Songoftheday 10/12/18 - They say it's a river that circles the earth a beam of light shining to the edge of the universe, it conquers all it changes everything...
from the album Beverly Hills, 90120 (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 20
Today's song of the day comes from the soundtrack to the teen "soap opera" Beverly Hills, 90210, which had already spun off two big hits with "Saving Forever For You" by Shanice and "The Right Kind Of Love" from Jeremy Jordan. The third release from the record would be, like Shanice's, another love ballad, this time pairing former Miss America Vanessa Williams with newcomer Brian McKnight. By that time, Williams was coming off the most successful album of her career with The Comfort Zone, which gave her the #1 hit "Save The Best For Last", as well as top-40 hits "Running Back To You" and "Just For Tonight". Meanwhile, Brian McKnight, whose brother is in the acappella group Take 6, had also signed with Vanessa's label Mercury, had released his self-titled debut album the previous June. His first single, the smooth midtempo come-on ballad "The Way Love Goes", reached #11 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, followed by the new jack swing for adults "Goodbye My Love", which crested at #46 there, but neither reached the pop Hot 100 list. The duet that came of these two singers pairing, "Love Is", was written by John Keller and Steve Krikorian (aka "Tonio K"), and became the biggest hit from the soundtrack...
"Love Is" became the third top-40 hit from the Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack, climbing to the top three in May of 1993. The song scaled to #55 on Billboard's R&B chart, while spending three weeks at #1 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. Internationally, the single peaked at #3 in Canada, and was a minor hit in Australia at #49. A fourth release from the 90210 soundtrack was the dance track "Why" from D-Mob featuring Cathy Dennis, which hit #23 in the UK, but missed the charts in the U.S. completely.
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There was an alternate mix of the single which dropped the guitar bridge, which made it more attractive to the soft-pop stations...
Here's Vanessa and Brian performing on Arsenio...
And finally, a second TV appearance..
Up tomorrow: Athens alternative act heads to the skies.
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