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Apr 26 11 7:22 AM

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Okay so i was thinknig last night at which point in Mariah's career do we think she had the ultimate monopoly on the charts, most star power, and when she really was at the top of her game well ahead of any of her nearest competitors. And I came to the conclusion it was during the release of #1's I feel this period of her career she really was at her most popular and her most famous. She was riding high from her most critically acclaimed album Butterfly, she was i think at her most sexiest / glamorous in her visual look (#1's cover *cough cough pure sex appeal! Plus some of the best videos shes ever made, The Roof, Breakdown, I Still Believe) The music she was releasing was i think some of her all time best material especially the remixes for some of her 98 singles, she had just featured on a duet with the other biggest female star on the planet, on a personal level she was blossoming as a single female, fresh from her divorce and I think MC was just all round the number 1 artist at the time. The release of a 'greatest hits' containing all her then #1 singles just cemented the fact she was mega mega huge at that point! Not too mention her selling power at that stage, #1's is still one of her best selling Albums. I LOVE that era! I was transfixed at her #1's cover last night thinking my god she really nailed that cover the era and the general feeling towards her as a singer songwriter.
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alissaveronicaho

Posts: 5,295 Eternally Ardent "M" Lamb

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Apr 26 11 8:03 AM

I think it has yet to arrive! she needs to write hit songs for other artists(which think wont be so hard since the "music" on current charts are garbage, and any idea of "musical music" is going to be welcome once the general public gets tired of it). After #dembabies are born, a new demographic of mothers all over the world are going to be more likely to be fans(either come back to being a fan, or newly discover her back catalogue), and with her going back to Sony, I think she has every chance of success. I think that the material on MCIIU has really brought Sony back to really wanting to promote her as an artist again, and Mariah has the potential to have a madonna/cher longevity!


Last Edited By: alissaveronicaho Apr 26 11 8:09 AM. Edited 1 time.

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MisplacedValidity

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#4 [url]

Apr 26 11 9:12 AM

I'm not sure how you choose between four different periods - 1991, late 1993, late 1995/early 1996, and then 2005.

It's harder to imagine 1991 because the Internet wasn't around and celebrity spectacle wasn't like it is now, but for Mariah to have 3 #1 singles that year and sell millions of albums was huge. She was big at Top 40, R&B, and AC, too, so she was appealing to everyone. In terms of "star power" she may not have been at the top, but again, a lot of that is due to that being a different time than we have now.

Obviously in late 1993 Mariah was huge. Her wedding was front page news, and then she hit huge with "Dreamlover" and "Hero." She was again appealing to so many people, and she had her first network special that pushed Music Box to #1 throughout the holiday season. Mariah was the commercial juggernaut of that time period.

In a sense, her popularity came to a head in late 1995 and early 1996. She was again having huge hits that appealed to millions of people, had a network special, and had a lot of media coverage. She was ruling airwaves and TV.

I do agree she became more of a personality starting in 1997, but her popularity declined so to that end her star power wasn't huge in 1998.

I suppose you could then argue it really all came to a head in 2005. She combined her huge popularity (huge hits and CD sales) with her persona; there was media coverage of her as a person to go along with the airplay and sales. If you adjust the sales of TEOM to reflect mid-90s sales, it would probably come close to the sales of her biggest CDs.

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BeyondIdolization

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Apr 26 11 9:27 AM

Clearly TEOM. Aside from the huge success she was also more of a persona in the media - this just wasn't the case during Daydream, when she had no personality. Then there were the countless awards, everything from Queen of TRL to the Grammys, then the Oprah Legend's Ball to being one of Barbra Walters' 'Most Fascinating People of the Year'. She never had this kind of media presence/recognition and chart success before.

 

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MCglitterz

Posts: 2,922 This kitten got your tongue tied in knots I see...

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Apr 26 11 12:52 PM

tl;dr



jk - i've just been dying to use that! smiley: tongue

i would have to agree with previous posters that daydream era was where she was at the pinnacle of success, and teom era just reinforced/solidified that success and brought her to a whole different level creatively as well.

but i don't think we've seen the best of her yet to be honest...




You notice what I'm wearin', I notice in your starin', baby lemme blow your mind tonight...

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MisplacedValidity

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Apr 26 11 1:12 PM

I realize this is about "star power," but in terms of general popularity, her peak was 1993-1996. When you consider that the combined sales for the CDs she released in that time period is 25 million in the U.S. and well over 50 million worldwide and that she had 5 #1s on the Hot 100 in that span as well as a huge international hit in "Without You" and released a holiday classic in "AIWFCIY," you can't really beat that span. Almost no artist can, actually.

I've never thought about it until now, but as much as Tommy helped her during that time (let's be real, Sony threw a lot of its muscle behind her), he also hurt her. It's interesting that she didn't appear on Oprah's show from 1992-1997 (i.e. during her marriage to Tommy). She also didn't do any high profile interviews, really, and, as has been said, didn't have much of a public persona. She wasn't on 20/20, Dateline, etc. She wasn't even on Rolling Stone or Entertainment Weekly until she got divorced. Her sales might have been even higher with some Oprah appearances or something.

Last Edited By: MisplacedValidity Apr 26 11 1:15 PM. Edited 1 time.

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BeyondIdolization

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Apr 26 11 1:45 PM

I think a lot of people confuse commerical success and star power. Mariah barely had any star power with Daydream. She barely did any interviews or magazine covers, there was no scandal/drama surrounding her, she was anonymous/boring, she didn't have any endorsement deals, she didn't win any Grammys, etc. During TEOM she had all of these things PLUS great commercial success. That is the definition of star power.

