Before a musician can have the bittersweet revelation that they’re a one-hit wonder, they must first go through an experience any public figure has to experience: the realization that you’re actually famous. These moments of clarity differ from star to star. For a 1980s teen idol who got her start performing in shopping malls across the country, the moment only lasted seconds. But a few seconds were enough.
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Tiffany Darwish, who performs under just her first name, was only 16 years old when she landed her first big hit with a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now”. Tiffany—and her record producer, George Tobin—fasttracked her pop success by embarking on a national mall tour titled, “The Beautiful You: Celebrating the Good Life Shopping Mall Tour ‘87.” From her bubbly on-stage demeanor to the fact that enough people were shopping at the mall to make it a fruitful business move, the mall tour was about as 1980s as one could get.
Decades later, Tiffany said she never knew the full extent of her fame following this successful 1987 run. That is, until she met Michael Jackson while he was in L.A. for a concert. “I remember just being in awe,” Tiffany told The Telegraph in 2025.
“He was talking to me, and I just kept thinking, ‘There’s this whole line of people wanting to meet you.’ I kept backing away, and my auntie kept pushing me [forward].” Later, after “I Think We’re Alone Now” pushed Jackson’s “Bad” off the top chart position, the King of Pop told her, “Well, congratulations on your hit.”
The Teen Pop Idol Behind This 1987 Hit Is Experiencing a Resurgence
Before any eagle-eyed Gen X-ers protest, we know that calling Tiffany a one-hit wonder is technically a stretch. Going solely off chart data, Tiffany did have more than one No. 1 song. But in terms of pop culture ubiquity and the fact that everyone knows Tiffany for that one track, we’re going to keep her on the list of 1980s one-hit wonders—respectfully. These days, Tiffany and her most popular track are experiencing a resurgence, thanks to the nostalgic sci-fi drama, Stranger Things.
The return of “I Think We’re Alone Now” mirrors the similar comeback Kate Bush experienced during the series’ previous season. Bush’s Renaissance came after the heavy inclusion of “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” in the fourth season’s plot. (That’s continued into the fifth and final season, by the way.) And for Tiffany, that came with a whole new realization that appeared in a different way.
Tiffany was already a fan of Stranger Things before her 1987 hit became a part of the subplot. “I’m a huge sci-fi fan,” she told The Telegraph. The former teen idol said she knew something was happening with her track when she started receiving an influx of messages from friends she hadn’t heard from in ages. “My phone started binging up—bing, bing, bing,” she recalled.
In a late November post on Instagram, Tiffany wrote, “Excited to hear my song ITWAN on [Stranger Things] ..my FAVORITE show !! What a thrill //Great way to start my HOLIDAY.” She ended the caption with four hashtags, including #whatathrill, #veryexciting, #bigfan.
Photo by Ron Eisenberg/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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