speculating that Houston and Crawford were lovers, which the two denied to the press during a 1987 interview for Time magazine. In 2019, seven years after Houston's death, Crawford admitted that their early relationship included sexual activity but stopped before Houston signed a recording deal. Houston became a fashion model after she was discovered by a photographer who filmed her and her mother during a performance for the United Negro College Fund at Carnegie Hall. She became one of the first women of color to appear on the cover of a fashion magazine when she appeared on the cover of Seventeen. She would also appear inside other magazines such as Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Young Miss and a TV commercial for the Canada Dry soft drink. Her looks and girl-next-door charm made her one of the most sought-after teen models. Houston was offered record deals around this time, first by Michael Zager in 1979, Luther Vandross in 1980 and Bruce Lundvall in 1981. The offers, however, were turned down by her mother because Cissy wanted Houston to finish school. Around the same time, Houston recorded Paul Jabara's "Eternal Love", which was shelved for nearly two years before it was placed on Jabara's 1983 album, Paul Jabara & Friends, released that January. Houston recalled recording the song at just 16 years old. The quiet storm R&B ballad was later covered by fellow singer Stephanie Mills. In February 1982, Houston signed with Tara Productions and hired Gene Harvey as her manager with Daniel Gittleman and Seymour Flics as co-managers. With them, Houston furthered her recording career by working with producers Michael Beinhorn, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called One Down, which was credited to the group Material. For that project, she contributed the ballad "Memories", a cover of a song by Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard". In February 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw Houston performing with her mother at the Sweetwaters nightclub in Manhattan. He convinced Arista head Clive Davis to make time to see her perform. Davis was impressed and immediately offered a worldwide record deal, which Houston eventually signed on April 10, 1983; since she was only nineteen, her parents also signed for her. Two weeks later, Houston made her national television