Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: Debbie Gibson

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Topic: Debbie Gibson - The Singles A’s & B’s

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Brian W.
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Posted: 27 September 2017 at 2:50pm \| IP Logged

Just got this new 2-disc set from Wounded Bird Records, licensed by Rhino, featuring the A&B sides of all her singles in their correct 45 versions. It really should have been called "The Complete Atlantic Singles."

I was worried when I saw there were NO liner notes or mastering credits, but I have to praise the sound on this set. Very well mastered, and not brickwalled. I think they've used a bit of compression, but no shaved peaks or anything like that. And all tracks are most definitely from tape.

Most of her hits were identical to the album versions, but this is the CD debut of numerous instrumental B-sides, which is really what I got it for. A great package. (Seems to be her UK singles, so the instrumental B-side of "Foolish Beat" is not included, but fortunately that has been available for a long time as a Rhino Digital 45, so I've had the instrumental in FLAC format for a few years.)

Disc: 1

1. Only in My Dreams (Vocal)
2. Only in My Dreams (Dub)
3. Wake Up to Love
4. Shake Your Love (Vocal)
5. Shake Your Love (Bad Dub Version)
6. Red Hot (Vocal/LP Version)
7. Out of the Blue
8. Out of the Blue (Edited Dub)
9. Fallen Angel
10. Foolish Beat
11. Staying Together (Vocal)
12. Staying Together (Dub Edit)
13. No More Rhyme
14. Over the Wall (Dub Version)
15. Lost in Your Eyes
16. Silence Speaks (A Thousand Words) (Acoustic Mix)
17. Lost in Your Eyes (Piano & Vocal Mix)

Disc: 2

1. We Could Be Together
2. No More Rhyme (Acoustic Version)
3. Electric Youth
4. One Step Ahead (Hot Radio Mix)
5. One Step Ahead (LP Version)
6. Anything Is Possible
7. So Close to Forever
8. One Hand, One Heart
9. The Most Beautiful Love Song
10. Without You
11. This So-Called Miracle (Edited Version)
12. This So-Called Miracle (Full Version)
13. Shock Your Mama (The London Apprentice Edit)
14. Love or Lust
15. In His Mind
16. Eyes of the Child
17. Love or Money

Edited by Brian W. on 27 September 2017 at 3:03pm

Hykker
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 5:06am \| IP Logged

Am I the only one who finds her to be an odd choice for a
complete (Atlantic) singles A & B collection?
No offense to her fans, but I always just saw her as a
"here today, forgotten tomorrow" teen act.

Edited by Hykker on 28 September 2017 at 5:07am

eric_a
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 9:48am \| IP Logged

I'm surprised they didn't include "Losin' Myself". Was
that not a UK single?

EdisonLite
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 12:07pm \| IP Logged

Hykker wrote:

No, I get why they'd do a Complete Singles on Debbie. If a label did a Complete Singles on Taylor Dayne, I'm guessing you probably wouldn't find it an odd choice. Well, Taylor has had 9 top 40 hits (11 Top 100's), while Debbie's had ... well, 9 top 40 hits (11 Top 100's), matching! Voicewise, Taylor is more soulful, but Debbie was very much the Olivia Newton-John of the late '80s, especially voicewise. In fact, when "Out of the Blue" first hit the radio, I thought ONJ was finally having a comeback hit :) Listen to that song, and I think you can hear a strikilingly similar voice to ONJ's.

If you think Taylor Dayne would be an odd choice for a Complete A&B Singles (because of the only-9 top 40 hits), then yeah, I guess I'd see you feeling that way about Debbie. And like I said, voicewise I feel she's very much in the vein of ONJ (just not as many top 40 hits), so I think both ONJ and DG are considered as having fine voices, if not soulful.

And even if a Singles A&B collection were limited to an artist's Top 40 hits (and usually they're not because they're a Complete A's and B's), that would still give Debbie a 1-CD set of 22 songs (a full CD).

I think because of Debbie's age (and the same with Tiffany), they both get lumped in the "teen pop" category, and for that reason, a lot of people (especially magazine critics) write off their successes more easily.) I'm not saying you're doing that, Hykker, but I do think that she does get easily written off. And if I recall, she also performed on Broadway, a fairly hard feat to accomplish.

But in terms of teen artists from that era, I'd say Glenn Medeiros would be an odd choice for a Complete A's and B's (and I actually like his earlier, more pop-leaning stuff). I think he only had 2 or 3 top 40 hits.

