Gibson, Debbie

Gibson, Debbie, the youngest artist to have written produced and performed a U.S. #1 single; b. Merrick, N.Y., Aug. 31, 1970. Deborah Gibson was a child prodigy, daughter of a TWA employee. Gibson more or less pressed her mother into service as a stage mother. Gibson started taking piano lessons from Billy Joel’s old teacher Mortin Estrin when she was five years old, and wrote her first song at six. At this age, she started acting, initially in community theater. While still in grade school, she performed in the children’s chorus at N.Y/s renowned Metropolitan Opera, writing an opera of her own in fifth grade. Many commercials and industrial films also featured her voice.

At 12 years old, Gibson wrote ??I Come from America, ?? a song that won her $1000 in a songwriting contest and the interest of manager Doug Breitbart. Breitbart worked on developing Gibson’s talents, setting her up with a home studio. By 16, Gibson was attending Calhoun H.S. by day, and playing out at clubs four nights a week. In her spare time, she wrote over 100 songs in her home studio. On the basis of these demos, Breitbart convinced Atlantic Records to sign her to a singles contract.

Her first single, 1986’s “Only in My Dreams,” a dance track that called to mind a more innocent Ma-donna, reached #4 on the charts and went gold. Following this auspicious debut, the even more dance oriented “Shake Your Love” also hit #4. The title track from her debut album, Out of the Blue, went to #3. The final single from the album, “Foolish Beat” became her first chart topper. Gibson was just a couple of months over 18, making her the youngest artist to have written, produced, and performed on a #1 single. After Gibson graduated with honors from Calhoun, the final single from the album, “Staying Together,” stalled at #22. Nonetheless, the album hit #7 and went triple platinum.

Gibson became a teen phenomenon, her picture gracing the cover of magazines from Teen Beat to Seven-teen. She was the girl next door who happened to have a mega-hit record, the suburban sweetheart. It was an image for which she was groomed: Her album cover featured her clutching a teddy bear. In anticipation of the release of her sophomore effort, Electric Youth, she became a commodity to the point that Revlon began marketing a perfume also called Electric Youth.

Electric Youth got off to a promising start. The first single, “Lost in Your Eyes” topped the charts for three weeks and went gold. The title track also went gold, but only reached #11. “No More Rhymes” faltered at #17, and the follow-up single didn’t make it past #70. The album, however, spent five weeks at #1 and sold double platinum. Her third album, Anything Is Possible, didn’t even make the Top 40, stalling at #41 while its lone hit, the title track, stalled at #26. Switching to EMI, her next album Body, Mind Soul did even worse.

Gibson turned back to theater, starring on Broadway in Les Miserables in 1992 and as Belle in the theatrical production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 1997-98. In 1995, she recorded an unlikely duet with the Circle Jerks on the Soft Boys song “I Wanna Destroy You.” She also cut her own, self-released MOR album Think With Your Heart. She has since toured with other plays, as well as making a couple of movies. There are rumors that she might also star in her own sitcom.

Discography

Out of the Blue (1987), Electric Youth (1989), Anything Is Possible (1990), Body Mind Soul (1993), Think with Your Heart (1995), Deborah (1997).

—Hank Bordowitz