Saturday, September 24, 2011: Mariah Carey - Dreamlover

We started the week looking at what some people think were the worst songs of the 1990's.

Now, let's have a listen to what I think is one of the best.

Yes, gentle reader, I appreciate that if you've been with me for any length of time, you know I have an eclectic and demanding taste in music. And, as such, you would have probably assumed that I'm no Mariah Carey fan.

And, up to a point, you would be right. I'm not a huge fan - but I'm not a hater either. Ms Carey has, for the most part, built an extremely impressive record of record sales and chart success, and I respect her tremendously for that.

More importantly, there is more to me than just obsessing about indie street cred or blindly bemoaning the bland, vapid, barren landscape of modern pop music. Hopefully, I am mostly about quality.

Now let's face facts: Dreamlover by Mariah Carey is a pretty close to perfect pop song. Using as its backbone The Emotions' 1972 track "Blind Alley", Dreamlover masterfully treads the lines between Pop/Soft Rock and R&B, providing upbeat and uplifting groove topped with Mariah's killer vocals which, this rare time, doesn't sound like a 1,000 cats clawing 500 chalkboards.

This is audio honey, and it drips over our ears, and our hearts, like golden musical nectar. And, as such, it most deservedly lands on our ever growing lists of cool songs.

Have a good Saturday, everyone, and let's hope we can all be with our dream lovers tonight.