Readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.
So, as our retrospective features ‘From the Vault’ and ‘TGJ Replay’ allow us the chance to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday of one artist, our newest feature Chart Rewind – a variation of our current Retro Rewind assay – accedes salutes to an entire era of music history.
This week we’ve got the August 1990 Hot 100 in our view. There, we find pop icon Mariah Carey reigning with her introductory hit ‘Vision of Love.’ Located on her self-titled debut album, ‘Vision’ not only helped hoist its eponymous parent project to #1 on the Billboard 200 (where it enjoyed 11 weeks, the longest run of her career to date), but also helped itself to a four week reign on the singles chart. Unknown to many at the time, the soaring ballad would be the first of a record-setting 18 tenancies she’d have atop the Hot 100.
Kicking off a now-legendary career, ‘Vision’ continues to influence an army of pop and R&B singers while simultaneously remaining one of the hardest songs to sing (effectively) in pop music history. An enduring fan favorite nearly three decades after its release, let us tell it the tune remains our favorite MC cut here at TGJ HQ as well.
Tuck in below to see Madonna, Janet Jackson, and all the others who joined Mimi in the top 25 this week 26 years ago:
Hot 100 This Week in 1990
Hot 100 This Week
Click here to read this week’s full chart check.
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WHO?!
You probably should not have been born.
“mom shoulda swallowed that load”
don’t act like our fave didn’t cover Hero ?☕
I wasn’t born yet….
I know this post is about Mama Lamb’s debut single, but for the life of me I will NEVER be able to comprehend why “Emotions” (the album) “flopped” and did “Invincible” numbers. It makes no sense to me at all.
It’s called the “Sophomore Slump” it happens to all artist… Still sold 4million tho. Look at beyonces albums her debut sold 4 bday sold 3 all in the US sales People not worldwide. Numbers don’t lie. ??
GURL, MARIAH JUST STARTED TO SEE A DIP IN SALES. U CAN’T COMPARE THE 90S TO THE 2000S. AROUND THE TIME BDAY WAS RELEASE ALBUM LEAKS & PIRACY WAS JUST GETTING ON IT’S WAY. U CAN SEE A NATURAL DECLINE BY ALL MAJOR ARTISTS ONCE THEY HIT THE 2000S. MARIAH WAS JUST HIT OR MISS.
Actually beyonce’s debut sold 5 mill in US but who’s counting
I think it had a lot to do with the fact that Emotions came out so close to her debut album that the general public were simply burned out on Mariah. I Don’t Wanna Cry had just hit #1 that summer and then a few months later here comes another one. Sometimes music buyers need time to miss u. Plus, by 1991, Mariah was battling tabloid speculation about her race, her relationship with Tommy Matolla and rumors that she was just a studio singer since she refused to tour. Her music was overshadowed during this period.
because at that particular time…janet was more popular (maybe not bigger) than her and whitney…im your baby tonight had a similar outcome as emotions….whitney even tried choreography a lot during that era to try and keep up with janet…rhythym nation had literally changed the game in 1990
AND HERE WE GO HURT LAMBS BRINGING UP WHITNEY TO VALIDATE MARIAH. IN ANOTHER MINUTE MADONNA’S NAME WILL FOLLOW. YA’LL LAMBS ARE SOME SORRY FUCKERS. SO IF WHITNEY FLOPPED, IT WAS OK FOR MARIAH TO HAVE A FLOP. THE TRUTH IS MARIAH STARTED TO BURN OUT A FEW TIMES WITHIN HER FIRST DECADE. THE REASON WHY SHE HAS SO MANY #1 SONGS IS BCUZ A FIRST SINGLE OFF A NEW ALBUM KEPT COMING AROUND EVERY YEAR. SHE’S THE FIRST GIMMICK OF MUSIC WHEN IT COMES TO PROMO TRICKS. SHE’D THROW OUT 2 OR 3 SINGLES AND AS SOON AS THE SONGS STARTED CHARTING LOW, BAAAAAAAM. A NEW ALBUM DROPPED.
i’m not a lamb tho… lol and i love all the divas equally… just calling it like it was….the ballad sound suffered in 1990… it was all about dancing
MARIAH STILL FLOPPED WITH EMOTIONS A YEAR LATER AFTER HER DEBUT. AAAAAAAAHAHAHA.
