Flashback Friday: Mariah Carey - Christmas time is in the air again | Remembering an original Christmas classic that was paid dust
Did ya'll know that Mariah released an amazing, classic Christmas song back in 2010?
Nope. Didn't think so. So let's take a walk down memory lane in our pea coats, beanies and mittens shall we?
YES, BITCH. LET'S.
And nope. Despite the GIF above, I'm not talking about "Oh Santa!".
Back in 1994 when Mariah was first told by her then husband, record label exec and manager Tommy Mottola, to record a Christmas album, she was confused as to why and felt it was too early in her career. But it was something that paid off massively, as its lead single "All I want for Christmas is you" has gone on to be one of her biggest and most successful singles, and is regarded as a traditional Christmas song. A massive feat that Mariah is not given enough credit for, given that she wrote it.
Every artist hopes that they'll have a song that will go down in history, but Mariah went one better and did it with a Christmas song. Thus making her musical achievements even more amazing, as this places her in an even more selectively elite group than just having a shit load of number 1 singles (18 to be exact) and having a song spend the most weeks on the Billboard number 1 (her duet with Boys II Men "One sweet day" spent 16 weeks at number 1. When will your fave!?)
Now, most artists wouldn't opt to release a second Christmas album when they didn't even want to release their first. But in 2010 Mariah did just that. Something that was met with equal shock and surprise. It made sense on one hand because Mariah has always been open for her love of Christmas and accepts the 'Queen of Christmas' mantle willingly. But on the other it felt strange, because writing a Christmas smash and releasing a mega successful Christmas album is a luck-of-the-draw kinda thing. So to try and attempt it with a second album was as set-up for failure. But this highlighted something else that Mariah isn't given any slack for; she's always had to release something in the wake of remarkable success and expectation. Her first Christmas album came after one of her best selling albums to date, Music box. And Merry Christmas II you came at a point in Mariah's career where people were still questioning whether she'd be able to deliver something of a level of The emancipation of Mimi. But she keeps giving us music anyway. If Mariah was the type to shy from her successes and let past achievements scare her, we wouldn't still be getting music from her now and she would have tapped out at Glitter.
Mariah releasing a second Christmas album seemed ill advised. Especially in the wake of the rollout of her 10th studio album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel - a great album which was foiled by a disastrous rollout from a team who didn't seem to know what they were really doing.
Whilst Merry Christmas II you didn't fulfil the intended intention of being a smash, it did do the one thing that most, including myself, didn't think was possible. Expecting another "All I want for Christmas is you" was an unfair expectation, but Mariah gave us just that. An original Christmas song as catchy, festive, memorable and as deserving of going down in history. And that song was "Christmas time is in the air again".
"Christmas time is in the air again" has a great deal in common with "All I want for Christmas is you" aside from sharing a long ass title. It sounds classic and has you swearing blind that you have heard it before and that it has to be a cover; which is possibly one of the best compliments you can give an original Christmas song, because it means it's familiar to someone.
"Christmas time is in the air again" is a gorgeous song, with Mariah tapping into the 1940s and 50s with her vocal styling, her lyrics and Marc Shaiman of Broadway fame providing the perfect musical backdrop. "Christmas time is in the air again" is not only one of my favourite Christmas songs, but ranks in my list of favourite Mariah songs, period. Everything about it is stunning.
This criminally underrated and wholly forgotten song was released as a promotional single in 2012, 2 years after Merry Christmas II you was released, but it may as well not have been. There was no music video and zero promotion aside from Mariah giving a performance of it on a televised Christmas special with Michael Bublé.
"All I want for Christmas is you" is Mariah's Christmas go to, but I'd opt for her to start campaigning and shifting some focus into "Christmas time is in the air again". Because:
Why Mariah's label did not shoot a retro-tastic classic black 'n' white video for this song and release it as a proper promotional single I will never know. The album's lead single "Oh Santa!" was fun and cute and got itself a really nice video. But it wasn't never going to compete with "All I want for Christmas is you". The lyrics were a bit too sassy, Mariah was singing a bit too fast and it just didn't feel quintessentially Christmassy. If you stripped out the mentions of all things relating to Christmas and took out the sleigh bells, it probably would have made a better single for an original LP.
"Christmas time is in the air again" manages to tick every box for a great Christmas song without feeling like it's consciously checking boxes, which is yet again, another showcase of more than just Mariah's great voice; but her knack to write a great song and have a good ear for what makes a good song. Mariah has managed to do two times over with two albums what none of her peers have really managed to do. Even somebody like Sia whose songwriting talents are always heralded failed to deliver anything memorable with her Christmas album Everyday is Christmas. Writing a good Christmas song is an art form. And here is Mariah showing how it's done a second time, just for none of us to take any real notice.
Sometimes I wonder if we even deserve her.
