Debbie Gibson was a teenaged singer/songwriter who
wrote a lot of girly pop songs, but to her credit she had the talent to write
her own music, which is saying something when so often the trend in music is to
assemble some good looking singers, dress them up, teach them to dance, give ‘em
a song and send them out on tour. I can’t
say that I loved a whole lot of her songs, but I did like this one. It was a very swirly, romantic, ballad, but
when it was released I was a young woman falling in love, so I suppose that was
the hook for me.
Deborah Ann “Debbie” Gibson was born in Brooklyn,
New York in 1970, but grew up in Merrick, Long Island (NY). When she was 5 years old she began performing
in community theater with her sisters and cousin. At age 5 she also wrote her first song, “Make
Sure you Know Your Classroom”. By age 8
she was singing in the children’s chorus at The Metropolitan Opera House in New
York City. Shortly thereafter she
learned how to play the ukulele and piano.
By age 17, Debbie was performing in nightclubs. In 1987 she recorded her debut album, Out of the Blue in four weeks. The album took off and spawned 4 singles that
hit the Billboard Top 100: “Only in My
Dreams”, “Shake Your Love” “Out of the Blue” and “Foolish Beat” (which hit
#1). The album was a success in America,
as well as the U.K., and southeast Asia. Gibson toured in support of the album,
filling stadiums. A concert video for
her Out of the Blue tour was also released.
In 1988 she made it into the Guinness Book of World
Records as the as the youngest female to write, record, and perform a #1
single. An honor she still holds.
In 1989 she released her second album, Electric Youth. This album charted at #1 on the Billboard Top
200 Album Chart. The first single from
this album was “Lost in Your Eyes”. It
held the #1 spot on the charts for 3 weeks, garnering her another honor as the
first female to have both an album and single simultaneously at #1. Other singles from the album included: “Electric Youth” (#11), “No More Rhyme”
(#17), and “We Could be Together” (#71).
Gibson set out on a world tour in support of the album and released
another video of the tour. She branched
out in other areas and created and marketed a Revlon perfume called “Electric
Youth” as well as other cosmetics for young girls that were distributed across
America by Natural Wonder Cosmetics (who also sponsored her tour).
Weird fact:
Gibson was the subject of many stalkers including Robert Bardo who was
jailed for the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989. Apparently Bardo had a wall in his house
covered with pictures of Gibson.
In the 1990’s she recorded more albums: Anything
is Possible (1990), Body Mind Soul
(1993), Think With Your Heart (1995),
and Deborah (1997). Her 1990 release Anything is Possible was co-written with Motowner, Lamont
Dozier. It reached #26 on the Billboard
Hot 100 Chart, but the lead single “Anything is Possible” failed to chart in
the Top 100. Another single “One Step
Ahead” managed to do well on the dance charts.
Her 1995 release Body Mind Soul
spawned a minor hit with “Losin’ Myself” (her last hit to chart in the
Billboard Hot 100). The video for the
song was notable because up until then Debbie had a pretty clean cut image, but performed as a stripper in the
video. A second single “Shock Your Mama”
was a minor hit in Europe.
In 1995 she moved from Atlantic Records to EMI’s SBK
Records and recorded her only album on that label, Think With Your Heart, a more adult-contemporary release containing
many piano and keyboard ballads recorded with the London Philharmonic
Orchestra. At the time the album was
being recorded, her producer, Niko Bolas was also producing a reunion album for
California punk rockers The Circle Jerks, so that’s how Gibson turned up
singing background vocals on The Circle Jerks single “I Wanna Destroy You”. She also performed on stage at famed NYC club
CBGB’s with The Circle Jerks.
Gibson left EMI and formed her own record label,
Espiritu and released her sixth album, Deborah
which included the lead single “Only Words” which charted on the dance charts,
and a ballad called “Naturally”. By 2001
she had yet another new record label, Golden Egg, on which she released her
next album, M.Y.O.B.
By this time Gibson was already performing in
theatre productions on Broadway. In 1992
she played Eponine in Les Miserables,
and starred as Sandy in a production of Grease
in London, England’s West End. The
original cast recording of her duet with Craig McLachlan on “You’re the One
That I Want” reached #13 on the U.K. charts.
When she returned to the United States she again appeared in Grease, this time as Rizzo. She appeared as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and other credits include the
starring role as Bell in Beauty and the
Beast on Broadway, and as Louise in Gypsy. She was in a national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
as the narrator, and played Cinderella in a national tour of along with Eartha
Kitt (as the Fairy Godmother). In 2002
she played Velma Kelly for the Boston production of Chicago, and in 2003 was back on Broadway as Sally Bowles in Cabaret.
In 2004 she played Marta in the UCLA Reprise! Production of Company.
In 2008 she played Anna Leonowens in a performance of The King and I in Thousand Oaks,
California.
Gibson has also caught the Reality Television
bug. In 2003 she was a judge on the American Idol spinoff show American Juniors, but the show only
lasted one season. She appeared in the
fifth season of Donald Trump’s Celebrity
Apprentice which began airing in February 2012.
In March 2005 Gibson did a nude pictorial for Playboy magazine to coincide with a
release of a single called “Naked”. In
2006 she went on tour, singing with The O’Neill Brothers. In 2006 she released a single with Jordan
Knight called “Say Goodbye”. The same
year she also acted in an independent film called Coffee Date. She continues
to release songs on her website. She
continues to tour, and has a large following in the gay community appearing at
Gay Pride parades and other charity and music festivals in America. In 2011 she appeared along with many other
guest stars in Katy Perry’s video for the song “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”.
In 2009 she co-starred with Lorenzo Lamas in a
low-budget film called Mega Shark Versus
Giant Octopus on the SyFy channel.
Gibson appeared along with another teen singer from the 80’s, Tiffany,
in a follow-up Sy-Fy channel movie Mega
Python Versus Gatoroid which aired in January 2011.
Although once engaged, Gibson has never been married
yet.
Lyrics:
I get lost in your eyes
And I feel my spirits rise
And soar like the wind..
Is it love that I am in?
I get weak in a glance
Isn't that what's called romance?
...And now I know
'Cause when I'm lost I can't let go
I don't mind not knowing what I'm headed for
You can take me to the skies...
It's like being lost in heaven
When I'm lost in your eyes
I just fell, don't know why
Something's there we can't deny...
And when I first knew
Was when I first looked at you
And if I can't find my way
If salvation seems worlds away
Oh, I'll be found
When I am lost in your eyes
I don't mind not knowing what I'm headed for
You can take me to the skies...
Oh it's like being lost in heaven
When I'm lost in your eyes
I get weak in a glance
Isn't this what's called romance?
Oh, I'll be found
When I am lost in your eyes
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