Whitney Houston - How Will I Know

Thanks for the info. That's a lot of versions. Even the debut "Whitney Houston" CD had 2 (or 3?) different versions depending on when you bought the CD. I have 2 of them. I bought the 2nd version to get the "acoustic piano" mix of "Greatest Love" in addition to the "electric piano" mix. Only early versions had the acousti mix. I was pleasantly surprised to get a different version of "How Will I Know" as well. I guess the early printings had the album versions; and the later pressings had the single versions. There may have even been an "in between" period where they added the single mix for the 3rd single ("How Will I Know") but not yet the following single ("Greatest") - which would possibly mean 3 different CDs a person might get. But is there also a version from way back then that had the "single remix with the LP version" or was that just on a CD single, etc.?

I didn't realize there was a single remix w/ LP ending. Where does the switch occur? And was this ever on a proper Whitney CD?

aaronk wrote: Yes, it's the first issued 45 version that's not on CD to my knowledge. The single remix w/LP ending is what commonly appears on CD, and this was issued originally on 45s with the "RE" in the deadwax. The switch occurs at 4:17. You can hear the instrumentation change, as well as an increase in bass (EQ).

Oh, is it? I'm so confused. I thought the single remix
with LP ending is what was NOT on CD. My mistake.

To help clear up any confusion:

1) The original LP version and mix starts with the keyboard melody right from the beginning. At 4:18 of this version, when Whitney ad-libs "oooh" there are NO background vocals.

2) The first issued 45 version, which does not have "RE" in the deadwax, is a remix that opens with just drum beats. The keyboard melody comes in at 0:08. At 4:24, this is the spot where Whitney ad-libs "oooh," and at the same time, the background singers sing the word "heartbeat." To my knowledge, this version is still MIA on CD.

3) The second issued 45 version, which has "RE" in the deadwax, matches the first 45 version up to 4:17. At this point, it switches to the LP version for the rest of the song. It's a fairly obvious change in EQ, which is the giveaway for me. Because it switches to the LP mix, you no longer hear the backup singers sing the word "heartbeat" when Whitney sings the "oooh," which occurs on this version at 4:24.    This version is on my copy of the self-titled CD, and it's the only 45 version that I'm aware of on CD.

Edited by aaronk

Aaron - I picked the "hit"/"non-hit" notation based only on a hunch, and a convenient way to tell the two versions apart. My logic was that if the original version was doing just fine, there would have been no need to release a second version. That's pure conjecture on my part, though.

I'd be interested to learn when the second (RE-1) version was released. I picked up my copy in the New York City suburbs as the song was entering the top 5 nationally.

I don't have that 4-song comp on Laserdisc or VHS but I do have Whitney's "Greatest Hits" DVD with 30 music videos. Wouldn't that have the same music video (including audio) as what's on this 4-song Laserdisc of the videos from her 1st album?

So maybe it's there digitally. I'll have to pull out the DVD, but first I have to get familiar with what happens on the audio after 4:17. Aaron provides a good explanation of what's going on in these different versions, so that will be very helpful.

Incidentally, I've pulled songs from commercially available VHS tapes (when the single mix was only available there, and on vinyl records), and I've found the files often to be lossless. In fact, for Belinda Carlisle's "I Feel the Magic" (single mix) - which has never been released on CD (not even her CD singles boxed set), I pulled it from a commercially available VHS tape years ago. Then when the music video eventually came out on a DVD, I pulled it from there, only to find it went to higher frequencies (in the spectral view) on the VHS tape! So while VHS may not be "digital", it can be a good a source (or better) than a DVD for getting a single mix that doesn't come from vinyl.