THERE WERE PLENTY OF BALLADS
MICHAEL BOLTON WAS #1 IN 1990 WITH HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU
TAYLOR DAYNE WITH LOVE WILL LEAD YOU BACK
SENEAD O CONNOR WITH NOTING COMPARES 2 U
WILSON PHILLIPS WITH HOLD ON
ROXETTE WITH IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE
IN 1991 SURFACE,BRYAN ADAMS, PAULA ABDUL AND OTHERS STILL HAD BALLADS REACH #1, ALONG WITH DANCE MUSIC.
ull always have different types of hits regardless of what sound is popular at the time…but the ballad sound was not what was the most popular with the kids at that time…hence the whole direction of the im your baby tonight album…
Your analysis doesn’t even make sense. Mariah’s debut came out after rhythm nation and was huge in its own right. Then came emotions and Janet didn’t release another album until 1993 so what would that have to do with how Emotions album sold?
We are not talking about her debut…and ythym nation had 7 top 5 singles. That album ran all the way from 89 to 91…i stand by my post
https://youtu.be/xtLPbGUjGfI
even rockin the janet head mic. and whit was a super janet stan during this time.. very vocal about it
Yea Whitney loved Janet! I wonder if she knew about Janet and Bobbys relationship in the 80’s.
Well Whitney did attend the Rhythm Nation tour as well. They admired each other’s artistry.
Whitney was just so nice in every aspect. All of these artists had huge talent each at their own thing. That´s for sure.
@John I agree. They all had raw talent, and thank goodness there was artist development, to maximize and fine tune it!
Whitney and Janet always were at the award shows going into each other’s dressing room areas in the 80’s. They have a lot of history! … and yea, Whit knew about Bobby and Janet’s brief romance!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY21x1HjyjY
Although I wasn’t alive during this time it amazes me how diverse the chart was back in the 90’s. And it also shows me that u had to have REAL TALENT to make it in the industry. Mariah and Janet were slaying.
When She debuted, Mariah Carey (The Artist & Album) changed the game forever. A Queen had arrived! ??? I still listen ? to Vision of Love a lot even today..
The Queen of Music!
Hypernova exploded, making her the biggest (and brightest) star in the 7 nearest galaxies. Creating enough material for not just one of the most iconic superstars ever existed, than producing enough material to create dozens of others she inspired troughout her spectacular career.
A Star was born.
Come Back To Me by Janet is timeless! Janet have some great bodies of work under her belt.
Vision of Love slayed! I’ve never heard most of those other songs and y’all say today’s music is forgettable! Kii.
Many of the songs are more forgettable than many other lists they have done from the 90s in Retro Rewind. That´s true. But not more than the lists now. We are talking about 26 YEARS AGO. Can you imagine the already forgettable current whole hot 100 in 26 years time? Girl, just don´t do it. With VISION OF LOVE on top alone it is more than enough to be considered a better list than the current ones.
Yas! Now this is an unbelievable Retro Rewind. The whole list and deiversity, but especially THIS SONG. Now this is entering the industry like a goddess. One of the best DEBUT songs in pop history. If not the best. I mean, I dare anyone to name DEBUT songs that are CLEARLY better than this. I mean pretty impossible. From the last 15 years Fallin by Alicia Keys is definitely one of the contenders. But there aren´t many more, not now and not then.
Well…Whitney’s You Give Good Love and Toni Braxton’s Love Should’ve Brought You Home are equally as impressive for debut singles. Mary J’s Real Love gets an honorable mention too.
Not at all!!!! Love my beloved Whitney The Voice Houston but You Give Good Love is not anywhere near this song quality wise. Now if her debut single had been something like Saving all my Love then yes. And Toni… love her but just no. This is VISION OF LOVE we are talking about. A pretty much perfect song. Not only that, but this is the result of HER SONGWRITING. It´s just plain amazing and impacting. Like I said Fallin only comes to mind right now (and vocally it has nothing on Vision of Love obviously).
PS: Whitney Houston´s debut album is the most successful DEBUT album ever, did you know that? Love my hugely talented ladies 🙂
Oh Mariah, how I love her! She has one of the greatest discographies in pop/R&B music. She’s such a gem and it’s a shame how people treat her. That’s music royalty right there.
