1993 No. 1, Built On A Toe-Tapping The Emotions Sample, Hit The Top 33 Years Ago Today

On September 18, 1993, Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover" was starting out its second consecutive week as the No. 1 song in the U.S. While it would go on to become one of Carey's most culturally dominating smash hits ever, "Dreamlover" was the sound of an artist moving into the future by embracing the past. The song incorporated hip-hop and R&B into Carey's singles in a pronounced way that the singer-songwriter hadn't previously attempted, and it did so by building on a catchy and joyous segment of an obscure track by '70s vocal group the Emotions, discovered in a late '80s rap song.

That charming sample proved to be the key to making "Dreamlover" irresistible to R&B and pop listeners in the summer and fall of 1993. While it was peaking at No. 2 on the R&B chart in mid-September, on the all-genre Hot 100, "Dreamlover" would go on to spend eight weeks in the top position, at the time a record for the routinely chart-topping superstar.

Bubbly if not giddy, "Dreamlover" is all about pining for a soulmate. Carey devised the lyrics only after she'd developed the backing track with producer Dave Hall, whom she sought out after hearing his work on Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411?" Carey knew that she wanted to make a bright and upbeat song, and Hall struck on the idea of building one from a looped bit from "Blind Alley," a much-sampled cut from R&B group the Emotions' 1972 album "Untouched" he'd heard sampled in a Big Daddy Kane song. 

In the final version of "Dreamlover," ultimately a high school hit every teen of the '90s will remember forever, attentive listeners will especially notice the bass, guitar, and cymbals from "Blind Alley." Carey had a history with the Emotions. A musician accused of stealing big hits, she once settled a suit over allegedly swiping the Emotions' 1977 No. 1 hit "Best of My Love" for her curiously titled 1991 smash "Emotions."

The best year of the '90s for love songs was 1993, in part because of "Dreamlover." In September of that year, it became Carey's seventh No. 1 single ever. And with a run at the top for eight weeks, it was her longest-running until she later tied or surpassed it with mega-hits like "Fantasy," "One Sweet Day," "We Belong Together," and "All I Want for Christmas Is You."