What’s this about Mariah Carey’s “secret grunge album?”
One of the revelations in Mariah Carey’s upcoming memoir is that she made a grunge record in secret back in 1995. No, serious.
Working with a band called Chick (never heard of them before now), she wrote, produced, and sang backup vocals for every song on an album entitled Someone’s Ugly Daughter.
It’s real. You can find the album on Discogs.com.
Released on 550 Records in 1995, the 11-track album features song titles like “Love is a Scam,” “Violent,” “Freak,” and “Agony.” She also directed the video for the song “Malibu.”
Here’s an excerpt from her book:
I’d bring my little alt-rock song to the band and hum a silly guitar riff. They would pick it up and we would record it immediately. It was irreverent, raw and urgent, and the band got into it.
I actually started to love some of the songs. I would fully commit to my character. I was playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white female singers who were popular at the time. You know the ones who seemed to be so carefree with their feelings and their image. They could be angry, angsty and messy, with old shoes, wrinkled slips and unruly eyebrows, while every move I made was so calculated and manicured.
I wanted to break free, let loose and express my misery – but I also wanted to laugh. I totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after Daydream each night.
Here’s more.
