What’s up
Dialophiles?
Tonight, the Radio Dial tunes in a frequency containing a track which resides in millions of pop music fans’ music collections, as it is extracted from a debut album that has gone multi-platinum. Yet, I imagine that only the most die hard fans of this particular artist would immediately recognize the song by title. Ladies and Gentlemen, may we present, Miss Mariah Carey, and “You Need Me”!
Wait a minute before you walk away
Let me finish, I've got a lot to say, yeah
Now, how could any Mariah tune be considered curious enough to be featured on the Dial, given the amount of hits and tremendous publicity she’s attained throughout her career? Good question.
How about if the track, pulled from her 1990 self-titled release, features hard rock guitar courtesy of Living Colour’s Vernon Reid of 1989’s smash hit “Cult of Personality”? Given that Mariah was mining upbeat dance pop and adult contemporary ballads at the genesis of her career, this left-field variant in her sound makes for an interesting anomaly in her discography.
The lyrics of “You Need Me” display an anger and arrogant confidence, sung by a scorned lover asserting her dominance over her soon-to-be former beau. She warns, essentially, that HE needs HER more than she needs HIM, which, she threatens, he’ll learn soon enough.
Baby, I'm not gonna tolerate this game that you play, no
You'll regret it if you desert me this way, yeah
Carey’s vocal performance here is more subdued in comparison to most of the tracks on her debut LP. There’s no sign of Mariah’s celebrated “melismas” here, AKA “vocal runs”, in which she alternates between multiple notes successively while singing one single syllable of text. (Think of the final line of “Vision of Love”: “all-alll-alll-allll you turned out to beeeeee”.)
"You Need Me” also curiously under-utilizes Mariah’s five octave vocal range, reducing it to a single sustained high note buried during the track’s fade out. However, slight vocal distortion effects and a muted echo on the chorus contribute to a seething, smoky, and sultry delivery for Mariah’s angry jilted belle, resulting in an atypical song that sounds unike anything Carey has recorded since.
No one understands you like I do…
After everything that we've been through...
Baby, you can turn around and leave…
But I know that you'll keep coming right back to me
I worked at a Square Circle record store when Mariah’s debut LP dropped, and for the first few months, (at least at our location), the album sales were basically dead in the water. We even offered it up as part of a “new artist - half off sale” in order to try to move our stock. Then, the amazing “Vision of Love” single BLEW UP, and we couldn't keep her cassettes and CDs on the shelves! A star was born!
Helped by that tremendous lead single, not to mention other smash hits like “Love Takes Time”, and “Someday”, Mariah’s debut became the best-selling LP of 1991 according to Billboard Magazine, and went 9X platinum as counted by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Yet, even a multi-platinum LP has tracks that receive no radio airplay, which never get played in concert, and end up becoming obscure footnotes in an artist’s career. “You Need Me” certainly fits that bill. It’s a shame it wasn’t released as a single, it would have been interesting to see where it would have charted nationally, though we know it’s a number #1 smash here at the Radio Dial.
Don't you know you need me
Don't you see, believe me
Baby, now before you act so hastily
Baby, remember you need me
Tonight, the Radio Dial tunes in a frequency containing a track which resides in millions of pop music fans’ music collections, as it is extracted from a debut album that has gone multi-platinum. Yet, I imagine that only the most die hard fans of this particular artist would immediately recognize the song by title. Ladies and Gentlemen, may we present, Miss Mariah Carey, and “You Need Me”!
Wait a minute before you walk away
Let me finish, I've got a lot to say, yeah
Now, how could any Mariah tune be considered curious enough to be featured on the Dial, given the amount of hits and tremendous publicity she’s attained throughout her career? Good question.
How about if the track, pulled from her 1990 self-titled release, features hard rock guitar courtesy of Living Colour’s Vernon Reid of 1989’s smash hit “Cult of Personality”? Given that Mariah was mining upbeat dance pop and adult contemporary ballads at the genesis of her career, this left-field variant in her sound makes for an interesting anomaly in her discography.
The lyrics of “You Need Me” display an anger and arrogant confidence, sung by a scorned lover asserting her dominance over her soon-to-be former beau. She warns, essentially, that HE needs HER more than she needs HIM, which, she threatens, he’ll learn soon enough.
Baby, I'm not gonna tolerate this game that you play, no
You'll regret it if you desert me this way, yeah
Carey’s vocal performance here is more subdued in comparison to most of the tracks on her debut LP. There’s no sign of Mariah’s celebrated “melismas” here, AKA “vocal runs”, in which she alternates between multiple notes successively while singing one single syllable of text. (Think of the final line of “Vision of Love”: “all-alll-alll-allll you turned out to beeeeee”.)
"You Need Me” also curiously under-utilizes Mariah’s five octave vocal range, reducing it to a single sustained high note buried during the track’s fade out. However, slight vocal distortion effects and a muted echo on the chorus contribute to a seething, smoky, and sultry delivery for Mariah’s angry jilted belle, resulting in an atypical song that sounds unike anything Carey has recorded since.
No one understands you like I do…
After everything that we've been through...
Baby, you can turn around and leave…
But I know that you'll keep coming right back to me
I worked at a Square Circle record store when Mariah’s debut LP dropped, and for the first few months, (at least at our location), the album sales were basically dead in the water. We even offered it up as part of a “new artist - half off sale” in order to try to move our stock. Then, the amazing “Vision of Love” single BLEW UP, and we couldn't keep her cassettes and CDs on the shelves! A star was born!
Helped by that tremendous lead single, not to mention other smash hits like “Love Takes Time”, and “Someday”, Mariah’s debut became the best-selling LP of 1991 according to Billboard Magazine, and went 9X platinum as counted by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Yet, even a multi-platinum LP has tracks that receive no radio airplay, which never get played in concert, and end up becoming obscure footnotes in an artist’s career. “You Need Me” certainly fits that bill. It’s a shame it wasn’t released as a single, it would have been interesting to see where it would have charted nationally, though we know it’s a number #1 smash here at the Radio Dial.
Don't you know you need me
Don't you see, believe me
Baby, now before you act so hastily
Baby, remember you need me
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