't eager to sit in a theater without air-conditioning during the July 4 weekend - not even for Houston. Officials at The Fox know of no such demands for her concert here.
The Newark show was scheduled the same weekend, but fans waiting for Houston's arrival onstage instead got the promoter, who told the crowd that the show was canceled because of Houston's throat problems. Fans booed; many were ticked off because they'd put off holiday travel plans to hear Houston. She waited until the last minute to cancel, hoping she'd recover and do the show.
Houston's CD sales are unquestionably down. She has sold 2 million-plus copies of "My Love Is Your Love," and though that can't be counted as a flop, it's a disappointment compared to her own track record. For the first few months of its release, Houston's CD was outpaced by a greatest-hits album from Carey, and the recording failed to make No. 1 or even the top 5 on Billboard's pop or R&B album charts.
The Houston CD - her first collection of all-new, non-soundtrack tunes since 1990's "I'm Your Baby Tonight" - is currently No. 69.
Before recording "My Love Is Your Love," Houston stood at a crossroad musically. Tastes have changed since 1992's "The Bodyguard." A slew of other singers (Carey, Celine Dion) are doing the sweeping style of music that Houston already perfected. Houston had to decide whether to compete with them or take a different, hip route.
"My Love Is Your Love" finds the singer trying to have her cake ("When You Believe," the super-safe ballad with Carey that received a frigid reception from the public) and eat it, too (Houston teamed up with white-hot producer Rodney Jerkins of "The Boy Is Mine" fame for mixed results).
Here's a look at where Houston has been musically, where she's at, and where she might go.
"Whitney Houston" (1985) - This album put Houston, a protege of Arista Records' Clive Davis, on the musical map. It included "You Give Good Love," "The Greatest Love of All" (originally a George Benson tune) and the Grammy-winning "Saving All My Love for You." The songs were mostly cut from the same cloth - gentle, syrupy, soaring ballads - and they cemented Houston's reputation for that style.
"Whitney Houston" was a sterling debut, and it remains her classic. The CD is one of two by Houston to be certified with a Diamond Award - given to releases selling 10 million copies or more (this one sold 13 million).
"Whitney" (1987) - This sequel was more of the same, right down to the title. Houston strengthened her relationship with the dance music community with this sophomore effort. Fluffy, soulless songs like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "Love Will Save the Day," and "So Emotional" were upbeat smashes, finding homes in the clubs and on pop and R&B radio. The ballads "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" filled the need of those seeking her big numbers. Another hits-packed smash that was the first CD by a female to enter the album charts at No. 1.
"I'm Your Baby Tonight" (1990) - This record was Houston's first real foray into more R&B and soul-oriented grooves, and she enlisted the aid of the popular producing team of L.A. Reid and Babyface to help her along. Unfortunately, songs like the title track and "My Name Is Not Susan" weren't tough enough, and the now-formulaic ballads such as "Miracle" and "All the Man That I Need" carried the album.
"The Bodyguard" (1992) - Although the movie with this title was glossy garbage, its soundtrack was huge. The CD is still the best-selling soundtrack of all time, at 16 million copies. It captured Grammys for Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Though not a Houston CD in the truest sense - she's featured on only six of the 12 songs (Kenny G and Lisa Stans- field are also on the disc), it was her contributions that put this album in every household.
Pop ballads, like her inescapable cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," "I Have Nothing," and "Run to You" easily sold the CD. A cover of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" remains Houston's best dance tune.
"Waiting to Exhale" (1995) - Houston's second soundtrack effort was more of a various artists collection than "The Bodyguard," with Houston's songs serving as bookends for this Babyface-produced CD. The album demonstrated the power of an all-female lineup before Lilith Fair. Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" and "Count On Me" (a duet with CeCe Winans) represent her best work with Babyface.
"The Preacher's Wife" (1996) - The soundtrack to Houston's third film feature was considered too slick for some people's tastes. Still, it was probably a labor of love for Houston, who finally got the opportunity to go all out with a CD recognizing her gospel roots.
In between fine gospel tunes such as "I Go to the Rock," "Joy," and "I Love the Lord," she managed to squeeze in a Four Tops cover, "I Believe in You and Me" and even a dance tune, "Step By Step." This one and her debut are Houston's best.
"My Love Is Your Love" (1998) - Houston's overly trend-conscious, most youthful CD has her latching on to the hot hitmakers of the moment, regardless of whether their style gels with hers. In some cases - producer Wyclef Jean's title track, Missy Elliott's "Oh Yes," and Rodney Jerkins' "If I Told You That" - the results are fabulous. But the uneven collection also includes lesser efforts, including the Lauryn Hill-produced "I Was Made to Love Him."
Attempts to resurrect the magic Houston and Babyface had with new songs "You'll Never Stand Alone" and "Until You Come Back" came off as old hat.
What Houston plans to record next remains a mystery, though just this week it was announced she may do an all-Spanish CD. But after "My Love Is Your Love" plays itself out, by late fall or early winter, she should take time off - she promoted the heck out the CD, then toured.
Then, sometime after 2000, she could release a greatest-hits CD that's been talked about for a couple of years. That disc is likely to include the obligatory handful of new songs that most retrospective packages have these days.