Before she was the best-selling female artist of all time, Mariah Carey was a young singer in New York just looking for her big break.
That came when both legendary producer Arthur Baker and record executive Tommy Mottola were both handed her demo tape in 1988 at a Christmas party by singer Brenda K. Starr. Carey was one of her backup singers.
After that, music history was made, and the world came to know the “Elusive Chanteuse.”
Mottola and Carey ended up marrying in 1993, but divorced five years later.
“I stick the cassette in and the first three songs are all hits and I’m thinking holy s–t it’s Madonna meets Whitney. She writes like Madonna sounds like Whitney. This is it, I’ve discovered gold,” he explained.
Now, that “piece of music history” will be available to one lucky bidder as Wax Poetics plans to auction it off calling it the “most historic archival release to date.”
The demo is “comprised of songs that would form the nucleus of her self-titled 1990 debut album. An album that went on to produce four #1 singles and announced the arrival of a self-made talent who would come to define the 90s and one of the biggest-selling stars of all time.”
Carey and Starr’s numbers on written on the cassette’s case alongside songwriter and producer, Ben Margulies’.
Wax Poetics
“This tape is one of the most sought-after items we have come across. It captures the exact moment an era-defining artist was emerging, before the world knew her name. Our mission has always been to preserve and grow music culture with care, context, and respect. This release honors one of the greatest singers and songwriters of our time by preserving a rare piece of her story,” said Alex Bruh, co-owner and CEO of Wax Poetics.
The auction will include the tape along with a verified certificate of authenticity, archival notes, and historical context from Baker’s collection and the Wax Poetics archive team.
The auction opens on Dec. 2 at 12 p.m. PST and will be live until Dec. 11 at 12 p.m. PST.
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