Forever Your Girl - Abdul, Paula (Cassette 1992)

Back in 1988, Paula was the "it" girl. I remember a friend saying that he wanted to marry Janet Jackson, but Paula would be his mistress. And this is from a guy who had Janet's Pleasure Principle video recorded for playback many times. Paula didn't seem to be destined for music stardom based on her talent. She seemed better suited for television based on her experience as a choreographer. Word is that the Jacksons saw her at a Los Angeles Lakers game since she was a cheerleader and the choreographer of the dance team and wanted her to work with them for a video on their Victory album.

She did a ton of choreography work in the music industry and was probably most famous for her work with Janet Jackson. But because music videos played such a big part in the popularity of music at the time, Abdul would lean that way and become huge because she was well produced, and because of her well choreographed and fun videos.

The album is strong on what makes pop music strong. Easy to sing to verses, repeated choruses that are drilled into your brain, and peppy dance music. If you can get over the fact that Paula's voice sounds very manipulated to the point that it's almost like she has a few different singing voices, then you'll be fine with this album. It doesn't knock down any doors in the evolution of pop music, but if you don't think that Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez don't owe a bit to Paula for their musical success, then you're not listening.

The two songs that stand out today as songs that've withstood the test of time (18 years now) are Straight Up and Cold Hearted. Straight Up is Paula asking her beau (though I'm not sure if it's Arsenio, John Stamos, or Emilio Estevez) for an answer. Does he love her or not? The vibe is seductive and for the first time on the album, Paula's not cheerleader Paula, she's sexy Paula. Well, maybe she was singing about Arsenio, since he was in the video. Coldhearted is similar musically and in the vibe of the song and features Abdul in her sexiest video at the time.

Most of the rest of the album is just uptempo pop radio friendly music. It doesn't hold up as well, but it doesn't mean it's bad. Knocked Out produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface features Abdul's best vocals on the album, though when she hits the falsetto in the middle, it sounds suspiciously like she has a little bit of help. There are other songs on this album where her voice doesn't even sound human, almost like she's singing directly into Stevie Wonder's old synthesizer. On I Need You, you can hear her voice, but only if you squint a little.

Paula definitely took advantage of the music video and created a fun video for a rather corny song called Opposites Attract. In the video, she danced with an animated MC Skat Kat and showed where her true talent was. The video helped the song go number one on the pop charts, but at this time, anything she was putting out was going number 1. That included the title track Forever Your Girl which is the most bubble gummy of the songs and features some of the most plain sax playing you'll hear on a song that was loved by anyone under 30 years of age. The Way That You Love Me was the precursor to Jennifer Lopez's Love Don't Cost A Thing. Paula says that it ain't the diamond rings, the fortune and fame, the Hollywood game, or the trips to Brazil and weekends in Rome. It was simply the way you loved her. Again, I'm not sure who she's talking about, but I'm going to put my finger (not Arsenio's long finger) on it being Arsenio. There is one just wretched ballad where again, she sounds like a different human being. Next To You is no Rush, Rush.

Though this album isn't something that is timeless, it's still a fairly solid pop album. Paula definitely came at the right time and utilized the video format to help boost her music career. And it's not like she was a one hit wonder as her second album was a success as well. And though she may now be that loopy and crazy co-host on American Idol (I'm blaming Emilio and The Mighty Ducks 3 for that one), at one time, she was on top of the world, and according to my friend, at near Janet Jackson status.