Writers: Albert Hammond, John Bettis

Publisher(s):

Copyright ? Albert Hammond Music, Warner Bros. and John Bettis Music. All right reserved. Reprinted with Albert Hammond's personal permission. For personal use only.

US #5, UK #1 for Whitney Houston in 1988

Albert Hammond (writer, recording artist): I was called up by NBC and asked to write a big song for the Olympics, and I thought "what an honor to be called up to do this!" So I said yes. Obviously, I was a little afraid, because I thought "gosh, what am I gonna do?" And I had the choice of writing with many people, but I knew that John was very much into sports, and I called him up immediately, and I said "John, I've just been asked to write the theme song for... you know, represent America in the Summer Olympics '88. Would you like to do it with me?" And I was having dinner, or just about to, when I called him, and he got such a high that I was sitting having dinner, just about taken two bites, and he calls back. He says "what do you think of this?" And I say "of what?" And he says "get a pencil and a paper and just write down these four lines as a chorus and see what you think". So I got a pencil and a paper, I put my dinner on the side, and he says "give me one moment in time when I'm more than I thought I could be, when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me". And I said "wait a minute, wait a minute... hang on a second", and I left my dinner and I said "let me go to a piano". Because as I was writing these words down, the melody came to my head. So I went straight to the piano, I just went [sings the melody] "give me one moment in time when I'm more than I thought I could be". And then he said "that's fantastic! Now, try this: when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me". So I went "...more than I thought I could be, when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me." I never ate that night, I mean, my dinner went cold, and we got the whole song on the phone, him on one phone, me on another, me at the piano, him with this little pad. (1992 interview on BBC Radio programs. Thank you to Peter)

Albert Hammond (writer, recording artist): Before One moment in time was done by Whitney Houston, when I first wrote it, it was one of my favourite songs. It was just so much passion in the melody and... I don't know what it is, it was there before they were successful, for me, you know. If the world had said "that's a terrible song", I would have told them "you all have lost your ears!" Because there's no way. (1992 interview on BBC Radio programs. Thank you to Peter)

Albert Hammond (writer, recording artist): I knew two things: I knew it was gonna be for the Olympics, and I knew the record was gonna be on Arista. So that's when I called Clive Davis, who's an old friend of mine and signed me up in 1971/72, and I said "I've written this theme song, I know you've got the whole album on Arista, but I tell you: this is the song, man!" I told him the lyrics over the phone, and he said "send it to me immediately". I said "I would love to get Whitney". And I sent him the demo, and he called me back... I wasn't home, he left a message. He said "this is CD calling from the Big Apple ? it's on with Whitney!" And when I got back, I... I mean, I'm getting goosebumps again, 'cause this is just so exciting. (1992 interview on BBC Radio programs. Thank you to Peter)