#JusticeForChristmasTimeIsInTheAirAgain
And nope. Despite the GIF above, I'm not talking about "Oh Santa!".
Back in 1994 when Mariah was first told by her then husband, record label exec and manager Tommy Mottola, to record a Christmas album, she was confused as to why and felt it was too early in her career. But it was something that paid off massively, as its lead single "All I want for Christmas is you" has gone on to be one of her biggest and most successful singles, and is regarded as a traditional Christmas song. A massive feat that Mariah is not given enough credit for, given that she wrote it.
Every artist hopes that they'll have a song that will go down in history, but Mariah went one better and did it with a Christmas song. Thus making her musical achievements even more amazing, as this places her in an even more selectively elite group than just having a shit load of number 1 singles (18 to be exact) and having a song spend the most weeks on the Billboard number 1 (her duet with Boys II Men "One sweet day" spent 16 weeks at number 1. When will your fave!?)
Now, most artists wouldn't opt to release a second Christmas album when they didn't even want to release their first. But in 2010 Mariah did just that. Something that was met with equal shock and surprise. It made sense on one hand because Mariah has always been open for her love of Christmas and accepts the 'Queen of Christmas' mantle willingly. But on the other it felt strange, because writing a Christmas smash and releasing a mega successful Christmas album is a luck-of-the-draw kinda thing. So to try and attempt it with a second album was as set-up for failure. But this highlighted something else that Mariah isn't given any slack for; she's always had to release something in the wake of remarkable success and expectation. Her first Christmas album came after one of her best selling albums to date, Music box. And Merry Christmas II you came at a point in Mariah's career where people were still questioning whether she'd be able to deliver something of a level of The emancipation of Mimi. But she keeps giving us music anyway. If Mariah was the type to shy from her successes and let past achievements scare her, we wouldn't still be getting music from her now and she would have tapped out at Glitter.
Mariah releasing a second Christmas album seemed ill advised. Especially in the wake of the rollout of her 10th studio album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel - a great album which was foiled by a disastrous rollout from a team who didn't seem to know what they were really doing.
Whilst Merry Christmas II you didn't fulfil the intended intention of being a smash, it did do the one thing that most, including myself, didn't think was possible. Expecting another "All I want for Christmas is you" was an unfair expectation, but Mariah gave us just that. An original Christmas song as catchy, festive, memorable and as deserving of going down in history. And that song was "Christmas time is in the air again".
"Christmas time is in the air again" has a great deal in common with "All I want for Christmas is you" aside from sharing a long ass title. It sounds classic and has you swearing blind that you have heard it before and that it has to be a cover; which is possibly one of the best compliments you can give an original Christmas song, because it means it's familiar to someone.
"Christmas time is in the air again" is a gorgeous song, with Mariah tapping into the 1940s and 50s with her vocal styling, her lyrics and Marc Shaiman of Broadway fame providing the perfect musical backdrop. "Christmas time is in the air again" is not only one of my favourite Christmas songs, but ranks in my list of favourite Mariah songs, period. Everything about it is stunning.
This criminally underrated and wholly forgotten song was released as a promotional single in 2012, 2 years after Merry Christmas II you was released, but it may as well not have been. There was no music video and zero promotion aside from Mariah giving a performance of it on a televised Christmas special with Michael Bublé.
"All I want for Christmas is you" is Mariah's Christmas go to, but I'd opt for her to start campaigning and shifting some focus into "Christmas time is in the air again". Because:
- It just deserves that level of justice.
- Not everybody wants to shake their Christmas pussy to Christmas songs. Some of us want to just stretch out in front of the fire place with a tall glass of Egg nog and a silk robe and feel their Festive fantasy.
Why Mariah's label did not shoot a retro-tastic classic black 'n' white video for this song and release it as a proper promotional single I will never know. The album's lead single "Oh Santa!" was fun and cute and got itself a really nice video. But it wasn't never going to compete with "All I want for Christmas is you". The lyrics were a bit too sassy, Mariah was singing a bit too fast and it just didn't feel quintessentially Christmassy. If you stripped out the mentions of all things relating to Christmas and took out the sleigh bells, it probably would have made a better single for an original LP.
"Christmas time is in the air again" manages to tick every box for a great Christmas song without feeling like it's consciously checking boxes, which is yet again, another showcase of more than just Mariah's great voice; but her knack to write a great song and have a good ear for what makes a good song. Mariah has managed to do two times over with two albums what none of her peers have really managed to do. Even somebody like Sia whose songwriting talents are always heralded failed to deliver anything memorable with her Christmas album Everyday is Christmas. Writing a good Christmas song is an art form. And here is Mariah showing how it's done a second time, just for none of us to take any real notice.
Sometimes I wonder if we even deserve her.
#JusticeForChristmasTimeIsInTheAirAgain
Comments
Post a Comment
HTML tags for bold, italic and hyperlinks are allowed