Charlie's 80s Blog

This Day In Music, October 5th

On this day in 1987: Whitney Houston was enjoying her second and final week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” the second single from her second album ‘Whitney.’

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.

The single was #1 for two weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. A live performance from her September 2, 1987 concert in Saratoga Springs, New York was used as the official video and played on MTV, VH1 and BET. The recorded performance was also televised along with her performance of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards on September 11. It was widely speculated that the song is about Houston’s relationship with then NFL star Randall Cunningham.

Internationally, the song hit the top ten in several markets, and reached the top 20 in the UK (#14), Switzerland (#18), and Germany (#20). “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” was ranked #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart for 1987, and remained in the Billboard Hot 100 for 17 weeks. It was her fifth #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Here’s the complete Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 from this day back in 1987:

1 1 DIDN’T WE ALMOST HAVE IT ALL –•– Whitney Houston (Arista)-10 (1) (2 Weeks at #1)
2 2 HERE I GO AGAIN –•– Whitesnake (Geffen)-14 (2)
3 5 LOST IN EMOTION –•– Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam (Columbia)-10 (3)
4 4 I HEARD A RUMOUR –•– Bananarama (London)-12 (4)
5 7 CARRIE –•– Europe (Epic)-10 (5)
6 10 U GOT THE LOOK –•– Prince with Sheena Easton (Paisley Park)-10 (6)
7 13 WHO WILL YOU RUN TO –•– Heart (Capitol)-8 (7)
8 6 WHEN SMOKEY SINGS –•– ABC (Mercury)-14 (5)
9 14 PAPER IN FIRE –•– John Cougar Mellencamp (Mercury)-8 (9)
10 16 ONE HEARTBEAT –•– Smokey Robinson (Motown)-12 (10)

11 17 CASANOVA –•– Levert (Atlantic)-8 (11)
12 3 I JUST CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU –•– Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett (Epic)-9 (1)
13 19 JUMP START –•– Natalie Cole (Manhattan)-11 (13)
14 23 CAUSING A COMMOTION –•– Madonna (Sire)-4 (14)
15 22 LET ME BE THE ONE –•– Expose (Arista)-8 (15)
16 29 BAD –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-3 (16)
17 9 TOUCH OF GREY –•– Grateful Dead (Arista)-11 (9)
18 12 WIPE OUT –•– Fat Boys & Beach Boys (Tin Pan Apple)-13 (12)
19 24 LITTLE LIES –•– Fleetwood Mac (Warner Brothers)-6 (19)
20 8 LA BAMBA –•– Los Lobos (Slash)-15 (1)

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