“Saving All My Love for You” is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, and originally recorded by Marilyn McCoo on the 1978 album Marilyn & Billy (credited to McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. although Davis’ voice is not heard on the particular track). It was also the second single from Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album. The single was released in August 1985. The lyric is about a love affair with a married man, and the singer’s “saving all her love for him.”
Arista Records’ CEO Clive Davis was against Houston’s cover of the song. Eventually agreeing to it, he heard Houston sing it, and had her sing it again, stating that the original was “sounding like something Aretha Franklin would sing. This girl’s not Aretha Franklin, so why is she sounding like her?”
