Love Will Save the Day

"Love Will Save the Day"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album Whitney
Released	July 5, 1988
Format	CD single cassette vinyl single
Recorded	1986–1987
Genre	Dance-pop R&B
Length	5:25
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Toni C. (Toni Colandreo)
Producer(s)	John "Jellybean" Benitez
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (1988) "Love Will Save the Day" (1988) "I Know Him So Well" (1988)
Whitney track listing "Just the Lonely Talking Again" (2) "Love Will Save the Day" (3) "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (4)

"Love Will Save the Day" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Whitney Houston from her second multi-platinum studio album Whitney (1987). The single was released in July 1988 by Arista Records. "Love Will Save the Day" is the fastest-tempoed song on the album Whitney. Written by Toni C, produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez and featuring Roy Ayers, it is one of the uptempo numbers on the album that also includes "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "So Emotional."

Critical reception

Los Angeles Times editor Robert Hilburn described the song as a "hollow dance track that tries to mix social comment with dance-floor vigor."^[1] Rolling Stone's Vince Alleti wrote: "Jellybean clicks neatly with "Love Will Save the Day," the only song to even remotely acknowledge the problems of the world at large and the most vivaciously percussive track on the record."^[2] Whitney fanpage described this song as Latin influenced, sparkling song.^[3] St. Petersburg Times editors Eric Snider and Annelise Wamsley described Love Will Save the Day: "a unique tune on an extremely mainstream album. Its lively Afro-Cuban flavor, driven by a wall of clattering percussion, is truly joyous."^[4]

Chart performance

At this time, Whitney Houston had achieved a record-breaking string of seven number-one hits, with four of those #1's from her current album "Whitney". "Love Will Save the Day" did not become Houston's eighth consecutive number one, but continued her trend of hit singles by peaking in the US Top 10. The #9 peak on the Hot 100 was Houston's lowest solo peak up to this time. The song also made the Top 10 without an accompanying music video.

Houston had stronger performances on the charts prior to this song but it did remain in the top 40 for 11 weeks, and reached #5 on the R&B Chart, and #1 on the Hot Club/Dance Play Tracks.

Internationally, the song mostly saw less success except in the Netherlands where it reached number 6 and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at #10 and Switzerland, where it went Top 20. It was a moderate hit in Germany, making 37; and was a minor hit in Australia, peaking at 84.

After her sudden death, Entertainment Weekly would rank the song #20 on its list Whitney Houston: Her 25 Best Songs and stated: "Though the single broke her streak of consecutive No. 1's, the Miami bass and spicy horns on this high-BPM dance-pop workout pointed to Houston's willingness to experiment and evolve."^[5]

Track listings and formats

Versions

• Extended remix – 6:55
• Extended club mix – 7:58
• A cappella – 5:14
• Dub Will Save the Day – 4:58
• Jellybean Mix
• The Underground Mix – 7:30
• The Underground Edit – 5:40
• Dub – 5:30
• Instrumental – 5:40
• Radio single version – 4:19
• Single version – 4:22

Personnel

Charts

Chart precession and succession

See also

• List of number-one dance singles of 1988 (U.S.)

References

External links

• Love Will Save the Day at Discogs