Whitney Houston - How Will I Know

Yeah, I'm stumped too. (If there really was tape damage for the first 45 version, then that would explain why it's never appeared anywhere, ever, after the first 45 pressing. Still more speculation.)

We'll just file this in the same category as all the Quincy Jones-produced singles that had multiple releases.

I'll change "hit"/"non-hit" to "first" and "second" in my library.

And this just got even more confusing. I pulled out all 3 CDs of Whitney's first album that I have - compared them to each other and to the video links provided above. The differences in "How Will I Know" have to do with hearing (or not) the word "heartbeat" under Whitney's singing "Ooooh" near the end of the song. That's really all I was focusing on, other than the obvious different intros.

The 1st pressing (deadwax says ARCD-8212 2A8 61) has:
How Will I Know - 1st mix starting with keyboard riff (not drums-only) but no word "heartbeat" under "ooh". (4:18) I really blasted the fade loudly under headphones and can't hear the word.
Greatest Love - acoustic piano

The 2nd pressing (deadwax says ARCD-8212 20A1 66) has:
How Will I Know - single mix starting with drums - has no "heartbeat" under "ooooh" (4:25) (Again, I really blasted the fade loudly under headphones and can't hear the word.)

Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition
Greatest Love - acoustic piano (like original pressing)
How Will I Know - single mix starting with drums - has no "heartbeat" under "ooooh" (4:24)
Greatest Love - elec piano

Now, at first I thought: I'm either going crazy or deaf (although they're not mutually exclusive). But I listened to the 2nd music video (official) that was linked to above in the thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3-hY-hlhBg

-and I clearly hear "heartbeat" loud as day in that (under Whitney's lead "ooh").

But when I listened to the original video that starts with keyboard riff -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iciuDRPCHVo

I don't think I hear the "heartbeat" at 4:17 - if I do, it's barely, barely there - but it's definitely not anywhere near as present as it is in the popular video with the single mix. (But I really don't think I hear the word there.)

So is it possible that I have the 'full length single mix' that no one has been able to find on CD? I could share the WAVs with an audiophile who can easily hear the differences. (Since Aaron brought up the detailed differences, I'm thinking you might be able to decipher everything.)

UPDATE: I just listened to the links on page 3 described as:
1) Original LP Version
2) Single Remix
3) Single Remix w LP Ending

I think I'm BARELY hearing "heartbeat" on (1) - which MAY be consistent with my CDs. But I'm hearing "heartbreat" really loud and present on 3 (single mix w/ LP ending") - even on my rinky dink computer speakers now. So I'd almost say this mix called "(single mix w/ LP ending") isn't really the "LP ending" but a louder "heartbeat" than the LP mix! I'll be curious to see/hear the audophiles' thoughts on all this.



Edited by EdisonLite

The mix where you can hear "heartbeat" sung loudly and clearly is the full single remix (version #2 from your above list). This is the one that is not on CD.

The one that has no "heartbeat" is version #3 (single remix w/LP ending), which is consistent with your findings as it appears on the 2nd pressing and 25th anniversary issue of the full-length CD.

OK, Aaron, I think I was getting lost in my minutiae of studying the versions.

BTW, when I first read the comment "single mix with LP ending", I didn't know where they did the splice until listening - and realized it was just 7 seconds before the song's end WHILE the song was in fade-out mode. I don't think it was done for creative/artistic purposes or to increase the chances for the song become a hit. It's just SO LATE and during a fade :)

The only reason I can think of is a reason proposed: The single remix master tape got destroyed during this end part of the song.

The last theory given above (someone spliced the original ending onto the single remix to create a longer version on the CD album) - at first I thought, that's a good a reason as any. But then I thought, does that really extend it at all - both versions (from "Ooooh" to the end of the song) are about 7 seconds. So it wouldn't make it any longer. It's not like it would change the splice point from having 7 seconds coming after it to 14 seconds after it. Right? Or am I missing something in this theory?

This is definitely one of the more interesting, in-depth, in-the-trenches thread on the forum :)

I also wonder - I know this was released near the end of 1985, but wouldn't at least one country have released the single in CD format at that point? The single remix would be preserved there, even if Arista/US got their single master tape destroyed at the end. And therefore, if there's at least one country that released this single in CD format, we can find it (I suppose). Or were no singles coming out on CD either commercially or promo-wise in November 1985?

Edited by EdisonLite

Things couldn't get any weirder with these "How Will Know" single vs. album mixes, right? Well it turns out ... wrong!

So I just transferred the music video of "How Will I Know" on the DVD portion of the 25th anniversary deluxe edition to a WAV (and btw, good news ... it was lossless. The graph went all the way up to the top of the spectral view. So say what you will about analog transfers but as long as they're lossless, I'm ok with that.)

Anyway, it's definitely the same (2nd) video that starts with only the drumbeats and has her walking through colorful hallways. But the audio on THIS video in the DVD collection has no "heartbeat" behind the "Oooh" near the end of the song!!!

That means they made a video of the single mix with the "heartbeat" (as we've seen on YouTube). Then later (or simultaneously) they used they same video (visual component) and dubbed in a slightly different version with an ending that doesn't have "heartbeat" under the wooh. Mind you now, this is still the single mix that starts with drums.

Why bother to have a 2nd version of the "hallway" video with the slightly different altered audio at the end??? We theorized they did this on the CD because the audio master (of the single mix) was destroyed by the time they got around to pressing a new version of the CD with the single mix of "How Will I Know". But they already had a perfectly fine video that had the "heartbeat" overdub created. Why spend more time and money to replace the audio in that video (which had audio that was not defective in the trailout)? This makes no sense - and also makes me think the theory of why this "single with LP end" version was used for CD.

Does anyone know if the 45 actually had "heartbeat"?

And can anyone explain why there would be a 3rd version of the video? I get the 1st one was for the album mix and not very flashy. Then the 2nd one was made for the single remix - and a huge step up visual-wise, like I said with the walking through colorful hallways. (The 1st video was kind of boring to watch, though I still like it). But this 3rd video? To change the audio ever so slightly??? I'm really at a loss, guys.

Edited by EdisonLite