A-side Vocal (3:50) Recorded 1986 | Released December 16, 1986 Genre Dance-pop, freestyle | |
B-side Dub (4:42) (U.S., 89322; JPN, P-2305)
Dreamix (4:18) (UK, A9322) Length Album Version 3:58
Single Version 3:42 | ||
"Only in My Dreams" is the debut single for American singer-songwriter-actress Deborah Gibson. Released December 16, 1986, as a maxi single (Atlantic DM 86744), and then in remixed form (Vocal/3:50, as described herein) February 1987, the song was written by Gibson herself in 1984, two years before she recorded it. Produced by Fred Zarr and engineered by Don Feinberg for BiZarr Music, Inc., mixed by "Little" Louie Vega and mastered by Herb "Pump" Powers, the dance-pop song reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the summer of 1987. Douglas Breitbart for Broadbeard Productions, Inc. served as executive producer (see also Debbie Gibson).
Contents
- Music video
- Track Listing Atlantic DM 86744
- Track Listing 12 Oldies Series re release Atlantic DM 86606
- Versions
- 199798 re recording
- Track Listing Jellybean Recordings 2532
- References
While it did not initially make the UK top fifty, 'Dreams' re-entered the UK singles chart in 1988 on the back of the success of her second single (viz., "Shake Your Love," Atlantic UK A9187), eventually peaking at #11. The Extended Club Mix/Vocal track (6:34) from DM 86744 was excerpted for a dance medley, 'Medley: Out of the Blue - Shake Your Love - Only in My Dreams' (Debbie Gibson Mega Mix), that became Track 4 on Atlantic DM 86556 'Foolish Beat'.
A different mix, 'Only in My Dreams' (LP Version/3:54), mastered from the original multi-track for DM 86744, became Track 3 on Gibson's debut album Out Of The Blue (Atlantic LP 81780), and a further variation, 'Only in My Dreams (Dream House Mix/10:03)', was Track 3 on Atlantic DM 86556 'Foolish Beat'.
Since the song's release, Gibson has re-recorded the song twice: in 1997 for her album Deborah and in 2010 for the Deluxe Edition release of the Japan-exclusive Ms. Vocalist.
The song was voted #95 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.
Music video
The music video for this song was recorded as a dream sequence at Asbury Park beach, NJ, the carousel in the Asbury Park casino (still in use back then), and outside the Asbury Park Convention Center where headliner concerts are still held today. Across the street from the beach, The Stone Pony where Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi got their start, is still in operation. Gibson has several different changes of wardrobe throughout the video. The video shows the futility of a teenage girl attempting to get the man of her dreams to look at her, and when he does, she realizes that she was dreaming the whole event, thus causing her world to come crashing down around her.
Track Listing (Atlantic DM 86744)
'Only in My Dreams'
- (Extended Club Mix/Vocal/6:34)
- (Percapella/Vocal/3:29)
- (Dreamix/4:18)
- (Heartthrob Beats/4:14)
Track Listing, 12" Oldies Series re-release (Atlantic DM 86606)
'Only in My Dreams'
- (Extended Club Mix/Vocal/6:34)
- (Percapella/Vocal/3:29)
Back-to-back with these two tracks on this maxi-single is Chic's 'Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)' (8:30); this track was originally released in 1978 on Atlantic maxi single DK 4600.
Versions
1997/98 re-recording
Gibson did several major modifications to this song after she left Atlantic Records. In 1997, apparently the entire song was re-recorded, first appearing as 'Only in My Dreams' (1997 Dance Edit/4:38), track 14 on Espiritu LP 9602 Deborah, Revision 1.1 for June 1997, and later in seven variations, including one with a retrofitted eight-measure rap, on Jellybean Recordings DM 2532 'Only in My Dreams 1998' (released February 1998). The basic rhythm is modified from the Dream House Version of the original song on Atlantic DM 86556, track 3.
Track Listing (Jellybean Recordings 2532)
'Only in My Dreams 1998'
- (Club Mix/7:32)
- (Club Mix with Rap/4:37)
- (Club Dub/4:36)
- (Rave Vocal Mix/4:37)
- (Rave Dub/4:37)
- (Dream Dub/3:45)
- (Rave Radio Edit/3:46)
- (Riff Dub/4:23)
(Deborah Gibson) Music Sales Corp., ASCAP