Remember Mandy Moore’s “Candy”? Before the This Is Us star became a highly-regarded stage and screen powerhouse, Moore was first a late-’90s teenage pop vixen in the vein of Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. Mandy’s radio hit “Candy” was recently reappraised by the 32-year-old celebrity, and the artistic walk down memory lane sparked a wave of nostalgic Mandy Moore “Candy” remembrances across the Internet.
“Candy” was released by Epic Records on August 17, 1999, as the first single from Mandy Moore’s debut album, So Real . At the time, the song was yet another attempt by the then-prosperous music industry to recreate the success of similar teen pop starlets such as Jessica Simpson and the aforementioned Spears. Mandy’s bedroom-bound music video for the song, directed by Chris Robinson, was first shown by MTV in the summer of 1999.
Reaching No. 41 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and No. 27 on the Mainstream Top 40, “Candy” subsequently appeared on the popular Now That’s What I Call Music compilation series, being included as the 4th track on the 4th volume of the collection released in 2000. Truly a barometer of popular music tastes in the early aughts, Mandy Moore’s “Candy” inclusion on the compilation signified the song’s culture-permeating success.
As reported by Entertainment Tonight , the recent Mandy Moore “Candy” throwback musings included an entertaining reminiscence by the singer-actress on the creation and success of the hit song during her November appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden . Reflecting on the “Candy” music video, Mandy told Corden that she’s now slightly embarrassed by the juvenile dance moves on display in the clip.
“I have no rhythm. I’m super awkward.”
Remembered by Moore, the directors of succeeding music videos no longer asked the young entertainer for dance accompaniment following the self-confessed lackluster rhythmic displays of “Candy.” As Mandy put it to Late Late Show host Corden, she thought her dancing in the “Candy” video was “abysmal” and then relegated future filmed toe-tapping gyrations to hired professional background dancers.
“My very first music video, I had to dance in it and it is abysmal. I think the powers that be realized very early on that, ‘You know what, you should just have background dancers.’”
As reported by Just Jared , Moore cheekily shared the “Candy” clip on social media in celebration of National Candy Day on November 4. Posting a link to the YouTube video on her Twitter page that day, as was previously shared by YouTube itself, Mandy tweeted, “Love always, Mandy,” followed by a winking face emoji.
Love always, Mandy. ? https://t.co/LfQg1buE84
— Mandy Moore (@TheMandyMoore) November 4, 2016
As early as 2004, Entertainment Weekly senior writer Dave Karger was already documenting the conscious creative backlash faced by Moore’s “Candy” song and video. As reported by CBS News , Karger admitted that Mandy herself no longer enjoyed the song or her first album.
“Mandy Moore started out as nothing more than a Britney Spears clone. If you look at the video for Mandy Moore’s first single, ‘Candy,’ it’s really embarrassing. She said in interviews that anyone who bought her first album should get their money back.”
If you were a fan of Mandy Moore’s music in the late ’90s or early 2000s, do you feel that “Candy” deserves such a negative recollection from the artist and others? Did you own Mandy Moore’s very first album, So Real ? Do you currently watch Mandy Moore’s hit television show, This Is Us ?
Are you a fan of Mandy Moore? Did you rock out to “Candy” in 1999? Let us know your thoughts on Mandy Moore and her past and current music and film successes in the comments section below.
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