Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" was originally meant for which singer?

"How Will I Know" is pure sugar with its bubbly synths, hand claps, and a chorus that sticks in your head for days. But when songwriters George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam pitched it to Janet Jackson, it was too poppy and too late for her next album, "Control." It could have worked on "Dream Street," but just try to imagine it sitting alongside something like "Nasty." When Arista Records got their hands on a demo, they decided it would be a good fit for Whitney Houston, who the label was trying to build up. After Houston came into the studio and sang it, Clive Davis gave it a rare 10 out of 10. In February 1986, the same month Jackson released "Control," "How Will I Know" became Houston's second song to top the Hot 100, and proved she had staying power.