I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)

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"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album Whitney
Released	May 1987
Format	CD single Cassette single 7" single 12" single
Genre	Pop/R&B
Length	4:49
Label	Arista Records
Writer(s)	George Merrill Shannon Rubicam
Producer(s)	Narada Michael Walden
Certification	Platinum
Chart positions
#1 (USA,UK,Australia,Germany,Switzerland) #15 (France)
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"Greatest Love of All" (1986)	"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (1987)	"Didn't We Almost Have It All" (1987)

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is the first single from Whitney Houston's second studio album Whitney, released in May 1987. It was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of the band Boy Meets Girl, who had previously written the number-one hit "How Will I Know", also for Houston. Merrill delivered the demo to Clive Davis on an audio cassette, and Davis had Houston record it. If Davis didn't like the song, Merrill and Rubicam would have recorded it as "Boy Meets Girl".^{[citation needed]}

The song was produced by Narada Michael Walden. The original arrangement of the song did not impress him, as he saw it as more of a country tune than a pop song, so he threw in faster beats and Caribbean percussion to create a dance track.

Contents 1 Chart information 2 Awards 3 Single track-listing 4 Music video 5 Other versions 6 Comprehensive charts 7 References

[edit] Chart information

The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1987 (the same day that Houston's album Whitney debuted at number one, the first time ever by a female artist), and remained there for two weeks. It remained in the top forty of the Hot 100 for fourteen weeks, and was ranked fourth on the Year-End Chart.

The song reached number one on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart for two weeks, and on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for three weeks, Houston's longest run at that time. It was also a milestone in Houston's career, as it eventually sold enough units to be certified platinum, her first single to achieve this. It was also number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks, and reached number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. It followed "How Will I Know" to become Houston's second number-one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. A remix released in 1996 also became moderately successful in its own right, reaching eleven on the chart.

Internationally, the song became a worldwide smash, and is largely responsible for bringing her to global stardom, becoming Houston's biggest single at that point. It sold over three million copies internationally, setting its sales record at over 4.2 million copies, and reached number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland, helping the album Whitney reach number one in all of those countries.

Incidentally, the original demo tape version of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," as recorded by the songwriters George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, was released on the multi-artist album Number One With a Bullet on Cypress Records #003276.

[edit] Awards

• 1988: Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance"
• 1988: American Music Award for "Favorite Pop/Rock Single"

The song also won "Best Music Video" at the First Annual Garden State (New Jersey) Music Awards. Whitney Houston open the night of the 30th Annual Grammy Awards singing "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".

[edit] Single track-listing

1. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (album version)
2. 12" remix
3. 12" remix — radio edit
4. Dub mix
5. Acappella mix
6. "Moment of Truth"

[edit] Music video

The video for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (directed by Brian Grant) is one of Houston's best recognized music videos. In this light-hearted video, Houston first performs in a black-and-white concert arena. She walks backstage, and the scene is intercut with more vivid, colorful images of her. The song then explodes into its beginning, with a myriad of locations and various outfits by Houston, as dancers trying to impress her as she dances around, just having a good time. At one point she pours a bucket of water on a bad dancer.

[edit] Other versions

• Shortly after the songs release in 1987, KLF alterego The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu sampled extensively from the song for their composition Whitney Joins The JAMs. Houston never officially joined The Jams.
• In summer 2006, R&B artist Lumidee and Fatman Scoop collaborated and released a song for the FIFA 2006 World Cup soundtrack. The song entitled 'Dance' featured a sample of 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'.
• In a live concert from Union Chapel former Talking Heads front man David Byrne performed his own "sincere" version.
• Noisettes performed the song live at Fopp London

[edit] Comprehensive charts

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was ranked fourth on The Billboard Hot 100 Year End Charts (1987), and remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for nineteen weeks.

It was Houston's fourth number-one single on The Billboard Hot 100, her third on The Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, fourth on The Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales, her fourth on The Billboard Adult Contemporary, and her fifth overall Billboard Top Ten hit.

Chart (1987)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	2
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Airplay	3
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	4
UK Singles Chart	1
ARIA Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	1
Sweden Top 60 Singles	1
France Singles Chart	15

Preceded by "Head to Toe" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single June 27, 1987- July 4, 1987	Succeeded by "Alone" by Heart
Preceded by "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship	UK number one single May 31, 1987	Succeeded by "Star Trekkin'" by The Firm

[edit] References