#100 the week of June 24, 1989
What was #1? Richard Marx’s “Satisfied” in its only week at the top.
Later this week on my Patreon, I’ll be releasing a video edit of the 1984 Miss America Pageant. In a happy coincidence, it turns out that year’s winner, the iconic Vanessa Williams, had a song that hit the #100 spot.
Vanessa Williams was the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America, and the only Miss America to have to resign from the position; and yet, she’s the only Miss America most people can name. In July 1984, ten months after winning the Miss America Pageant, Williams learned that Penthouse had purchased nude photographs that she had taken two years prior. When it became known that Penthouse would be publishing the photos, despite ambiguity over whether Williams had consented in 1982 to if the photos could ever be released, the Miss America Organization was furious. Rather than standing behind their winner, the pageant announced that Williams had 72 hours to resign her title. The pageant had done little to support Williams from all the racism she received as the first Black Miss America, so it was perhaps unsurprising that an organization with a swimsuit segment would be outraged that someone else planned on exploiting Williams’ body.* Williams resigned on July 23, 1984. It would be 31 years before the Miss America Organization apologized to Williams for not supporting her.
*An added note of hypocrisy: The intro to the 1984 pageant featured the Playboy Hotel as part of a roster of some of Atlantic City’s many charming hotel and casino resorts that you should visit.
Most people would have gone into hiding after the “scandal” that ended her reign, but not Williams. She knew her worth and talent. She graciously returned the tiara, put up with the racism and slut-shaming,* and then fought tooth and nail for the spotlight she rightly deserved. It took time, but a decade after her career could have ended, she had received seven Grammy nominations and was starring in The Kiss Of The Spider Woman on Broadway.
*When Williams tried to auditioned fort the Broadway review “My One and Only,” the wife of lyricist Ira Gershwin said “Over my dead body will that whore be in my show.”
The redemption of Vanessa Williams began with her 1988 debut album The Right Stuff. It’s no surprise that music was where she would begin reclaiming her story, as her rendition of “Happy Days Are Here Again” at Miss America 1984 is considered to be what won her the title.* Rather than falling back on standards, The Right Stuff placed Williams firmly in the world of contemporary R&B. Singles from the record included the party funk of “The Right Stuff” (peaked at #44), electro-R&B jam “(He’s Got) The Look” (which did not chart on the Hot 100) and the slow jam “Dreamin’” (#8). “Darlin’ I” was the album’s fourth and final single, released more than seven months after the album’s release, and we catch it here as it drops from its peak at #88.
*Seriously, in that performance she has a genuine star power that the other nine finalists simply did not have.
Of the four singles, I think it’s the weakest. Admittedly, this is my own personal taste, but I’m not that big on ‘80s-‘90s R&B ballads; I prefer “Dreamlover” Mariah to “Hero” Mariah. Despite finding the production to be a little of its era, there still plenty I like here. The moment the rhythm section comes in halfway through the first verse is good stuff. My favorite part might be when Williams’ voice blends seamlessly into the start of the guitar solo, however it nearly gets stomped on by a blast of cheesy synth(?) horns.*
*The ‘80s, man, I tell ya; even the best vocalists (see Vandross, Luther) got walloped by producers who were doing too much. You ever wish you could remix a whole decade?
Williams never truly belts on “Darlin’ I,” saving over the top emotions for the backing track. She may sing “I know you never meant to make me cry,” but we never hear a tear in her voice. It’s a gentle defiance, fitting for Williams remaking herself as a star after a scandal where she, the victim, was the only person forced to face consequence. Whie the production may be of its era, this performance would undoubtedly inspire future singers like Beyoncé with a message to no-shit men (or no-shit beauty pageants) that you may have broken Williams’ heart, but not her spirit.
Rating: 7/10
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