FOREVER
YOUR GIRL

Overview

Paula Abdul choreographing for Janet Jackson

Discovered by The Jacksons after a few of the band members had watched Paula performing while attending a Los Angeles Lakers game, Abdul was signed to do the choreography for the video to their single "Torture."

In 1985, the success of the choreography in the "Torture" video led to Paula being asked by the head of A&M Records A&R (John McClain) to choreograph for Janet Jackson, resulting in the hugely-successful dance-step visuals for Janet's hit singles "When I Think Of You," "Nasty," and "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" from Janet’s hugely-successful “Control” album.  Abdul was chosen to be the choreographer for the Jacksons' Victory tour.

During their many rehearsals together, Janet complimented Paula on her vocals while choreographing and encouraged Abdul to pursue a career in the music business. Abdul quietly recorded a demo in-between choreography projects.

Promo photo of the "Cheer Girls"

In 1987, Paula took the advice, formed a girl group and recorded a demo with her friends. Their group was called the 'Cheer Girls.' They sent copies of their demo to several record labels including Warner and Motown Records. Motown didn't think the group had what it took to be successful. At the time, girl bands were thought to be unpopular.

Label Executives who were busy launching the new Virgin Records America heard about Paula and invited her to dinner to discuss the 'Cheer Girls' demo. They liked the demo but decided they wanted to hear Paula sing solo.

Jeff Ayeroff signed Paula to Virgin Records

Reaffirming what Motown Executives had said, Virgin didn't think girl bands had what it takes to be popular. They asked Paula to go back into the studio – this time alone to record the song. She did as they requested and days later Virgin Records signed her onto their label.

Since she didn’t write her own music Paula contacted people that she knew in the music business who introduced her to writers and musicians. Paula used her savings from working on various choreography projects to hire songwriters / producers Babyface, Daryl Simmons and L.A. Reid who helped Paula record the demo for "Knocked Out" which would appear on the “Forever Your Girl” album.

Executives from the label informed Paula that she would have to work fast on preparing her album because they wanted it ready for a summer release.

Image from Paula's "Knocked Out" video.

At this point in time, Paula’s schedule was already hectic. In order to achieve the goal set forth by Virgin Records, Paula altered her schedule so she could record the album at night.

Here is a sample of what her schedule looked like:

From 10am to 2pm she worked on “The Tracy Ullman Show.” From 3pm to 5pm she choreographed George Michael’s “Faith” tour. She took an hour break to rest and have dinner, then worked with dancers from the movie “Coming to America” from 7 to 10pm. She recorded her album from Midnight to 4am.

“Knocked Out” was the first song Paula recorded for the album and was also chosen to be the first commercial single. The song was originally included on a Virgin Records sampler for the launch of Virgin Records America. In the spring of 1988 it was released as a single to test Abdul's commercial appeal. "Knocked Out" proved to be very successful for a low budget single.

Image from "The Way That You Love Me" video.

Paula's "Forever Your Girl" album hit music stores in June 1988, along with the follow-up single "The Way That You Love Me." The song failed to attract much attention, despite its dance-pop remix, and it further alienated the small R&B fan base that "Knocked Out" had generated.

"The Way That You Love Me" stalled at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though both singles received some radio airplay, neither song had managed to reach the Top 40 charts. In the late summer of 1988, without having a hit, it seemed as if “Forever Your Girl” was a flop.

Six months later, during a meeting at Virgin Records, label executives were in the process of reorganizing the label’s roster of artists. Due to "Forever Your Girl’s" failure to launch, Abdul’s record contract was on the chopping block.

As quoted in “Virgin: A History Of Virgin Records” by Terry Southern, Simon Draper, a Co-founder of Virgin Records says “[Paula] had quite a big success for Virgin America- but they were still losing money- and suddenly, and seemingly quite miraculously, she took off. I went out to America with Kenny for a big crisis meeting with Jordan and Jeff (top American execs) worried about the amount of money they were spending; we were to go through their artists’ roster with them. One of the artists they were getting ready to drop was Paula Abdul; they were spending all this money on her and it hadn’t really happened. It’s unbelievable, but at lunchtime we sat in on a marketing meeting where they were arguing about this remix of her single [“The Way That You Love Me”], and on that same day the things suddenly started to turn around, orders started to pile in, and the record took off like a rocket- the record played a major role in establishing Virgin America – but it was close! Another week and they might have got rid of her.”

