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 did n'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 " do n'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 . " It was the kind of tune that had the emotion that she could get into and sing her heart out . The release of " You Give Good Love " was designed to give Houston a noticeable position and standing within the black music charts . Clive Davis later explained the thinking behind releasing the song as the debut single from the album : " We wanted to establish her in the black marketplace first , otherwise you can fall between cracks , where Top 40 wo n't play you and R&B wo n't consider you their own . We felt that ' You Give Good Love ' would be , at the very least , a major black hit , though we did n't think that it would cross over as strongly as it did . When it did cross over with such velocity that gave us great encouragement . " " You Give Good Love " brought Houston a bit of notoriety when it turned up among several songs cited by advice columnist Ann Landers as having suggestive titles . Landers , in her column for a reader who worried about the bad influence of song lyrics on children , wrote that " Some of the lyrics are sexually provocative . The titles tell the story , " and called the song " pretty trashy stuff " , citing the song 's title as an instance along with " Hot Love " by Cheap Trick , " Let 's Go to Bed " by The Cure , " Ready , Willing and Able " by Lita Ford , " You Shook Me All Night Long " and " Love at First Feel " by AC/DC , " Tease Me " by Junie Morrison , and " Fire Down Below " by Bob Seger . Houston , in an interview with the '' Chicago Tribune '' , gave some answers to Landers ' comments , saying " She chose a few songs out of the Top 40 that she thought had suggestive titles as far as she was concerned , and it was one of them . I do n't think that the title is suggestive at all . It did n't say anything but ' you give good love , ' and it did n't say anything in the song that was sexual or outrageous . I think that Miss Landers just looked at the title and did n't view the song itself . " Houston , who described herself as a religious person , said that she has n't given much thought to the controversy over questionable lyrics : " The songs that I sing do n't fall into that category , so I do n't think about it at all . But I believe that music does influence people . It 's a universal thing . Everybody listens to music and knows about it . I think that the lyrics can have a lot to do with influencing whoever you 're singing to . I think that as far as children are concerned , parents should have control over what they listen to . If they do n't want them to listen to records that are very sexual or explicit or outrageous , they should have control over that situation . As for adults , they 're going to buy whatever kind of music they want to hear , so if they buy music with explicit lyrics , they must like it . " Steve Peake of About.com listed the song as the first of the " Top 5 Whitney Houston songs of the '80s " , praising Houston 's vocal ability on the song highly . He wrote , " One of Whitney Houston 's signature gifts in the '80s was undoubtedly her ability to blend small amounts of soul into her slick adult contemporary pop ballads , just enough to make sure the music would appeal to urban audiences as well as mainstream pop fans . This song " You Give Good Love " is a great example of this , as Houston delivers a sufficiently soulful , passionate performance that rides in on a modest R&B groove perfect for after-dark encounters with the one you love , or at least somebody you kinda like . Though not a songwriter herself , Houston immediately displayed here an uncanny gift for selecting permanent pop melodies to which to apply her vocal precision . " '' Billboard '' , in its review of the single , called Houston 's vocal on the song as " a voice of exceptional clarity and control . " Adam White , a performance reviewer of '' Billboard '' , in his writing of Houston 's performance to promote her debut album at the Sweetwater 's in New York , described the song as " the mellifluous , midtempo item . " Other critic of '' Billboard '' , Brian Chin commented that " the ecstatic single which may possibly be the classiest make-out song since ' Fire and Desire ' . " While reviewing Houston 's '' I Look to You '' album , Rashod D. Ollison from TheGrio.com stated that " You Give Good Love " is " effortlessly sexy . " The song received a number of awards and nominations following its release . " You Give Good Love " won Favorite Soul/R & B Singles at the 13th annual American Music Awards , where Houston garnered a total of six nominations in Pop/Rock and Soul/R & B categories , on January 27 , 1986 . The song received two Grammy nominations ― Best R&B Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance , Female ― but lost to " Freeway of Love " written by Jeffrey Cohen and Narada Michael Walden , performed by Aretha Franklin in both categories , at the 28th Grammy Awards , held on February 25 , 1986
13th annual American Music Awards
American Music Awards of 1986
You Give Good Love