Flash Pop Poll from… Twitter

I voted Tiffany, though my analysis is somewhat opposite to Chelovek Na Lune’s: I love the Beatles cover (while barely even liking the Tommy James cover), I think Debbie Gibson’s “Only In My Dreams” and “Foolish Beat” were amazing pang-bringing highs, and while I very much like Tiffany’s “Could’ve Been” I actually prefer album cuts “Should’ve Been Me” and “Danny” yet feel all three suffer from George Tobin’s low-budget production. What tips it for Tiff is the passion that her voice reaches even when the material is piffle and blah. Whereas when Debbie’s material goes blah, that’s where the track goes as well.

I haven’t listened enough to evaluate their later careers though neither has thrown in the towel and Wikipedia lists about the same number of albums for each. Live performances on YouTube from Tiffany’s 2011 Rose Tattoo reveal her as a strong, tough-voiced country singer. But I’m not getting nearly the zing I got from her so-long-ago wail on stuff like “Danny.” Dipping into Deborah Gibson’s ongoing catalog has always brought me the blahs, but those are only rare random dips. What puzzled me early was how she’d managed to start great at 17 as a songwriter and then quickly get mediocre. But I haven’t heard enough to know if that’s the actual story.