Even though I was a little kid, I still remember the first time I heard Vision Of Love on the radio. Mariah was instantly my favorite female artist…until Brandy came along lol. Classic!
HUNNY, DON’T FORGET ABOUT MISS SADE.
Nah I’m not a big Sade fan even tho I own her Greatest Hits and respect her talent immensely. I prefer Anita Baker over Sade if I’m being honest.
ANITA IS MUTHA. AUNTIE WILL HAVE U CAUGHT UP IN THE RAPTURE HUNNY.
Vision Of Love is better than most peoples entire discographies. That song & Anytime You Need A Friend are Mariah’s best imo.
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Come Back To Me by JJ should’ve been a #1 hit. That song still feels good all over. Also, Emotions didn’t flop. It was just not as big of a seller as her debut was. It still sold 4x Platinum & 8 million WW. That’s half of what her debut did. Solid #’s. The album didn’t have as many strong singles as her debut produced. Music Box went on to outsell her debut & Sophomore albums combined tho.
——————-
Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:51 pm
.
MJD updated MC’s worldwide estimated albums sales/shipments:
.
1990 – 14,500,000 – Mariah Carey
1991 – 8,200,000 – Emotions
1992 – 6,000,000 – MTV Unplugged
1993 – 27,000,000 – Music Box
1994 – 13,900,000 – Merry Christmas
1995 – 21,700,000 – Daydream
1997 – 10,500,000 – Butterfly
1998 – 16,200,000 – #1’s
1999 – 8,000,000 – Rainbow
2001 – 2,500,000 – Glitter
2001 – 4,200,000 – Greatest Hits
2002 – 3,100,000 – Charmbracelet
2003 – 700,000 – The Remixes
2005 – 10,000,000 – The Emancipation of Mimi
2008 – 2,500,000 – E=MC²
2009 – 1,100,000 – Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel
2009 – 800,000 – The Ballads
2010 – 1,000,000 – Merry Christmas II You
2011 – 100,000 – The Essential
2014 – 300,000 – Me. I am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse
2015 – 180,000 – #1 to Infinity
= 152,450,000 (Globally tracked ALBUM sales/shipments)
———–
PS: Any Lambs here knows a reliable site that breaks down all Mariah’s single sales? I still can’t find a full breakdown tracked by each country certification charts of her single sales… I know it’s between 60-70 million singles sold/shipped. But, I need a full breakdown.
This is probably the best you can find
https://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=62198
Look at all those black artists in the top 20.so sad
YEA GURL, THEY DON’T WANT THEM ON THE CHARTS NOW. IT’S BY DESIGN.
Wow!! The plethora of mega talent on that chart is mind boggling.
Mariah, Billy Idol, Janet, En Vogue, Madonna, Lisa Stanfield, etc.
I was a kid myself but I remember music, and radio was so diverse back then.
“Vision of Love” and “Come Back to Me’ are classic records. ???
Yeah it´s hilarious that some people don´t see the difference between that diversity and talent and the current one ON THE CHARTS.
Lol! They see it. They just don’t want to. ?
Curious to know who’s going to do a tribute to Mariah when the time comes? Everyone one is capable of doing a just tribute to her, she has a burnt bridge with…
Who?Onika & JLo???…or is it Demi Lovato?C’mon now
Sorry that was a typo. I meant:
Everyone who* is capable of doing a just tribute to her she has a burnt bridge with.
Mariah! Vision Of Love is the best debut single!!! ???
Vision of Love is not Mariah’s longest number 1 TGJ, “One Sweet Day” is (16 weeks). It’s actually the longest number one song ever.
True,but Sam was referring to her debut album chart run (11 weeks at #1),which is still the longest in her career
Thanks
Vision Of Love…a true masterpiece.It’s funny Mariah is the only one on that list to score a platinum hit this decade but somehow she’s the “hasbeen”
Vision of Love is a classic, nothing like the first time.
Loooove me some Janet! She’s what I consider a true dance artist, but I love her ballads! She just gives them a completely different feeling! EnVogue’s Hold On is still a bop to this day! The 90’s really had a lot of diversity, it’s amazing to see so many genres all over the charts when you look back! I hope we return to that soon!
We won’t. White people got a grip on this industry.
Wonderful old school song are good Music back in the day then today music
26 years on MC still slaying at life