And if I can't find my way... If salvation seems worlds away... I'll just read... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Issue #3, April 21, 1989 A Debbie Gibson Discussion Forum brought to you by the Debbie Gibson Fans of Southern Cal =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents Administrative Notes DGIF - Correction! Song Poll Some Comments on 'Electric Youth' Introductions & Questions Answers to Last Week's Questions Puzzle Answer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Administrative Notes Readership stands at 20. We have a number of new people, including a couple from Europe! It is a sign of Debbie's growing popularity. I had to drop a few people from the list because they were not writing back...so if you have friends that are not getting this, tell them that we are having communicat- ion problems. Please welcome the people at Carnegie Mellon University! Their campus is now receiving issues of the forum. The number of submissions have dropped dramatically. I know a lot of you must be very busy at this point in the year, but all it takes is 15 minutes to write up a little inkling that you can send to me. If you would like to see BIGGER issues, then please contribute; this is the smallest issue yet! Michael Scheele at MIT has agreed to run the forum during the summer while I am away on vacation. He will take over moderating after May 12th. I still intend to moderate the forum until then, so send your submissions to: ericson@castor.usc.edu ...Kathyrn, Moderator =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Song Poll I just thought of a great way to increase the participation of our forum. I think it would be interesting to see which of Debbie's songs our readers enjoy the most. So I would like ALL of you to send me a list of the THREE (3) songs that you like best from her 2 albums. I will tally up the results and present them in the next issue. I am counting on 100% participation, so don't disappoint me! Note: Any of the 21 songs from _Out of the Blue_ and _Electric Youth_ are valid. Please do not list re-mixes. ...Kathryn =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Some Comments on Electric Youth From: S Lee Fellow Fans, Have any of you been to Disneyland? "Electric Youth" (the song) reminds a lot of the music from the Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade; especial- ly the opening trumpet sequence. Michael said in his album review that "Electric" sounded a lot like a Madonna song. Well, I just found out that Fred Zarr used to do the keyboards and arranging for Madonna! If you don't know who Fred is, look closely at the album credits of Debbie's album. EY was ranked at #25 on the Billboard top singles chart this week. That's up 9 notches from last week. It's doing better than I expected; maybe it will be Debbie's 6th Top-5 hit!! The video is also doing quite well; it just entered MTV's weekly top-video countdown at #20. MTV does not play it very often, so this is surprising. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Introductions & Questions ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Hamaoka (mhamaoka@athena.mit.edu) Hello everyone! My name is Mike Hamaoka and I've been a fan of Debbie's ever since my brother sent me a copy of Out of the Blue. I really love her music and regard her as one of the best vocalists I've heard...and the way she puts a song together blows me away! I haven't seen Debbie in concert yet (I missed the Out of the Blue tour - darn darn darn darn), but am anxiously awaiting her next concert anywhere near me. I did get to see a glimpse of her hat when she was autographing pictures at Filene's in Boston, though. :) So, on to questions... 1. Does anyone know if Debbie has written songs that other people/groups have performed and if so, is there a list? 2. How many different instruments can Debbie play? 3. How much band improvisation goes on after a song is written? How much does Debbie write down before the band actually looks at it? Thanks! It's great to be a part of this mailing list! --> Mike -------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kathyrn (ericson@castor.usc.edu) "Shake Your Love" was the first song by Debbie that I heard. I heard it a while back at a party with a few of my friends. My companions called it "teeny" music (actually, they called it a number of bad words that I won't mention) and, for a while, I agreed with them. It is one of her more sillier songs, after all. Sometime later I heard "Foolish Beat", and that WAS NOT teeny-bopper music! I immediately trotted over to the record store and bought the tape of the album. "Foolish Beat" is my favorite song from that album, along with "Between the Lines". I am rather surprised that she did not release "Between the Lines" -- I felt it had #1 potential! I was very pleased when the new album came out since it contains more ballads and less dance music. Yes, I prefer her ballads. I like "No More Rhyme" the best. While I enjoyed Debbie's music, I did not know much about her. Sure, I knew she was 18 and lived in New York...but I wanted to know more. I was fortun- ate enough to meet her other fans here at 'SC when I participated in the "Debbie Gibson is OKAY" discussion on the USC BBS earlier this year. (We won the argument by the way, although it was intense!). I learned a lot more about her after that, but as we all know, Debbie is a very active girl and it is almost impossible to keep up with her. I then started to read the "Debbie