History
The song's melody was inspired by Elvis Presley, with Hammond imagining it as being sung by Presley "in lavish style" at the Olympics' opening ceremony. [2] It appeared on the aforementioned 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time compilation album, which (in addition to Houston) also featured artists such as The Four Tops, The Bee Gees, Eric Carmen, Taylor Dayne and film composer John Williams. The track is an anthem for believing in yourself against all odds as Houston asks for "One moment in time/when I'm racing with destiny/Then, in that one moment of time, I will feel eternity."
Houston recorded the song in May 1988 while in London for nine consecutive sold-out concerts at Wembley Arena during her Moment of Truth World Tour. [3] Houston's vocals and orchestral backing by the London Symphony Orchestra were recorded at the AIR Studios complex owned by former Beatles producer George Martin, with additional backing recorded at Walden's Tarpan Studios in San Rafael, California. At Clive Davis's request, Houston recorded a final set of vocals at her home studio in Mendham Township, New Jersey in July 1988. According to Walden, Houston resented that Davis had interrupted her brief rest at home during a year-long world tour but agreed to make the final recording.
"One Moment in Time" was released by Arista Records on August 27, 1988, as the first single from 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time, the soundtrack for the Games in Seoul, South Korea. [4] The song debuted at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, the issue dated September 10, 1988. [5] Nine weeks later, it peaked at number five on the chart, the issue date of November 12, 1988, becoming Houston's tenth top 10 hit on the Hot 100, and spent 17 weeks on the chart. [6] It also debuted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (formerly "Hot Black Singles") at number 78, the issue dated September 17, 1988, and six weeks later reached a peak of 22, her lowest position on the R&B chart at the time. [7] On the issue date of November 5, 1988, the single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart, making it her seventh number-one single on the chart, and stayed on the top for two weeks. [8] [9] It ranked number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart of 1988. [10]
Worldwide, it was a big hit. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 24, the week ending date of September 24, 1988, and within four weeks of its release reached the top position, a peak it maintained for two weeks, becoming Houston's third UK number-one single. [11] [12] The single was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 200,000 copies on October 1, 1988. [13] According to The Official Charts Company, the single has sold 400,000 copies in the country. [14] In West Germany, it debuted at number 58 on the Media Control Top 100 Singles chart, the week dated September 26, 1988, and the following week went straight into the top ten. [15] On October 24, 1988, the fifth week of its release, the song reached number one on the chart and stayed there for two weeks, making it her second West German number-one hit. [16] The single was certified Gold for shipments of 250,000 copies or more by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) in 1988. [17] Across Europe, "One Moment in Time" was successful, topping the European Hot 100 Singles chart for five weeks. It peaked inside the top five in Austria, [18] Belgium, [19] Finland, Iceland, Norway, [20] Sweden, [21] and Switzerland, [22] and reached top ten in France [23] and the Netherlands. [24] But the single became a minor hit in Oceania region, peaking at number 53 and 34 on the singles chart, in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. [25] [26] The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart for week ending February 18, 2012, following Houston's death. [27]
Music video
The music video for the song does not show Houston performing the song but is a basic collage of clips from the 1988 Summer Olympics. It opens from a clip of the Olympic torch in Seoul as a black and white video until the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremony is shown, during which it fades to color. As the song plays throughout, more scenes from the games are shown. When the chorus is sung for the last time, midway through it, scenes of the awarding of winners are depicted. The video ends with the aforementioned games' cauldron blazing. The featured athletes include Florence Griffith Joyner, Greg Louganis, Janet Evans, Kennedy McKinney, Matt Biondi, Phoebe Mills, Rosa Mota, John Smith, and Sergey Bubka.
Cover versions
"One Moment in Time" was performed live by then-11-year-old Teodora Sava in the auditions of the first edition of the Romanian children's talent show Next Star in 2013. Her performance gathered praise and positive reactions from all of the judges (who were seeing her for the first time) and online, and had 2.65 million combined YouTube views, making her well known to a wider audience in Romania and abroad. [87] [88] [89] Soon after, she recorded the song in a studio. [90]
British instrumental rock group the Shadows did a version on their 1989 album, Steppin' to the Shadows: 16 Great Tracks As Only the Shadows Can Play Them. [91]
In 1998, diva Jane McDonald did a cover of the song that was included as the first track on her self-titled album.
Dana Winner also covered the song; her version has garnered more than 35 million views on YouTube. [92]
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