I feel like the coming of Paula Abdul was my clue in that music was changing, and not necessarily for the better.
How to explain. I'll use an analogy I gave George of G.I. Jigsaw years ago. 80's music is like the vintage G.I. Joe figures. Music, much like G.I. Joe hit many radars in 1982, and it was different, but kind of cool. Between 1983 - 1986, it took off, and was in its prime with tons of amazing stuff being released. 1987 things started to taper off a bit. It was the year where things were a little different, a little unique, but still very enjoyable. But 1988 - 1989, things were very different, and while somewhat enjoyable, there were clear signs that only worse things were on the horizon.
With that said, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Paula Abdul is horrible by any means. She had a few Billboard hits, and they were all deservedly earned. What I found truly odd was that the first among them was Knocked Out. Even after hearing it for today's Retro Spin, I feel like I only vaguely remember it. The song charted in June of 1988, reaching number forty-one before being joined on the charts by (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me, and Straight Up, the latter which would become her first number one hit by February of 1989.
Forever Your Girl would follow by entering the charts in March. Straight Up and Forever Your Girl would cross each other in the 30's in April, with the latter reaching number one by May. Though it stayed there for two consecutive weeks, it dropped down to number eight immediately thereafter.
Cold Heated followed, and fired its way up to the number one spot by September. However, as it began it drop back down the charts, (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me would re-enter the charts, going to number three by December.
Paula wasn't done there. Opposites Attract landed on the charts shortly thereafter, and it too went straight up (now tell me) to the number one spot by February of 1990. It stayed in the spot for three weeks before Janet Jackson's Escapade took its place.
All of this success was achieved with her debut album, which as a whole reached number one on Billboard by July of 1988. Boy, talk about setting the bar high for a follow up album.
I've never necessarily "liked" Paula Abdul, but I do respect her for her contribution to the 80's. There's no doubt that between 1988 and 1990 that you wouldn't hear any number of her songs in rotation on radio throughout the day. She certainly earned her accolades as the mouthpiece for the above songs. I say mouthpiece, because she didn't actually write any of them.
As I fired up the album, I was immediately transported back to my Jr. High years in Bend, Oregon. Specifically when I picked up the album at a local K-Mart for a girl in my class by the name of Amber Tillinghast. The odd part of this story is that this wasn't one of those childhood crush things. I just felt like doing something nice for her since she said she wanted the cassette. I haven't even thought about that until just now. Truth be told, I'd be surprised if she even remembered who I was or how she got the tape...Or that she even had it.
Listening to the album, it's not as bad as I seem to want to remember it being. It has good songs on the album, most of which were noted above. No, I take that back. All of which were noted above. Again, I respect it for the contributions to the 80's it served as, and the hits are worth hearing. However, I wouldn't call myself a fan by any means.
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