Gibson has no talent" discussion on rec.music.misc. It was obvious that the flamers did not know what they were talking about, but I was impressed with the enormous amount of people who defended her. I said to myself, "Why don't we start a mailing list?". ...Kathyrn ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tim Russell (conslt32@zeus.unl.edu) "Hi, my name is Tim Russell, and I'm a Debbie Gibson fan." (Oops! I guess this isn't Debbie Gibson Fans Anonymous, huh? :-) Anyway, now that I've started off by bombing horribly, let me introduce myself: I'm a computer operator on a VAX/VMS system at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and I've been listening to Debbie since the start.. I first heard her, I believe, when I caught the end of 'Only In My Dreams' on MTV. I think they were the ones who really got her going, no? Well, even though I'm not normally into mainstream rock (I listen to groups like New Order, Xymox, the Smiths, and Book of Love), I really liked her music. Anyway, I sort of wrote her off as just another teeny-bopper at first, until I heard 'Foolish Beat', and I really liked that as well, so I figured I'd take a chance and buy the tape. I was really impressed, especially by the fact that she wrote all her own lyrics. She has incredible talent, not just for an eighteen-year-old but for anyone. I think Debbie has been hurt quite a bit by the trash that Tiffany has been putting out, because people tend to lump her in with Tiffany, which definitely isn't fair. There's no comparison. Debbie has a lot more going for her than just vocal talent, whereas all that Tiffany can do is rehash some oldies. Well, I don't have an awful lot more to say right now, except that I'm looking forward to participating in this list. It's good to have a place to talk about my kind of music without being bashed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Stuart Altschuler (stuart@paul.rutgers.edu) I currently work for the FAA, but since I am taking courses at Rutgers I still have access to the network. Living in the New York City metropolitan area, I would have to say that the local media under- standably gives Ms. Gibson quite a bit of attention. Thus, although I probably dont have as serious of a case of Debbiephilia as you other good folks must have, I do enjoy her music and I feel that my proximity to NYC allows me to add some "local" spice to this forum. For instance, how many of you caught Debbie's quote in reference to her mother (made to WPLJ's Shelly Sundstein) just prior to April 8th's New York Music Awards: If my memory serves me correctly... "My mother is really snatch. She is the most snatch mother in the world." Ah, the enthusiam of youth... The first time I heard of Debbie is when my girlfriend (now my wife) told me that there was this singer who was only 15 years old. Although she did not know the name of her song, I pretty much figured it out the first time I heard "Only In My Dreams". (For any of you keeping track, I was driving home from work on Cranbury Road in Milltown, N.J.) As I heard more of the "Out of the Blue" album (which I have purchased), I found myself amazed at the ladies musical talents. After months and months about songs with sex and violence and music videos with more of the same (don't get me wrong ... I have nothing against sex and violence on radio or video, but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH), I found Debbie's music to be fresh and invigorating. I am looking forward to purchasing "Electric Youth"; the tracks that I've heard to this point are outstanding. Hearing the song "Electric Youth" while sitting in NJ Turnpike traffic in the more is more potent than three cups of the "bottom of the pot" coffee that is served at the roadside rest stops. Well, that's my contribution, for now. Keep the Debbie info coming! Stuart Altschuler stuart@paul.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Norman Mitchell Eliaser (ne05+@andrew.cmu.edu) My first contact with Debbie's music was on New York top 40 stations. Power 95 and Z-100 both played Debbie's "Only In My Dreams" quite a bit. In fact, the first station to debut the song was WQHT (Hot 103 at the time, now Hot 97). I liked the energy within the music a great deal, and when I heard Casey Kasem say that she was 16 when it was recorded, I was a bit surprised. I was very happy to hear her next batch of songs. "Shake Your Love" and "Only In My Dreams" both got me to really like and respect an attractive, talented artist. I got the album! It really was energetic. I feel that "Foolish Beat" was the best song of 1988, and was thrilled to see it hit #1. The only thing that surprised me, and a number of friends was the selection of "Staying Together" as the fifth single off the album. I like the song a lot, but a number of friends and I thought that "Play The Field" would probably be more generally liked. It was unfortunate that Debbie didn't keep her top 5 streak or even hit top 20 with "Staying Together." By the way, I'm not sure which, but a nightclub in the New York area had an advertisement sometime last year saying that they had the hottest new music with "Play The Field" in the background. During my first term here at Carnegie Mellon, I got a chance in October to see Debbie in concert. I had heard of the name of the upcoming album, and I told a number of people what I felt, that Debbie is ELECTRIC in performing. I waited to buy "Electric Youth," while getting frustrated at the delayed release date. Finally it came out. I love the album. The only thing that a number of people have brought to my attention that is negative is that "Electric Youth" (the single) is Debbie's most mainstream pop-like single. I don't know if I fully agree with that, but as a fan who has been verbally abused about Debbie being a bubble-gum teeny-bopper, I won't get any help from the release of Youth, which debuted at 62 on Billboard with a hot-shot debut. The album incidentally was knocked out of #1 after five weeks there. It was not, as plenty of people expected, knocked out by "Like A Prayer"(Madonna), but by Tone Loc's "Loc-ed After Dark." "Busy life, not enough time to look in the mirror" -D.G. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fichiels (raymond@cs.vu.nl) An introduction? After reading what all the others had to say I don't think there's much left for me to say. Of course I could tell you what color shirt I was wearing when I heard "Foolish Beat" for the first time (and how I kept scanning all FM frequencies so I could tape it) but I don't think that's very interesting. The only things one might want to know is that I'm a second year computer science student at the "Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam" (Free University of Amsterdam), so if anybody needs to know something from this side of the ocean, just e-mail me! About Debbie I can tell you that she is coming to The Netherlands in the last week of April for promotional activities. With a bit of luck I will be able to get me some tickets for "Countdown - Europe's #1 rockshow". When I've been there I will give you a detailed report. Living out here I won't be able to send you all that much about what's going on about Debbie, but since I'm the only European (I suppose) I might stumble onto some special info now and then. Does anybody have any idea why there are so few Debbie Gibson fans in Europe? "Lost in your eyes" didn't even reach the TOP40 over here! :-( Listening to the Electric Youth CD, I heard some rather strange noises in between the songs. When I turned the volume up (all the way) I could hear the next song very softly before it had actually begun (as if it were a copy of an LP!) As final questions: does (and did) Debbie also write all lyrics for all her songs, and has she ever written anything for other artists? Thanks for the initiative. I'm looking forward to the next edition of "The Electric Youth". Raymond (raymond@cs.vu.nl) As an aside, what do LP's and CD's cost in the USA? Here a TOP40 album costs $10 while a CD costs about $18! Are CD that expensive all over the world I should I just move one continent westward? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: (Stuart Altschuler) stuart@paul.rutgers.edu I don't have a submission but I do have a question. In Debbie's "Electric Youth" video, there is a short sequence in which Michael Jordan appears (making one of his spectacular sky-walking jams). Was this Debbie's idea to include this? Is she a Jordan fan? Is she a sports fan at all? What are her favorite teams? Thanks in advance. Stuart Altschuler stuart@paul.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Answers for Last Week's Questions Re: Which commercials did Debbie appear in? Between ages 12-14, Debbie appeared in Wendy's, Mandy's, and Commodore commercials. Re: How many brothers and sisters does Debbie have? She has 3 sisters. Karen, who got married last year, used to do Debbie's sound engineering. Michele designs Debbie's costumes. Denise (Debbie's kid sister) did wardrobe for Debbie's tour last year. So, Debbie's career is something of a family business (her mom is her manager...). Re: Are the kids in the 'Electric Youth' video related to Debbie? The little toddler at the beginning of the video and the boy at the drums might be cousins Danielle and Albert (we're not sure). The girls playing the piano are definitely not her sisters. Re: Differences between "Staying Together" on album and radio. They are indeed different. The version that was released on radio feat- ured an over-dub of Debbie's voice. It makes her voice sound more 50-ish. Apparently, lots of people didn't like it since it didn't make top-20 on Billboard. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Puzzle Answer (from last issue) SOLUTION -------- 1. What is Debbie's sign? Virgo 2. Name the person who beat her in a talent competition in high school. (HINT* He is one of her dancers!) Buddy Casimano 3. While working in her studio at night, Debbie gets hungry. Name the pizza place where she orders out. Galleria 4. In the video, "Foolish Beat," a boy darts out of nowhere on a skateboard and steals her flowers. We all know that he is her cousin. What is his first name? Albert 5. The cardboard box that packages the CDs lists the songs on the back. However, one of the songs is missing from the list. Which song is it? Between the Lines 6. What month of 1988 was the inteview footage of the "Out of the Blue" videotape taken? May 7. "Red Hot" was featured in a movie soundtrack. Name the movie. Fatal Beauty 8. Debbie's sister Karen got married. What is the first name of Karen's husband? Bill 9. The Supermodel of the World pagent was televised on independent stations and Debbie sang on it. Which song was it? Staying Together Questions 10 to 11 have to deal with the Easter Special aired on national television in 1988. 10. Which song did she sing? Out of the Blue 11. Which network televised it that morning? 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