Didn't We Almost Have It All

This article is about the Whitney Houston song. For the Grey's Anatomy episode, see Didn't We Almost Have It All?.

"Didn't We Almost Have It All"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album Whitney
Released	August 13, 1987
Format	CD single, Cassette single, 7" single
Recorded	1986
Genre	Soul, R&B
Length	5:07 4:34 (Radio edit)
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Michael Masser, Will Jennings
Producer	Michael Masser
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (1987) "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (1987) "So Emotional" (1988)
Music video "Didn't We Almost Have It All" on YouTube

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" is the second single from Whitney Houston's second album Whitney, and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1988 Grammy Awards. The song was written by Michael Masser and Will Jennings and was released in August 1987. Originally, another song was to be released as the second single, "For The Love Of You", but Arista Records decided to release "Didn't We Almost Have It All" instead because all Houston's singles had to be original material at this point of her career.^[1]

The single was number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 even though there was not a video for the song. A live performance of the song recorded during Houston's successful 1987–1988 Moment of Truth World Tour was played on MTV, VH1, and BET. The performance is from a Saratoga Springs, New York date. It was widely speculated that the song is about Houston's relationship with then NFL star Randall Cunningham.

The season 3 finale of Grey's Anatomy and an episode of the eighth season of Degrassi: The Next Generation are named after this song.

Chart performance

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, from September 26 to October 9, 1987, where the song became her fifth consecutive number one. The song also topped both component charts, the Hot 100 Single Sales and Hot 100 Airplay, Houston's fourth song (and fourth consecutive release) to do so.

The single stayed in the Top 40 for thirteen weeks, and topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts for three weeks.^[2]

Internationally, the song hit the top ten in several markets, and reached the Top Twenty in the United Kingdom (#14); Switzerland (#18); and Germany (#20).

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" was ranked twenty-second on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end charts (1987), and remained in the Billboard Hot 100 for seventeen weeks. It was her fifth number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, her fourth on the Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales, her fourth on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, and her fifth on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts.

Covers

The Austrian singer Lia Weller performed the song in the fourth season of the talent show Starmania. Although it was generally considered one of the best performances of the evening, she was voted off. A week later, she released the Song on iTunes.

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1987) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 27 Canada (RPM 100 Singles)[3] 2 Germay (Media Control Charts)[4] 20 Ireland (IRMA)[5] 4 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[6] 17 New Zealand (RIANZ)[7] 49 Spain (AFYVE)[8] 12 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] 18 U.K (UK Singles Chart)[10] 14 U.S Billboard Hot 100[11] 1 U.S Black Singles[11] 2 U.S Adult Contemporary Singles[11] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Canadian Singles Chart[12] 44 U.S Adult Contemporary Singles[13] 7 U.S Black Singles[14] 38 U.S Pop Singles[15] 22

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 26, 1987 - October 3, 1987	Succeeded by "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake
Preceded by "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett	Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart number-one single September 19, 1987 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "Little Lies" by Fleetwood Mac

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1987 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1987 (U.S.)

References

1. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Whitney-Houston-For-The-Love-Of-You/release/460069
2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 119. 
3. ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0884&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=9cvp3eo6c6t70dvkgmtc6th3t4
4. ^ "Single Chartverfolgung - Whitney Houston" (in German). Musicline.de. http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/HOUSTON%2CWHITNEY/single. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 
5. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=5
6. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Whitney+Houston&titel=Didn%27t+We+Almost+Have+It+All&cat=s
7. ^ http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Whitney+Houston&titel=Didn%27t+We+Almost+Have+It+All&cat=s
8. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. p. 678. ISBN 8480486392. 
9. ^ http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Whitney+Houston&titel=Didn%27t+We+Almost+Have+It+All&cat=s
10. ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/WHITNEY%20HOUSTON/
11. ^ ^{a b c} "Didn't We Almost Have It All - Whitney Houston". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/whitney-houston/didn-t-we-almost-have-it-all/1210720. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 
12. ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0920&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=9cvp3eo6c6t70dvkgmtc6th3t4
13. ^ http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855258
14. ^ http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855255
15. ^ http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855247

External links

• Didn't We Almost Have It All at Discogs