"Only in My Dreams" is the debutsingle for American singer-songwriter-actress Debbie Gibson. Released December 16, 1986, as a maxi single, and then in remixed form February 1987, the song was written by Gibson 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 No. 4 on the U.S. BillboardHot 100 singles chartin the summer of 1987. Douglas Breitbart for Broadbeard Productions, Inc. served as executive producer. While it did not initially make the UK top 50, 'Dreams' re-entered the UK singles chart in 1988 on the back of the success of her second single, eventually peaking at No. 11. The Extended Club Mix/Vocal track from DM 86744 was excerpted for a dance medley, "Medley: Out of the Blue/Shake Your Love/Only in My Dreams", that became Track 4 on Atlantic DM 86556 "Foolish Beat." A different mix, "Only in My Dreams", mastered from the original multi-track for DM 86744, became track 3 on Gibson's debut album Out of the Blue, and a further variation, "Only in My Dreams ", 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 95th on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.
Music video
The music video for this song was recorded as a dream sequence at a beach in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the carousel in the Asbury Park casino, 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" # # #
Track Listing, 12" Oldies Series re-release (Atlantic DM 86606)
"Only in My Dreams" # # Back-to-back with these two tracks on this maxi-single is Chic's "Dance, Dance, Dance " ; this track was originally released in 1978 on Atlantic maxi single DK 4600.
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', 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'. 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' # # # # # # # # Music Sales Corp., ASCAP
