1. CAN'T LET GO
Mariah Carey had surpassed a record held by The Jackson 5 by having her first five singles all reach #1, and she hoped to extend that streak to six with the second release from her album, Emotions . But she soon discovered that all good things had to come to an end.

As on Carey's previous hits, she chose to share songwriting duties with another writer, Walter Afanasieff, on "Can't Let Go." In the book Mariah Carey: The Unauthorized Biography, she explained why she preferred to share the writing process: "I always do the melody first. Sometimes I'll have an idea for a lyric. If I'm collaborating with someone, I'll direct them in the direction I'm going chordwise, because I get all these melody ideas and then I lose them if I don't have someone really good on keyboards right there with me. That's why I tend to collaborate because I lose the ideas by the time I figure out the chords."

Afanasieff had previously produced Mariah's hit "Love Takes Time" and was a natural choice to assist her with the new ballad. She told Billboard magazine, "One of the best things about writing with Walter is that he is such a knowledgeable musician. When I frantically hum out chords to him, he knows how to translate what I am hearing in my mind so accurately. With a lot of other people, it is not quite as easy. Our differences really compliment each other."

Following the chart-topping success of "Vision Of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," "I Don't Wanna Cry," and "Emotions," "Can't Let Go" seemed to have a good chance of extending Mariah's streak of #1 hits to six. The song entered the charts at #42 and three weeks later reached the top 10. Unfortunately she couldn't get Color Me Badd to let go of the #1 spot and ended up with the first non-chart-topper of her career. The song also hit the runner-up spot on the R&B charts, but it did much better on the Adult Contemporary charts, where it became her fourth #1 hit.

Mariah's next release, "Make It Happen," fared even worse, reaching only #5. Even though those hits failed to reach the top of the charts, Carey reserved a special place for them. As she revealed in the liner notes of her #1 hits album, "One day, I will put out a greatest hits with songs...that came out that didn't go to #1 that are, in my opinion, better than some that did (i.e. 'Make It Happen,' 'Anytime You Need A Friend,' 'Endless Love' with Luther, or 'Can't Let Go'). Still, "Can't Let Go" kept Mariah Carey's streak of top 10 hits alive at six. Her streak extended to 11 before finally being broken by the #12 single "Anytime You Need A Friend." It took another #2 single to start the streak anew.


2. ENDLESS LOVE - Coming soon!

3. LOVERBOY - Currently not available.

4. SHAKE IT OFF - Currently not available.



Source:
The Billboard Book of Number Two Singles, 2000, Christopher Feldman
Thanks to Jason!