 

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MisplacedValidity

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Apr 26 11 2:14 PM

BeyondIdolization wrote:
I think a lot of people confuse commerical success and star power. Mariah barely had any star power with Daydream. She barely did any interviews or magazine covers, there was no scandal/drama surrounding her, she was anonymous/boring, she didn't have any endorsement deals, she didn't win any Grammys, etc. During TEOM she had all of these things PLUS great commercial success. That is the definition of star power.
You make a valid point, but at the same time, are they really that separate? What's the point of star power if no one buys your product? And can you really be as popular as Mariah was in the mid-90s without having some sort of star power? I do agree with you that the two qualities aren't the same thing, but I also don't think they are entirely separate.

Also, Mariah's TV specials in 1993 and 1995 received pretty good ratings from what I remember. She was commanding an audience. She was also able to book performances on both the AMAs and the Grammys in 1996, which was a pretty big deal back then. It's not like she was a non-factor. As big as she was in 2005, she still wasn't really selling magazines (remember how the Vibe editor said their Mariah covers were among the worst sellers), and I don't think a network special (had she had one) would have been bigger than the ones in the 90s.

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Kevon

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Apr 26 11 2:30 PM

I guess it depends what you would describe as star power. I would say it's a combination of commercial success and media/public interest. I definitely think that she had the most of both on the 'TEOM' era, but then I wasn't a fan back during the 'Daydream' era so I can't really say what it was like back then.



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BeyondIdolization

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Apr 26 11 3:19 PM

MisplacedValidity wrote:
BeyondIdolization wrote:
I think a lot of people confuse commerical success and star power. Mariah barely had any star power with Daydream. She barely did any interviews or magazine covers, there was no scandal/drama surrounding her, she was anonymous/boring, she didn't have any endorsement deals, she didn't win any Grammys, etc. During TEOM she had all of these things PLUS great commercial success. That is the definition of star power.
You make a valid point, but at the same time, are they really that separate? What's the point of star power if no one buys your product? And can you really be as popular as Mariah was in the mid-90s without having some sort of star power? I do agree with you that the two qualities aren't the same thing, but I also don't think they are entirely separate.

Also, Mariah's TV specials in 1993 and 1995 received pretty good ratings from what I remember. She was commanding an audience. She was also able to book performances on both the AMAs and the Grammys in 1996, which was a pretty big deal back then. It's not like she was a non-factor. As big as she was in 2005, she still wasn't really selling magazines (remember how the Vibe editor said their Mariah covers were among the worst sellers), and I don't think a network special (had she had one) would have been bigger than the ones in the 90s.

But this was about which era she had the most star power. TEOM was basically as commercially successful as Daydream in the US. But with TEOM she also had endorsement deals with Pepsi and Intel, was launching her own perfume, had multiple magazine covers including Rolling Stone, multiple Grammy wins plus a well-received performance, was the 'Queen of TRL', etc. Did she have star power in 1995? Clearly. Was it on the same level as in 2005? Clearly not.

 

Last Edited By: BeyondIdolization Apr 26 11 3:23 PM. Edited 1 time.

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mariahfan150

Posts: 33,673

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Apr 26 11 3:49 PM

MisplacedValidity wrote:
She also didn't do any high profile interviews, really, and, as has been said, didn't have much of a public persona. She wasn't on 20/20, Dateline, etc. She wasn't even on Rolling Stone or Entertainment Weekly until she got divorced.
I love that you wrote this. When you're already an established artist/famous the music can sell on its own. Tommy Mottola et al obviously knew that and that's why Mariah didn't and doesn't need to promote her albums like crazy.



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mariahfan150

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#18 [url]

Apr 26 11 3:50 PM

BeyondIdolization wrote:
MisplacedValidity wrote:
BeyondIdolization wrote:
I think a lot of people confuse commerical success and star power. Mariah barely had any star power with Daydream. She barely did any interviews or magazine covers, there was no scandal/drama surrounding her, she was anonymous/boring, she didn't have any endorsement deals, she didn't win any Grammys, etc. During TEOM she had all of these things PLUS great commercial success. That is the definition of star power.
You make a valid point, but at the same time, are they really that separate? What's the point of star power if no one buys your product? And can you really be as popular as Mariah was in the mid-90s without having some sort of star power? I do agree with you that the two qualities aren't the same thing, but I also don't think they are entirely separate.

Also, Mariah's TV specials in 1993 and 1995 received pretty good ratings from what I remember. She was commanding an audience. She was also able to book performances on both the AMAs and the Grammys in 1996, which was a pretty big deal back then. It's not like she was a non-factor. As big as she was in 2005, she still wasn't really selling magazines (remember how the Vibe editor said their Mariah covers were among the worst sellers), and I don't think a network special (had she had one) would have been bigger than the ones in the 90s.

But this was about which era she had the most star power. TEOM was basically as commercially successful as Daydream in the US. But with TEOM she also had endorsement deals with Pepsi and Intel, was launching her own perfume, had multiple magazine covers including Rolling Stone, multiple Grammy wins plus a well-received performance, was the 'Queen of TRL', etc. Did she have star power in 1995? Clearly. Was it on the same level as in 2005? Clearly not.
I completely agree for the US.



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hottiecasanova

Posts: 12,806


"You think that's sexy? With the Rocket Pop's outside you?"

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Apr 26 11 5:21 PM

BeyondIdolization wrote:
Clearly TEOM. Aside from the huge success she was also more of a persona in the media - this just wasn't the case during Daydream, when she had no personality. Then there were the countless awards, everything from Queen of TRL to the Grammys, then the Oprah Legend's Ball to being one of Barbra Walters' 'Most Fascinating People of the Year'. She never had this kind of media presence/recognition and chart success before.


yes! i was just going to post an essay as to why teom, and not dd, was clearly the time in which she had the most buzz/press/relevancy.

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