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I'd heard other stories of "saving." Tales of folk with small fortunes in the bank while their basic needs go unmet; polyethylene-covered furniture in meticulously appointed living rooms reserved for "special occasions" that never arrive.
"Saving" could cause you to miss the very thing for which you are "saving."
Songwriter/producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds once told me that in 1988 he and Antonio "L.A." Reid had already contributed several potential hits to what would become singer Bobby Brown's second album, when then MCA Black Music President Jheryl Busby heard a demo tape of yet another Babyface song Busby thought would be perfect for Brown.
Babyface's answer was an emphatic no. "I was saving it for my own album," he explained. Busby, undaunted, pleaded with 'Face to at least let him play the song for Brown. Cautiously,'Face relented: Bobby could HEAR it. That's all.
Brown, Busby would report, loved the tune and wanted to record it. "No way," 'Face said. "It's for me. Plus, Bobby wouldn't do it justice. It's not his style."
"Well," persisted Busby, "how about going into the studio with Bobby. Put his voice on the track--not to release, but just for the hell of it?"
After considerable trepidation, 'Face agreed--and got a surprise. "Bobby performed the hell out of it," he conceded. "He made it HIS."
The song, the dynamic, buoyant, "Every Little Step," reached #3 on the pop charts. Its success helped push Brown's smash 1989 album, "Don't Be Cruel," way past the six million mark--in the process teaching Babyface, then a fledgling hit-meister, a million-dollar lesson.
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