We've Saved the Best for Last

Kenny G's label, Arista Records, was convinced his hits would come in the form of songs written by others that paired him with vocalists. That was until "Songbird," his self-penned instrumental, became a surprise hit in 1987. Arista learned their lesson, issuing a similar instrumental, "Silhouette," as the lead single from his next album. But there was still room in his canon for vocal recordings, and Kenny loved to collaborate, so after "Silhouette" came "We've Saved The Best For Last," a duet with Smokey Robinson. By this time, big names like Robinson were happy to work with him.

This was written by Paul Gordon, Dennis Matkosky and Louis Pardini. Gordon's other co-writes include two popular duets: "The Next Time I Fall" (Peter Cetera and Amy Grant) and "Friends and Lovers" (Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson); Matkosky had worked with Michael Sembello, co-writing the Diana Ross hit "Mirror, Mirror" as well as Sembello's #1 hit "Maniac"; Pardini worked on Smokey Robinson's "Just To See Her." These guys certainly had the goods to deliver another lite favorite.

In this song, two people have reached a stage when they both know what they want, and it's each other. They've made their mistakes and don't want to waste any more time, so they're both ready to end their search, saving the best for last. It's the kind of love song Smokey Robinson scored with a lot in the '80s; another is "One Heartbeat."