Everything We Know About CHICK, Mariah Carey’s Secret 90s Grunge Album

Chick
Someone’s Ugly Daughter
1995
550 Music/Sony/Columbia Records
CHICK

Tracklist
1     Joe
2     Love Is A Scam
3     Violent
4     Malibu
5     Demented
6     Freak
7     Agony
8     Surrender     (Cheap Trick cover)
9     Hermit
10     Prom Queen
11     Stork: Orphan In My Room
Credits
Art Direction – Mariah Carey
Backing Vocals – Mariah Carey
Lead Vocals – Clarissa Dane (tracks: 1-11)
Producer – Chick (4), Mariah Carey
Songwriter – Clarissa Dane (tracks: 1-7, 9-11), Mariah Carey (tracks: 1-7, 9-11)

“Fun fact: I did an alternative album while I was making Daydream Just for laughs, but it got me through some dark days. Here’s a little of what I wrote about it in #TheMeaningOfMariahCarey S/O to my friend Clarissa who performs the lead w/ me as a hidden layer #Chick #TMOMC” pic.twitter.com/Re23t5whcd

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) September 27, 2020

In an excerpt from “The Meaning of Mariah Carey” posted over the weekend, Carey wrote of the secret LP she recorded during the “Daydream” sessions in 1995.
“I’d bring my little alt-rock song to the band and hum a silly guitar riff. They would pick it up and we would record it immediately. It was irreverent, raw, and urgent, and the band got into it. I actually started to love some of the songs. I would fully commit to my character.”
She then continued, “I was playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white female singers who were popular at the time. You know the ones who seemed to be so carefree with their feelings and their image. They could be angry, angsty, and messy, with old shoes, wrinkled slips, and unruly eyebrows, while every movie I made was so calculated and manicured. I wanted to break free, let loose, and express my misery — but I also wanted to laugh. I totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after Daydream each night.”
chick_cassette

“S/O to my friend Clarissa who performs the lead w/ me as a hidden layer,” Carey also tweeted.
While Carey is uncredited on the Someone’s Ugly Daughter liner notes,  AllMusic lists Jay Healy and Dana Jo Chapelle as the album’s engineers. Healy is a frequent Carey collaborator, serving as engineer on both 1995’s Daydream and its 1997 follow-up Fantasy. 550 Music, which released the album, was also under the Sony/Columbia umbrella which was Carey’s label at the time.
The band remained relatively unkown until Sunday’s shocking announcement. Having released two videos, one for Malibu, directed by Carey herself, and a second for Demented, and being featured in an episode of MTV’s Beavis & Butthead. Though Dale is an accomplished musician in her own right, CHICK didn’t even tour or perform live.
In an AMAZON post from June 17, 2015, user C. Hughes (presumably vocalist and Carey’s former roommate, and vocalist for CHICK, Clarissa Dane) posted a review of CHICK’s lone album.
“Chick was fun. I loved making this CD- glad (a couple of) people are enjoying it. There is a secret ingredient 😉 CDD
Was CDD trying to give us a hint at Carey’s work on the album?
One reviewer from 2004 rated the album 3/5 stating; “Well, it’s not exactly good music, but Chick certainly have angry female down to a tee.  The album opens with the insidious line “I am sleeping, don’t you try to feel my body” – the start of a righteously angry song about date-rape. Elsewhere, they are more ironic and humorous: “If I were Malibu Barbie and you were Suntan Ken / I’d probably dump your ass for GI Joe, cos he’s macho oh oh oh”.  As well as the usual angry female themes about getting dumped and how useless men are, there’s a great song about a guy who wants to be prom queen, and I suspect they surprised even themselves with the quality of “Demented” – a dark number about obsession. The music consists entirely of thrashy guitars and a drumset.  Really, they sound like a bunch of fairly skilled teenage girls with bright pink hair rocking out in ripped petticoats.  It’s highly recommended to that sort of teenage girl, or any woman who’s just been dumped.”
Much respect for Mariah’s limitless creativity, and for keeping the secret for nearly 25 years. Already a worldwide success, she really didn’t need to reinvent herself. Carey also announced that a version featuring her vocals does exist and she’s making it her mission to find the master copies. Good luck finding a physical copy of the CHICK album though. There are currently 3 listings on Ebay with one going to $100.