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Post by Private Dancer on Jul 2, 2022 13:35:38 GMT -5
I know someone who was alive during the time period of Fantasy/IWDWS and I asked for their experience To sum it up: IWDWS did feel bigger than Fantasy at their peak. They remember in the summer of 87, the song being on 3 radio stations at once!!! (i would turn it off at that point.) Not only that, but it was played more and even played well into the next year. It came on MTV a lot, and everyone from young to old at the time knew what the song was. Everyone enjoyed it and knew what it was. He compared it to Rihanna's Umbrella and Pharrell's Happy. (ew) It was inescapable. H Fantasy was huge, however, did not feel like the same way IWDWSD. He said Fantasy was played a lot and also came on MTV a lot in '95, but did not have the same feel as Whitney's. According to him, Fantasy felt like those songs that were popular with the younger crowd, like teens and kids. I assume one can measure what feels huge off of their experience. If someone asked me what songs seemed huger at the time, I could measure it from my experience. To give some data...IWDWS Went to #1 in 14-18 countries and sold very well for a time period that it did. Fantasy did debut at #1 and went to #1 in four of five countries. Different eras for charts.IWDWS also hit the top ten of many of its year end charts and Fantasy only a couple that were non US. If BDS was measuring airplay in 87, ( well, they did) and BB was using the stats. I'm pretty sure IWDWS would've been a top ten debut possibly #1 like Fantasy. (IJCSLY By Mj and LAP by Madonna would've also debuted at #1, and MYM possibly top ten). Was that one person you are basing this on phieaglesfan712 ? No...I did ask multiple people tho...just did not include their responses and suprisingly no one voted Fantasy...i asked peeps who were around for both...but if phieaglesfan712 has some input id like to hear |
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Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815...
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Post by Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815... on Jul 2, 2022 14:26:46 GMT -5
I think it depends on what we define what a hit is. I guess you mean chart-wise Fantasy is the bigger hit but isn't that only true for US? If we look at the current stats, IWDWS seems to be more popular of the two worldwide. From what I've heard IWDWS felt bigger than Fantasy at their peaks One word….subjective. |
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Post by Private Dancer on Jul 2, 2022 15:46:41 GMT -5
I mean...I Wanna Dance With Somebody hit #1 in multiple countries and Fantasy did it in only a few...IWDWS is almost at 1B stream on Spotify and Fantasy is almost at a quarter of 1B. It's obvious whats the bigger hit...and its not Fantasy. Just because Fantasy is not the bigger hit doesn't say anything bad about it. They are both successful songs that people love and enjoy. IWDWS just happens to be the bigger hit and that's objective.
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jenglisbe
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Post by jenglisbe on Jul 3, 2022 11:43:44 GMT -5
IWDWS is almost at 1B stream on Spotify and Fantasy is almost at a quarter of 1B. It's obvious whats the bigger hit...and its not Fantasy. I thought the discussion being had was about their success at the time of release, not now? |
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Post by Private Dancer on Jul 3, 2022 14:56:29 GMT -5
IWDWS is almost at 1B stream on Spotify and Fantasy is almost at a quarter of 1B. It's obvious whats the bigger hit...and its not Fantasy. I thought the discussion being had was about their success at the time of release, not now? It was but I finished that. I was responding to someone who said Fantasy was bigger than IWDWS. But let me recluse the argument. If it's about success at time of release its still I Wanna Dance With Somebody... I Wanna Dance With Somebody topped the Uk charts in just two weeks. Again #1 in fourteen countries. Was #1 all across multiple countires in Europe, also in the USA, Australia, Canada. With weeks at #1 in total across the world IWDWS-54 Fantasy-11 IWDWS- sold around 3M+ in 87 Fantasy-sold around 2.5M+ (most of those sales being in the US) Which one was bigger initially??? Again, this does not take anything away from Fantasy. Fantasy is also a beautiful record. |
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bjordan
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Post by bjordan on Aug 24, 2022 17:48:28 GMT -5
As a 28 year old fan of 90’s rhythmic R&B, I would have to choose “Fantasy”. In 1995-96, it had airplay on Power 106, 92.3 The Beat, Rhythm 102.3 KJLH and 102.7 KIIS FM. The video was all over BET, MTV and The Box during that time.
