Sunday, October 11, 2020

"Shake Your Love" by Debbie Gibson

Top 10 Alert!
Gold Record Alert!
Song#:  3284
Date:  10/03/1987
Debut:  77
Peak:  4
Weeks:  22
Genre:  Dance-Pop



Pop Bits:  With her debut single, "Only in My Dreams," hitting #4 and going gold, the teenager set herself up for pop stardom. As that single was beginning to wrap up its run on the chart, her debut album, Out of the Blue, was released and it was quickly followed by this follow-up single. It would match the success of her first single by hitting #4 at Pop and also going gold. It also became her first Top 10 at Dance reaching #6. The album would soon make its way into the Top 10 peaking at #7. It would go gold by December and eventually sell over three million copies.

ReduxReview:  "Only in My Dreams" was a delicious pop confection that gave Gibson her first hit. She could have easily been a one-hit wonder, but then this single laid that thought to rest. The tune was a good, solid vehicle for the teenager and it played well to her fans. For me, I didn't like it nearly as much as "Only in My Dreams." I thought it was just a cute little tune that wore its Madonna influences on its sleeves. I'm not sure I would have picked this for single release, but it ended up working out well for Gibson.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Six tracks on Gibson's debut album were produced or co-produced (with Gibson) by Fred Zarr. The Brooklyn-born musician started to get session work early in the 80s with several artists, but his work on one song in particular certainly raised his profile. Zarr worked on Madonna's "Holiday," her first charting single (#16, 1983). He would help arrange the song, do the drum programming, and perform the keyboard/synth parts. From there, Zarr got more work with artists like Jellybean, Eartha Kitt, Carly Simon, and The Four Tops. Along the way he would also do some work in the producer's chair, but it would be Zarr's work on Gibson's Out of the Blue that would help further his career. He would then work with many popular artists including Pretty Poison, Samantha Fox, Jody Watley, and Tina Turner.

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