"Straight Up" songwriter/producer Elliot Wolff

It was during this meeting one of the Executives turned on the radio to hear Abdul’s “Straight Up” playing. Radio station KMEL in San Francisco had started playing "Straight Up" (a b-side from "The Way That You Love Me") and the song began charting immediately.

Virgin decided to abandon "The Way That You Love Me" and refocus its attention on "Straight Up".

After a slow start, the album's third single "Straight Up" helped the album breakout in spring/summer 1989 after its initial summer 1988 release and became a worldwide hit. Abdul was in bed sick with a fever when she found out "Straight Up" hit #1 on the charts. A music video had yet to be filmed.

The "Forever Your Girl" album hit #1 on the charts on October 7, 1989.

After the release of the single "Opposites Attract", it shot to number one spot again on February 3, 1990 and stayed there for nine consecutive weeks with the help of her music video featuring Abdul dancing with an animated cat.

Forever Your Girl reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its 64th chart week—a record at the time for the longest climb to the top of the album chart—and spent a total of 10 weeks at No. 1.

By 1998, Billboard Magazine reported that Forever Your Girl was the most successful album released by the Virgin Record Label, with all five of its top 20 hits also appearing on the same chart ranking Virgin's singles.

Abdul pictured with her Forever Your Girl awards.

At one point, the "Forever Your Girl" was so hot it reportedly sold over 191,000 copies in just ONE DAY.

The album broke music industry records by producing the most Top 10 Singles off of one album, let alone a debut album.

At the time, the only artist to come close to this was Whitney Houston who had three Top 10 singles on the chart.

The "Forever Your Girl" album rated #1 on Billboards Charts for 10 weeks, went more than 7x Platinum and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. "Forever Your Girl" spent 100 weeks (almost two years) on Billboard Charts and was the #1 Album for ten of those weeks. Paula kept her singles on the Top 40 charts for 66 straight weeks.

The album generated five American Top Three singles, four of them No. 1s (three in 1989 and one in 1990): "Straight Up", the title track "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract".

“Shut Up And Dance” a dance remix album featuring songs from the "Forever Your Girl" album was released in 1990. Abdul's next studio album would be released in 1991 as "Spellbound."

Overview

Paula Abdul with The Family Stand

"Spellbound" is the second full-length studio album of original new material, released worldwide by Paula Abdul in May 1991.

For this album, Paula’s manager suggested she work with the Brooklyn-bred funk/soul trio known as The Family Stand whom he also managed. The group included the talents of V. Jeffery Smith, Sandra St. Victor and Peter Lord.

Paula knew of The Family Stand’s work with the group “Aftershock” (which was to be featured on the “Captive Sampler” as Paula also had moved to Captive Records, a subsidiary of Virgin Records.)

She met ‘The Stand’ at a Record Executive's house and asked them to play a couple of songs that they had written. Peter Lord played ”Blowing Kisses In The Wind” on the piano and Paula fell in love with it. She asked them to work with her on a couple of songs for the album.

They ended up producing over half of the album, originally signing on to produce “Rush Rush” and “Blowing Kisses In The Wind.” When Paula first heard “Rush Rush” she said she “knew it had to be the first track released from the album.”

Image from the "Rush Rush" music video.

The first single from Spellbound was the ballad, "Rush Rush," which became a #1 hit and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks. The single featured a music video themed after one of Paula’s favorite movies- Rebel Without a Cause and starred Keanu Reeves in the James Dean role.  "Rush Rush" is Paula's favorite song on the album.

"Promise of a New Day", the second release from the album, also hit No. 1, and was followed by the Top 10 hit "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" and two Top 20 hits: "Vibeology" and "Will You Marry Me?."

Several popular writers and musicians contributed their talents to the success of “Spellbound.” Such celebrities include: Prince, Don Was, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and country/folk singer John Hiatt.

