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"How Will I Know" is the third hit single
Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
 from Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an United States singer, songwriter,actress, record producer, film producer, and former model . Houston rose to international fame in the mid-1980s and her crossover success opened doors for many other African American women to find success in booty shaking & pop music and movies....
's self-titled first album. The single was released in November 1985 and was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of Boy Meets Girl fame, who wrote it for Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians....
. The song is an electric dance tune about the singer wondering if a guy she likes feels the same way about her. Houston became a staple on MTV
MTV

MTV is an United States cable television network based in Media of New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJ ....
 with the release of this hit single.

he US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
 singles survey, "How Will I Know" rose from #60 to #50 the week of December 14, 1985, reaching the #1 spot by February 15, 1986, and becoming Houston's second number-one single.






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"How Will I Know" is the third hit single
Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
 from Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an United States singer, songwriter,actress, record producer, film producer, and former model . Houston rose to international fame in the mid-1980s and her crossover success opened doors for many other African American women to find success in booty shaking & pop music and movies....
's self-titled first album. The single was released in November 1985 and was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of Boy Meets Girl fame, who wrote it for Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians....
. The song is an electric dance tune about the singer wondering if a guy she likes feels the same way about her. Houston became a staple on MTV
MTV

MTV is an United States cable television network based in Media of New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJ ....
 with the release of this hit single.

Chart information

On the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
 singles survey, "How Will I Know" rose from #60 to #50 the week of December 14, 1985, reaching the #1 spot by February 15, 1986, and becoming Houston's second number-one single. The single displaced "That's What Friends Are For
That's What Friends Are For

"That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift ....
" by Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick , is an American singer, actress, activist, United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, former United States Ambassador of Health, and humanitarian....
, thus becoming only the third time (and first by female artists) in history for relatives to replace themselves at number one. It remained at number one for two weeks, and spent fifteen weeks in the top forty.

The song performed extremely well on other Billboard charts as well, climbing to number one on the Adult Contemporary and on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in Urban area, or primarily African-American, venues....
 chart, and Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play

Billboard 's Hot Dance Club Play chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. nightclubs. It is compiled by Billboard exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys who must apply and meet certain criteria to become "Billboard-reporting DJs."...
 chart, showing Houston's success was not limited to any single genre.

Internationally, the single made Houston a noticeable star, reaching number five in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, number two in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, number eleven in Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
, and number twenty-one in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

The song may be heard in its original version, or in an extended percussion intro version (such as on the music video). Later copies of Houston's debut album contain the latter version.

Music video

The music video
Music video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a pop music or rock music song with lyrics. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings....
 for "How Will I Know" was directed by Brian Grant
Brian Grant

Brian Wade Grant is a retired United States basketball player. He played the power forward and Center positions for five teams during 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association....
 and is set against a fantasy, vividly colored background, with dancers in black outfits and wearing French-style makeup. The video is recognized for the animated paint dripping down the screen. In the video, when Houston sings "I'm asking you 'cause you know about these things", there's a brief screencap of singer, and close family friend, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter and pianist commonly referred to as "The Queen of Soul". Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock and roll, blues, Pop music, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel music....


Cover versions

  • The first stanza of the song was sampled in LMC vs. U2
    U2

    U2 are a rock music band from Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The band consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. .The band formed in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency....
    's dance hit, "Take Me to the Clouds Above
    Take Me to the Clouds Above

    "Take Me to the Clouds Above" is a pop / house song by LMC vs U2 that reached number 1 in the UK for two weeks in February 2004. The song incorporates elements of U2's "With or Without You" and Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know"....
    ".
  • Kelly Clarkson
    Kelly Clarkson

    Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after she won the highly-publicized American Idol of the television series American Idol in 2002....
    , who was influenced by Houston, sang the song in her concerts.
  • Houston's cousin, Dionne Warwick
    Dionne Warwick

    Dionne Warwick , is an American singer, actress, activist, United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, former United States Ambassador of Health, and humanitarian....
    , covered the song on Solid Gold
    Solid Gold (TV series)

    Solid Gold was an United States Broadcast syndication television series which aired from 1980 to 1988, usually on Saturday in the early evening time slot....
     in 1985.
  • South African singer Dube covered the song in 1989 for his album Slave.
  • "Hit the Lights covered the song with their extended iTunes release of Skip School Start Fights in 2008


In pop culture

  • The song was voted #12 in VH1
    VH1

    VH1 is an United States cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in television, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slighter older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music....
    's List of Greatest Songs of the 80s
    VH1's 100 greatest songs of the 80's

    VH1's 100 greatest songs of the 80's was a VH1 five-part series which counted down a list of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 80's". Each segment of the seires counted down twenty of the songs, showing clips of the related music video as well as commentary by various artists, comics, actors, and musical reviewers....
    .
  • The song was featured and covered on Kids Incorporated
    Kids Incorporated

    Kids Incorporated was an United States children's television program that was produced from 1984 to 1993.It was largely a youth oriented sitcom with musical performances as an integral part of the plot and show....
     by Martika and Renee Sands.
  • Jane Seymour and Tony Dovolani danced to the song on Dancing With The Stars
    Dancing with the Stars

    Dancing with the Stars is the name of a group of international television series based on the format of the United Kingdom series Strictly Come Dancing, distributed by BBC Worldwide the commercial arm of the BBC....