Mariah Carey “Hero” hit #1

Hero Mariah Carey

Writer(s): Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff (see lyrics here) Released: August 31, 1993 (album cut on Music Box) First Charted: Octobrer 15, 1993 Peak: 14 US, 2 CB, 16 GR, 15 RR, 2 AC, 5 RB, 7 UK, 3 CN, 7 AU, 8 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.27 UK, 3.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 359.9 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The second single from Music Box, Mariah Carey’s biggest-selling album, wasn’t originally supposed to be a Mariah Carey song. She and collaborator Walter Afanasieff wrote “the big, grandiose ballad” SG “Hero” for the soundtrack of Stephen Frears’ 1992 movie of the same name. It starred Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, and Andy Garcia. Gloria Estefan was slated to sing the song. SG The song is “a big, arm-swishing ballad about finding your own sense of internal strength.” SG It’s “pure Hallmark material.” SG Carey considered it “fairly generic” and “a bit schmaltzy.” SG However, when label chief Tommy Mottola (Carey’s future husband) came into the studio while she was working on the demo, he said the song “was great and that Mariah would absolutely not give it away to another singer.” SG Carey worked to “to find the right vocal tone,” SG wanting to “show off her vocal firepower” SG but striking “a balance between her pyrotechnic vocal runs and a more restrained style.” SG “She also manages to convey a certain level of emotional catharsis, even though she didn’t actually care about the song very much.” SG She came to love the song, saying “’Hero’ belonged to my fans and I was going to deliver it to them with all I had.” SG After the song was released, Carey decided to donate the proceeds to the families of the victims of a December 7 shooting on the Long Island Rail Road. Carey had frequently ridden the route out of Penn Station. FB When she performed the song live, a stage light landed on a grown man with tears streaming down his face. As Afanasieff said, “I saw so many people crying and realized the power of the song.” FB Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 823. SG Stereogum (2/21/2022). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/10/2023.

Mariah Carey’s debut album reached #1

First posted 2/25/2008; updated 12/2/2020.

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey

Released: June 12, 1990 Charted: June 30, 1990 Peak: 111 US, 3 RB, 6 UK, 11 CN, 6 AU Sales (in millions): 9.0 US, 0.3 UK, 17.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Vision of Love (6/2/90, 1 US, 9 UK, 1 AC, 1 RB, gold single) There’s Got to Be a Way (6/1/91, 54 UK) I Don’t Wanna Cry (4/6/91, 1 US, 1 AC, 2 RB) Someday (1/19/91, 1 US, 38 UK, 5 AC, 3 RB, gold single) Vanishing All in Your Mind Alone in Love You Need Me Sent from Up Above Prisoner Love Takes Time (9/15/90, 1 US, 37 UK, 1 AC, 1 RB, gold single) Total Running Time: 46:44

Rating: 3.948 out of 5.00 (average of 27 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: In 1988, eighteen-year-old Mariah Carey launched her efforts at a music career. She started as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr, who noticed her “gifted voice” WK and took her to a record industry gala to try to convince a label executive to listen to her demo. Tommy Mottola signed her to Columbia, who were looking for “a young and very talented female vocalist to rival Whitney Houston…or a pop star to match Madonna.” WK Columbia got its wish. Powered by four Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs, Mariah Carey’s “extremely impressive debut” AMG was one of the most successful first-album outtings in music history. She became the first artist since the Jackson 5 to have the first four singles top the U.S. charts. The album “is replete with smooth-sounding ballads and uplifting dance/R&B cuts. Carey convincingly seizes many opportunities to display her incredible vocal range…With this collection of songs acting as a springboard for future successes, Carey establishes a strong standard of comparison for other breakthrough artists of this genre.” AMG Vision of Love, the lead single, was “regarded as one of the strongest debut singles by a female artist.” WK It was “featured during her television debut on The Arsenio Hall Show, an appearance noted by many as her formal introduction to stardom.” AMG The song was followed by the ballad Love Takes Time, a late edition to the album. She was told it was a “career-maker” WK and needed to be added to the first album even though the album was already completed and being mastered. It did make it on the original cassette and compact disc, but the title got left off the first copies printed. Ben Marguiles, who helped her write the song, said the song “was strong enough to stop the pressing;” WK he speculated that they “had to throw away a few hundred copies.” WK The third single, “the energetic Someday,” AMG was one of the four songs featured on the demo tape Carey gave to Mottola. Ric Wake, one of the producers assigned to the album, said, “I loved that song right from the beginning.” WK It was helped to #1 by a performance at the 1991 American Music Awards. A week before the song hit #1, Carey hit the top spot on the Billboard album chart. The fourth single, and fourth #1 from the album, was I Don’t Wanna Cry. When working with her on the song, producer Narada Michael Walden described Carey as “very shy” WK but also noted how professional she was for someone her age WK and that she had an astonishing voice. WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Mariah Carey AMG All Music Guide review by Ashley S. Battel WK Wikipedia

Mariah Carey “Vision of Love” hit #1

Vision of Love Mariah Carey

Writer(s): Mariah Carey, Ben Marguiles (see lyrics here) Released: May 15, 1990 First Charted: June 2, 1990 Peak: 14 US, 12 CB, 14 GR, 13 RR, 13 AC, 12 RB, 9 UK, 14 CN, 9 AU, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 44.6 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Mariah Carey was born in 1969 in New York, the daughter of a white opera singer and black aeronautical engineer. She recorded her first demo at sixteen and even sang back-up on Brenda K. Starr’s top 20 hit “I Still Believe” in 1988. She met record executive Tommy Mottola at a party and gave him her demo tape. He listened to it in his limo on the way home and had the driver take him back to the party. She’d already left, but he tracked her down and signed her to Columbia. BR He “started making romantic overtures almost immediately” BR and the two eventually married, despite the 20-year-plus age difference. She would later describe him as “a repressive, controlling force” BR but he did “ruthlessly believe in her talent” BR and she was considered a priority at Columbia. Mottola wanted to do with Carey what Clive Davis had done with Whitney Houston (who’d already had seven #1’s at this point) at Arista. He even brought in Narada Michael Walden, who’d produced many of Houston’s dance-pop hits, to work on many of the tracks on Carey’s debut album, including “Vision of Love.” Carey had a more active role in her career than Houston because she had a hand in writing and producing her songs. BR She wrote “Vision of Love” roughly a week after signing to Columbia. BR She wrote it as “a howl of triumph after making it through her chaotic, uncertain early years.” BR “The song self-consciously evokes classic soul” BR backed by “the same kind of twinkly, artificial late-eighties synthpop that previous teen sensations like Debbie Gibson and Tiffany were using.” BR In light of the scandal at the time that exposed group Milli Vanilli as not actually singing their vocals, Columbia took great care in presenting Carey as “someone who looked like a model but who really could sing.” BR Critics focused on her seven-octave vocal range at the onset of her career. BR From the beginning, Carey “understood that her voices was what set her apart” BR and “Vision of Love” “is a vehicle for that voice.” BR It is also “a sleek piece of pop craftmanship, a canny showcase for a fully formed persona, and a moving account of personal triumph.” BR The song introduced the world to someone who would become one of the most successful artists of all time. “Vision of Love” was the first of nineteen songs to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That made her second only to the Beatles’ twenty chart-toppers. “Vision of Love” was the first of four #1 songs from her debut album and the first of five consecutive #1 singles, making her the first artist to top the charts the first five times out. Resources: BR Tom Breihan (2022). The Number Ones. Hachete Books: New York, NY. Pages 189-201. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/10/2023.