Didn't We Almost Have It All

Jennings recalls that the songwriting process for "Didn't We Almost Have It All" required several years. "It seems like Michael Masser and I worked off and on for years on that song. I don't know how many times I rewrote bits and pieces of the tune ... I remember distinctly that we ran (up) over two hundred dollars worth of phone calls from a hotel in Nashville ... of course, it was well worth it in the end."{{Cite book |last=Bronson |first=Fred |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |year=1997 |isbn=0823076415 |edition=4th}}

About.com ranked the song number 7 in their list of "Top 20 Best Whitney Houston Songs". Editor Bill Lamb deemed it "a big, emotional production that pulls out all of the stops vocally".{{cite web|author=Lamb, Bill|url=https://www.liveabout.com/top-best-whitney-houston-songs-3243856|title=Top 20 Best Whitney Houston Songs|website=About.com|date=November 1, 2018|access-date=April 8, 2020}} Rob Wynn of AllMusic highlighted the song in his review of the Whitney album.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/whitney-mw0000190356|title=Whitney - Whitney Houston|access-date=24 April 2021|website=AllMusic}} Los Angeles Times editor Robert Hilburn wrote, "Houston's stardom will be boosted most by "Didn't We Almost Have It All", a sweeping Masser-Will Jennings ballad with the kind of big, emotional finish that will make Liza and hundreds of other singers wish they had been given first crack at the song. I'll save my champagne for pop singers who don't add that overblown song to their repertoire."{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-01-ca-5509-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Robert | last=Hilburn | title=Album Review : Houston: Commercial Sparkle, Artistic Fizz | date=June 1, 1987}} Pop Rescue noted it as "an 80s power ballad", adding that Houston's "vocals take centre stage" on the song.{{cite web|url=https://poprescue.com/2015/04/06/review-whitney-whitney-houston-cd-1987/|title=REVIEW: "WHITNEY" BY WHITNEY HOUSTON (CD, 1987)|publisher=Pop Rescue|date=6 April 2015|access-date=14 April 2020}}

Rolling Stone{{'}}s Vince Alleti wrote, "Masser reprises the show-tune schmaltz of "Greatest Love of All" in his even cornier "Didn't We Almost Have It All".{{Cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/whitney-245386/|title=Whitney|first=Vince|last=Aletti|website=Rollingstone.com|date=13 August 1987|access-date=24 April 2021}} According to Whitney fanpage, "But there is a cut on the album whose title inadvertently sums up Houston at this stage of her development -- "Didn't We Almost Have It All".{{cite web |url=http://www.whitney-fan.com/music/reviews/12/39 |title=Whitney-Fan.com: Whitney Houston's Music Reviews |access-date=2010-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923123013/http://www.whitney-fan.com/music/reviews/12/39 |archive-date=2009-09-23 }} St. Petersburg Times editors Eric Snider and Annelise Wamsley described "Didn't We Almost Have It All" as "an overblown tune co-written by Michael Masser (...) that finds Houston stripped of subtlety - with her wire-to-wire belting, you can just see the fetching songstress looking skyward, arms outstretched."{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/50027928.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+14%252C+1987&author=ERIC+SNIDER%253BANNELISE+WAMSLEY&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=2.E&desc=Whitney+pulls+out+another+bag+of+hits+Series%253A+RECORDS | work=St. Petersburg Times | title=Whitney pulls out another bag of hits Series: RECORDS | date=June 14, 1987 | access-date=July 6, 2017 | archive-date=November 13, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113215627/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/50027928.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+14%252C+1987&author=ERIC+SNIDER%253BANNELISE+WAMSLEY&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=2.E&desc=Whitney+pulls+out+another+bag+of+hits+Series%253A+RECORDS | url-status=dead }} Following Houston's death in 2012, Entertainment Weekly published a list of her 25 best songs and ranked "Didn't We Almost Have it All" number 16.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20569554_20572589,00.html | magazine=Entertainment Weekly | first1=Kyle | last1=Anderson | first2=Henry | last2=Goldblatt | first3=Leah | last3=Greenblatt | first4=Ray | last4=Rahman | title=Whitney Houston: Her 25 Best Songs | date=17 February 2012 |access-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211062743/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20569554_20572589,00.html |archive-date=11 December 2013}}

