849.) Sun Mar. 31, 2019

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Snub Week

The Song of the Day is:

Whitney Houston – “Saving All My Love For You”

From the album Whitney Houston (1985)

A few stolen moments is all that we share
You’ve got your family and they need you there
Though I’ve tried to resist being last on your list
But no other man’s gonna do
So I’m saving all my love for you

Michael Masser – Gerry Goffin

Does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame put themselves perilously close to a very un-rock adult contemporary proximity by considering Whitney Houston? Yes! Very much so yes! Can they ignore the late Whitney Houston’s contributions to pop music forever? No. Absolutely not! Should they induct her while producer Clive Davis is still alive and can do the honors, maybe with tributes by Beyoncé, Gladys Knight and Adele. Definitely! There is always the argument when it comes to the Hall where people says “it’s not the Music Hall of Fame, it’s the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!” That “Rock and Roll” name is not a rule, it’s a guideline. That’s why this institution celebrates rap music and gospel and jazz along with rock. It’s about inspiration, and Whitney Houston inspired the masses with her R&B and pop singing. The main detractor for the late Whitney Houston is how smooth her music was, but it is not like there isn’t a precedent for smooth music in the Hall. Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, the Platters, Diana Ross, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees and Linda Ronstadt have all been inducted, and they’ve all explored smooth R&B venturing into adult contemporary territory. Whitney wasn’t all adult contemporary though, she had some dancefloor-fillers too, with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” probably being the most famous. In short, Whitney was one of pop music greatest vocalists, and it would be a terrible oversight for the Hall to continue to overlook. “Saving All My Love For You” was originally recorded by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. (originally from the 5th Dimension) and it wound being much more successful for Whitney, giving her her first number one pop hit, her first of 11, and many more top tens hits. Whitney, who passed away in 2012, has been eligible since 2009.