The death of Whitney Houston has affected many in different ways. Some of us knew how abusive her habit had become while some of us thought it best to remain in denial and hope this woman of tremendous talent will overcome the demons in her life. I’m sure many of us felt can we just get one more Natalie Cole. While many ponder the triumphs and trials of Ms. Houston I need to express what she meant to my generation and why we the teenagers of the 80s have taken her death quite personally.
Being a teenager of the 80s obviously means I was a child of the 70s. Growing up in the 70s meant you came from a musical family. No we weren’t the Jacksons, but know this every household had some type of music going. Remember we didn’t have the internet or video games, all we had was our company and music to get that company going. Throughout my childhood I watched the adults in my life sing along to some of the greatest music. My mother often imitated Aretha Franklin as she sung Day Dreaming. My father swore he was Al Green; and you couldn’t say anything to my uncle who we called Big Johnny anything about Gladys Knight and the Midnight Train to Georgia. All of the kids in my family can recite any of these lyrics and reminisce about our parents, aunts and uncles who are now in their 70s and have an appreciation of how they loved their music. The music was loved not just for the lyrical content or the orchestration but the voices. The voices were pure, some were gritty, but most of all they were flawless.
As I became a pre-teen rap started to dominate the music scene. Loving the Sugar Hill Gang’s Rappers Delight or Apache and Flash and the Furious Five’s Freedom or the Message this had become the staple of our great music. It was all about the beats, rapping, the streets how hard can you act. Then something amazing happened around 1984 as I was listening to the radio I heard a song called You Give Good Love to Me, the vocals were precious, the song was infectious. I hummed that song all day long and couldn’t wait to hear it again. Mind you we didn’t have iTunes there was no simple download, I didn’t even know who sang the song. As it began getting air play I found out the singer was a new girl named Whitney Houston. I then heard a second song of her’s titled Saving All My Love for You. Now just think this is 1984, Bronx, NY, Walton High School some of the hardest kids in the city of New York and we’re all singing songs by this new singer Whitney Houston. We were finally able to see her on TV and she was glamourous. To my generation Whitney was the equivalent of the greatest similar to what our parents saw in Aretha, Gladys and Diana. Whitney was these three greats wrapped up in one!
For some of us Whitney was just not this fallen pop star. She brought substantive music to my generation. Prior to Whitney we had rap as our sole music. This is not to discredit rap but it’s unfair for anybody to only experience one musical genre. Whitney let us appreciate music, she gave us the feelings our parents had and up to that time this was something we could only imitate.
While there is no denial the path Ms. Houston took led to her untimely demise, there’s a generation that will forever remember Whitney and thank her for clearing our ears allowing us to hear real music, flawless vocals and infectious passionate lyrics. You rest in peace Ms. Houston for your contribution to the lives of many have afforded the eternal peace you so deserve.
