Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
Whitney Houston never planned to cover Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" for The Bodyguard Soundtrack. Instead, she planned to sing "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", but reversed course when she heard Paul Young was doing a version for Fried Green Tomatoes. Since Houston had complete creative control over which songs made the movie, she resumed her hunt for a different song. Credit her co-star Kevin Costner for suggesting she choose "I Will Always Love You". The song went on to become one of the biggest hits of 1992 and 1993 -- spending an astounding 14 weeks atop the Hot 100 Chart. I still remember hearing the song at every school dance and on nearly every contemporary radio station in Chicago. The Bodyguard Soundtrack went on to be the best-selling soundtrack of all-time and, when Whitney died, Dolly Parton quoted lyrics from the ballad in praise of Whitney: "I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'"