Forever Your Girl

Forever Your Girl is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile clients including George Michael, ZZ Top, Duran Duran and most notably Janet Jackson. At the time of the album's release it was the most successful debut album of all time and was the first time an artist scored four US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from a debut album. It is currently certified 7× platinum by the RIAA.

For the song of the same name, see Forever Your Girl (song).
Forever Your Girl
Studio album by
Paula Abdul
ReleasedJune 21, 1988
RecordedOctober 1987 – April 1988
Genre
Length44:35
LabelVirgin
Producer
Paula Abdul chronology
Forever Your Girl
(1988)		 Shut Up and Dance: Mixes
(1990)
Singles from Forever Your Girl
  1. "Knocked Out"
    Released: May 4, 1988
  2. "The Way That You Love Me"
    Released: August 2, 1988
  3. "Straight Up"
    Released: November 22, 1988
  4. "Forever Your Girl"
    Released: February 20, 1989
  5. "Cold Hearted"
    Released: June 15, 1989
  6. "Opposites Attract"
    Released: November 17, 1989
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideC[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Number One[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

Background

In 1987, Abdul, once a choreographer for Los Angeles Lakers and high-profile artists including George Michael, ZZ Top, Duran Duran and most notably Janet Jackson, used her savings to make a singing demo.[6] Soon thereafter, she was signed to Virgin Records by Jeff Ayeroff, who had worked in marketing at A&M Records with Janet Jackson. Although she was a skilled dancer and choreographer, Abdul was a relatively untrained singer, and worked with various coaches and record producers to develop her vocal ability, with her vocal range defined as mezzo-soprano.[7][8] Ayeroff recalled signing Abdul to a recording contract years later, stating: "She said, 'I can sing, you know. I want to do an album.' Paula's in our industry. Here's someone with a personality and she's gorgeous, and she can dance. If she can sing, she could be a star. So she went into the studio and cut a demo record and she could sing."[9] The album was made on a budget of $72,000.[10]

Release and reception

On October 7, 1989, 64 weeks after its July 23, 1988 debut on the chart, Forever Your Girl hit number one on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, the longest an album has been on the market before hitting number one.[11] The album was eventually certified seven times Platinum in the US by the RIAA and has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.[12] It also includes four number one Billboard Hot 100 singles: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract",[12] which ties Forever Your Girl for second most number-one songs from a single album, and ties it for the most number ones in a debut album. She was the first female artist to have four number one singles from a debut album. "The Way That You Love Me" reached #3, and "Knocked Out" reached #41.

The album also reached #4 on the R&B album chart, while "Straight Up", "Opposites Attract", "Knocked Out", and "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" all reached the top 10 of the R&B tracks chart.

After a slow start, the album's third single "Straight Up" helped the album breakout in spring/summer 1989 after its initial summer 1988 release. Forever Your Girl hit number one for the first time on October 7, 1989. After the release of the single "Opposites Attract", the album shot to number one again on February 3, 1990 and stayed there for nine consecutive weeks.

By 1998, Billboard Magazine reported that Forever Your Girl was the most successful album released by the Virgin Records label, with all five of its top 20 hits also appearing on the same chart ranking Virgin's singles.[13]

Accolades
Organization Country Accolade Year Result
MTV Video Music Awards United States Best Female Video (Straight Up) 1989 Won
Best Dance Video (Straight Up)
Best Choreography in a Video (Straight Up)
Best Editing (Straight Up)
Best New Artist in a Video (Straight Up) Nominated
Breakthrough Video (Straight Up)
American Music Awards Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist 1990 Won
Favorite Dance Artist
Favorite Pop Rock Album Nominated
Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist
Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist 1991
Billboard Music Awards #1 World Album 1990
Soul Train Awards Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Song of the Year (Straight Up) 1990 Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite Female Artist 1990 Won
Favorite All-Around Female Entertainer Nominated
Grammy Awards Best Vocal Performance, Female (Straight Up) 1990 Nominated
Best Music Video (Short Form) Opposites Attract 1991 Won
Juno Awards Canada International Single of the Year (Straight Up) 1990 Nominated
International Album of the Year 1990
Brit Award United Kingdom International Breakthrough Act 1990 Nominated

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Way That You Love Me"Oliver LeiberLeiber5:22
2."Knocked Out"
  • Reid
  • Babyface
3:52
3."Opposites Attract"LeiberLeiber4:24
4."State of Attraction"
Ballard4:07
5."I Need You"
Johnson5:01
6."Forever Your Girl"LeiberLeiber4:58
7."Straight Up"Elliot WolffWolff4:11
8."Next to You"
  • Curtis Williams
  • Kendall Stubbs
  • Sandra Williams
C. Williams4:26
9."Cold Hearted"WolffWolff3:51
10."One or the Other"
  • Paula Abdul
  • C. Williams
  • Duncan Pain
C. Williams4:10
Total length:44:22

