Debbie Gibson - "Electric Youth"

[areyoureadytojump]

Debbie performed this in concert Friday night and did some of the dance moves from the video.

The extended video:



From the 2xP album of the same name.

[WhySoSerious?]

This one was always my favorite. I didn't have the first album, but I had this one on cassette.

[JACKIE]

Cheesy but fun. I always respected debbie cause she wrote and produced her songs and at such a young age!

[areyoureadytojump]

Debbie talks about the #11 peak:

www.facebook.com/DebbieGibsonOfficial/

On this day in 1989, "Electric Youth" reached its peak position on the Billboard charts (No. 11). Only in my dreams did I think I could make a pencil sketch of a castle and director Jim Yukich would bring it to life! Loved including family and friends in this epic video that is one of my faves!

Fun fact: I refused to do a shorter radio edit. It prevented it from going to a higher spot on the charts, but I so loved the double breakdown and felt it was a part of the song and so I kept it intact. I told the label I was fine with wherever it ended up on the charts!

[Ling-Ling]

Straight cheese, I enjoy it because of that, but it isn't as good as her best singles.

And the video, LMAO. I remember this made #10 on MTV's lamest videos and they destroyed it on air so it couldn't be played again, haha.

[Glove Slap]

Hilarious for all the wrong reasons lmao.

[jenglisbe]

I actually like this one, too, but it really did seem to kill the momentum of her career. Coming off a big #1 hit, this barely missed the top 10, and she never had another top 10 hit. Kinda crazy.

Having said that, this did do Gold so maybe it was the length of song that hurt its airplay.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

I love this. It's such a fun song. I like the alternate 7" versions from the single based on all the different remixes.

Jun 7, 2018 23:16:36 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

Hilarious for all the wrong reasons lmao.

The "choreography" in the music video is totally ridiculous. Considering that she went out of her way to make music that people could never ever have sex to, the choreography sends the wrong message. It's more funny uh-oh than funny ha-ha.

[jenglisbe]

Slant giving this cut its due 30 years later!!
www.slantmagazine.com/music/the-nation-of-electric-youth-debbie-gibsons-bonkers-teen-pop-hit-turns-30/

[disman00911]

Was too young to remember Debbie Gibson at her peak.  Listening to old B96 mixes from way back then on Mixcloud, Soundcloud, etc., the Shep Pettibone remix was often heard during their dance mixes (circa 1989).  Despite being called "Deep House", the structure of that remix sounds more like acid house.  I do prefer this remix to the LP/single version.

Shep Pettibone Deep House Remix
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bsb_Ke8KqM

[Dielawn]

This song lacked a catchy, earworm chorus. The "E-lec-tric Youth!" refrain just isn't very strong.

You can tell from the overproduced video that they thought this was going to be a big hit

[thirddegree50123]

I knew Debbie's music a little bit growing up but only after the fact (I was born in '88). I think I only really knew "Shake Your Love" and "Only In My Dreams." Anyway, I'm in my 80's era right now (particularly late 80's) so I've listened to her first couple albums. I was really looking forward to seeing what her other hits sounded like. I had high hopes for this one given it was the title track to the second album.

Now having listened to it....I CANNOT GET OVER HOW HILARIOUSLY AWFUL THAT CHORUS IS! The "E-lec-tric youth" brings you in but after that it is just an absolute nonsense melody. I can't stop listening to it. It's so bad. It's a shame because the rest of the song is decent. But I LOL so hard every time that chorus hits lmao. Not surprised by the chart run at all

[gonecountry]

I will begrudgingly admit to liking Shake Your Love at some (low) point in my life. This song always, IMHO, blew chunks. The video is a 5 minute 11 second advertisement for abstinence.

MTV should have blown this video up way sooner than they did.

[divasummer]

I loved this song.
It has a lot of energy to it.
At the time I thought the production was hot!
The video wasn’t as cheesy back then as many think and I also don’t find the chorus all that bad. Lol

[jenglisbe]

It's funny timing with divasummer posting about the song because it's the 35th anniversary of its release. Slant actually did a feature on it:
www.slantmagazine.com/music/debbie-gibson-electric-youth/
They do point out interesting things about the song and video. The concluding paragraph made me LOL for real:

“Electric Youth” spawned a perfume of the same name, hawked to mallrats across the country, but the single just missed the Top 10 and would be Gibson’s last major hit. Since then, the boomers have poisoned both the planet and politics, millennials have self-medicated on social media and ’80s nostalgia, and Gen-Xers are sitting on the front porch, popping CBD gummies, and quietly watching it all burn. Electric, indeed.