I Don't Know How to Love Him has been universally acclaimed as the high point of the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack since the album's September 1970 release; in 2003 "The Rough Guide to Cult Pop" would assess Elliman's performance: "It's rare to hear a singer combine such power and purity of tone in one song, and none of the famous singers who have covered this ballad since have come close." The choice for the first single release went, however, to the track "Superstar" by Murray Head. When a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Helen Reddy began moving up the charts in the
I Don't Know How to Love Him wife, he made the record happen." Reddy attributes the eventual success of her recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" to the positive listener response the track received at the first station where it was played: WDRC (AM) in Hartford Conn – where in fact a number of the "local requests" for "I Don't Know How to Love Him" originated in Los Angeles being made by Reddy's visiting nephew: a teenage Australian actor with a penchant for different voices, and also a number of Reddy's friends, with Reddy admitting: "I may have made a call or two myself".