When songwriter/producer Kashif accepted Arista president Clive Davis‘ invitation to see a New York club performance by a young singer named Whitney Houston that he’d just signed to the label, he was disappointed. Her act was a lounge act and didn’t appeal to Kashif. Davis continued to court Kashif sending him a videotape of Houston’s performance on The Merv Griffin Show. La La, a writer signed to Kashif’s music publishing company, sent him a demo of a ballad she had written titled “You Give Good Love.” She’d sent it to her idol Roberta Flack first but she was rebuffed by her assistant with an angry “don’t call us, we’ll call you” retort. When Kashif heard the song, a light bulb came out in his mind that flashed “hit! hit!” Then he called Gerry Griffith, an Arista A&R man, and said that “I think I have a song for you.” So Griffith and Houston drove to the New Jersey studio where Kashif was working to check it out. Griffith recalled that there was a demo of the song but La La wanted to sing it live with her piano playing. After La La finished the song, Griffith said “that’s the song – that’s what I’ve been looking for.”
Thinking About You – Whitney & Kashif
Love Changes – Me’lisa Morgan & Kashif