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''Out of the Blue'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter
Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...
, released on August 18, 1987, by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
. The album received favorable reviews from music critics and sold more than three million copies in the United States (three times platinum by
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
) and five million copies worldwide.


Background

Gibson (who was then 16 years old) wrote all ten songs on this album, which reveals her very early talent for composing. As executive producer, Douglas Breitbart of Broadbeard Productions, Inc. (whom Gibson's mother had hired as manager five years before), assembled a team of producers from both New York and Florida:
Fred Zarr Frederick I. Zarr (born September 26, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, composer and arranger based in Brooklyn, New York. The CEO of BiZarr Music, Inc., he works alongside numerous artists, singers, songwriters, musicians, & audio ...
, John Morales, Sergio Munzibai and Lewis A. Martineé. Zarr produced "
Shake Your Love "Shake Your Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter and actress Debbie Gibson. The song was released as the second single from her debut studio album, ''Out of the Blue'' (1987), and the first internationally by Atlantic Records in Septembe ...
" and "Fallen Angel" in addition to "
Only in My Dreams "Only in My Dreams" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter and actress Debbie Gibson, who was 16 years old at the time of its release. The song was officially released by Atlantic Records on December 16, 1986. It was later remixed a ...
," and co-produced " Out of the Blue," " Staying Together" and "Wake Up to Love" with Gibson, sole producer for "
Foolish Beat "Foolish Beat" is a song by American singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson, released as the fourth single from her debut album, '' Out of the Blue'' (1987), in March 1988. The single topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 25, 1988, giving Gibson t ...
." Morales and Munzibai produced "Red Hot" and "Between the Lines." Martineé produced "Play the Field". While posing for the album cover, the photographer told Gibson that her knee was pulling focus. She refused to change her pose so a compromise was reached with the makeup artist drawing a face on her knee. Consequently, this became a trend among her young female fans. ''Out of the Blue'' made No. 7 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart and No. 26 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. The album sold over three million copies in the United States, and five million copies worldwide.


Reception

In their review of the album, ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' stated that the "sixteen- year-old singer's low profile is not commensurate with her talent or success. "Only In My Dreams" is a top 15 hit; title track should follow up handily. Both - along with rest of the album's material - were written by Gibson, portending much in the way of staying power." '' Cashbox'' noted that the album was "a fond remembrance of pop idols of times past. This 16-year old Long Island native has leaped into the pop/dance arena with wide eyes and a penchant for writing flowing ballads and sizzling dance grooves." ''
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
'' concedes that "while Out of the Blue does possess the slick, processed dance-pop production and squeaky-clean innocence of most '80s teen pop, it stands out from the competition due to Gibson's talent as a singer, musician, pop songwriter, arranger, and even producer...Gibson's youthful exuberance and energy shine through infectiously...it's some of the best teen pop you're likely to hear."


Reissues

''Out of the Blue'' was included in the 2017 box set '' We Could Be Together'', with six remixes as bonus tracks. A special four-disc
digipack Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...
edition was released by
Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...
on October 15, 2021. This release includes two remix CDs and a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
containing the album's five music videos, the live video ''Live in Concert: The "Out of the Blue" Tour'', and a special interview video.


Track listing


Personnel

MusiciansLiner notes, SD 81780. NYC: Atlantic Recording Corp., 1987 *Deborah Gibson – lead and backing vocals, rhythm programs, keyboard, synthesizer, additional keyboards *
Fred Zarr Frederick I. Zarr (born September 26, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, composer and arranger based in Brooklyn, New York. The CEO of BiZarr Music, Inc., he works alongside numerous artists, singers, songwriters, musicians, & audio ...
– rhythm programs, keyboards, synthesizer, additional keyboards (tracks 1–4, 6–8) *John Morales – programming, sequencing (tracks 5, 10) *David "Jaz" Grant – keyboard overdubs, guitar (tracks 5, 7–8, 10) *Lewis A. Martineé – rhythm programs, keyboards, backing vocals (track 9) *Mike Baskt – keyboards (track 9) *Ira Siegel – guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar (tracks 1–4) *Tommy Williams – guitar, electric guitar (tracks 1, 6) *Nestor Gomez – guitar (track 9) *Gary Down – bass (track 3) *
Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is an American percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, video games, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded percussio ...
– percussion (tracks 1–4, 6–8) *Billy Amendola – Tom Tom overdubs (track 3) * Jimmy Maelen – percussion overdubs (tracks 5, 10) *Jeff Smith – saxophone, saxophone overdubs, backing vocals (tracks 2–8, 10) *LaRita Gaskins – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 6) *Carrie Johnson – backing vocals (tracks 1–2, 4, 6–8) *
Libby Johnson Libby Johnson is an American singer-songwriter. She co-founded the indie folk band 22 Brides in 1992, and released her debut solo album, ''Annabella'', in 2006. Early life and education Johnson was born on an army base in Germany.Jeremy Leeuwis ...
– backing vocals (tracks 1–2, 6–8) *
Norma Jean Wright Norma Jean Wright (born July 15, 1950) is an American singer and was the lead vocalist of the American group Chic, a soul, R&B and disco band, from 1977 to 1978. Early life Norma Jean Wright was born in Ripley, Tennessee. At young age, she relo ...
– backing vocals (track 3) *Tim Lawless – backing vocals (track 4) *Connie Harvey – backing vocals (tracks 5, 10) *Janet Wright – backing vocals (tracks 5, 10) *Wendell Morrison – backing vocals (tracks 5, 10) *Haydee – backing vocals (track 9) Production *Debbie Gibson – arranger (tracks 1–4, 6–8); producer (1–2, 4–6) *
Fred Zarr Frederick I. Zarr (born September 26, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, composer and arranger based in Brooklyn, New York. The CEO of BiZarr Music, Inc., he works alongside numerous artists, singers, songwriters, musicians, & audio ...
– arranger, mixing (tracks 1–4, 6–8); produced (1–3, 6–8) *John Morales – arranger, mix engineer, producer (tracks 5, 10) *Sergio Munzibai – arranger (track 5); producer (5, 10) *Lewis A. Martineé – arranger, engineer, producer (track 9) *Don Feinberg – recording engineer (tracks 1–4, 6–8) *Bernard Bullock – recording engineer (tracks 1–4, 6–8) *Phil Castellano – recording engineer, mixing (tracks 1–4, 6–8) *Peter Sturge – recording engineer (tracks 5, 10) *Billy Esses – assistant engineer (tracks 1–4, 6–8) *Jim Goatley – assistant mix engineer (tracks 1–2, 4, 6–8) *Carlos Santos – assistant (track 9) *Michael Hutchinson – mixing (tracks 2, 6) * "Little" Louie Vega – mixing (track 3) *Doc Dougherty – mixing (track 3) *Douglas Breitbart – executive producer, management (Broadbeard Productions, Inc.) *Greg Porto – art direction *Adrian Buckmaster – photography *
Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer. Over the course of his career, he has received over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Ha ...
– mastering (
Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...
)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control 1987 debut albums Out of the Blue Atlantic Records albums