Today I decided to collect the last of Tay’s 1989 US tour pictures. And I decided to listen to Debbie Gibson of all artists while doing so.
And, for the first time, I checked out some of Debbie’s music videos on YouTube.
Wow. Absolutely mindblowing. Totally mindblowing. I didn’t realize until now how very similar the two really are.
You know, I had a massive crush on Debbie back in the day. I mean, it was massive.
She was my ideal girlfriend back in grade school. I loved her, as much as a ten year old boy can love a distant pop star. She was my version of the perfect girlfriend, and I used to wonder what it would take for me to score a girl as perfect for me as her.
And … I loved her music. Loved it. I loved rocking out in the car to her. This was before my teen years, so I could still get away with liking “girl music”.
I never bought her albums, of course. That would’ve been too “girly”. And I never collected her pictures. And I never saw even a single one of her music videos.
I’m glad I’m older. Now I can like more openly the stuff I really like, although even now it’s kind of tough sometimes.
It’s striking to me how much pop-Taylor was influenced by Debbie. I mean, they look so similar, and their vibe is so, so very similar. It’s… almost the same, really. It’s really interesting, and fulfilling to me, personally.
I remember the arguments my friends and I used to have during morning recess about Debbie, and what it would take to get a girl like her. I always lost those.
Guess my friends weren’t so smart after all.