Tiffany Darwish, or Tiffany as she is commonly known by is an American singer, songwriter, recognisable as a teen-pop sensation in the 1980s after finding recognition for her cover of the 1967 single "I Think We're Alone Now" originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. By the age of 15, she had already released her debut, self titled pop album that also featured the single, alongside many original songs, but also covers such as one of the Lennon-McCartney track I Saw Her Standing There. The artist was signed to MCA Records in 1986 (now defunct), but had already worked with her Producer George Tobin prior to her recording contract with MCA, apparently recording over 40+ songs with him.
The artist embarked on a tour in 1987 to promote her debut album and spark interest with her. The tour saw Tiffany travel across the USA to various Shopping Malls to perform live, otherwise known as "The Beautiful You: Celebrating the Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87" which also saw her partake in meet and greets with fans that gradually grew in size and popularity as the tour further embarked.
Music Video: I Think We're Alone Now
The music video for her cover of I Think We're Alone Now definitely caters to a mainstream audience of its time, to a demographic primarily of 1980s teenagers seeking something more rebellious in many ways. The videos iconography defines the 1980s aesthetic, with the SFX, outfits and settings like the shopping malls Tiffany performed out, an aesthetic choice familiar through the teen movies the likes of John Hughes directed in the 1980s like Ferries Bueller and The Breakfast Club that also featured scenes of teenagers similar age wise to Tiffany and her audience rebelling against authority for once in their lives and being free-spirited, even having performance sequences, emphasising who this video caters towards. Tiffany reflects this through her triumphant energy on stage, dancing around, positioned always to the centre of the lens also showing how independent she is, something I have taken inspiration from for my music video I'm going to film. But also off-stage as she hangs out of a moving car window, and roams the streets of America at night, fearless to any potential danger in sight, an act of independence her audience may find influential and relatable as she takes pride in herself and her youth years without the fears of education and adulthood pressurising her, with these being absent from the video itself. The video itself is similar to another music video I have looked at, the promotional video for The Supremes Where Did Our Love Go. Just like that video, this one also has a similar narrative structure, that of Tiffany freely moving from one location to another, moving around in public spaces whilst emphasising visually the locations, which in this case is seen with everyone having a fun time at the likes of the mall and the beach where Tiffany even begins dancing to a crowd. it could be said these are to emphasise the excitement surrounding the mall tour and increase the publicity of the artist, but it does also emphasise the feelings the song itself creates, considering everyone is having a good time, even an older folk, somebody who would stereotypically have issues with the themes of the video, reflecting the upbeat nature of the song and alas the care-freeness Tiffany and her tour demonstrated. Magazine: Smash Hits
It is likely that this edition of Smash Hits magazine released to coincide with the release of the artists first album, as the copy at the body uses the bullet points to list of facts about the artist telling us just how relatable and influential her name was. The facts alone are things a younger audience of teenagers would find relatable, as listed off is that she is their age and still in education, something they too can relate too and therefore see as the perfect role model, and by having her face dominate the background of the front cover also emphasises this, telling us also how recognisable she herself has become, aside from her hit cover, although some would argue being on pages 30-32 means she isn't as important of discussion compared to other artists of the time.
The colours are also very inviting, they are pleasing to look at and even match the artists hair colour, making it that much more appealing for a mainstream audience. Even the name of the magazine, Smash Hits is something that is mainstream due to the instant recognisability of the title, and with many people still considering 80's music to be the best.
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