Mariah strikes again with Mimi

Mariah Carey has been a big pop star for many years but as she herself has ruefully discovered a voice that leaps through several octaves, pin-up girl looks and even a record number of No. 1 sellers are not enough to keep her on top. Label problems with Virgin Records, a monumental flop of a movie with Glitter and likewise with its soundtrack album plus personal problems sent Mariah’s career plummeting to the pits.

She made a presentable return effort with the album Charmbracelet three years ago but did not completely recover lost ground. So for a while there, it looked like Mariah Carey has become an icon of the ’90s, a name and a voice by which we will remember a past decade.

Now, Mariah has also had a good rep for having an excellent head for business, particularly in marketing herself. She is more than an artist. She knows what will sell. She has packaged a sound and a look that remains widely imitated. She knows that her fans like to listen to her sing a single syllable across several notes. She knows which artists to collaborate with. She is, however, not infallible and has made some wrong choices. But she can certainly put all that she has learned to work again and win. And won she has with her new album The Emancipation of Mimi.

Mimi is probably a nickname she has picked for herself. Emancipation means freedom. And as she triumphantly puts it by quoting Psalms 30:5 in the liner notes, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning," joy has returned to Mariah’s career. She has another No.1 selling single with We Belong Together, over 200,000 downloads at last count, another No.1 selling album, Mimi is up from four to three again after 19 weeks in the Billboard 200 where it was also at No.1 and the prospect another number one seller in Shake It Off.

The process of how Mariah came out of Glitter and the mediocre Charmbracelet to produce something like Mimi should be in every music industry handbook. In fact I can imagine a documentary film or even a TV series, something like The Apprentice but focused on record production and marketing. Should be quite interesting and commercial too what with Mariah’s knock-out looks and singing style present in every show.

I like the fact that Mariah decided to forgo pushing her notes up and down and sideways or whatever in the sweet ballad We Belong Together. Take note of how she zeroes in on a note and holds it for emphasis in a tugging give and take with the music. I also like the mellow grooves of Shake It Up. As for the singing contest wannabes, there is Mine Again to impress the judges with.

The other cuts are It’s Like That, Say Something featuring Snoop Dogg; Stay the Night, Get Your Number, featuring Jermaine Dupri; One and Only featuring Twista; Circles, Your Girl, I Wish You Knew, To The Floor, featuring Nelly, Joy Ride and Fly Like a Bird.

Top 20 Sellers

These are troubled times for the music industry but I am heartened by so many good things happening to Filipino artists who still manage to show signs of being able to survive the current crisis. Tower Records and Music One list the following titles as their Top 20 sellers:

Halina Sa Parokya ni Edgar by Parokya ni Edgar; Side A Gig Live by Side A; Versions & Beyond by M.Y.M.P.; Hale by Hale; Live by Nina; When Love is Gone by Martin Nievera; Jagged Little Pill Acoustic by Alanis Morissette; American Idiot by Green Day; God Bless the Child by Mishka Adams; The Look Of Love by Various Artists;

The Singles by Barbie Almalbis; Steady Lang by Brownman Revival; Half Empty, Half Full by Cueshé; Light Peace Love by Bamboo; Raymond Lauchengco by Raymond Lauchengco; By Request by U-Turn; Strike Whilst the Iron is Hot by Orange & Lemons; Kitchie Nadal by Kitchie Nadal; Chillout Project Acid Jazz by Various Artists; and Monkey Business by Black Eyed Peas.

Top 10 Songs On The Airlanes

Radio airplay for the week just past also shows a smilar upward trend for local recordings. Here are the Top 10 songs in the airlanes these days: The Day You Said Goodnight by Hale; Here I Am Again by Rachelle Ann Go; What I Do Best by Sheryn Regis; Stay by Cueshé; Cool by Gwen Stefani; Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day; Tell Me Where It Hurts by M.Y.M.P.; Hanggang Kailan by Orange & Lemons; Ordinary People by John Legend; Kahit Pa by Hale; and Same Ground by Kitchie Nadal.