Mandy Moore Discography Rate - Complete! (Stream 'Silver Landings' on March 6th!)

Haha! They were so bad!

I mean, I loved them, because they were so absurd. They were like these little 'symbols of your fandom' if anything. When batteries are dying in the boombox, the clip sounds even worse (if that's possible!) Pretty sure that's what's going on with my Mandy video.

That commercial, all I can say is: 'whew'. They make HitClips sound like the most amazing things since recorded music. I'll have to find the other HitClips threads on here. Never even looked. Just randomly thought of them in regards to the rate since I still have Mandy's. The are sooooo early 00's.

 

I feel like I remember HitClips, but I don't think I ever had one. I would have gotten the Britney one if I could.

 

I had quite a few HitClips but the main one I remember is for Dancing Queen by A*Teens and then like random ass oldies. I had one for My Girl, why?!

 

I shall get involved in this! Thank god you included Swept Away. That would be my 11 if it weren't for....quite a few others! X

 

You were wise beyond your years. I mean, they were a sorta fun & cute pop collectible for a minute in like '00 or '01, but once full mp3's, burnable discs, & players started to become more accessible ... come on, now. How they lasted until 2004 is actually pretty amazing. Good for Tiger electronics, I guess.

Yay! So glad you came. Swept Away is a bit of a Wild Hope hidden gem. Hopefully it will get some love, even though it might not be as well known as the rest of that album.

 

Is it bad that I'm too old to remember Hitclips?

 

Were Hitclips just an American thing? I’ve never heard of them before in my life before this thread.

 

I know them too and I am Dutch. I believe they were also distributed via a gift in a McDonalds happy meal. Or maybe only via McDonalds (as it is American)

 

Nope! I wasn't even sure how popular they ever were when they were out. I just have my random Mandy one. I mean, I saw them in stores occasionally in the 00's... and they were usually on clearance (not a good sign). When I read the wiki & saw they were around for five years, I did a double take. I was like, 'really!?'

Sidenote: I also has a super fancy Britney keychain, that played a pixelated 'Tamagotchi' style video snippet of the ...Oops, I Did It Again video on a tiny screen. I think Tiger made a few of those for the 'real big' pop stars of the day.

That's a good question. I know they originally launched at McDonalds in the US, but I'm not certain if they ever made it out of North America. Maybe other parts of the world were spared paying 4 dollars for a lo-fi snippet of a song...

Edit: I just saw @Sprockrooster 's message, so yeah... the rest of the world was not spared.

 

​

"Among the many muted faces
You try to find me in the spaces
You're drawn to my song"​

The Mandy Moore Annual: 2001


After a very busy 18 months, 2001 started out seemingly quiet on the Mandy front. Promo for I Wanna Be With You was done and some of her guest spots on MTV had quieted for a bit. Other than some awards shows, one-off appearances, & a few magazine covers… there wasn’t quite as much Mandy to consume.

But she was coming…

February saw Mandy’s first DVD release, Mandy Moore: The Real Story. Though somewhat cobbled together in a weird order, it was a fun look at the first year & half of her career, including her general beginnings. You get a good sense of her magnetic personality in the videos, as well some fun behind the scenes stuff. It was a nice little capper to phase one of Mandy's career.

She spent the early part of 2001 finishing recording what could be considered for first statement record, Mandy Moore. The video for the first single, 'In My Pocket', dropped in April 2001 & marked a significant shift in musical direction & image. It peaked at #2 on MTV’s Total Request Live, but its run on the show was surprisingly rather brief. The complete album Mandy Moore dropped in June, where it debuted at #35 on the US Billboard chart. It was the first Mandy album I bought on day one, so I have many special memories about the album. For me, I was entering ‘Mandy Mania’.

Summer had Mandy doing some more special promos, a mini-tour of in-stores, & shows at the MTV Beach House. Many fans will also remember her semi-iconic Shoutback concert on Much Music (a sample from that show is below), which quite simply sealed the deal in my Mandy fandom. It’s a stunning set, that showcased her to be head & shoulders over many of her peers in my mind.

This same summer, she made her official feature film debut. Quite fittingly, it was her voice making the debut, as she was the voice of a bear in Dr. Doolittle 2. Over the next 18+ years, Mandy’s voice work would continue a vital part of her career. As a huge animation fan, I must say she really has an under appreciated talent in this regard. Her voice is so emotive, clear, & pure... it’s no wonder she is sought after.

