Music / Forever Your Girl

Baby just remember I gave you my heart
Ain't no one gonna tear us apart

It ain't the clothes that you wear
It ain't the things that you buy
It ain't your house on the hill
It ain't the plane that you fly

It ain't your black limousine
It ain't your ninety-foot yacht
It ain't the things that you'll get
It ain't the things that you got

It ain't the money or the diamond rings
Honey I ain't impressed with your material things

—"The Way That You Love Me"

Forever Your Girl is the debut studio album recorded by American choreographer and R&B singer Paula Abdul. It was released through Virgin Records on June 21, 1988.

Paula's path to her own music career was long and determined. Starting out as a dancer for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, she rose up to become the dance team's choreographer. This put her in the right place at the right time, making her a popular go-to choreographer for the burgeoning music video format, most notably for Janet Jackson (netting Paula an appearance in the music video for "Nasty").

She used her savings to record a singing demo. This got her noticed by Jeff Ayeroff, an executive at A&M Records that helped slingshot Janet's career. As he was shifting to Virgin, he decided to take Paula on as a project. Though already talented as a singer, she was still untrained; they worked with coaches to refine her singing voice.

Artistically, she would see heavy influence from New Jack Swing. L.A. Reid and Babyface would both be among the cadre of producers Ayeroff assembled to work with Paula. She also worked with Jesse Johnson and Oliver Lieber, both of whom previously worked with Prince.

Three songs would put Paula together with the R&B pair of Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gunn, also known as "The Wild Pair".

Critically, reviews were on the positive side of mixed. The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave her 3 out of 5 stars, and Robert Christgau graded the album a C. But the public was even more welcoming; AllMusic today rates the album 4 out of 5 stars.

That would show commercially, as Forever Your Girl would go seven-times Platinum in both the United States and Canada, and would also earn Platinum in the United Kingdom. It would be in the Top 10 of the year-end Billboard 200 in both 1989 (#3) and 1990 (#6). She is currently #10 on the all-time Billboard 200 among female musicians.

The album spawned six singles. The first one, "Knocked Out", sputtered at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second, "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me", fared worse at #88. Her next single, "Straight Up", put her on the map and spent 3 weeks at #1 in early 1989, followed by the Title Track, "Cold Hearted", a re-release of "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" and "Opposites Attract"—would all hit #1, save for the second to last peaking at #3, making Paula the first female singer to get four number-ones on the Billboard Hot 100 from her debut album, also tying an overall record for debut albums (which she shares with George Michael's Faith, subsequently joined by Mariah Carey's self-titled debut).

As for awards, "Straight Up" would win four Moonmen at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, and "Opposites Attract" would win Best Music Video, Short Form, at the 32nd Grammy Awards.

Tracklist

1. "The Way That You Love Me" (5:22)
2. "Knocked Out" (3:52)
3. "Opposites Attract" (with The Wild Pair) (4:24)
4. "State of Attraction" (4:07)
5. "I Need You" (5:01)
6. "Forever Your Girl" (4:58)
7. "Straight Up" (4:11)
8. "Next to You" (4:26)
9. "Cold Hearted" (3:51)
10. "One or the Other" (4:10)

"It ain't fiction, it's a matter of tropes":

• Animated Music Video: "The Wild Pair" became the voice of the feline character MC Skat Cat, which was a major part of the music video "Opposites Attract". He also makes an appearance in the video for "Forever Your Girl", where the Pair do a significant amount of vocals, but are not credited in the song as primary vocalists.
• Break Up Song: "Straight Up" and "Cold Hearted Snake" were both songs about unfaithful men, the former presumably pre-dating a breakup and the latter being a post-breakup warning to other girls about the ex.
• Duet of Differences: "Opposites Attract" is about how different she is from her "lover" (MC Skat Kat), yet they love one another anyway.
• Nobody Thinks It Will Work: "Opposites Attract" mentions several times that no one would have guessed they could be lovers.
• Opposites Attract: ..."Opposites Attract"
• Roger Rabbit Effect: The music video for "Opposites Attract".
• Title Track: "Forever Your Girl"