Songoftheday 3/24/19 - No I can't forget this evening or your face as you were leaving, but I guess that's just the way the story goes...
from the album Music Box (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (six weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 21
Today's song of the day comes from Mariah Carey, whose third album Music Box had already scored a pair of #1 pop hits with "Dreamlover" and "Hero". The third single from the record would be a remake of a remake from a band that was short-lived but critically heralded. Badfinger, the rock band who recorded for the Beatles' label Apple, originally released the song on their No Dice album. Written by members Pete Ham and Tom Evans, who each contributed the verses and the chorus to the song, the track was not released as a single, seeming too bombastically depressing...
But the man who made this song an pop classic was singer/songwriter/Lennon pal Harry Nilsson, who placed it on his Nilsson Schmilsson album in 1972; the release of the single would prove to be a huge success, with it topping the American pop chart for four weeks and winning him a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal...
So even though it would really be her first turn at such a overblown maudlin ballad as a single, only her voice could really tame this beast of a song. Produced for the album by Walter Afanasieff, she used a live setting for the music video...
"Without You" became the third top ten hit from Music Box in March of 1994. The song also climbed to #4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") chart. Internationally, the familiarity of the song helped it become one of her biggest overseas hits; It would be her first and only solo #1 hit in the UK and Ireland. She also topped the singles charts in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. "Without You" reached the top ten as well in Australia (#3), France (#2), and Canada (#4).
The "B-Side" of the single, "Never Forget You", was written by Mariah with R&B artist Babyface, who produced it with Daryl Simmons. The song was promoted to urban radio stations, who played that song instead of "Without You", and so was listed first on Billboard's R&B chart, and got enough play on pop stations to be listed on the Hot 100 chart as well...
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Here's the original album version of "Without You" from Mariah's Music Box set...
Next up is from her Mariah Carey - Live TV special in 1993...
Many other artists have covered the song to differing amounts of success. In 1975 soul singer Ruby Williams had a minor R&B hit with the song, making it to #95. Two years later, the rock band Heart covered the song on their album Magazine...
That same year, country singer Susie Allanson went to #77 on the Country/Western singles chart with her take on the song...
Another powerhouse vocalist, Melissa Manchester, released the song as a single in 1980, but it sadly stiffed...
T.G. Sheppard also had a country hit with the track, peaking at #12 in 1983...
In 1991, Australian soft-rock kings Air Supply used Russell Hitchcock's voice to good use with their version, which made it to #48 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart...
Back to Mariah on her Fantasy: Live At Madison Square Garden video...
And lastly, in concert in 2003...
Up tomorrow: Triple-named soulsters suggest a nap.
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