Edited by EdisonLite on 28 September 2017 at 12:17pm

EdisonLite
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 12:15pm \| IP Logged

On a somewhat related note - I've found that many artists in this category, that had have 7-10 top 40 hits, e.g. Taylor Dayne, Melissa Manchester (who had 7 top 10 hits) still tour, all these decades later. It's in smaller venues, but still profitable - whereas most 1- or 2-hit wonders can't sustain a decades long touring schedule- just not a large enough audience to fill the seats of smaller venues (unless they become one of several in a 1-hit wonders tour group). So... if an artist can attain approximately 10 top 40 hits, they can probably have a loyal audience that allows them to continue to tour, even decades later. So the trick is for artists to get past 1, 2, or 3 hits.

Then there are the artists with 25 or more top 40 hits (Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Elton John), who are in a whole other league and can still fill arenas to this day.

Edited by EdisonLite on 28 September 2017 at 12:19pm

Brian W.
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 1:27pm \| IP Logged

eric_a wrote:

I'm surprised they didn't include "Losin'
Myself". Was
that not a UK single?

Apparently not... Discogs only lists singles for the US,
Japan, and Australia, and Wikipedia shows it didn't chart
in the UK.

Brian W.
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 1:31pm \| IP Logged

Hykker wrote:

Am I the only one who finds her to be an
odd choice for a
complete (Atlantic) singles A & B collection?

Mmm... yes and no. She had far more hits than Tim Buckley,
Ian Hunter, Connie Stevens, Tiny Tim, and Harper's Bizarre,
all of which had A&B-side singles comps in recent years.

MMathews
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 2:12pm \| IP Logged

I like these kind of collections now because in recent years I like to accumulate instrumental B-sides that were so popular in the late 70's through the 80s. I usually flipped the single over and played them. Hey, sometimes I'd make a custom "extended version" using my cassette deck. So many of these B-sides never appeared anywhere else but on those singles.

I wouldn't put them in my regular playlist but I do like to hear them again once in a while.
MM

Underground Dub
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 3:49pm \| IP Logged

This is a very U.S.-centric collection so it's surprising that BOTH versions of "Losin' Myself" are missing. The artwork is a mess and the sequencing is haphazard but it's great for obtaining some of those rare b-sides and single versions.

For anyone as confused as I was, here is what's missing from a U.S. perspective:

FOOLISH BEAT (Instrumental) - available as a Rhino Digital 45

WE COULD BE TOGETHER (Campfire Mix) - available on the Electric Youth (album) CD and various Electric Youth import CD singles (note: the U.S. CD maxi-single of Electric Youth lists the Campfire Mix, but actually plays the LP Version). Also listed on the forthcoming We Could Be Together boxed set.

LOSIN' MYSELF (Masters At Work "Hot Mix")
LOSIN' MYSELF (Radio Mix) - both on the U.S. Losin' Myself promo CD and Australian CD single

KISSES 4 ONE (Percapella) - on the Japan Shock Your Mama 3" CD single. Also listed on the forthcoming We Could Be Together boxed set.

And here are the seven tracks included instead that were not featured on any of Gibson's U.S. singles:

Two Japan-only rarities:
- WITHOUT YOU - non-LP Japan exclusive release
- EYES OF THE CHILD - non-LP Japan exclusive release

One remix:
- LOST IN YOUR EYES (Piano & Vocal Mix) - an international maxi-single b-side

And four LP tracks:
- WAKE UP TO LOVE - from the Out Of The Blue album (UK b-side of Shake Your Love)
- FALLEN ANGEL - from the Out Of The Blue album (UK b-side of Out Of The Blue)
- LOVE OR MONEY - from the Body, Mind, Soul album (b-side of Eyes Of The Child in Japan)
- IN HIS MIND - from the Anything Is Possible album, a single release in Japan only

The handful of UK b-sides don't make much sense as there were others to include. (Between The Lines on the flip of Foolish Beat, Play The Field on the flip of Staying Together), nor do the selective Japanese single tracks as they skipped Free Me (also a maxi-single in the US) and the rare instrumental b-side of Without You.

Regardless, this release has gathered the correct hit versions of every Debbie Gibson Top 40 Hit in one place for the first time and is a source for some other very rare mixes and tracks for those who want them!

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Brian W.
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Posted: 28 September 2017 at 6:11pm \| IP Logged

Underground Dub wrote:

KISSES 4 ONE (Percapella) - on the Japan Shock Your Mama
3" CD single. Also listed on the forthcoming We Could Be
Together boxed set.

Ah! Thanks, I was looking online to see if that had been
issued on CD anywhere.

Edited by Brian W. on 28 September 2017 at 6:11pm

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