Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: Debbie Gibson, “Foolish Beat”

27 years ago today, Debbie Gibson became the youngest person ever to write, sing, and produce a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the late '80s, it was all too easy for the cool kids to turn up their noses at Debbie Gibson as mere mall music, but…well, actually, that's not entirely inaccurate, given that she and Tiffany were indeed kicking ass on the mall circuit right around the time Out of the Blue was released. But it was just as easy for Debbie's defenders to make a completely valid point: she was an incredibly talented teenager, and if she wasn't necessarily turning out prog rock, she was still doing it herself, which is more than a lot of vapid record company creations can say for themselves.

No, “Foolish Beat” didn't make you want to hit the dance floor the way singles like “Only in My Dreams,” “Shake Your Love,” or “Out of the Blue” did. It was a ballad, a straight-up sob story belted out in a way that only Debbie could deliver it. So what was it about the song that sent it to the top of the charts? Probably because it served as the soundtrack to a million failed teen romances, helping countless girls to realize that they weren't the only ones who'd experienced heartbreak. Sure, it's a little cheesy, but when you're in your teens, that's what romantic sentiments are all about.