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Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ
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Post by Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ on Aug 24, 2022 18:02:29 GMT -5
Fantasy is probably the biggest Mariah's 90s song (not counting AIWFCIY ofc), but IWDWS is just on another level.
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Daenerys
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Post by Daenerys on Aug 26, 2022 9:26:09 GMT -5
I don't often prefer Whitney to Mariah, but I do prefer her here.
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Edith Puthie
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Post by Edith Puthie on Aug 26, 2022 11:07:20 GMT -5
For the debate about which song is the bigger hit, according to rockgolf, they're right next to one another on the all time rankdown
285 Mariah Carey | Fantasy 815,700
286 Whitney Houston | I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) 815,120
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Post by Private Dancer on Aug 26, 2022 13:28:29 GMT -5
^based on chart run...and you really can't compare a Soundscan chart run to a non-Soundscan chart run
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Post by imbuemyblue on Aug 26, 2022 13:32:21 GMT -5
If we are talking quality, it's 'Fantasy' hands down. I consider it one of the greatest pop records of all time and it has layers of richness that are extremely hard to compete with.
But of course even with the resurgence of 'Fantasy' in recent years, 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' is the second most (maybe most actually) beloved song of a beloved and deceased icon. It is the more popular/impactful of the two songs.
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Daenerys
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Post by Daenerys on Sept 1, 2022 10:39:48 GMT -5
An observation I've seen, is that when I Wanna Dance With Somebody was initially released a lot of music critics felt like it was a rehash of How Will I Know, but the song has since overshadowed it when people think of Whitney at her best. This along with most of the Bodyguard soundtrack and select cuts from her first two albums are what people think of, when it comes to prime Whitney. If we are talking quality, it's 'Fantasy' hands down. I consider it one of the greatest pop records of all time and it has layers of richness that are extremely hard to compete with. I would be curious to understand what aspects of musicality make Fantasy one of the greatest pop records of all time. I'm genuinely curious. |
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Post by imbuemyblue on Sept 1, 2022 11:58:26 GMT -5
An observation I've seen, is that when I Wanna Dance With Somebody was initially released a lot of music critics felt like it was a rehash of How Will I Know, but the song has since overshadowed it when people think of Whitney at her best. This along with most of the Bodyguard soundtrack and select cuts from her first two albums are what people think of, when it comes to prime Whitney. If we are talking quality, it's 'Fantasy' hands down. I consider it one of the greatest pop records of all time and it has layers of richness that are extremely hard to compete with. I would be curious to understand what aspects of musicality make Fantasy one of the greatest pop records of all time. I'm genuinely curious. If you're genuinely curious, sure! We start with the intro, a slow build leading into the whistle note announcing the start of a record that could only belong to one recording artist (at that time, at least). All at once you are dropped into a wall of sound: the iconic 'Genius of Love' sample taking us into 80's bliss, with the layered Mariahs 'shoo doo doo'ing their way into another moment of nostalgia, beloved 60s girls groups. We are simultaneously referencing two things that immediately put you into a happy place. The forcefulness of sound drops out for the first verse, leading the way to highlight one of the most iconic singers of all time delivering a hook that is immediately unforgettable. Are the lyrics a little silly? Sure. But she delivers them so deliciously they've been vividly emblazoned in my mind (wink wink) since the first time I heard them. Then, the wall of sound comes back in for an equally earworm-y chorus, immediately summoning all the bittersweet feelings of crushing on someone that, for all its triteness, Mariah makes you feel so exquisitely. Her gift has always been to make you feel what she is singing, and boy do I feel her hunger for this crush in a way that makes me feel every crush I've ever had. We get another great verse, and a chorus with Mariah's famous ad-libs building, until we are finally treated to a perfect use of the sample for the bridge. Mariah takes it on home in the final choruses until the that last 'shoo doo doo dah' a cappella moment fades; it makes me imagine someone literally snapping out of their daydream. It's just the kind of record that I will never, ever tire of, that will always make me feel nostalgic for so many beautiful things, including things I haven't even lived or experienced! That's my take on 'Fantasy' belonging in the pantheon of pop's greatest songs. ;) |
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