"Spellbound" Special Edition Compact

The special edition version of the “Spellbound” album won a Grammy Award for the packaging in which the CD came specially packaged in a makeup compact complete with powder-puff and mirror.

Paula also noted that she took vocal lessons from vocal coach Gary Catona everyday two years prior to the release of Spellbound in preparation for the album. Catona was actress Shirley McLaine’s vocal coach for her lead performance in “Sweet Charity”, a starring role Abdul would later claim for a Broadway-bound tour that stalled.

Adding hype to the release of the new record, session singer Yvette Marine filed a million dollar lawsuit against Virgin Records three weeks prior to the launch of “Spellbound.” The allegations brought forth by Marine claimed that Virgin Records and record producers blended her voice with Paula’s lead vocals on songs “Opposites Attract”, “Knocked Out”, and “I Need You.”

Marine claimed she was inaccurately credited as a session singer when she was performing “co-lead” vocals with Abdul. Virgin Records went to great lengths to bring as much evidence into the court as possible, such as actual taped recordings of Paula’s vocals and eventually won the case against Marine.

Image from Paula's "Under My Spell" Tour

To promote “Spellbound”, Paula launched her first worldwide tour on October 26th, 1991. MTV, showing strong support for Paula Abdul and the Spellbound album held a “name Paula’s Tour” contest in search of a name for Paula’s Spellbound tour. “Under My Spell” was the name chosen for the tour.

The tour traveled all around the world including stops in Asia, North America and Europe. The tour grossed over 60 million dollars, a record-setting amount for a lead female solo-artist at the time.

The performance in Yokohama, Japan, was used for the live VHS video released in 1993. The tour wrapped up in the summer of 1992.

Emelio Estevez and Paula Abdul

Paula continued to make headlines with her highly publicized marriage to Emilo Estevez in 1992. It was around this time when problems in Paula's personal life began to cloud her career. In 1992 she confessed to suffering from the eating disorder bulimia and checked herself into a clinic.

Before “Spellbound” was even released, Virgin Records Executives shipped one million copies of “Spellbound” to record stores worldwide. Generally a shipment of 100,000 means that record companies expect an album to do well, but Virgin had high hopes for “Spellbound” which ultimately went Three Times Platinum.

Import copies of “Spellbound” feature a bonus track titled “Good Night My Love,” a song Paula recorded for the Pediatric Aids Foundation. The song was also featured on the “For Our Children” album. “Good Night My Love” was written and produced by Don Was and also appears on the B-side of the “Will You Marry Me?” single.

To increase environmental awareness, Paula came up with the idea to include punch-out postcards inside each copy of “Spellbound.” Fans could then send the postcards to “Little Green” a charity she supported which helps protect the environment.

The album was an international success and spawned major radio hits with the singles "Rush Rush", "The Promise of a New Day", "Blowing Kisses in the Wind", "Vibeology" and "Will You Marry Me?".

The Spellbound album went triple platinum in the United States and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its worldwide sales stand at 7+ million copies sold.

“Head Over Heels” was Paula’s next studio album.

Overview

Album photo session outtake.

By 1995, Paula Abdul had recovered from her battle with an eating disorder (bulimia) and a divorce from actor Emilio Estevez. After a four-year absence from the music scene Paula prepared to return to the spotlight with her new album “Head Over Heels”, a bold departure from her first two studio albums.

The album was hoped to bring Abdul back into the limelight and was considered Abdul's comeback album. However, this would be the last album Abdul would release before taking a hiatus from music.

Released on June 13th, 1995, “Head Over Heels,” is a new chapter, and a more mature sound for Paula Abdul: the result of Paula’s growth as a singer and songwriter as well as an individual who’s spiritually risen to the challenges that life brings and emerged strong as a result. The album is also driven with the same spirit and joy that propelled her to mega-stardom.

Album photography by Walter Chin.

For “Head Over Heels”, Paula decided to work with an array of different producers, the same creative scenario that was in place for her landmark #1 1988 debut album, “Forever Your Girl” (a seven million-seller in the United States alone).

Some of the talented musicians that helped Paula on her “Forever Your Girl” and “Spellbound” albums returned with new songs on the “Head Over Heels” album including Oliver Leiber, Elliot Wolff, Darryl Simmons (all three lent their talents to “Forever Your Girl”); Peter Lord and Jeff Smith (the Family Stand members who produced most of “Spellbound”).

