We Didn't Know

"We Didn't Know" is a mid-tempo duet by American recording artists Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder, and was released as the sixth and final single from Houston's third album I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990). The single peaked at number 20 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart. There was no music video made for the song.

"We Didn't Know"
Single by Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder
from the album I'm Your Baby Tonight
ReleasedApril 14, 1992
RecordedNovember 1989
Genre
Length5:32 (album version)
4:26 (album edit)
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)Stevie Wonder
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"I Belong to You"
(1991)		 "We Didn't Know"
(1992)		 "I Will Always Love You"
(1992)
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"These Three Words"
(1991)		 "We Didn't Know"
(1992)		 "For Your Love"
(1995)

The song is about two good friends that realize that they have romantic feelings for each other and are more than just friends — they love each other, and they "didn't know." Houston and Wonder performed the song on an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show in December 1990.

Arista Records stopped working the album's singles to top 40 after "My Name Is Not Susan" became her first solo single to not reach the top ten. The duet was thus never sent to pop radio. "We Didn't Know" and the prior release, "I Belong To You," were both R&B-only releases. The song managed a decent placing despite no video and being a nearly two-year-old track by the time of its release.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone adored the song and praised it with a long review: "Still, the key to the kind of music Houston sings on I'm Your Baby Tonight — the black-and-white, funk-and-dance-driven pop that is the soundtrack of this cultural moment — is "We Didn't Know," Houston's duet with producer Stevie Wonder. Wonder, who practically invented the keyboard-based pop that Houston and her fans hear as natural and contemporary, understands Houston totally. He knows what she likes about the expressive properties of ballads, about the passion of rock, about the well-regulated technological zing of dance music. So, as he's done before in his own music and with other singers, he puts all of this — the barreling rhythm tracks, the soaring choruses, the personable background voices — at the service of "We Didn't Know," which is about when "innocent friends/Turn serious lovers." Chances are — and with any luck — this emotionally engaged song on Whitney Houston's consistent and resourceful album will affect the music she sings for the rest of her life."[1] Entertainment Weekly's David Browne called the song "sluggish" and that this contribution "blends into the mush."[2] J. D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun wrote: "We Didn't Know," in which Houston merely follows the lead of duet partner Stevie Wonder, also has its pleasures, most of which stem from Wonder's deliciously idiosyncratic writing."[3]

Track listings and formats

Tracks A3-B3 - "Lover for Life" (Written by Sam Dees - Produced and arranged by Narada Michael Walden)

Charts
Chart (1992) Peak
position
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[7] 20

Personnel
Credits
  • Producer, writer, vocal arrangement — Stevie Wonder
  • All instruments — Stevie Wonder
  • Background vocals — Kimberly Brewer, Lynne Fiddmont-Linsey, Dorian Holley, Keith John
  • Engineer, mixer — Bobby Brooks
  • Assistant engineer — Steve VanArden, Danny Normando
  • Sound design — Robert Arbittier
  • Stevland Morris Music Project Coordinator — Stephanie Andrews
Recording and mixing
  • Recorded and mixed at Wonderland Studios, Los Angeles
  • Lead vocals recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, New York City

References
  1. "Album reviews: I'm Your Baby Tonight".
  2. "I'm Your Baby Tonight - EW.com".
  3. "Whitney Houston's latest release never quite ignites".
  4. "Whitney Houston - We Didn't Know".
  5. "Whitney Houston - We Didn't Know (Vinyl)".
  6. "Whitney Houston - We Didn't Know (Cassette)".
  7. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
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