Magical Mariah - The Queen of the 90s

It was the year 1990... and Whitney Houston's ballads were on everyone's lips... especially those of my younger sister,  Priya... And suddenly there was this young soothing voice that broke through the sound barrier... a voice that could scale new heights... and if you closed your eyes... you'd see a vision... The Vision of Love.

Mariah Carey was the find of the year, winning the Grammy Award for the Best New Artist in 1991 in addition to the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. 

From Pop to R&B, this diva went on to a Grammy nomination in 1993 for the Best R&B Vocal Performance for a Duo or Group along with Trey Lorenz for their version of the Jacksons classic - I'll Be There.

Another memorable cover for Mariah Carey has been the legendary love song originally performed by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. It has to be Endless Love (with Luther Vandross).

Didn't realise that the still here was of Luther and not Mariah Carey... Flashback to the 1980s ad that featured Karan Kapoor (the younger son of Shashi Kapoor) who featured on an ad for Bombay Dyeing featuring a Bobby Darin song. Mariah has a song with the same name in a funky style - Dreamlover.

Mariah Carey has the distinction of having a song that has spent the longest time at #1 in the Billboard 100 (16 weeks)... not a solo... One Sweet Day with the Boyz II Men.

I mentioned her at the beginning of the blog... Whitney Houston and Mariah were good friends who teamed up for the 1998 Dreamworks musical animated feature The Prince of Egypt with When You Believe.

Mariah Carey was indeed the leading woman of the 1990s with 14 chart-topping tracks including this Christmas 1993 #1 - Hero.

She's indeed the Hero (rather Heroine) of the day today... celebrating her 47th Birthday today....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MARIAH CAREY

PS. Vision of Love was also featured in my blog post on World Sight Day last year - Eyes Wide Open...

Bees Saal Baad (बीस साल बाद)

Remember the days when the only TV channel was Doordarshan, and the most popular show on TV was the Hindi movie and Chitrahaar/ Chhayageet. Remember during Halloween they would play scary songs or songs from ghost movies including this one... Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil (translated to 'lamps are lit in some places, in others hearts').

This song was from a movie called Bees Saal Baad (After Twenty Years). I don't normally feature Hindi songs on this blog... but today is special, because twenty years ago a big Bollywood fan entered the fold of our family... and the best song that I've ever heard him sing is Lift Karadey by Adnan Sami.

Lift deke deke Love ho gaya... That's the story of the very 'vitty' Vikas (or should I say the 'wery' witty Weakis - he gets called that more often in NZ) and my Whitney Houston cover singer sister Priya... Twenty years ago, they were united in marriage to get started with the Greatest Love Of All.

Congratulations Priya and Vikas on the 20 years of togetherness. May this love grow with every passing day. And may there always be laughter and happiness in every thing you do.

Your wedding day was the most fun family wedding ever... and remember that special song... your song... Paint My Love - Michael Learns To Rock. 

Keep singing and dancing... and having fun...

Whitney - A #MusicalBirthday Remembrance

When do you start having your own choice of music?

We grew up with a lot of music. Most of the music at home tended to be Daddy's choice. But that changed when we got into our teens. Each of us started to have our own preferences in music. My brother became a die-hard Beatles fan along with a good friend. I tended towards easy-to-play songs. But one sister of mine found her maturing voice singing the songs of Whitney Houston. Every competition she participated in from 1985 to 1990 (and there was quite a few of them), it had to be a Whitney song. And she carried it off really well with the right level of emotion. 

Her biography on Billboard.com reads: 

Whitney Houston was inarguably one of the biggest female pop stars of all time. Her accomplishments as a hitmaker were extraordinary; just to scratch the surface, she became the first artist ever to have seven consecutive singles hit number one, and her 1993 Dolly Parton cover "I Will Always Love You" became nothing less than the biggest hit single in rock history. Houston was able to handle big adult contemporary ballads, effervescent, stylish dance-pop, and slick urban contemporary soul with equal dexterity; the result was an across-the-board appeal that was matched by scant few artists of her era, and helped her become one of the first black artists to find success on MTV in Michael Jackson's wake.

Today on what would have been her 53rd birthday, I've lined up ten of her songs that I (and the world as well) liked best. Have a listen and share your favorite Whitney Houston song. 

Saving All My Love For You (1985)

Whitney's first Number One hit and first Grammy award as Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female) in 1986.

Greatest Love Of All (1986)

The song was a hit for George Benson ten years earlier in 1977.

Didn't We Almost Have It All (1987)

I Want To Dance With Somebody (1987)

Possibly the most upbeat song from Whitney won her her second Grammy Award.

Where Do Broken Heart Go (1988)

Back to the heart-breaks and the ballads

One Moment In Time (1988)

The song for the Seoul Olympics - an absolute winner.

I'm Your Baby (1990)

Funky Pop

I Will Always Love You (1992)

From The Bodyguard with Whitney in the main role, 5 million copies in sales and 14 weeks in Number one. Would make anyone cry.

I'm Every Woman (1992)

Another revival - this time Chaka Khan's 1978 hit - recorded for 'The Bodyguard'

Exhale (1995)

From 'Waiting To Exhale' - a Shoop Shoop song. I thought only Cher does Shoop Shoop