Tom Moon on Whitney Houston

"It's not often that a record designed down to the last breath to be commercially accessible ends up changing the rules. Whitney Houston's debut did exactly that. Discovered and launched by legendary record executive Clive Davis, Houston came out of nowhere in early 1985, and within two years virtually everything on urban radio sounded like an echo of this album—producers shamelessly borrowed the beats, the string sounds, and the plush padded keyboards, while a school of singers (Toni Braxton, the members of TLC, Janet Jackson) emulated Houston's writhing phrases and demanding-diva delivery. Houston was, to be sure, something special. The daughter of gospel dynamo Cissy Houston, she grew up in Newark, New Jersey, singing in church. Her early career included jingle dates and appearances in clubs—her first recording was with producer Bill Laswell's experimental rock band Material. From the start, Houston had an unusual combination of skills: the timing of a jazz singer and the range … of a gospel soloist. This enchanted Davis, who spotted her one night when she was singing in a club [and] offered her a contract on the spot …" (1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, p. 370).