Official Charts Flashback 1988: Whitney Houston – One Moment In Time

It’s 25 years since Whitney took this Olympic anthem to Number 1.

Many have tried, but few can carry off an Earth-shattering ballad like Whitney Houston. Our retro chart from 1988 finds Whitney about to enter her second week at the top with this empowering tribute to self-belief and being able to throw javelins and that kind of thing.

Whitney had just enjoyed one of the biggest periods of her career. Her 1987 album Whitney was still selling like extremely warm baked goods, and had given her five Top 20 hits, including the monster Number 1 I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).

What better way to follow 12 months of nonstop success than basically own the Olympics? One Moment In Time wasn’t the official anthem of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but by the end of the event, it was the only track anybody was talking about. Specially recorded for a star-studded commemorative album, One Moment In Time was Whitney doing what she did best – belting it out and making you blub in the process.

While the video doesn’t feature Whitney herself, it does show a range of athletes achieving their dreams, pushing themselves to be the best they can be for their country, waving flags, cheering, getting medals. Oh, it’s a beautiful thing, guys. Let’s hug it out.

One Moment In Time was Whitney’s third Number 1 and has sold 326,000 copies – finishing 14th in the year-end chart for 1988. She would go on to have one more chart-topper in her career. It’s a little-known song – you may have heard of it – called I Will Always Love You.

Watch the video for One Moment In Time before we check out the rest of our retro Top 5, which is pretty cool, we have to say.

In silver medal position at Number 2, and climbing one place, it was Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry Be Happy. The Manhattan tunesmith’s a cappella hit was feature on the soundtrack to Tom Cruise’s bonkbuster movie Cocktail and was a worldwide smash. Now better known from oodles of adverts and appearing as a slogan on T-shirts, Don’t Worry Be Happy would never advance on its peak. Bobby also gets a free pass into our one-hit wonder hall of fame. Never again would he hum, click and beatbox his way into the Official Singles Chart Top 40.

Taking bronze at Number 3, zooming up 17 places was D Mob – aka house music mogul Dancin’ Danny D – with We Call It Acieed. The track was one of the first to bring the music craze of acid house into the Official Singles Chart, much to the dismay of mums and dads who wished their offspring would just “turn that racket down”. Some may have written D Mob off as a one-hit wonder, but he had other plans. He had four more Top 40 huts, including C’Mon And Get My Love, which helped to launch the career of Cathy Denniswho many years down the line would pen smashes like Toxic for Britney Spears and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head for Kylie Minogue.

We're not sure what fourth place is in the Olympics, but you definitely don't get a medal, do you? (That's enough of the Olympics references, thanks – Sport & Leisure Ed.) Anyway, climbing three places to Number 4 was electronic duo Erasure with the anthemic A Little Respect. The kings of ‘80s bleeps and beats were at the peak of their career, this being their fifth Top 10 hit on the Official Singles Chart. They would go on to have 11 more, including a Number 1 in June 1992, with Abba-esque, an EP of ABBA covers. A Little Respect would return to the Official Singles Chart twice. It was covered by ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again in October 1992, peaking at Number 25. New York rockers Wheatus, also had a hit with A Little Respect, taking it all the way to Number 3 in 2001.

At Number 5 was a lady who was well on her way to the top spot. Bounding 24 places was Enya with Orinoco Flow. This ethereal symphony, with strings and harmonies a go-go, was a surprise hit for the Irish singer, but while she may have been a wonder, she was after more than one hit. Enya would go on to have ten more Top 10 singles, including another Number 1 as part of the Mario Winans smash I Don’t Wanna Know.

Last week, we flashed back to 2003. See the retro Top 5 the week Black Eyed Peas were ruling the Official Singles Chart.