| Wednesday 8 February 2006 |
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Mariah's HS classmates rooting for her at Grammy's
It was spring 1987. Mariah Carey and her Harborfields High School classmates were gathered for a graduation party at a friend's house. A student band, Squid, was playing in the background. And between sets, Carey nervously asked if she could sing a song.
Mark Brummer, one of the band members, recalled how he had written out the lyrics to the U2 song "With or Without You" and held them beside her for reference. "She was very eager and energetic to be given a chance like that," Brummer wrote in an e-mail interview. "We struggled through it a bit, but she did quite well considering that none of us rehearsed it."
That performance marked the first time many of her classmates would become aware that Carey had her eyes set on the stars. Now those former classmates say they will be rooting tonight for the eight Grammy nominee - even if they haven't kept in touch.
"I want her to win every single Grammy," said Jeanmarie Sarro, a high school friend who lives in East Rockaway. "I listen to her music. My kids listen to her music. My 7-year-old thinks she's the diva to end all divas."
Sarro described Carey as a popular, pretty student who never boasted about her talents. "Did she ever break out in song? Never," she said. "She would go to a party and did not dance. It was the '80s. There was no way she was going to funk out to Duran Duran."
Raised by a single mother, Carey reportedly moved 14 times before finishing high school, and was one of the school's few minority students. "Now that I'm an adult looking back, I don't think that she had all the financial advantages that we all had," Sarro said. "I think she had a nice high school experience because she had friends and we all loved each other. I wish her nothing but the best."
Former teacher Edward Hartling recalled when some faculty members first heard Carey on the radio. "We were shocked," he said. "No one in the high school even knew she had that interest."
Neither Sarro nor Brummer have kept in touch with Carey. "We've been trying to get in touch with her for some professional pointers and suggestions in the realm of the music world," Brummer wrote. "We've even tried sending her some of our band's CDs, but as one might imagine, it's extremely difficult contacting her. I can but only hope that someday she returns the favor and allows my current band a chance to perform at one of her shows," he added. "Tongue in cheek but a man can dream can't he?" (Newsday)
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