Says Paula, “I’ve now experienced both sides. On my first album, I worked with seven producers; on “Spellbound” I worked with only a few. Going into my third album, I wanted to again experiment with many different people and flavors."

At the same time, adds Paula, “I went into this album thinking I didn’t want to be in any compromising situations, as I was at times, on my last two albums. Going into the studio and creating an album is a very intimate experience. I’m now more involved in the production end of my songs. I’m unafraid to state what my feelings and opinions are. All my producers were so open to my input and they were very honest. They said, ‘Thank God you thought of that.’ It was a good feeling.”

Paula collaborated with songwriters Stacey Piersa and Elliot Wolff on the album.

The new album strikingly builds on Paula’s distinctive mix of pop, funk, R&B and ballads. “My Love Is For Real,” the first single from the album, merges a heavy funk groove with Middle Eastern styling’s and guest vocals by critically revered Israeli singer Ofra Haza.

“Ho-Down” is built on an infectious hip-hop groove. “Under The Influence” captivatingly blends pop, funk and rock. And, “Ain’t Never Gonna Give You Up” has the irresistible bounce of an old-school R&B classic, but done in modern context.

And in true Paula style, she journeyed to exotic Morocco— with her dancers, who she choreographs— to shoot the video for the bewitching “My Love Is For Real” with director Michael Hausman.

“It’s a completely different space and time for me,” says Paula. “I’ve experienced some spiritual growth that has allowed me to really get back to what I enjoy doing best. And that’s totally being connected to the creative source as a recording artist and dancer.”

Image from "My Love Is For Real."

The album contained fourteen new tracks on the US release and two bonus tracks (“Crazy Love” and “High School Crush”) on the Japanese release. “Crazy Love” was later released on Abdul’s “Greatest Hits” album.

Recording sessions for the album began in 1994.

Three singles were released from "Head over Heels." The first single, "My Love is for Real" featuring background vocals from Israeli singer Ofra Haza was a moderate hit peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Abdul's first single to not reach the Top 20 and was considered her last hit in her career. However, the song went to #1 on the U.S. dance charts (her only song to do so).

The following single, "Crazy Cool" peaked at #58 and was considered a flop, due to low promotion coupled with negative publicity from MTV about the racy music video.

The last single from the album "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up," was released in 1996 and failed to chart and was considered another flop for her, due to lack of promotion. However, it did peak at #12 on Bubbling Under Hot 100.

A fourth single, "If I Were Your Girl" was due to be released, but was canceled after disappointing album sales and the failure of "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up".

Due to a lack of promotion by Virgin Records, 'Head Over Heels' peaked at just 18 on the Billboard 100.  The album sold just under 3 million copies worldwide, Abdul's lowest selling studio album (in terms of international sales) in her career.  The album has gained a cult following among fans, and continues to sell and stream to fans delight twenty-five years later.  It was certified RIAA Gold on October 31st, 1995.

In interviews for the album, Abdul stated she had plans to tour to promote the album.  Aside from a quick promotional tour in Japan, these plans never materialized due to lack of support from the label. After the relative commercial failure of the album, by comparison to Abdul's first two musical outings, Paula left the music scene and would not return until 2008’s “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.”

In 1995, Abdul also released a dance workout video titled "Paula Abdul's Get Up and Dance!" (re-released on DVD in 2003), a fast-paced, hip-hop style workout.

Brad Beckerman and Paula Abdul

In her personal life, Abdul married clothing designer Brad Beckerman in 1996, at the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. They divorced in 1998, after 17 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

In 1997, Abdul co-wrote a song called "Spinning Around" with record producer and composer Kara DioGuardi, which was intended to be her comeback single from a new album, but the plan never materialized and the song was later discovered three years later by Kylie Minogue and became a #1 mega-hit worldwide in 2000. The songs lyrics were written about Abdul's marriage to Beckerman.

In 1997, Abdul also appeared in the ABC television film Touched By Evil, playing a businesswoman who discovers that her boyfriend is a serial rapist.