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of August 1, 1987,{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/whitney-houston/chart-history/hsi/|title=Billboard}} and reached number one for two weeks, from September 26 to October 3, 1987, becoming her fifth consecutive number one.{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=whitney houston|chart=all}} |title=Didn't We Almost Have It All - Whitney Houston |magazine=Billboard |access-date=September 4, 2011}} The song also topped both component charts, the Hot 100 Singles Sales and Hot 100 Airplay, Houston's fourth song (and fourth consecutive release) to do so. The single stayed in the Top 40 for 13 weeks, and topped the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks.{{cite book |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=119}} It was her fifth song to peaked at number 1 on the chart and also fifth consecutive release to do so. It also reached number two on the Hot Black Singles chart for one week (October 10, 1987), behind "(You're Puttin') A Rush on Me" by Stephanie Mills.

Internationally, the song hit the top ten in several markets, and reached the top 20 in the United Kingdom (#14); Switzerland (#18); and West Germany (#20).

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" was ranked 22nd on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end charts (1987), and remained in the Billboard Hot 100 for 17 weeks. It was her fifth number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, her fourth on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, her fourth on the Hot 100 Airplay, and her fifth on the Adult Contemporary chart. In 2020, the song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500,000 equivalent units. Three years later, it was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 200,000 equivalent units.

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• US 7"Vinyl Single

1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" – 4:56
2. "Shock Me" (Duet with Jermaine Jackson) – 5:05 ^A

• UK 7"Vinyl Single

1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (Edit Remix) – 4:20
2. "For the Love of You" – 4:32

• UK CD Maxi-Single

1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" – 5:05
2. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (a cappella Mix) – 6:28
3. "Shock Me" (Collector's Bonus Cut) – 5:03 ^A

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• Australia, New Zealand 7"Vinyl Single

1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (Edit Remix) – 3:59
2. "Shock Me" – 5:05

• Spain 12"Vinyl Maxi-Single

1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" – 5:05
2. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (a cappella Mix) – 5:18
3. "Shock Me" (Collector's Bonus Cut) – 5:03 ^A

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^A "Shock Me" - Written by Andrew Goldmark and Bruce Roberts. Produced by Michael Omartian.

• Whitney Houston – vocals
• John Robinson – drums
• Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitar
• Nathan East – bass
• Robbie Buchanan – Rhodes piano, acoustic piano, rhythm arrangement
• Lee Holdridge – string arrangement
• Producer – Michael Masser
• Engineers – Michael DeLugg, Dean Burt, Jim Boyer, Mike Mancini, Russ Terrana, Fred Law
• Assistant engineers – Fernando Kral, Tony Maserati
• Mix engineer – Russ Terrana
• Production coordinator – Alicia Winfield

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Whitney Houston|title=Didn't We Almost Have It All|award=Silver|certyear=2023|relyear=2004|id=19368-1531-1|access-date=October 13, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Whitney Houston|title=Didn't We Almost Have It All|award=Gold|relyear=1987|certyear=2020|access-date=May 12, 2020}}

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• Whitney Houston Discography
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1987
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1987 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1980s (U.S.)
• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1987
• List of Hot 100 Airplay number-one singles of 1987 (U.S.)
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1987

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.songlyrics.com/whitney-houston/didn-t-we-almost-have-it-all-lyrics/ Lyrics of this song]
• [http://www.discogs.com/Whitney-Houston-Didnt-We-Almost-Have-It-All-Shock-Me/master/51620 Didn't We Almost Have It All] at Discogs
• {{YouTube|c0TghfreFok|Whitney Houston - Didn't We Almost Have It All}}

{{Whitney Houston}}

{{Whitney Houston Singles}}

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Category:Whitney Houston songs

Category:1980s ballads

Category:1987 singles

Category:1987 songs

Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Michael Masser

Category:Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings

Category:Arista Records singles

Category:Pop ballads

Category:Soul ballads

Category:Contemporary R&B ballads

Category:Quiet storm songs