By Alison McGill
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 arrived last week and crashed Netflix minutes after the four-pack of the series’ final episodes were released at 8pm EST. The Duffer Brothers-created show which debuted in 2016 has set many streaming records, and in the week leading up to Season 5 it hit another milestone with all four previous seasons landing on Netflix Global Top 10.
Set in the 1980s, the show is brimming with nostalgic goodness. The Duffer Brothers nail every detail of decade from the mullets and frizzed up curls, to the fashion, the Radio Shack-centric electronics and, most epically, the soundtrack of the era. The show’s last season in 2022 introduced Kate Bush’s howling 1985 anthem “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” to a new generation and sent the song to the top of the charts 37 years after its original release.
With this season of Stranger Things comes a new retro hit going viral which dates back to 1987, the year the series is set in: “I Think We’re Alone Now” by American pop singer Tiffany. Back in the day, this tune from her eponymous first album was inescapable, blaring everywhere, 24/7. It made California teen Tiffany Darwish a superstar.
On the day after the new season of Stranger Things dropped, the singer shared her reaction to hearing her throwback hit on the show writing on X: “Awesome to hear your song on your favourite TV series. Gave me goosebumps. Alone now in the Upside Down.”
Expect there to be a Kate Bush effect with this song, which by the way comes at a very pivotal moment in Volume 1 of this season (no spoilers!). If you’re new to this Tiffany bop—which character Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) listens to on cassette blasting through a Sidestep boombox—it comes with some fun history. Here are 5 things to know about Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
- Tiffany was not the first artist to record this song which has been covered several times over the years. It was written and composed in the 1960s by American Ritchie Cordell and was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells in 1967. It finished at No. 12 on Billboard magazine’s year-end singles chart that year.
- Tiffany’s cover is the most successful recording of the song. It hit number one on the charts globally in countries including Canada, US, UK, and New Zealand in 1987.
- The song—and Tiffany—made it big thanks to her “Mall Tour” in 1987 which effectively launched her career. This was a marketing strategy cooked up by her record label to promote the 15-year-old budding star by getting her in front of the target teen audience in their choice hang out spot, the mall. There were 10 stops in malls across America where Tiffany would lip sync to 20-minute sets followed by interactive autograph sessions with fans.
- Tiffany’s hit has also been used notably in another Netflix hit, The Umbrella Academy. Some fans have noted the use of this track in Stranger Things is a little too close to its inclusion in that show. You be the judge.
- “I Think We’re Alone Now” was number 18 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1987. In case you were wondering else topped the charts that year, there were some serious bangers. The top five looked like this: “Walk Like An Egyptian,” The Bangles; “Alone,” Heart; “Shake You Down,” Gregory Abbot; “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” Whitney Houston; “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, Starship. Fun fact: Madonna had four songs on the 1987 list, the most of any artist. Let’s hope one of those makes it into the final batch of Stranger Things
Need a little more? Here’s the 1987 music video for Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
