“Lost in You,” Rod Stewart
“I have always loved Rod’s music and voice. Melodic pop rock at its best.”
In 1988, Debbie Gibson’s ‘Foolish Beat’ Hit No. 1 on the Hot 100: Chart Rewind
Written by djfrosty on June 22, 2023
“I find that people have kept [it] with them. I think it’s because the lyrics are simple, but you can fill in the blanks with your adult experience. I know that I can as a singer now.”
In 2013, Debbie Gibson recounted to Billboard her memories of “Foolish Beat,” which had then topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart 25 years earlier, on the ranking dated June 25, 1988. The song made history for Gibson: As she was 17 years old when the ballad reigned, she became the youngest woman to have written, produced and performed a Hot 100 No. 1, a mark that still stands.
“When I was writing it,” Gibson further recalled in 2013, “I was guessing what love would be like … and then also guessing what it would be like to lose love. Now that I’ve been through all that, I can sing the very simple lyrics and really fill it.”
The song was released as the fourth single from Gibson’s Atlantic Records debut album Out of the Blue, which hit No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Her breakthrough hit “Only in My Dreams” reached No. 4 on the Hot 100, as did follow-up “Shake Your Love,” while the title cut then hit No. 3. (Following “Foolish Beat,” fifth single “Staying Together” became the set’s fifth top 40 hit, rising to No. 22.)
Gibson has continued to expand her Billboard chart history, as she sent her first seasonal collection, Winterlicious, into the top 20 of the Top Holiday Albums in November 2022. It followed her first proper LP of all-new music, The Body Remembers, which hit the Top Current Albums and Top Album Sales charts in 2021.
Upon the 35th anniversary of “Foolish Beat” ruling the Hot 100, Gibson gives Billboard an exclusive countdown of the chart that week in 1988, musing about each song in the top 20 that frame. The song, which became Gibson’s first of two No. 1s, ahead of “Lost in Your Eyes” in March 1989, overcame impressive competition, including fellow classics from Michael Jackson, George Michael, Def Leppard, INXS and Hall and Oates. –Gary Trust
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“Hold On to the Nights,” Richard Marx
Image Credit: David Redfern/Redferns “I always felt a kinship and connection to Richard’s writing. I love that this was an anthem of its time and would become future nostalgia, being that everyone these days wants to hold onto their ‘80s youth!”
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“Beds Are Burning,” Midnight Oil
Image Credit: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images “I could only strive to be as cool and socially conscious as Midnight Oil back then. Such a powerful song. And, their accents were incredible. You usually don’t hear accents while singing, but they played it up, which worked brilliantly.”
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“Everything Your Heart Desires,” Daryl Hall & John Oates
Image Credit: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images “This track had all those great synth sounds that were signature of the time, reminiscent of Climie Fisher and Steve Winwood. Hall and Oates could do no wrong — still can’t!”
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“New Sensation,” INXS
Image Credit: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images “I loved INXS, and they were labelmates at the time. I remember seeing them with [then-Atlantic president] Doug Morris at Radio City Music Hall, and he commented on Michael Hutchence and his swagger being reminiscent of Mick Jagger. The world was indeed ready for a new sensation that was INXS.”
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“Nite and Day,” Al B. Sure!
Image Credit: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images “My boyfriend at the time, Brian Bloom, put this on a mixtape and really turned me on to so many incredible pop/urban acts of the time. This one’s a classic.”
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“I Still Believe,” Brenda K. Starr
Image Credit: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images “Gorgeous expressive vocal that Melodyne would have killed! I love Brenda and she spoke to her audience in the way only a raw New York gal can.”
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“Circle in the Sand,” Belinda Carlisle
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images “[Writers] Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley nailed this modern bohemian vibe so well suited for Belinda’s personality, and she delivered it with pure pop vocal perfection. So free and easy.”
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“Kiss Me Deadly,” Lita Ford
Image Credit: Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images “Lita brought being a female rocker to the forefront with this pop/rock crossover classic. I am a hook girl, and this delivered the ear candy element that invited the pop audience into the rock world.”
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“Nothin’ But a Good Time,” Poison
Image Credit: Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images “A perfect chart companion for Lita and a perfect bubblegum song that made glam rock palatable for a more pop audience. Besides, C.C. [Deville] called me his fiancée on MTV, which started a love affair for me with the music of Poison.”
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“Pour Some Sugar on Me,” Def Leppard
Image Credit: Pete Still/Redferns “I loved — and love — this band so much. This song has it all, but it was the perfectly stacked harmonies that always did it for me! We headlined the Sanremo Music Festival together. and Rick [Allen] still drops in to comment on my social media, which always has me fangirling all over again.”
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“Mercedes Boy,” Pebbles
Image Credit: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images “I might have tried to emulate [co-producer] Charlie Wilson many times after hearing this song, but there’s only one Pebbles and only one ‘Mercedes Boy.’ A playful, sexy classic.”
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“Alphabet Street,” Prince
Image Credit: FG/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images “So ridiculously sexy, and paved the way for other songs I loved that followed, like ‘Martika’s Kitchen.’ In a roundabout way, it influenced my future writing on songs like ‘Love or Money,’ co-written by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers. Prince couldn’t help but get into the fabric of everybody’s everything!”
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“One More Try,” George Michael
Image Credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images “OK … everyone pause for a true king. There is nothing to compare this song to. It was George in a bubble of purity and inspiration and uniqueness. The vocal, the lyrics, the melody, the feel … pure genius and never another song like it.”
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“The Valley Road,” Bruce Hornsby & the Range
Image Credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images “As a piano girl, I always loved hearing what Bruce Hornsby & the Range would come out with next. The changing time signatures ignited my musician side. Pure Americana bliss.”
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“The Flame,” Cheap Trick
Image Credit: United Archives/Getty Images “It felt old and new at the same time, like it was so comforting as if it were an old friend. An instant classic that introduced me and a lot of younger pop fans to Cheap Trick.”
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“Make It Real,” The Jets
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images “Pure pop ballad perfection. It takes me right back to doing schoolwork with the Jets backstage at Solid Gold and to my own high-school prom. A song you can sway and slow dance to.”
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“Together Forever,” Rick Astley
Image Credit: Peter Carrette Archive/Getty Images “I love Rick, and these collabs with Stock, Aiken, Waterman stand the test of time. I love Rick’s deep, soulful voice. It added a roundedness to the perkiness of the track but allowed Rick to project the playful part of his personality.”
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“Dirty Diana,” Michael Jackson
Image Credit: George De Sota/Redferns “The fact that this was No. 2 to my No. 1 was mind-blowing as a teenaged MJ mega-fan. Michael is the prototype for what it means to be versatile, flexing his rock chops on this song was inspirational and Steve Stevens’ guitar work … epic.”
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“Foolish Beat,” Debbie Gibson
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images “I was a huge Wham! fan, and particularly of George Michael. If you hear similarities in the themes of this song and ‘Careless Whisper,’ you are not mistaken. I wanted to write my own haunting breakup ballad of the time, and though I had not yet been in love, I drew on experiences from my older sisters and my limited puppy love experiences. It was a thrill to be the sole writer and producer of this song, which silenced many critics at the time, including some non-believers in my own camp who thought the song should be produced by someone more experienced.”