hitters of the day like Jeffrey Osborne and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, experiences that would prepare her for her own fast- arriving career. Mariah had studio chops and experience in intimate rooms, but not yet with performing for large crowds. A decade later, Mariah would acknowledge this pivotal moment in her career by recording her own version of “I Still Believe,” a bonus track and eventual hit single from 1998’s No. 1s compilation. “This is the first song that I sang as a professional singer,” Mariah told Entertainment Tonight in 1998. “I was a little skinny kid with no money that [Brenda] took under her wing and she was so nice to me. I auditioned to be her back-up singer and she hired me and she used to bring me clothes and food, and really took care of me like a big sister. A lot of people wouldn’t have done that. She believed in me.” Around this time, early incarnations of Mariah’s demo were beginning to circulate in New York, albeit with mixed results. “All in Your Mind,” at one point, was considered by a publishing company for placement in a movie. Meanwhile, conversations about a prospective deal with Atlantic reached a standstill. Mariah’s age pigeonholed her as a teen pop castaway in the vein of a Debbie Gibson or Tiffany, even though her music was far more mature and soulful. A deal with Motown Records fizzled because they felt her biracial identity would cause confusion among audiences and radio programmers then still operating under an unavoidable regime of racialization. One day during soundcheck for a show, Brenda noticed Mariah off in the bleachers, locked in with her Walkman. “That’s when I discovered, this girl’s not a background singer, this girl is a singer singer ,” she said. “I was like, ‘What are you listening to?’ And she was like, ‘Oh, just some songs I wrote.” And I was like, ‘Really, can I hear?’ She played ‘Prisoner,’ ‘Someday,’ and ‘Vision of Love.’ I looked at her and said, ‘Why are you singing background for me ?’ And she said, ‘Because I can’t get a deal.’” Although Brenda might have already been a star with access to top-flight songwriters and producers, she recognized the quality in Mariah’s songwriting and asked Mariah if she could record some of her demo tracks for a future release. Self-assured in the quality of her as-yet-undiscovered work, Mariah politely declined. THE INDUSTRY PARTY Brenda K. Starr didn’t take Mariah’s refusal personally. Recognizing her backing singer’s ambition and potential, she became a de facto ambassador for Mariah’s music, selflessly taking it upon herself to help her friend find a record deal. In November 1988, Brenda invited Mariah to join her at a CBS Records party, at Mediasound Studios on West 57th Street, that would forever change the course of her life, and, to a degree, Brenda’s as well. “It was a party for a group called Eighth Wonder featuring Patty Kensit,” recalls Arthur Baker. “The Pet Shop Boys had produced a song of theirs, and the record was coming out via WTG, which was [the new imprint of] Walter Yetnikoff, Tommy
James, the drummer for Maggie’s Dream, tipped her to an audition that Starr was holding for backing singers. “I think the audition was at four-thirty or five, and she showed up [before] three o’clock,” Starr recalled in an interview with Arthur Baker for his Looking for the Perfect Beat podcast, produced in association with Wax Poetics. “I was going out to get something from the vending machine, and Mariah was walking in…she said, ‘I know [I’m early], I just didn’t want to be late.’ I guess she walked there. We hit it off, and I was like, ‘You don’t have to wait, just come on in.’ She sang some parts of ‘I Still Believe,’ and I was like: Wow, what a beautiful voice she has. She’s good.” Brenda signaled her to stop singing. “She was like, ‘That’s it?’As soon as she left, I was like, ‘Listen. I don’t care who else comes. This girl can sing. I want to hire her.’ Brenda and Mariah’s relationship quickly transcended the employee-employer dynamic. “I never really had a lot of friends, I was always into my music,” Brenda told Arthur Baker. “When we started working together, we got this relationship where I loved her like a sister. We were besties, always hanging out.” Touring with Brenda vaulted Mariah onto stages with heavy
WaxPoetics 101
( top ) Brenda K. Starr at the Latin Billboard Awards in Miami in May 1989. Photo by Christopher Helton, via Zuma Press Wire.
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting