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Writers: Rene Moore*, Angela Winbush
Alton McClain & Destiny - (I’ve Learned to Respect) The Power of Love, from "Alton McClain & Destiny"/"It Must Be Love" (1978)
Producer: Frank Wilson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irFKmkuZvjI
Stephanie Mills - I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love, from "Stephanie Mills" (1985)
Producer: Ron Kersey
http://www.myspace.com/stephaniemillsofficial/music/songs/i-have-learned-to-respect-the-power-of-love-14101
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RPk5XhYb40
Live performance at the Apollo Theatre in 1986 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHn93dndOzo
Angela Winbush - I've Learned To Respect (The Power Of Love), from "The Real Thing" (1989)
Producer: Angela Winbush
*Rene Moore is not listed a writer on this version.
http://www.myspace.com/angelawinbushofficial/music/songs/i-ve-learned-to-respect-the-power-of-love-145600
Live Performance on Lou Rawls’ Parade of Stars in 1988(?) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXM8emdhCGc
With all of its differing titles, "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love" is pretty self-explanatory, but to get specific, it’s about overcoming the fear, anxiety, self-delusion and apathy that we may feel when trying to find love with faith, and being steadfast and humble enough to learn to respect the power it has and how to handle it, thereby maturing into a stronger person.
The first version, performed by the collective Alton McClain & Destiny, is intimate and somewhat demure in both the way it is sung and the playing of the instruments used. If I could say what venue would be ideal for this song, it would be a lounge or small-scale concert hall.
The cover, performed by Stephanie Mills, is one that I'm guessing that many of us grew up with and is almost the opposite of the Alton McClain & Destiny version. Released in 1986 and like the times, it makes (more) use of synthesizers, but with Mills' signature powerful vocal stylings (and ad-libs), the song becomes both grounded and soaring, seemingly launching the song's purpose into plain view. Ideal venue for this song? I'm seeing an arena with a light show, albeit a tasteful one, especially during the opening bars.
The third version (cover or original?) is performed by Angela Winbush. On her second solo album, she recorded a rendition of the song that she'd written, which became a hit by Mills 3 years prior to the album's release. Her version sounds like more a medium between the AM&D and Mills versions, as it has a mixture of the intimacy of the Alton McClain & Destiny version and the power of the Stephanie Mills version. Ideal venue for this song? Nearly anywhere, it sounds like a live performance as it is, but a general concert hall (somewhere between an arena and a lounge) would suffice. It's fitting that the writer's version of the song would have that center, and it speaks to the versatility of the song's composition that I like all three.
The Alton McClain & Destiny and Angela Winbush versions were both album cuts, but Stephanie Mills made the song her second single from her self-titled album, and it shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart (now the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart) nearly 25 years ago to this week (http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/r-b-hip-hop-songs?chartDate=1986-05-10). Though the AM&D version was not a single, it has been sampled on two different occasions by Common (Sense) with his song "Thisisme" from 1994, and Toni Braxton with "Midnite" from 2005.
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