"Thinking About You" was the weakest song on the first album. It's not even close to being funky.
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"Thinking About You" was the weakest song on the first album. It's not even close to being funky.
"Thinking About you " IS 80s funk...the production is as smooth anything Prince was doing at the time...Clive put his money on that horse..2nd release off the LP..[[may have only been "12)..."thinking about you" is waaay better than the sachrine "All At Once" or "Greatest Love of ALL "...her vocal has got a bite,its sharp and she just sounds like magic with Kashif..its much more of a logistical work out for her range than say,"How Will I Know"..and the other thing about its not edited to a "7 time its like nearly going on 7 mins long..I like that the groove just goes on your getting pure joy from Whitney..shes digging this track..its funk- no not a challenging piece of instrumentation.. just a clear synth riff that grows into a double refrain from both singers..the back and call chant between Houston and Kashif reminds me of Johnny Bristol filling in those little places on "Someday Well Be Together"..though as I stated before half way thru it basically becomes a duet..judging from the outter riff harmony she did with Luther for The Soul Train Awards..well what can I say ? shes probably the most instinctive vocalist in history..I dont think Kashif needed to do much production for this track..it just flowed out of her naturally..its never dated for me I played it weeks before she passed at one of my gigs..next to "Saving All My Love For You" best damn track on the debut LP....
I thought Whitney's acapella 12" single version of "Love Will Save the Day" was pretty funky! She had the goods to sing any style of music convincingly in my opinion. This little debate is really over what style of music you personally prefer, not that the deliever, in this case Whitney Houston was not good.....she was superb! I grew up not really caring for music styles such as Country & Western, Bluegrass, hardcore Blues or Polka for that matter, but I know there were excellent artists producing music from all of those genres. Some prefer a funkier groove to a more Pop flavor. I liked a lot of both pop, soul, funk, rock and all the variations on those genre's.
I use to describe Pop music as a form of music with very simplistic lyrics and a hook that everyone would remember. Just think, Lionel Richie solo and that was my personal definition of what Pop music could become......at it's worst! LOL! Sorry Lionel.
that aggravated you but enchanted 14 million listeners in the US market alone..mechanical ?..Pointer sisters "automatic"or even "Erotic City" is way more mechanical..we have to agree to disagree..and my original point stands for Lionel as well..you just cant term him just Pop.."Sail On" was a country radio smash..people like Houston and Ritchie were winners because they crossed musical barriers and tore up radio programming rules..and Whitney didnt bring down racial barriers for females in the industry ? how many MTV videos of Ross and Summer did MTV play ? not damn many
Timmy,
Ironically, compared to the rest of the dance tracks on that LP, by comparison, "Thinking About You" is infinitely more funky & the only dance track that I ever liked or played from that LP.
I understand what you're saying when comparing it to "THE FUNK". But when placed within the context of the dance tracks of the LP, I understand what Nomis is saying.
I'd also have to say that it's not as electronic as other popular tracks of the period such as "Beat Box by Art Of Noise or "You're In My System" [[still one of my favorites & always will be).
Those were the 80s & for better or worse, music has never been quite the same since!
I'll cosign what Tim said. That song is as much Funk as a rock being a vegetable.
But Whitney & Bobby did sing a little P-Funk on "BEING BOBBY BROWN". Just can't
remember what song it was. Anybody?
We have a difference of opinion, and I don't particularly like Kashif's production of that track. let's leave it at that because neither one of our minds will be changed. In other words, I don't have enough passion for the song to even argue about it.
I will say that the sonic qualities of the song on the remaster is very good. Lots of depth and space. That's the audiophile in me. Sorry!
Soulster,
I'll have to revisit that one to see. I hate to say it but that, ''I Wanna Dance With Somebody" & I Will Always Love You'' were 3 songs of hers that I've never liked. They were way too pop for my audience & myself as well.
Great vocal performances indeed. But I never warmed up to any of them.
I can't stand "I'll Always Love You", either, but I grew up with a lot of top 40 pop music from the 60s and 70s [[read: White), so I have no problem with her pop material.
I liked a lot of her "pop" classics for what they were, nothing great but fun to listen to. Her ballads stood in a class all of their own. I like her rendition of "I Will Always Love You" but it is lyrically one of the most insipid and poorly written tunes ever. She squeezed all of the juice out of that lemon; I can understand the aclaim and appreciate the performance but don't like the song.
Prior to her death, "I will always love you" was always listed as one of the most over played, hated songs ever.
One of my favorite songs from her first album was "Thinking about you". However, there were a couple of songs- that one included, that really sounded like filler.
Ahh, this is the old SDF I remember. Spirited discussion about the MUSIC. Thinking About You, funky?
Man, that a song's a Sir Nose classic. A picture of that record is imbedded with the definition of FakinTheFunk. To me, about as close as Whitney came to being born again Funky was Queen of The Night and MAYBE I'm Your Baby Tonight [[especially live versions).
I have to agree with my fellow Funkateers here, Whitney's music was, from the get go, created and marketed to a Pop audience. And there's nothing wrong with that. The fact the she had hellacious vocal chops and some down home gospel influences just sweetened the deal.
I had no problems with it either. However, that crowd of haters at the Soul Train Awards did when they booed her. I mean, WTF? I think that made her examine herself and want to appease them with the perception of her music and lifestyle. It was a long slow curve downhill after that point.
I'll second that, Chidrummer.
Agree to disagree, Soul.
"Thinking About You" was not a funk song and barely funky. It was the same as a million other B sides on a million other '80s albums But, that's just another opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QITutdHsGb0
Now fellas, come ON now. Listen to Thinking About You and compare it to this!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFcnGLFGbL8&ob=av2e
You tell me, Who's Funky?
I wasn't pushing it, Ralph. I was just making my case. The problem with the written word is that it doesn't convey facial or body expression, or demeanor.
On the other hand, I have a vision of timmyfunk is getting steamed and not being able to accept a difference of opinion.
I've never seen you as mad ever..........LOL; maybe we agree too often.
This thread has been hijacked
http://youtu.be/AffIyW4lcTI
I ain't been in here in so long but "Thinking About You" was the closest Whitney came to making anything "funky". But yeah it's just an '80s dance/R&B track to me. A bit lightweight at that since Whitney was never that big on dance records. Anyway, I hope the family and such finally give it a rest but I see they're still trying to milk the rest of her for what it's worth not unlike Michael. Sad. RIP.
Whitney not big on dance records ? she demanded dance remixes on the double greatest hits..Whitney loved to go clubbing and she loved the remixes of "Its Not Right" [[she sang the remix at Gay pride in NY)..last year she was executive producer on "The Essential" cd and again she made one of the discs all remixes..after "Exhale" soundtrack she had her eye on the dancefloor market.."its Not Right"..and "Try It On My Own" became club anthems...she may have fallen off the pop charts in the last few years but in clubland the thunderpuss and Hex Hector remixes were always being played..
Now that was a good memory, two of my favorite ladies. They can say whatever they want about Whitney, but I admired how she always had her mother, the woman that taught her by her side on those big nights. Her Dad must have been very proud as well. She always thanks God first anytime I have seen her winning an award and she won a TON of them!