Whitney Houston, One Moment in Time | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 135^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “One Moment in Time” by Whitney Houston.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 135^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “One Moment in Time”, performed by 🎙 Whitney Houston.

“Each day I live / I want to be / A day to give / The best of me / I’m only one / But not alone / My finest day / Is yet unknown.” What beautiful, beautiful lyrics.  With so many hits to her name, it seems sometimes that the 🎙 Whitney Houston gem, 🎵 “One Moment in Time” doesn’t get enough credit.  This ballad was penned by Albert Hammond and John Bettis. The perfect fit for a big-voiced diva like Houston, she performed it at the 1988 Summer Olympics.  Ultimately, “One Moment in Time” wouldn’t appear on a studio album. 💿 Whitney had been released in 1987, and her next album, I’m Your Baby Tonight didn’t arrive until November 1990. Eventually, this no. 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 appeared on greatest hits compilations, though sometimes, it also manages to be omitted.  That’s a travesty for a gold single.  Thankfully, 💿 I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston includes this moving ballad.

In the verses, Houston shows control.  She never over sings highlighting the tunefulness of the melody.  At the same time, she sings with incredible authenticity, expression, and nuance.  The sense is always that Whitney is leading up to something bigger – truly momentous.  That moment, of course, is the beloved chorus.  Here, she soars, showing off her powerhouse vocals, backed by an awesome musical arrangement and grand production by the legendary 🎛 Narada Michael Walden. “Give me one moment in time / When I’m racing with destiny,” she sings radiantly, continuing, “Then in that one moment of time / I will feel / I will feel eternity.”  Besides the chorus, another epic moment is the bridge (“You’re a winner for a lifetime / If you seize that one moment in time / Make it shine”), which prepares for a truly gargantuan final chorus and the big finish, where Houston proclaims, “I will be free.” 🎵 “One Moment in Time” marks another utterly sublime moment from the Whitney Houston catalog. #ICONIC.

🎙 Whitney Houston • 💿 I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2021

Whitney Houston, One Moment in Time: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 135 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; RCA; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]