I told you guys not to mention her or - like Beetlejuice - she'd appear on the thread and yodel at us...and here she is! I'm sure I heard this thing before - it seems vaguely familiar - but all of her big hits sort of blur into an amorphous blob of chest thumping.
"Céline, Céline, Céline" haha "Because You Loved Me" by Céline Dion. Composed by Diane Warren, my favorite fact about this song is that "Because You Loved Me" was meant for 'Toni Braxton', and a forthcoming Braxton song about a broken heart and written by Diane Warren, would become a Blockbuster Hit for her come the end of the year. Also, the title track of the album of this #1 was 'Falling into You', and the song itself was supposed to be for Belinda Carlisle, who recorded a version of "Falling into You" for possible inclusion on her 1996 album A Woman and a Man, but reluctantly gave up on the song after a disagreement with Miles Copeland and her Record Label. 'Falling into You' was the International first single and was released a month prior to "Because You Loved Me" and hit #1 in Spain and Greece. The album had been out for over a week by the time "Because You Loved Me" hit #1. Love Céline, but "Because You Loved Me" is a dull song. Like 'One Sweet Day' it should be relatable as it's quite a simple concept, but I just don't feel it. Pretty and twinkly, with nice vocals. Listening to it now, and it doesn't do much for me; It's nice, but somehow manages to be less saccharine than 'One Sweet Day'. I always remember comedienne Kathy Griffin commenting on Dion introducing this song live, as she would say "This one is for the parents, and the Children" and Kathy makes a face and says "So basically everyone then!" haha.
Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion She's Canadian so I have to be patriotic and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......... Sorry, I can't finish that thought. I dozed off. Another sleepy ballad meant for the waiting room at the dentist's office. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but just not my thing. 1/5 I turned 26 while this was sitting at #1. Over at MuchMusic, this was sitting at #3 and was way more to my liking.
My first encounter with a CDr was in 1997. A club DJ who I knew had a stack of them. He explained to me how he downloaded the songs from various chatrooms and recorded them to something called a CD burner. This was fascinating at to me seeing that my family's computer didn't even have a soundcard let alone a burner. He capped it off by saying "I am done with buying music".[/QUOTE] Methinks it wasn't the fact that he got music for free, but that he liked the convenience of obtaining it, and didn't care about the sound quality.
#805 (1st of 1996): "Because You Loved Me" by Céline Dion (#1 for 6 weeks - March 23-April 27, 1996) Adult Contemporary really had its moment in the early '90s and then the Michael Boltons and Amy Grants of the world faded from the top 40 as the decade wore on and more R&B-ish balladeers took their place. Céline on the other hand continued to be a massive presence on the top 40, seemingly without making any concessions to the R&B-ification of the charts.
Except for Smashing Pumpkins, where your "I didn't know about them until 1995" became "they were a tiny cult band until 1995". Every bit of evidence to the contrary receives dismissal from you.
The Celine thing scrambles my little brain because I aped her alleged hand gesture way back then. It's not just that I remember something that wasn't there - I thought it was there 30+ years ago. I do still hold out the possibility I saw her do it on a TV appearance and conflated it to being in the video, but the odds aren't in my favor!
In the decade of super blockbuster Music Videos, bar the movie footage; For a star of the time like a Celine, it looked like that Video costs about $5 to make! Anyway, again the CD Single for this, at least in the UK and Europe had some essential non-album track B-Sides. Which were 'The Power Of The Dream' (The song that Dion performed during the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics) And produced by the Super ballad hit makers of the time David Foster, Linda Thompson, AND Babyface! It was only a single in Japan and didn't feature on a Dion compilation until 2000. I think they were going for a 'One Moment In Time' vibe here, but it has less conviction. I preferred Gloria Estefan's 'Reach' from the Closing Ceremony. Also on the CD Singles was "To Love You More" David Foster again, which was a popular song but only included on a 1996 French Live album until her first best of album in 1999. Though the song was included on US editions of the 'Falling into You' album. Some editions also feature the Radio Edit of 'Nothing Broken But My Heart' which isn't easy to find, as it was only released in some territories and wasn't a huge hit.
In fairness, Bolton certainly came from the R&B side of the fence - at least with what he finally broke thru with - and I've always thought Céline's performances had an R&B tinge to them as well. I'd say the dominance of R&B balladeers from here on out was partially paved by acts like Bolton and Dion, who were clearly R&B-inspired, themselves. I think we were approaching a "Why listen to the imitation when you can listen to the original?" tipping point.
I kind of like it. I heard it so much when it was on the charts I guess it kind of grew on me...plus, my wife was a Celine fan and has several of her CDs. I like the follow-up (which was written by Jim Steinman) much better.
I'd compared them to Tori Amos, and I think the comparison fit up until this album, when they clearly went to a higher level. I think it was Lance who hit on it upthread - their profile prior to this was closer to Prince circa 1983 (big cult act) than Prince circa 1984 (my grandmother knew who he was).
@sunspot42 and @Oatsdad - will you two stop your bickering! This has gone on long enough. Call it a draw and agree to disagree… There is no shame in standing down and mutually deciding to just move on. There, doesn’t everyone feel better now?
Prince was way beyond "big cult act" circa 1983. "1999" the album sold really well. 3 top 12 US singles. A tour that put him in large arenas. Yes, he got bigger, but he was already a major star pre-1984. (And FWIW, I doubt your grandmother ever knew who Smashing Pumpkins were! )
This was the number one song in the United States the week I was born. It's by Celine Dion and of course you all hate it. Something about me being born while Celine sat at #1 after replacing a Mariah song which had itself replaced a Whitney single at the top spot. Not to mention this song was itself replaced at #1 by Mariah. I really won huh?
Now that I'm officially alive for a #1 hit (at least out in the world) for the first time in the history of this thread, I'm going to have to go ahead and defend it. I think Because You Loved Me is a great song. I think Celine holds back quite a bit on it and utilizes drama only when necessary. I put this song in the same category as All The Man That I Need, though I prefer the latter. It's a song that is as romantic as it is spiritual. Celine sings like she could be singing to a lover, a mentor, a friend or God himself. I love when songs blur the lines between those concepts. She has better hits, but this one is good too. Christina Aguilera basically recreated it for one of her later hits, though I don't care for her version. I wonder why they haven't uploaded the official video on YT? It's one of her biggest hits.
It's more like Keith Sweat and Patti Labelle, neither of whom made much of a dent in this chert, blazed the trail of R&B singers during that time.
