The fifth single from her second multi-platinum studio album Whitney; the single was released in July 1988. Produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez, who produced and remixed for the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters, the song is one of the uptempo numbers on the album that also includes I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) and So Emotional.
At this time, Houston had achieved a record-breaking string of seven no.1 hits, with four of those coming from Whitney. Love Will Save the Day did not become Houston's eighth consecutive number one, but continued her trend of hit singles by peaking in the US Top 10. The no.9 peak on the Hot 100 was Houston's lowest solo peak up to this time. The song also made the Top 10 without an accompanying music video. Houston had stronger performances on the charts prior to this song but it did remain in the top 40 for 11 weeks, and reached no.5 on the R&B Chart.
Internationally, the song mostly saw less success except in the United Kingdom, where it went Top 10 and Switzerland, where it went Top 20. It was a moderate hit in Germany, making 37; and was a minor hit in Australia, peaking at 77.
After her sudden death, Entertainment Weekly would rank the song no20 on its list Whitney Houston: Her 25 Best Songs and stated: "Though the single broke her streak of consecutive No. 1's, the Miami bass and spicy horns on this high-BPM dance-pop workout pointed to Houston's willingness to experiment and evolve."
If the vibes on this sound familiar, they should – none other than the mighty Roy Ayers performs them. I’ve no idea if Whitney and Ayers actually ever met, but could you imagine the two collaborating on an album?
Alas, we’ll never know.
There were lots of remixes back in the day (most notably by Jellybean himself), but I've chosen a more recent mix by Greek DJ John O. Valavanis, AKA Discobody on Soundcloud; sounds vewry 'period' and has some nice sample from other Whitney songs of the era.
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