Taylor Dayne

Artist: Taylor Dayne

LP: 7" single
Song: "Tell It to My Heart"
[ listen ]

Pop star Taylor Dayne was born on March 7, 1962. In honor of her 47th birthday, I'm posting the four singles spawned by her 1987 debut album, "Tell It To My Heart." Taylor Dayne became an instant pop sensation, with each of her first four singles becoming top-ten hits. The first single released was "Tell It to My Heart," the album's title track. The song reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of January in 1988. I've got two picture sleeves for this single, and I've always wondered why two different ones were made. I asked my friend Hector Lopez, who works in the archives at Arista Records in Los Angeles, if he'd heard anything about it. He hadn't, but he did a little digging and was able to find some of the minutes from a board meeting where Arista's top executives were discussing the release of Dayne's first single. It turns out that Arista was under contractual obligation to release the "Tell It to My Heart" single before Christmas of 1987 so that holiday sales would drive Taylor Dayne's album up the charts. Dayne's Arista contract also stipulated that all her 7" singles were to be released with picture sleeves. Trouble was, Taylor Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart" picture sleeve hairdo wasn't scheduled to be completed until the first week of January. According to the meeting notes, Arista execs ordered a stenographer named Francine MacPherson in the label's front office to throw together a design by the end of the day—so the pink-orange-green-on-black picture sleeve that enclosed the single for its initial pre-holiday release was actually MacPherson's handywork. After several unforseen setbacks, Taylor Dayne's hair was finally finished on January 23rd, photos were taken and the "Tell It to My Heart" single shipped to stores with the new picture sleeve by the end of the month.

Artist: Taylor Dayne

LP: 7" single
Song: "Prove Your Love"
[ listen ]

This was the second single from the "Tell It to My Heart" album; it also reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1988. Dayne's breasts in this photo remind me of candy-corns.

Artist: Taylor Dayne

LP: 7" single
Song: "I'll Always Love You"
[ listen ]

No, Taylor Dayne; I'll always love YOU. This single made it to #3.

Artist: Taylor Dayne

LP: 7" single
Song: "Don't Rush Me"
[ listen ]

The fourth and final single from Dayne's debut LP went all the way to #2 on the Billboard singles charts, while inspiring young girls all across America to cling to their virginity for just a few days more.

[ Happy Birthday, Taylor Dayne! ]