Mariah Carey Reveals Her "Emotions"

Mariah Carey Reveals Her "Emotions"
Full Effect - Issue #9 1991

With her steamy new album, Emotions heating the charts, Mariah Carey is hotter than ever!

Paying Her Dues
"Most people don't think I've paid any dues, but I condensed ten years of work into three. It was like fast-forwarding. I worked around the clock. I would waitress until midnight, then go to the studio and work till seven in the morning on the album, then sleep, then do the whole thing again, day after day. No one helped me out, and I lived on very little money."

Quick Release
"I discussed putting out a new album so soon with everybody. We decided I should put it out soon because I was growing so much from the last album. It's only a year and a half since the last album was released, but I think it was a good decision."

Less Is More
"I wanted Emotions to be more sparsely produced than the first one, and for the most part it is. I also wanted to use the influence of all the music I loved, like Motown stuff and Stevie Wonder. I felt the uptempo songs were a little overproduced on the first record."

Comparisons to Whitney
"A lot of people compare me to Whitney Houston, and I feel very uncomfortable discussing the comparisons. All I can say is, I know that when I'm doing an album, I like to be involved in the whole process: Songwriting, producing and singing. I'll go into the studio and have forty ideas of what I want to sing on a particular track and choose the best. I think Emotions will show a total separation between me and Whitney."

What Emotions Is All About
"Although most songs on Emotions stick to the pop-gospel format of the first album, the arrangements on Emotions are leaner and springier.

Songs On Emotions
"The song 'The Wind' is a jazz-torch song and is the final cut on the album. The song was discovered by Walter Afanasieff who co-produced several tracks on Emotions. He heard it on Keith Jarret's Paris Concert album. I added my own lyrics."

Inspirations for Lyrics
"Sometimes the inspiration is more reall life than romance, but I make it about love because it's easier to write about, and more people can relate to it."

Family Background
"I've always viewed myself as very independent. My parents were divorced when I was three. My father is an aeronautical engineer and my mom is a vocal coach and opera singer who used to be a soloist with the New York City Opera in the late 60's and early 70's. I have a brother and a sister, who are nine and ten years older than me. They left home when they were still teenagers. My only sitter was a little radio."

Mariah and Her Mom
"My mom and I almost grew up together. We were like a team. She used to bring me everywhere, and I was a young adult at five or six. Because she sometimes worked during the day and at night, I often had to stay home alone. It was what gave me my independence. We moved about thirteen times until we finally settled in Huntingon, Long Island. That was where I first made some friends."

How It All Began
"Instead of going to college like all my friends, I moved to New York to pursue my career. I had been songwriting since I was thirteen. Through friends of my brother, I met Ben Marguiles, my first important collaborator. Together, we wrote six songs for my first album, including 'Vision of Love,' 'Someday,' and 'Love Takes Time.' We met when I was seventeen, and we worked together for a three-year period developing most of the songs on the first album. A lot of times Ben would just sit down and start playing something and from the feel of a chord I would start singing melody lines."

First Big Break
"I met Brenda K. Starr and landed a job as a back-up singer for her. It was Brenda who, at a record industry party, dragged me over to meet Tommy Mottola, the president of CBS Records. I sort of became his protogee and he was the executive producer of both records."

Early Influences
"When I was a little girl, my brother and sister were listening to records by Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. When I got older, I found out that Al Green and Aretha Franklin had recorded gospel records, and I went out and bought them. From there I discovered the Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar, Mahalia Jackson, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and whoever. I love that style because it's so free and real and raw."

Operaphobia
"I respect incredibly all the years of vocal training you have to have to sing that way, but it's just not me. Because my mom did opera for a living when I was young, I knew it could be more than a pipe dream. But I knew I never wanted to sing opera."

Stage Shy
"I'm not a Broadway-type of person. I'm something of an introvert, who is happiest when I'm creating in my own little world in the studio. I'm not into performing. I have to make myself do it because it comes with the territory. If I toured, I wouldn't have had another album out for at least another year. It's so hard on my voice. I need a lot of sleep, and my songs are all strenous. Because I'm not a dancer-slash-singer, when I go out there people don't want to hear me just breeze through them. They want to hear every note. I'm definitely not going to do a full-out tour for this album either."

Different From Madonna
"I'm not Madonna who demands attention, revels in controversy and loves performing. I don't want to be about hype and media. I don't want to put myself in everyone's face and make them sick of me at this early stage of my career. I make pop music. That's what I do, and it makes me happy. I want to be around for a while."


Thanks to Kerry from MariahCareyCollection for the scans!