Anytime You Need a Friend

Infobox Single
Name = Anytime You Need a Friend


Artist = Mariah Carey
Album = Music Box
B-side = "Music Box"
Released = May 27 1994 (U.S.)
Format = CD single, CD maxi single, cassette single, cassette maxi single, 7" single, 12" single
Recorded =
Genre = Pop, R&B
Length = 4:26
Label = Columbia
Writer = Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Producer = Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Certification = Gold (ARIA, RIANZ)
Last single = "Without You"/"Never Forget You"
(1994)
This single = "Anytime You Need a Friend"
(1994)
Next single = "Endless Love"
(1994)Extra tracklisting
Album = Music Box
Type = studio
prev_track = "Hero"
prev_no = 2
this_track = "Anytime You Need a Test"
track_no = 3
next_track = "Music Box"
next_no = 4Extra tracklisting
Album = Greatest Hits (CD #1)
Type = compilation
prev_track = "Without You"
prev_no = 11
this_track = "Anytime You Need a Friend"
track_no = 12
next_track = "Endless Love"
next_no = 13Extra tracklisting
Album = The Remixes (CD #1)
Type = remix album
prev_track = "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) (Fly Away Club Mix)"
prev_no = 3
this_track = "Anytime You Need a Friend (C&C Club Version)"
track_no = 4
next_track = "Fantasy (Morales Sweet Club Mix)"
next_no = 5

"Anytime You Need a Friend" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and recorded for Carey's third studio album "Music Box" (1993). It is a gospel-tinged ballad whose protagonist informs a friend that anytime they need a friend she will be there. It was released as the album's fourth and final single in the second quarter of 1994 (see 1994 in music). the song B-side "Music Box" was written and produced by Carey and Afanasieff. "Anytime You Need A Friend" won a BMI Pop Award and a ASCAP Pop Music Award for the Songwriter Award in 1995.

Chart performance

All of Carey's previous singles had been top five hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, but "Anytime You Need a Friend" ended this streak entering at number forty-five and peaking at number twelve, remaining in the top forty for eighteen weeks and on the chart for twenty-one. Despite this, it was popular on the radio and was ranked number forty-seven on the Hot 100 1994 year-end charts, giving Carey three singles in the top half of the chart. It was her least successful single to date on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and did not make the top twenty, but it reached the top five of the Adult Contemporary chart, and a remix of the song became Carey's fourth number-one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

The single performed moderately elsewhere following the massive success of "Without You", peaking in the top twenty in most countries. It was most successful in New Zealand, where it made the top five. It was also successful in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, where it made the top ten. it became the second consecutive single by Carey to be more successful in the UK than in the U.S. It was certified gold in Australia by ARIA and in New Zealand by RIANZ.

Music video and remixes

The single's video, directed by Danielle Federici, features Carey walking along the streets and among a choir. Shot in black and white, it is intercut with scenes of depressed people whom Carey comes to befriend.

"Anytime You Need a Friend" was remixed by David Cole and Robert Clivillés of the C+C Music Factory. Although over fifteen various edits and extended mixes were created, for the most part they are based on the "C+C Club" mix. Other variations, extended mixes, and edits include but are not limited to the "All That and More" mix, "Dave's Empty Pass" mix, and the "Boriqua Tribe" mix. Cory Rooney and Mark Morales created a Soul Convention and a stringapella for the song. Because of the large number of remixes, two maxi singles were released in the U.S. Carey was given co-producing credit for both the C&C mixes and the Soul Convention/Stringapella, the first time that she had been given producing credit on remixes of her songs.

A video was commissioned for the C+C Club mix of the song. Known as the "C+C Video Edit", it was also directed by Danielle Federici and serves as a behind the scenes addendum to the main music video. It is filmed in black and white, and is composed of clips of Carey and her friends goofing around and having fun.

Track listings

*U.S. CD single (cassette single/7" single)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (album version)
*#"Music Box" (album version)

*U.S. CD maxi single 1
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (C+C Club version)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Ministry of Sound mix)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Dave’s Empty Pass)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (7" mix)

*U.S. CD maxi single 2
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Soul Convention remix)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Stringapella)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (album version)
*#"Music Box" (album version)

*European CD maxi single
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Album Version)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (C+C Radio Mix)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Soul Convention remix)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (C+C Club version)
*#"Anytime You Need a Friend" (Dave’s Empty Pass)

Charts