Long before there was Taylor, there was Debbie.







Debbie Gibson exploded onto the music scene in 1987 with Out of The Blue. Gibson wrote all 10 songs on that album, a trend that would continue throughout her career.







She became the youngest person, at age 17, to write, produce, and sing a song that would reach number one on the Billboard charts with “Foolish Beat” in 1988.







Perhaps best known for her success in the 80s, Gibson continued to write and record in the following decades and also has appeared in many musicals, including on Broadway. She has also appeared in several cult movies on the SyFy Network.







Gibson will be in town August 7-9 at the Monroeville Convention Center.







She recently took the time to conduct an interview with The Swerve.







The Swerve Magazine: Was there a time you resented your success in the 80s and being primarily known for your success in that time period?







Debbie Gibson: Any success is good success! (Laughs). Never ever. Not for a minute. I always felt that it opened many doors for me and also allowed me to help introduce pop music fans to Broadway and vice-versa.



I wouldn't take any of it back. I recently read an interview with Taylor Swift where she said something like she built that house so why would she want to tear it down?







Many artists have songs and images forced upon them. What the public saw was the real me.







SM: Is it safe to say that you are embracing your hugely successful run in the 80s and beyond by being known as "Debbie" once again and starting to make appearances at the "Cons?"







DG: I've always embraced it and, I think my pop career in addition to the SyFy movies I did, Mega Shark, Mega vs. Mecha, and Mega Python, also opened me up to a new crowd and allowed those fans to rediscover my music.



I love people in general so it's awesome appearing at the Cons! I think it's a great service provided to allow fans and artists to have a designated time and place to meet!







SM: What age did you start writing? Are you someone who pens the lyrics and then adds the music, or vice-versa?







DG: (I was) five, it was a song called "Make Sure You Know Your Classroom!"



(Lyrics and music) usually come to me simultaneously. Kind of like singing my thoughts! I've always felt melodies were my forte but my newer stuff, which is not recorded yet, is much more specific and lyrically poetic.



I've stopped accepting any old rhyme! (Laughs)







SM: How was it for you as a young teenage girl to do the club scene before having a record deal?







DG: Crazy and not. On one hand, I was exposed to all this nightlife ...teen clubs, straight clubs, and gay clubs. It toughened me up as a performer because it's hard to get people to put their drinks down and pay attention!



That said, I've always focused on being on stage and bringing my best whether it was in a club or (in) a stadium. In doing so, I was not as influenced by outside atmosphere.







SM: How was it being a teenager in the 80s music scene? Did you ever feel slighted in a way where you did a lot of your own producing and writing, especially compared to a lot of your contemporaries, both male and female, and may not have gotten enough recognition for it?







DG: YES! (Laughs) Us teen acts were overlooked at the Grammy's, The Walk of Fame, and to collaborate with more established acts, things like that.



It was like the establishment thought I was a fluke and hoped I would go away! That said, anything where the fans voted or if things were based on sales and airplay, I was recognized. Ultimately, that's what matters.







SM: Beginning in the 1990s, your career progressed from recording then theater and then TV roles. Was theater and TV always on your radar, or were they something that came along due to your recording success?







DG: Oh no. I was doing theater from age six-on. I did my first commercial at 11.



I sang at The Metropolitan Opera in the children's chorus from age 9-12. I was up for the Tracey Gold role on Growing Pains! I had my Actor's Equity card at 11 . So, it's safe to say



it was all on my radar!







SM: Your first two major stage roles were in Les Misérables and then Grease. You then had major roles in many well-known productions. How were those experiences? Does one stand out the most?







DG: They all were so special. Les Miz, because it was the first and because I was up for the role at age 15, before I got my record deal.



Grease in the West End was incredible, like my college experience. I'm still in touch with that cast! Cabaret on Broadway was unbelievable. Neil Patrick Harris is amazing and I got to do the show with him. I didn't feel like I could actually act until I worked with Rob Marshall on that show and he validated my instincts.







SM: You had a memorable appearance on-stage with The Circle Jerks at CBGB (in 1995). How did that appearance come about? Before then, did you ever envision yourself on stage there, let alone doing a punk song?







DG: Ha! I had never heard their music! Then, there I was ordering Chinese food in the studio with them and stage diving. I have a sense of adventure. Clearly!







SM: How fun was it to do those Syfy movies with Tiffany? Were you aware beforehand just how popular those SyFy movies are?







DG: No! My agent came to me and said "I have this little under the radar movie that you may want to do so we can get some good tape on you to further explore your acting career. No one will ever see it!" Cut to...over a million hits on YouTube for the trailer the first day (the movie) came out!



I loved doing them and would do more in a heartbeat. I never took myself (or those movies) too seriously, so it was a match made in heaven!







SM: In today's music scene, there are more younger women then ever before it seems. What is one major difference between today's pop music and the music of the 80s that you see?



DG: Honestly, at this point, not much! So many artists are pulling from 80s music.







I hear bad DX7 Synth sounds everywhere! (Laughs). The main



difference is that there wasn't as much of a well-oiled machine to promote young female artists as there is now so Tiffany and myself had to kind of forge a path.



That said, Marie Osmond, Lesley Gore, Karen Carpenter and



other acts came before me who did the same and I always pay homage to them.







It's funny, you don't hear the younger girls today mention Tiffany and myself much, as if they all invented the whole thing! (Laughs).







It’s important to be humble and to know that nobody really invented anything. We are all repeating history over and over again in a way and should always respect those who came before us. They are also way more collaborations these days which I think is amazing. Back in the 80s it would've taken six lawyers 30 days and $50,000 to get one "Ludacris Featuring Debbie Gibson" contract written up! (Laughs)







SM: What are the differences in the songwriting of today that you see in comparison to the 80s?











DG: There are a lot of top liners now, which means that artists receive a track and then write a melody and lyric. There are way more collaborations than ever before.







I think it took something like eight or nine writers to write J-Lo's "Booty." (Ed. Note: It was actually 10 people)







It took ONE Richard Marx to write "Right Here Waiting." With no disrespect to the “Booty,” which do you think we will remember for years to come?







SM: When I look at artists in today's music, the one I feel is comparable to you is Taylor Swift because of her songwriting.



Is that a fair comparison?







DG: Probably so, but maybe a cross between Taylor and Katy Perry. I love them both.







I played a teenage Katy's Mother in "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" video and I think that girl writes a killer hook and has presented this kind of warrior princess image to young girls so I am rather partial to her!







Taylor too is handling her career so elegantly and gracefully. Taylor collaborates more than I did, which I think is a really amazing thing because I feel like she really found this other part of herself by collaborating with people like Max Martin.







If she had gone the country route of just writing everything solo that may never have happened and we may never have gotten



the brilliant 1989 album. I was a little more of a one-woman show and a little more closed off to co-writes at that time but these days I am open to whatever makes the song the best.







It's not about ego. The song is the star!









