"All This Time" is a song by American

teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...

singer Tiffany, recorded for her second studio album '' Hold an Old Friend's Hand'' (1988). Written by Tim James and

Steven McClintock Steven McClintock is an American singer, songwriter, and a music producer, with almost 20 million records sold to his credit. He has written top 40 hit songs in country, pop and AOR. He has been a part of the music group Fertitta & McClintoc ...

, and produced by Tiffany's manager

George Tobin George Tobin is a record producer who has produced albums for a long list of musical artists including Robert John, Smokey Robinson, Kim Carnes, Kicking Harold, and PC Quest. He is best known, however, for discovering, managing, and producing ...

, it was released via

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

on October 24, 1988, as the lead single to the album. The track made its first appearance within the season premiere of the TV sitcom ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that ran on ABC for seven seasons from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The series follows the misadventures of the Seaver family, including psychiatrist and fathe ...

''. Internationally, it was released on January 30, 1989, where it was released as the second single following " Radio Romance". "All This Time" proved to be a decent success chart-wise. It peaked at number 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Tiffany's fourth and final top ten single on the chart. The track peaked at number 8 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 Singles and also cracked the top ten of the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart. Internationally, the track peaked within the top ten in Canada and Ecuador. It was less successful in other regions, peaking at number 24 in Ireland, number 47 in the United Kingdom, and completely missed the top 100 in Australia, and also had no success on mainland Europe.

Release

"All This Time" was released on October 24, 1988, to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

in the United States. The song would then be released on January 30, 1989 to the United Kingdom via

7 inch In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standal ...

and

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

Music video

The music video was filmed at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...

Buena Park, California Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, including Knott's Berry Farm. It i ...

and was directed by Tobin. It debuted on December 24, 1988 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

and

Night Tracks ''Night Tracks'' is an American music video television program that aired on TBS in late night on Fridays and Saturdays from June 3, 1983 to May 30, 1992. Created and produced by Thomas W. Lynch and Gary Biller through Night Tracks, Inc. (a pro ...

. It was then released to the more popular

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

on January 7, 1989.

Synopsis

Around 10 p.m., a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

drops Tiffany at the train station. She walks through the empty boarding area, hugging her chest with her arms and waist. She follows the train as it prepares to stop. She walks into an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

and leans against a seat, staring into the spotlight shining on her. On a darkened stage, she performs. The breeze lifts up her hair while she sits on the windowsill in the family room. She rides a

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

alone. Back at the family room, she unwraps some

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

s tied with a pink bow and reads them. She walks on the

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

, looking at the red scarlet red columns and stairs set up for her performance. While the sun sets, she leans against the railing at the

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

. On stage, she is filmed through a sepia filter and hazy glass. She raises her hand, feeling the rain drops and walks up the steps to her room. A

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

bounces outside. She walks to Knott's Memory Lane and stands by the fountain. Lit in white, she sits on the windowsill. She stops at Cestrella's and puts in a quarter in the slot. The animatronic

fortune teller Fortune telling is the spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115–116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle ...

turns her head to the left. She performs on a strip of film. By the end of the video, she waits at the train station. The fortune from the game reads: "The sun still shines. The sun still sets." until it faded in white.

Commercial performance

"All This Time" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of November 5, 1988 at number 90. By the end of 1988, "All This Time" had risen to number 24. On February 11, "All This Time" reached its peak position of number six on the chart before making a sharp fall to number 20 the next week. The song would overall spend 21 weeks on the chart. "All This Time" is, to date, Tiffany's last top ten hit on the Hot 100. "All This Time" also became a hit on the

chart, peaking at number ten. The song itself had minor success internationally. "All This Time" debuted on the UK Singles Chart chart (where it was released as the album's second single) the week of 11 February 1989 at its peak position of number 47, where it stayed for two consecutive weeks. The song was last seen on 25 February, at number 55. It is also Tiffany's last entry in the UK to date. The song debuted on the Canadian ''RPM'' 100 Singles Chart on December 17, 1988 at number 93, later rising to a peak position of number four.

Track listings and formats

US 7" vinyl and cassette single # "All This Time – 4:20 # "Can't Stop a Heartbeat" – 4:45 European vinyl and CD single # "All This Time" – 4:20 # "I'll Be the Girl" – 4:27 # "

I Think We're Alone Now "I Think We're Alone Now" is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was a major hit for the group, reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 in April 1967. It finished at No. 12 on ' ...

" (Extended Version) – 6:35

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Tiffany Darwish songs 1988 singles Songs written by Steven McClintock Pop ballads MCA Records singles 1988 songs 1980s ballads Songs written by Tim James (musician)