Electric Youth (album)

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.[1]

Electric Youth
Studio album by Debbie Gibson
Released	January 24, 1989[1]
Recorded	1988
Studio	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	Deborah 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	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Robert Christgau	(C+)[4]

The album was included in the 2017 box set We Could Be Together, with seven remixes as bonus tracks.[5]

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.[1]

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.[1]

Commercial success

In the US, the album was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[6] 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 U.S.[1]

The album also inspired an original stage musical of the same name which premiered at the Starlight Dinner Theatre (formerly Mark Two Dinner Theatre) in Orlando, Florida. Dean Parker wrote the book and Gibson co-produced.[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Deborah Gibson (Music Sales Corporation, ASCAP); all tracks are produced by Deborah Gibson, except where indicated.

This Side

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Who Loves Ya Baby?"	Zarr	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

That Side

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

CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"We Could Be Together (Campfire Mix)"	Gibson Zarr	5:33
2.	"No More Rhyme (Acoustic Mix)"	Zarr	4:13

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Year Chart Position 1989 Australian Albums Chart[8] 10 1989 Canada Albums Chart[9] 11 1989 German Albums Chart[10] 48 1989 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[11] 15 1989 New Zealand Albums Chart[12] 47 1989 Swedish Albums Chart[13] 43 1989 Swiss Albums Chart[14] 21 1989 UK Albums Chart[15] 8 1989 US Billboard 200[16] 1

Certifications and sales Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[17] Platinum 70,000^^ Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[18] Gold 10,000^* Japan (RIAJ)[19] Platinum 200,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 100,000^^ United States (RIAA)[21] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^^ Summaries Worldwide — 4,000,000[6] ^* 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 2-3-5-6) 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. "Happy 30th: Debbie Gibson, Electric Youth". Rhino Entertainment. January 24, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
2. Buss, Bryan. "Debbie Gibson -Electric Youth | Overview". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
3. 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.
4. "Robert Christgau: CG: Debbie Gibson - Out of the Blue". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
5. Sinclair, Paul (September 20, 2017). "New content added to Debbie Gibson 'We Could Be Together' deluxe set". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
6. Truest, Dick (August 11, 1989). "Next, try Debbie Gibson, movie star". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Elizabeth Brenner. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
7. Guerra, Joey (March 11, 2019). "Debbie Gibson's 'Electric Youth' album is 30 years old". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Midland, Texas.
8. "Debbie Gibson - Out of the Blue | Australian Charts". www.australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
9. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 50, No. 1 May 1, 1989". 2013-07-17. Archived from the original on July 19, 2016. Retrieved 2017-05-21.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). RPM (magazine).
10. "Album – Electric Youth". Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
11. "エレクトリック・ユース | デビー・ギブソン". Oricon. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
12. "Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
13. "Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
14. "Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth (Swiss charts)". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
15. UK charts - Debbie Gibson www.officialcharts.com Retrieved February 24, 2016.
16. Billboard charts - Debbie Gibson Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
17. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Albums Chart – 1989 (1–60) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 1)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2017. N.B. The triangle symbol indicates platinum certification.
18. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1990". IFPI Hong Kong.
19. "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.
20. "British album certifications – Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Electric Youth in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
21. "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. 

External links

• Official website
• Electric Youth at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• Electric Youth at Discogs (list of releases)