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.[14]

  • Paula Abdul – lead vocals
  • Marvin Gunn and Bruce DeShazer AKA Tony Christin - backing vocals
  • Peter Arata – mixing assistant
  • Babyface – keyboards, producer, backing vocals
  • Glen Ballard – drums, producer, programming
  • Russ Bracher – engineer
  • Pattie Brooks – backing vocals
  • Wally Buck – engineer
  • Francis Buckley – engineer, mixing
  • Annette Cisneros – assistant engineer
  • Dave Cochran – guitar, backing vocals
  • Keith "KC" Cohen – mixing, producer
  • Delisa Davis – backing vocals
  • Tami Day – backing vocals
  • Jimmy Demers – backing vocals
  • Eddie M. – saxophone on "I Need You"
  • Al Fleming – assistant engineer
  • Basil Fung – guitar
  • Jon Gass – engineer, mixing
  • Bobby Gonzales – guitar
  • Danny Grigsby – assistant engineer
  • Evelyn Halus – backing vocals
  • Dann Huff – guitar
  • Tim Jaquette – engineer, mixing
  • Jesse Johnson – drums, keyboards, producer
  • Cliff Jones – assistant engineer, engineer
  • Kayo – synthesizer, synthesizer bass
  • Oliver Leiber – arranger, drum programming, guitar, keyboards, producer, programming
  • Jeff Lorber – drum programming, engineer, guest artist, keyboards, producer
  • Yvette Marine – backing vocals
  • Pat McDougal – assistant engineer
  • Lucia Newell – backing vocals
  • Ricky P. – keyboards
  • Pebbles – guest artist, backing vocals
  • L.A. Reid – drums, guest artist, percussion programming, producer
  • Angel Rogers – backing vocals
  • Josh Schneider – assistant engineer
  • Daryl Simmons – backing vocals
  • Bob Somma – guitar
  • St. Paul – arranger, bass, keyboards, Organ, vocoder
  • Kendall Stubbs – engineer
  • Randy Weber – programming, synthesizer
  • Steve Weise – engineer
  • Troy Williams - saxophone on "Forever Your Girl"
  • Wild Pair – vocals, backing vocals

Charts
All-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul
Chart Position
US Billboard 200 (Women)[38] 10

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[39] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[40] 7× Platinum 700,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[41] Gold 10,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[42] Platinum 15,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[43] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[45] 7× Platinum 7,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r131740
  2. Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
  4. Martin, David (April 26, 1989). "Albums". Number One. p. 43. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  5. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 2. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone paula abdul album guide.
  6. "Paula Abdul Biography". metacritic.com. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  7. Dominguez, Pier (June 13, 2018). "How "Forever Your Girl" Made Paula Abdul The Original Britney". BuzzFeed. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  8. Hanson, Rachel. "Dancer Paula Abdul". LoveToKnow. LoveToKnow Corp. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. Hall, Carla (March 25, 1990). "Paula Abdul, Soaring Straight Up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  10. "Paula Abdul Talks "Very Personal" Las Vegas Residency and Paving the Way for Today's Pop Stars". The Hollywood Reporter. 31 October 2019.
  11. "Paula Abdul - Biography, Photos, News, Videos, Movie Reviews". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  12. "Paula Abdul, Driven". VH1. VH1. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 22 November 2017. Forever Your Girl went on to sell 18 million records.
  13. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1998-09-05.
  14. "Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  15. "Australiancharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  16. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9072". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
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  18. "Lescharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  20. "Spellbound – Oricon", Oricon (in Japanese), archived from the original on May 5, 2019, retrieved February 21, 2009
  21. "Charts.nz – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  24. "Swisscharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  25. "Paula Abdul | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  26. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  27. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  28. "Top 100 Albums of 1989". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  29. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1989". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  30. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  31. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  32. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  33. "Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  34. Bakker, Machgiel (22 December 1990). "1990 REVIEW: Music & Media Year -End Awards . European Top 100 Albums 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. pp. 29, 38. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  35. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  36. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  37. Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  38. "Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums By Women". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  39. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  40. "Canadian album certifications – Paul Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Music Canada. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  41. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1990". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  42. "New Zealand album certifications". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
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  44. "British album certifications – Paul Abdul – Forever Your Girl". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  45. "American album certifications – Paul Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
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