Head Over Heels

Overview

Album photo session outtake.

By 1995, Paula Abdul had recovered from her battle with an eating disorder (bulimia) and a divorce from actor Emilio Estevez. After a four-year absence from the music scene Paula prepared to return to the spotlight with her new album “Head Over Heels”, a bold departure from her first two studio albums.

The album was hoped to bring Abdul back into the limelight and was considered Abdul's comeback album. However, this would be the last album Abdul would release before taking a hiatus from music.

Released on June 13th, 1995, “Head Over Heels,” is a new chapter, and a more mature sound for Paula Abdul: the result of Paula’s growth as a singer and songwriter as well as an individual who’s spiritually risen to the challenges that life brings and emerged strong as a result. The album is also driven with the same spirit and joy that propelled her to mega-stardom.

Album photography by Walter Chin.

For “Head Over Heels”, Paula decided to work with an array of different producers, the same creative scenario that was in place for her landmark #1 1988 debut album, “Forever Your Girl” (a seven million-seller in the United States alone).

Some of the talented musicians that helped Paula on her “Forever Your Girl” and “Spellbound” albums returned with new songs on the “Head Over Heels” album including Oliver Leiber, Elliot Wolff, Darryl Simmons (all three lent their talents to “Forever Your Girl”); Peter Lord and Jeff Smith (the Family Stand members who produced most of “Spellbound”).

Says Paula, “I’ve now experienced both sides. On my first album, I worked with seven producers; on “Spellbound” I worked with only a few. Going into my third album, I wanted to again experiment with many different people and flavors."

At the same time, adds Paula, “I went into this album thinking I didn’t want to be in any compromising situations, as I was at times, on my last two albums. Going into the studio and creating an album is a very intimate experience. I’m now more involved in the production end of my songs. I’m unafraid to state what my feelings and opinions are. All my producers were so open to my input and they were very honest. They said, ‘Thank God you thought of that.’ It was a good feeling.”

Paula collaborated with songwriters Stacey Piersa and Elliot Wolff on the album.

The new album strikingly builds on Paula’s distinctive mix of pop, funk, R&B and ballads. “My Love Is For Real,” the first single from the album, merges a heavy funk groove with Middle Eastern styling’s and guest vocals by critically revered Israeli singer Ofra Haza.

“Ho-Down” is built on an infectious hip-hop groove. “Under The Influence” captivatingly blends pop, funk and rock. And, “Ain’t Never Gonna Give You Up” has the irresistible bounce of an old-school R&B classic, but done in modern context.

And in true Paula style, she journeyed to exotic Morocco— with her dancers, who she choreographs— to shoot the video for the bewitching “My Love Is For Real” with director Michael Hausman.

“It’s a completely different space and time for me,” says Paula. “I’ve experienced some spiritual growth that has allowed me to really get back to what I enjoy doing best. And that’s totally being connected to the creative source as a recording artist and dancer.”

Image from "My Love Is For Real."

The album contained fourteen new tracks on the US release and two bonus tracks (“Crazy Love” and “High School Crush”) on the Japanese release. “Crazy Love” was later released on Abdul’s “Greatest Hits” album.

Recording sessions for the album began in 1994.

Three singles were released from "Head over Heels." The first single, "My Love is for Real" featuring background vocals from Israeli singer Ofra Haza was a moderate hit peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Abdul's first single to not reach the Top 20 and was considered her last hit in her career. However, the song went to #1 on the U.S. dance charts (her only song to do so).

The following single, "Crazy Cool" peaked at #58 and was considered a flop, due to low promotion coupled with negative publicity from MTV about the racy music video.

The last single from the album "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up," was released in 1996 and failed to chart and was considered another flop for her, due to lack of promotion. However, it did peak at #12 on Bubbling Under Hot 100.

A fourth single, "If I Were Your Girl" was due to be released, but was canceled after disappointing album sales and the failure of "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up".

Due to a lack of promotion by Virgin Records, 'Head Over Heels' peaked at just 18 on the Billboard 100.  The album sold just under 3 million copies worldwide, Abdul's lowest selling studio album (in terms of international sales) in her career.  The album has gained a cult following among fans, and continues to sell and stream to fans delight twenty-five years later.  It was certified RIAA Gold on October 31st, 1995.

In interviews for the album, Abdul stated she had plans to tour to promote the album.  Aside from a quick promotional tour in Japan, these plans never materialized due to lack of support from the label. After the relative commercial failure of the album, by comparison to Abdul's first two musical outings, Paula left the music scene and would not return until 2008’s “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.”

In 1995, Abdul also released a dance workout video titled "Paula Abdul's Get Up and Dance!" (re-released on DVD in 2003), a fast-paced, hip-hop style workout.

Brad Beckerman and Paula Abdul

In her personal life, Abdul married clothing designer Brad Beckerman in 1996, at the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. They divorced in 1998, after 17 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

In 1997, Abdul co-wrote a song called "Spinning Around" with record producer and composer Kara DioGuardi, which was intended to be her comeback single from a new album, but the plan never materialized and the song was later discovered three years later by Kylie Minogue and became a #1 mega-hit worldwide in 2000. The songs lyrics were written about Abdul's marriage to Beckerman.

In 1997, Abdul also appeared in the ABC television film Touched By Evil, playing a businesswoman who discovers that her boyfriend is a serial rapist.