August was huge month in the evolution of Mandy. First off, she had her first major & slightly iconic role as an actress, appearing as Anne Hathaway’s nemesis in the insanely popular The Princess Diaries. It was also the first of many acting roles that made the fantastic choice to parlay her singing talents into the actual role; as Mandy broke out the Connie Francis classic ’Stupid Cupid’ for the soundtrack. I saw The Princess Diaries the summer it came out & I was all in, I tell ya'. I thought she shined & knew there was a bright future in acting for her. (As wrong as I had been about things in regards to her at the start of her music career, I was on a board early with Movie Mandy.)

In July the second video from Mandy Moore, for 'Crush', was released. Much like 'Candy', it was a huge video hit on MTV’s TRL, eventually becoming her only video to peak at #1, in September. But in the US that never quite translated to radio/chart success… where it only briefly tricked into the top 40 pop airplay chart. Her ability to have MTV video success that didn’t turn into actual radio chart success was something I latched into early in my fandom of her, as I found it sorta fascinating as a 'charts person'*. (read ' chart nerd'.)*

In late Summer, she also hosted the the 2001 Miss Teen USA Pageant with MTV VJ Bryan McFadden, who was her rumored boyfriend for a bit (though they both claimed it was just a joke, as she was too young for him. Oprah wants to know: 'What is the truth?') . She also performed a pretty version of 'Crush' on the show. Never miss an opportunity: That's the unofficial Mandy Motto!

Fall saw Mandy touring behind promotion of Mandy Moore, including international stops in Asia & Australia. (Interview with Channel V, below). She was also featured in the track 'On The Line', of the movie & soundtrack with the same name. The movie & soundtrack featured lots of the powerhouse pop brigade of the day... and is a charming time capsule of the era.

As the year wound down Mandy popped up at all kinds of year end events. From the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade to singing at the Christmas In Washington gala (including a duet with Usher lost to annals of time, but embedded below.) In the pop circles, she made news for something else. Gone was her trademark blonde hair. She was now sporting dark locks, differentiating herself from the pack she still being compared too.

In early December, the final single from Mandy Moore, ‘Cry’ dropped. In complete Mandy-synergy, it was also the intro to a new phase. We were about to enter a new chapter of her talent in 2002… as it seems that during that quiet time I mentioned she had in early in 2001, she had found 39 days to film her first of many iconic lead roles.


In My Pocket: Shoutback Performance on Much Music (Summer 2001)

Miss Teen USA (Summer 2001)

Mandy Moore Interview on Australia's Chanel V (Fall 2001)

Christmas In Washington (December 2001)

 

I'll just say Australia still stanned Mandy during this era and In My Pocket almost made our Top 10 (peaked at #11), #75 Best Selling Song Of that Year. I loved the two punch combo of I Wanna Be With You, In My Pocket on our Top 20! (I don't revisit Crush quite as much but it made it to #25 over here) Blessed times!

 

Slightly iconic?!

I adored the hell out of The Princess Diaries so saw Mandy doing promo for it on the talk show circuit. Even though I wasn't a fan of her music at the time (for lack of exposure more than anything else), I remember thinking she seemed really nice, whereas Anne Hathaway seemed like kind of a brat. Though of course I now worship Anne because she is probably God.

 

Haha! Uh oh, Viva's coming for me! I just meant 'slightly iconic' as compared to some other roles... that would be coming down the pike. (I'm building drama for future write-ups, here! Mandy Synergy - Mandy Synergy!)

I mean, I adore The Princess Diaries & love Mandy in it, but its more of an iconic movie for Anne than Mandy. To me, at least. She surely stole some scenes, though.

 

That's fair. I still think Lana is iconic though!

That being said, I don't think I've actually seen Mandy in anything other than The Princess Diaries and Tangled! Just realized that.

 

Well, make sure you vote for those two at least, in the Mandy roles sub-ballot. If you have time to watch any others before the rate ends, I'm sure we'd all have suggestions of our faves.

 

... Literally the last time I saw a movie other than the Mamma Mia! movies was when I saw Crazy Rich Asians in the theatre.

 

Princess Diaries is one of my favorite movies, and I love Anne, but after revisiting it a few months ago, Mandy definitely was iconic.
The only other things I've seen or rather heard her in are Tangled and Brother Bear 2. I will be voting for those three at least.

 

OKAY, I'm going to do my absolute fucking best to do this even though I barely know any Mandy songs at all. I just feel a strange pull to do this!