"Forever Your Girl" by Paula Abdul

#1 Alert!

Gold Record Alert!

Song#:  3831

Date:  03/11/1989

Debut:  68

Peak:  1 (2 weeks)

Weeks:  22

Genre:  Pop

Pop Bits:  After two singles failed to ignite on the Pop chart, Abdul finally broke through in a big way with her third attempt "Straight Up." The song would reach #1 and end up going platinum. To follow up that success, the title track to her debut album Forever Your Girl would be released. It would end up topping the Pop chart while getting to #11 AC, #28 Dance, and #54 R&B.  The album had already been a staple in the Top 10 and it would be during the run of this single that it would reach the double platinum mark.

ReduxReview:  This was a nicely written piece of ear candy that was a perfect vehicle for Abdul. I wasn't necessarily a big fan of Abdul's at the time, but I liked this single. For me, it was a best track on the album. It was a ray of sunshine and was the perfect foil to follow the sassy "Straight Up." That song certainly got Abdul noticed, but I've always thought this track was the one that really cemented her status as a pop star.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  The video for this song was directed by future Oscar nominee David Fincher. The concept had Abdul directing a video shoot that featured kids in various vignettes some of which were imitations of video and movie scenes. Of course along the way Abdul would do her own dance segments. Among the kids were two that went on to do pretty well in the film/TV industry. Nikki Cox was 10 years old at the time of the video shoot. She already had a few credits to her name including being on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled "Pen Pals." Cox would later spend five seasons on the WB sitcom Unhappily Ever After and then star in her own WB series Nikki for two seasons. She also spent five seasons on the NBC show Las Vegas. Also featured in Abdul's video was 8 year old Elijah Wood. It was his first professional job and his credits list filled up from there. He would get roles in several films and TV movies/shows including starring in the oddball 1994 film North. His big breakthrough came when he was cast to play Frodo Baggins in the hugely successful The Lord of the Rings franchise. He would also star in the comedy series Wilfred, which lasted four seasons.

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