80s’ pop star Tiffany didn’t want to record ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ because she didn’t want to head in a dance direction.
The 50-year-old singer – whose full name is Tiffany Darwish – has admitted she was against the idea of releasing a cover of the James and the Shondells’ song that would become a global hit for her in 1987 because she was set on becoming the next Stevie Nicks.
However, it grew on her and she is “forever grateful” for the success it brought her.
She told the July 2022 issue of Retro Pop magazine: “I didn’t want to record ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, because I just thought it would take me in a direction that, although I love dance music, I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t sing. I didn’t really want to be a dance artist; I wanted to be in front of a band.
“My plan was to start there and become Stevie Nicks. I was like, ‘That’s what’s gonna happen,’ and then this happens. But I did take the track home, and my friends loved it – there was just no denying it – and it grew on me.
“I was excited to be recording, so I went in and sang the song, and I’m forever grateful – I really am – and I’m glad that I did that and I didn’t say, ‘No, I’m not gonna record it.’ I was like, ‘Well, I don’t really know, it’s not my favourite, but we’ll do it.’”
Tiffany would follow up ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ with ‘Could Have Been’, which topped the US Billboard Hot 100, but she had to fight for it to be released as record label bosses thought it was “a little mature” for a teen pop star.
She said “’Could Have Been’ is one of my favourite songs to sing ever. I’m glad to have that in my arsenal and that be part of my No. 1s and my musical history. It’s a great song. I think, even at 14, I fought to sing that song because it showed that I could actually sing. And then the topic, everyone was like, ‘Well, you know, it’s a little mature.’ And I didn’t really agree, because at 14/15 – I recorded the song at 14 and it came out when I was 15 – I kept saying, ‘I don’t know; I mean, have you ever really seen a teenage girl in love? It’s pretty tragic!’ So I think that with my pleading and everything, they just went ahead and we put it on the album. And look what happened…”
Retro Pop Issue 5/July 2022 is out now on newsstands across the UK and online internationally.