View source for Only in My Dreams

{{short description|1986 single by Debbie Gibson}}
{{about|the song by Debbie Gibson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Only in My Dreams
| cover      = Onlyinmydreams.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Debbie Gibson]]
| album      = [[Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album)|Out of the Blue]]
| A-side     = Vocal (3:50)
| B-side     = {{ubl|Dub (4:42) <small>(U.S., 89322; JPN, P-2305)</small>|Dreamix (4:18) <small>(UK, A9322)</small>}}
| released   = {{Start date|1986|12|16}}
| recorded   = 1986
| studio     =
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Freestyle music|Freestyle]]<ref name= "Molanphy 2022">{{Cite podcast|url=https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2022/07/freestyle-set-the-tempo-for-mid-80s-dance-music|title=Point of No Return Edition|website=Hit Parade {{!}} Music History and Music Trivia|publisher=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|last=Molanphy|first=Chris|date=July 16, 2022|access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref>|[[electropop]]<ref name= "Molanphy 2022"/>|[[bubblegum pop]]<ref name= "Breihan 2021">{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Los Lobos’ "La Bamba|website= [[Stereogum]] |date= March 10, 2021|url= https://www.stereogum.com/2118752/the-number-ones-los-lobos-la-bamba/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= Debbie Gibson’s bittersweet bubblegum banger “Only In My Dreams” peaked at #4 behind “La Bamba|accessdate= November 5, 2023}}</ref>}}
| length     = 3:53 (Album Version)<br />3:42 (Single Version)
| label      = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| writer     = [[Debbie Gibson|Deborah Gibson]]
| producer   = [[Fred Zarr]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[Shake Your Love]]
| next_year  = 1987
| misc       = {{External music video|1= {{YouTube|4T1t5OFOYDU|Only in My Dreams}}|header=}}
}}
{{Music ratings
| title = Professional ratings
| subtitle =
| rev1 = ''[[Number One (magazine)|Number One]]''
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="numberonemagazine"/>
}}
"'''Only in My Dreams'''" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter and actress [[Debbie Gibson]], who was 16 years old at the time of its release. The song was officially released by [[Atlantic Records]] on December 16, 1986. It was later remixed and re-released in February 1987. The song showcased Gibson's songwriting skills as she solely wrote it, with [[Fred Zarr]] producing it.
The song became a [[sleeper hit]], eventually rising to the number four position on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], making Gibson one of the few teenage singers to have a top five hit. While it did not enter the top fifty in the UK upon its original release, "Only in My Dreams" was re-issued in 1988 following the chart success of following single "[[Shake Your Love]]", which led it peaking at number eleven. Elsewhere, the song peaked at number five in Canada while entering the top twenty in New Zealand and Ireland.
Gibson has re-recorded the song twice following its release. She first re-recorded it in 1997 for her sixth studio album [[Deborah (album)|''Deborah'']] (1997), when it was released to clubs in February 1998. She later re-recorded it on her Japan-only ninth studio album ''[[Ms. Vocalist]]'' (2010), this time recorded in Japanese.
The song was voted 95th on [[VH1]]'s 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.
== History ==
The song was written by Gibson in 1984, two years before she recorded it.<ref>Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson songbook), CatNo. HL00356822. Hal Leonard, 1988.</ref> Produced by [[Fred Zarr]] and engineered by Don Feinberg for BiZarr Music, Inc., mixed by [[Little Louie Vega|"Little" Louie Vega]] and mastered by Herb "Pump" Powers, the dance-pop song reached No. 4 on the U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] singles chart in the summer of 1987.  Douglas Breitbart for Broadbeard Productions, Inc. served as executive producer. The Extended Club Mix/Vocal track (6:34) from DM 86744 was excerpted for a dance medley, "[[Medley (music)|Medley]]: [[Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson song)|Out of the Blue]]/[[Shake Your Love]]/Only in My Dreams" (Debbie Gibson Mega Mix), that became Track 4 on Atlantic DM 86556 "[[Foolish Beat]]." A different mix, "Only in My Dreams" (LP Version/3:54), mastered from the original multi-track for DM 86744, became track 3 on Gibson's debut album ''[[Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album)|Out of the Blue]]'' (Atlantic LP 81780), and a further variation, "Only in My Dreams (Dream House Mix/10:03)", was Track 3 on Atlantic DM 86556 "Foolish Beat".
== Critical reception ==
Debbi Voller from ''[[Number One (magazine)|Number One]]'' named "Only in My Dreams" Single of the Week, stating that "it should be a smasheroonie. I predict this girl to be around for a mighty long time. I mean, if she's writing hits like this ''now'' — what's she gonna be doing when she's my age?!"<ref name="numberonemagazine">{{cite magazine|first=Debbi|last=Voller|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/50236288456/in/album-72157715521261263/|title=Singles|work=[[Number One (magazine)|Number One]]|date=March 19, 1988|page=40|access-date=March 12, 2023}}</ref>
==Music video==
The accompanying [[music video]] for "Only in My Dreams" was recorded as a [[dream sequence]] at a beach in [[Asbury Park, New Jersey]], the carousel in the Asbury Park casino (then still in use), and outside the Asbury Park Convention Center. Across the street from the beach is [[The Stone Pony]], where [[Bruce Springsteen]] and [[Bon Jovi]] got their start. Gibson makes several wardrobe changes during the video, which 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==
{{Track listing
| headline      = 7" vinyl single
| total_length  =
| all_writing   = [[Debbie Gibson|Deborah Gibson]]
| title1        = Only in My Dreams
| note1         = Vocal Mix
| length1       = 3:50
| title2        = Only in My Dreams
| note2         = Dub Mix
| length2       = 4:42
}}
{{Track listing
| headline      = 12" vinyl single
| total_length  =
| title1        = Only in My Dreams
| note1         = Extended Club Mix/Vocal
| length1       = 6:34
| title2        = Only in My Dreams
| note2         = Percapella/Vocal
| length2       = 3:29
| title3        = Only in My Dreams
| note3         = Dreamix/Dub
| length3       = 4:18
| title4        = Only in My Dreams
| note4         = Heartthrob Beats
| length4       = 4:14
}}
==Versions==
*"Only in my Dreams" [Album Version] – 3:46
*"Only in my Dreams" [97 Dance Remix] – 4:36
*"Only in my Dreams" [Club Dub] – 4:36
*"Only in my Dreams" [Club Mix with Rap] – 4:35
*"Only in my Dreams" [Debbie Dreams] – 4:38
*"Only in my Dreams" [Dream Dub] – 3:44
*"Only in my Dreams" [Extended Club Mix] – 5:55
*"Only in my Dreams" [Extended Dance Mix] – 6:27
*"Only in my Dreams" [Hot Tracks Mix] – 6:27
*"Only in my Dreams" [Rave Radio Version] – 3:44
*"Only in my Dreams" [Riff Dub] – 4:22
*"Only in my Dreams" [Vasquez Club Mix] – 7:30
*"Only in my Dreams" [Video Version] – 3:42
==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (1987-1988)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|6|chartid=0878|access-date=July 24, 2024}}
|-
{{single chart|Ireland2|20|artist=Debbie Gibson|song=Only in My Dreams|access-date=October 26, 2013}}
|-
|Italy (''[[Musica e dischi]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=[[Musica e dischi]]|language=it|access-date=June 6, 2022}} Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Debbie Gibson".</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|18
|-
{{single chart|Dutch40|46|artist=Debbie Gibson|song=Shake Your Love|access-date=October 26, 2013}}
|-
{{single chart|New Zealand|20|artist=Debbie Gibson|song=Shake Your Love|access-date=October 26, 2013}}
|-
{{single chart|UK|11|date=19880403|access-date=2 March 2024}}
|-
{{single chart|Billboardhot100|4|artist=Debbie Gibson|access-date=November 20, 2014}}
|-
{{single chart|Billboarddanceclubplay|12|artist=Debbie Gibson|access-date=November 20, 2014}}
|-
|US [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Adult Contemporary]] ([[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]])<ref>{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 1993 |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 |publisher= Record Research |page=97}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|31
|-
|US [[Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles|''Cash Box'' Top 100]]<ref>[http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/80s_files/19870905.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 5, 1987]</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|-
|Europe ([[Eurochart Hot 100]])<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1988/M&M-1988-04-16.pdf|title=Eurochart Hot 100|magazine=[[Music & Media]]|volume=5|issue=16|date=September 23, 1988|page=10|access-date=July 21, 2024}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|37
|}
{{col-2}}
===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1987)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank
|-
|Canada<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0920&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062 |title=Archived copy |website=www.collectionscanada.gc.ca |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021000632/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0920&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062 |archive-date=21 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|39
|-
|US ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>[http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1987.htm Musicoutfitters.com]</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|26
|-
|US ''Cash Box'' Top 100<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/80s_files/1987YESP.html |title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1987 |access-date=October 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161024154535/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/80s_files/1987YESP.html |archive-date=October 24, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|47
|}
{{col-end}}
==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|title=Only in My Dreams|artist=Debbie Gibson|award=Gold|relyear=1987|certyear=1989}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
==1997/98 re-recording==
{{Infobox song
| name       = Only in My Dreams 1998
| cover      = Deborah Gibson - Only in My Dreams 1998.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Debbie Gibson|Deborah Gibson]]
| album      = [[Deborah (album)|Deborah]] Rev. 1.1
| released   = 1998
| recorded   = 1997
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Dance-pop]]
| length     = 37:53 overall
| label      = Jellybean Recordings
| writer     = [[Debbie Gibson|Deborah Gibson]]
| producer   = {{hlist|[[John Benitez|John "Jellybean" Benitez]]|Deborah Gibson}}
| prev_title = Moonchild
| prev_year  = 1997
| next_title = Naturally
| next_year  = 1998
}}
In 1997, Gibson re-recorded the song as "Only in My Dreams" (1997 Dance Edit/4:38), track 14 on her 1997 album ''[[Deborah (album)|Deborah]],'' Revision 1.1 for June 1997. She later released this version in seven variations, including one with a retrofitted eight-measure rap, on Jellybean Recordings DM 2532 'Only in My Dreams 1998' (released February 1998). The basic rhythm is modified from the Dream House Version of the original song.<ref>[https://www.angelfire.com/pop2/deborahgibsondiscog/discog.txt Deborah Gibson Discography] at [http://angelfire.lycos.com AngelFire.com.] Retrieved 06:15, May 25, 2008 (UTC).</ref>
===Track listing===
{{Track listing
| total_length  = 37:53
| title1        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note1         = Club Mix
| length1       = 7:32
| title2        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note2         = Club Mix with Rap
| length2       = 4:37
| title3        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note3         = Club Dub
| length3       = 4:36
| title4        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note4         = Rave Vocal Mix
| length4       = 4:37
| title5        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note5         = Rave Dub
| length5       = 4:37
| title6        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note6         = Dream Dub
| length6       = 3:45
| title7        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note7         = Rave Radio Edit
| length7       = 3:46
| title8        = Only in My Dreams 1998
| note8         = Riff Dub
| length8       = 4:23
}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{MusicBrainz release group|mbid=27763802-4303-4320-b55f-15526d29559a|name=Only in My Dreams|type=single}}
* {{Discogs master|master=133949|name=Only in My Dreams|type=single}}
* {{MusicBrainz release group|mbid=7211d7af-2d44-4bfb-992c-40d34495370e|name=Only in My Dreams 1998|type=single}}
* {{Discogs master|master=1529924|name=Only in My Dreams 1998|type=single}}
{{Debbie Gibson}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Only In My Dreams}}
[[Category:1986 debut singles]]
[[Category:1986 songs]]
[[Category:1987 singles]]
[[Category:1998 singles]]
[[Category:Debbie Gibson songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Debbie Gibson]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records singles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Fred Zarr]]
[[Category:Songs about dreams]]
[[Category:Freestyle music songs]]