Songoftheday 8/3/20 - I will never leave you out I will always let you in, to places no one's ever been...

"I Believe In You And Me"/"Somebody Bigger Than You And I" - Whitney Houston

from the album The Preacher's Wife (Original Soundtrack) (1996)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's song of the day comes from the late Whitney Houston, who had starred in her second hit film Waiting To Exhale, while scoring three top-40 pop hits from the soundtrack with "Why Does It Hurt So Bad?", "Count On Me", and the #1 "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". In 1996, Whitney appeared in another movie, this time the holiday religious themed The Preacher's Wife, starring with Denzel Washington as the titular character, who also sings in the church choir, which lends the soundtrack to a mostly gospel affair. However, the lead single from the set wasn't a "holy" tune, but rather a remake of one of the most underrated soul singles ever. In 1983. "I Believe In You And Me", written by Sandy Linzer and David Wolfert, was recorded by the ex-Motown giants the Four Tops for their album One More Mountain. Released as the "B-Side" to the lead single "Sad Hearts", which nicked the Hot 100 at #84, the song reached #40 on Billboard's R&B chart. However, that didn't even cover the scope of how loved that song was, especially on "quiet storm" jazz-soul radio, where I heard it every night on my clock radio going to sleep...

Over a decade later, just like she brought Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" to a new audience, Whitney went all out on this soul power-ballad and got the song back where it belonged on mainstream radio...

Whitney's version of "I Believe In You And Me" made it to the top-5 on Billboard magazine's pop chart in February of 1997. The song spend one week at #2 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, while getting to #23 on their Adult Top-40 format list. At urban stations, DJs played both the song, as well as the "B-side", "Somebody Bigger Than You And I", which featured New Edition members Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, and Ralph Tresvant, as well as singers Monica and Faith Evans. Therefore, Billboard listed both songs on the single's R&B chart run, where it crested at #4. Internationally, "I Believe In You And Me" reached the top-40 in the UK at #16. The Preacher's Wife soundtrack went to #3 on the Billboard 200 sales list in America, while topping the R&B Albums tally. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, "I Believe In You And Me" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal, while the Preacher's Wife soundtrack was up for Best R&B Album. She lost both to upstart Erykah Badu for for song "On & On" and debut album Baduizm respectively.

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Here's the "B-side" "Somebody Bigger Than You And I" which was played on urban radio and made it on the R&B charts...

And performing it live on SNL in 1996...

and on a TV appearance in the UK...

Whitney performed "I Believe In You And Me" at the World Music Awards in 2004...

...and finally, Whitney's performance of "I Believe In You And Me" from the movie, which was produced a little differently...

Up tomorrow: Georgia rap duo find some UFOs.