Electric Youth (album)

Electric Youth
Studio album by Debbie Gibson
Released	January 24, 1989
Recorded	1988 at Z Studio, Brooklyn, Sorcerer Sound, The Hit Factory, and Soundtrack, New York City
Genre	Pop, dance-pop, bubblegum pop, pop rock, freestyle
Length	58:17
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Debbie Gibson, Fred Zarr
Debbie Gibson chronology
Out of the Blue (1987) Electric Youth (1989) Anything Is Possible (1990)
Singles from Electric Youth
"Lost in Your Eyes" Released: January 1989 "Electric Youth" Released: March 1989 "No More Rhyme" Released: May 1989 "We Could Be Together" Released: August 1989

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]
Robert Christgau	(C+)[3]

Electric Youth is the second album by American singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson, released January 24, 1989 on Atlantic Records. It is the highest-charting album of Gibson's career, staying at the top of the US Billboard 200 albums chart for five weeks, and reaching number 8 on the UK Albums Chart.

Composition

As with her debut album, Out of the Blue, all tracks were written by Gibson, and she single-handedly produced six of the tracks. She was also given half of the production credits on one track alongside Fred Zarr who produced the other four tracks. The album, like her first, contains mainly bubblegum-pop songs, though other, more mature styles are touched upon.

Singles

Electric Youth spawned four singles, the first being the biggest charting single of her career—"Lost In Your Eyes," which held #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. "Electric Youth", the album's title track, just missed the Top 10, reaching #11. "No More Rhyme" followed, ending its run at #17, and "We Could Be Together" charted at #71.

Commercial success

In the US, the album was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.^[4] Gibson promoted the album with "The Electric Youth World Tour" in 1989. In parallel with the album, she created an Electric Youth perfume under Revlon, and various makeup essentials for young girls through Natural Wonder Cosmetics, one of her sponsors at the time, distributed throughout the US.

The album also inspired an original stage musical of the same name which premier at the Starlight Dinner Theatre (formerly Mark Two Dinner Theatre) in Orlando, Florida. Dean Parker wrote the book and Gibson co-produced.

Track listing

All songs written by Debbie Gibson. (Music Sales Corporation, ASCAP)

Side One

1. "Who Loves Ya Baby?" (4:00)
2. "Lost in Your Eyes" (3:34)
3. "Love in Disguise" (4:17)
4. "Helplessly in Love" (4:10)
5. "Silence Speaks (a Thousand Words)" (3:37)
6. "Should've Been the One" (5:07)

Side Two

1. "Electric Youth" (4:55)
2. "No More Rhyme" (4:13)
3. "Over the Wall" (3:58)
4. "We Could Be Together" (5:33)
5. "Shades of the Past" (4:52)

CD bonus tracks:

1. "We Could Be Together" (Campfire Mix) (5:33)*
2. "No More Rhyme" (Acoustic Mix) (4:13)*

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Year Chart Position 1989 Australian Albums Chart[5] 10 1989 Canada Albums Chart[6] 11 1989 New Zealand Albums Chart[7] 47 1989 Swedish Albums Chart[8] 43 1989 Swiss Albums Chart[9] 21 1989 UK Albums Chart[10] 8 1989 US Billboard 200[11] 1

Certifications and sales Region Certification Certified units/Sales Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[12] Gold 10,000^* Japan (RIAJ)[13] Platinum 200,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Gold 100,000^^ United States (RIAA)[15] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^^ Summaries Worldwide 4,000,000[4] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Personnel

Musicians Debbie Gibson - lead and background vocals, piano, keyboards, additional keyboards, drum programming Fred Zarr - keyboards, drum programming, piano (tracks 1-3, 5, 7-8, 10-11) Greg Savino - keyboards (track 6) Leslie Ming-hi hat (tracks 1, 3, 8-9) Bashiri Johnson - percussion (tracks 1-5, 7-11) Adam Tese - percussion, saxophone (track 6) Lou Appel - drums (tracks 5-6) Ira Siegel - acoustic guitar, electric guitar (tracks 1, 4-5, 7-11) Tommy Williams - electric guitar, acoustic guitar (tracks 2-3, 6) Kirk Powers Burkhardt - bass (tracks 5-6) Bob Osman - cello (track 8) Jeff Smith - saxophone (tracks 1, 8) Roger Rosenberg - flute solo (track 5) Ed Palermo - tenor saxophone (Cadillac Horns) (tracks 8, 10) Bud Burridge - trumpet (Cadillac Horns) (tracks 8, 10) Matt Finders - trombone (Cadillac Horns) (tracks 8, 10) Carrie Johnson - background vocals (tracks 1, 3, 7-8, 10-11) Libby Johnson - background vocals (tracks 1, 7, 10-11) Keeth Stewart - background vocals (tracks 1, 9-10) Tim Lawless - background vocals (tracks 8, 11) Sandra St. Victor - background vocals (track 8) Linda Moran - background vocals (track 10)

Production Debbie Gibson - arranger, mixing (tracks 1-7, 9-10) Fred Zarr - arranger, mixing (tracks 1-3, 5, 7-8, 10-11) Don Feinberg - recording engineer Phil Castellano - recording engineer, mix engineer, additional engineering, mixing (tracks 2-3, 5, 8, 11) Bill Scheniman - recording engineer (track 6) Mario Salvatti - additional engineering (track 6) Rich Travali - additional engineering (track 9) Matt Malles - assistant engineer Bill Esses - assistant engineer, additional engineering, programming engineer (tracks 1-10) Jim Goatley - assistant engineer, assistant mix engineer (tracks 2, 5-6, 8) Bob Rosa - mix engineer, mixing (tracks 1-2, 6-7, 9) Bob "Bassie" Brockmann - mix engineer, mixing (tracks 4, 10) Tom Vercillo - assistant mix engineer (tracks 1-3, 6-7, 9-11) Chris Floberg - assistant mix engineer (tracks 3, 10-11) David Lebowitz - assistant mix engineer (tracks 3-4, 10-11) Diane Gibson - management Douglas Breitbart - executive producer Albert Watson - photography Greg Porto - Logo Design Fran Cooper - makeup Kerry Warn - hair Freddie Leiba - stylist David Salidor - publicity Abbe Rosenfeld - session coordinator Howie Weinberg - mastering (Masterdisk)

References

1. Buss, Bryan. "Debbie Gibson -Electric Youth | Overview". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
2. Coleman, Mark (April 6, 1989). "Debbie Gibson - Out of the Blue | Rolling Stone Review". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
3. "Robert Christgau: CG: Debbie Gibson - Out of the Blue". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
4. Truest, Dick (August 11, 1989). "Next, try Debbie Gibson, movie star". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Elizabeth Brenner. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
5. "Debbie Gibson - Out of the Blue | Australian Charts". www.australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
6. Top Albums/CDs - Volume 50, No. 1 May 1, 1989 at the Wayback Machine (archived July 19, 2016). RPM (magazine).
7. "Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
8. "Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
9. "Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth (Swiss charts)". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
10. UK charts - Debbie Gibson www.officialcharts.com Retrieved February 24, 2016.
11. Billboard charts - Debbie Gibson Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
12. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1990". IFPI Hong Kong.
13. "Japanese album certifications – デビー・ギブソン – エレクトリック・ユース" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.
14. "British album certifications – Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Electric Youth in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
15. "American album certifications – Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH