=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Issue # 12 - December 23, 1989 DDDDD D D D D GGGG D D G DDDDD G GGG G G GGGG A Debbie Gibson Discussion Forum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CONTENTS * Administrative Notes * Forum News * Announcement * Review of October 18, 1989 Concert in Reno * Deb of the Year * Music, Computers & Software =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Administrative Notes To new members of the forum: Welcome! I hope you enjoy our forum! I will send back issues (#1-#10) to those who want them. Just send me e-mail. If you requested back issues and did not get them, please e-mail again. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I would like to thank all those who sent in articles! Disclaimer: This forum does not necessarily reflect the views of Deborah Ann Gibson, GPI (Gibson Productions Inc.), Atlantic Recording Corporation, or any of the organizations that members of this forum belong to or represent. All songs by Debbie Gibson are copyrighted by Deborah Ann's Music (ASCAP). This forum is a non-profit organization. Information about products is fine, trying to advertise products for sale is not permitted, keep this to private e-mail. This forum is not intended to be a replacement for D.G.I.F., the only authorized fan club. Information on D.G.I.F. can be obtained by e-mailing me or by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to: D.G.I.F. P.O. BOX 489 MERRICK, NY 11566 Membership in D.G.I.F. is $15/year. Renewal is $10/year. If you are trying to reach another forum member via e-mail and cannot reach him or her, please let me know. I will try to provide additional suggestions for addresses and if necessary, I will forward mail to the intended person. Thank you all for your patience and support! -- Michael A. Scheele "Between the Lines" moderator pershing@athena.mit.edu (ARPANET/Internet) ...!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!mit-athena!pershing (UUCP) site-dependent (BITNET) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Forum News From: Michael Scheele Note: I will be back at MIT on January 7, 1990. See you then. Submissions for Volume #2, Issue #1 will be taken until January 20. I hope to put out that issue out by January 31. I won't mind terribly if you send you submissions before I get back. If there are questions/issues not addressed that feel should be, please drop me a note. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Announcement Attention: Debbie will be on a Christmas benefit program somewhere around Dec. 26-27 on CBS! Look for it! Thanks to Dina Shimoyama for the information. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Review of October 18, 1989 Concert in Reno From: Matthew Jung Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 20:36:52 EST Gibson Puts on a Good Show Despite Illness It has been a while since I last saw Debbie in concert at the Cal Expo Amphitheater (see issue #9). This time, I finally got to see her perform indoors at Reno's Lawlor Events Center on October 18. The stage was setup like the Boston concert with two towers and ramps on each corner of the stage. Bros had a large cloth with the twins' faces on it hanging in the back to give the audience an idea of what they were. Security was laid back and about 4000 people (mostly parents with kids) casually wandered in. The lights finally dimmed and an enthusiastic announcer announced Bros. Unlike previous concerts, applause followed when Bros began their act. Just as I observed before, the band was excellent. Luke Goss was an excellent drummer who would have made a great addition to Debbie's band. The percussionist and guitarist were also first rate. The only member that should be cut was the lead singer Matt Goss. His only two dance moves were to spin like a corkscrew and to slide across the stage on his butt (sometimes I thought he was just cleaning the stage for Debbie). Still, his vocal abilities have improved slightly and he was able to hold some notes for several seconds (has Debbie been giving him voice lessons?). Bros played pretty much the same songs they played at Shoreline and Cal Expo, but they did make a few changes. They performed "Drop the Boy" twice at the end; the first one was just Matt Goss vocal while the second was with the entire band. Unlike previous concerts, Bros actually got some courtesy and respect from the audience. As soon as the lights dimmed, there were no rude boos or hisses and the audience was nice throughout. Even at the end, when Bros asked everyone to stand up, everyone actually stood up!! Even the people in the sky seats stood up and it was almost unbelievable! Even Matt Goss couldn't believe they were actually getting a good response and commented that they have been throughout the country and so far Reno was the best audience. This is definitely true from what I have seen and heard. At the L.A. concert, Matt Goss had to brag to the audience that they just played for 70,000 people at Wembley stadium in England and someone in the audience yelled back "Go back to Wembley" and the audience laughed. Not so at Reno. The audience actually bought this and it was a good way to end their first tour (they only had one more concert in Washington after Reno). After Bros left, the stagehands immediately began to work on the stage. I suspected that the piano was to be rolled on stage, like at Shoreline and Cal Expo, but I couldn't find it. Up went the three back cloths with Debbie's trademark silhouette. After everything was ready, the lights dimmed. With the enthusiastic announcer for Bros, you would think he would be the same for Deb. This was not the case. As in previous concerts this tour, the announcer briskly announced her name without building up any tension. Again, Debbie made her usual entrance by singing the bridge of "Who Loves Ya Baby?" After singing the opening song, she proceeded to sing "Over the Wall" with the pyrotechnics wowing the crowd after the transition. Finally it was time for my favorite part, which was "Foolish Beat." Adam began his sax solo and I noticed it was a little different from the one used since the previous tour. I thought it was a bit odd that he would change it in just the last few weeks after using it for such a long time. It was much longer and lacked some of the tightness of his original solo. Still, no piano was in sight and I was getting very curious. Finally, skipping the bridge entirely, Debbie began playing "Foolish Beat." Even though this was extremely disappointing, the next sight made me forget about this. Slowly Deb rose out of a pit with her piano!! This was much better than rolling the piano on and off stage at the other venues! The performance of the rest of the song was the same as before. Debbie had a little trouble hitting the last note of "Foolish Beat," but it probably gone unnoticed by many. However, for the people that did notice this, she explained why. "How are you feeling Reno, Nevada! Woo! Ya. Alright now, I have to tell you the truth, um, my voice feels a little under the weather tonight so we are going to ask you guys to help me out, from time to time, are you with me?" The crowd yelled and she thanked the audience. To introduce the next song, she asked the crowd about the rumor, "I heard you guys can jam?" The audience went wild again. "Alright, then get ready 'cause here is the title track from the album that started it all for me; here's 'Out of the Blue.'" After her performance of "Out of the Blue," Debbie said, "Alright then, I guess that rumor is true, but I've just one more question now. We've been, we've been all over the country and, ah, I have a feeling that you guys can out sing the rest of this country, what do you think?" After the crowd finished their screams, Debbie continued "Woo!! Alright then, my question is, can you guys shake it?" She then asked for some light so she could see the audience. Just like the previous concerts, she divided the audience up into four sections. Unlike Shoreline, she did it at a relaxed paced and it wasn't rushed. Buddy Casimano, the dancer who does those acrobatic flips, said "This is it guys" when the third section came around. It seems he always picks this side because he knows they always win. Unfortunately, I was in the fourth section and in the sky seats with a bunch of dead people on my left and in front of me. When it came to us, we probably lost, but I gave it my best shot. Unlike the previous times, the backup dancers helped the crowd out. I didn't think this was a good idea because it was harder to tell who was louder. Finally, she asked "Which team did it the best? I dunno, this is getting pretty tough, ah, I think you guys can handle doing it with music now. You sing the parts I taught you. Ready? Hit it Freddy! 2-3-4 Sing!" The routine was the same as before. When Debbie left, Keeth Stewart (dancer) proceeded to do his usual "Shake Your Love" improvisation. It was identical to the act at Shoreline and Cal Expo. After the Shake Break, Debbie and Tommy Williams (guitarist) rose out of the floor. She was sitting on a stool dressed in a cowgirl type outfit and Tommy was seated next to her with an acoustic guitar. Debbie asked the audience "Alright, how many of you've heard of a tv show called the Wonder Years?". She then explained that she was going to sing "Come Home," which was just released on the soundtrack; the version she sung for us was longer than the recorded version. "Don't Flirt" was next and the beginning dialog between Buddy and Debbie was a little more refined. Again, this was very enjoyable and I loved hearing this wonderful song for the third time. Since the audience was mostly kids and parents, a lot of the little ones couldn't relate to this song and it was a shame. Right now, I am crossing my fingers hoping that it will be on her next album. The Motown medley followed and was identical to the ones before. Adam Tese (percussionist/saxophonist) messed up during "Dance to the Music." He continued to play when Debbie sang "Now all we need is a drummer..." and almost continued through Freddy Levine's (drummer) solo. It was time for Keeth Stewart (dancer) to sing the "Love Under My Pillow" duet with Debbie. During the introduction to this song, she mentioned that she would do her first movie at the end of this year, but didn't pause to let the audience yell like at Shoreline and Cal Expo. Like before, she dedicated the song to "anyone out there who is in love." To acknowledge the kids in her audience, she reassured them, "that is not too many of you, but don't feel so bad; neither am I." Unlike the previous concerts, she used "Sing it Keeth" as a signal for Keeth to begin the song. At the end, when Debbie and Keeth hugged, the spotlight person messed up and turned it off. After two seconds, he realized his mistake and turned it on again to show them hugging. Again, Debbie left the stage to the capable hands of Keeth Stewart. His preparation of "Team Spirit" was almost identical to the one used in previous concerts. However he added a few things such as "If you all keep screaming like this, we just might come back next year." He also asked the audience "How many of you out there are still in school?" Debbie returned when the piano rose from the ground again and she performed "Should've Been the One." Like before, she was excellent and it was enjoyable to see her pounding on the piano. One of the reasons why the album version of this song doesn't match up to the live version is that the piano is virtually silent. Here, the piano is prominent and it gives the song an extra dimension. Before going any further, Debbie introduced the members of the band to the audience. Adam Tese was on saxophone and percussion. Normally he shines, but it just wasn't his night. On the drums was Freddy Levine. Again, his style was unimpressive and the former drummer, Lou Appel, should have been here. Instead of the ocean blue bass, Kirk Powers played with a jet black bass. It was unfortunate that his bass wasn't hooked up right to the sound system and his guitar was either underemphasized or sounded distorted. Gary Coreman and Leo Rizzo, the keyboardists were then mentioned. The one and only Tommy Williams, the lead guitarist, was next. Working overtime that night were the backup singers Linda Moran, Christine Clarke, and Iris Eplan. Lastly, but not least, were the two fierce dancers, Buddy Casimano and Keeth Stewart. After introducing the members of her band, she went on to sing "Only In My Dreams." Like in all her previous concerts, she built up the tension by singing the parts, "No, no no no, only in my dreams as real as it may seem it was only in MY dreams." Unfortunately, Debbie was not kidding when she said was sick. After only three seconds of holding the MY note, her voice dropped and she desperately tried to recover unsuccessfully. It was the first time I ever heard her mess up at a concert during this climatic part and I felt really sorry for her. After such an unforgettable incident, she performed "Only in My Drams" and then bid the audience good bye in her normal manner. The pyrotechnics went off again at the end. However, afterwards, many people started to leave. A lot of the parents probably thought it was getting too late for their little ones to be up. So, a significant amount of people left before the encore. For the people who managed to stay, Debbie came back to play "We Could Be Together" as the first song of the encore. It was similar to the routine she used before. Since the stage was set up in such a manner that it was nearly impossible for her to reach the audience, I was amazed when she bent over and pulled a guy bigger than her on stage. This happened at Shoreline too, but she had more leverage there. Most of the others were little kids from backstage. At the end of the song, Adam Tese redeemed himself by playing a wonderful sax lead and it made "We Could Be Together" just so much better. Next was "Lost in Your Eyes" and she rose out of the ground again. Debbie played the notes that we were familiar with from the music video before playing the intro notes of the song. I thought this was an excellent improvement and I wondered why she didn't do that before. The performance was identical to ones before. Lastly, was the energetic "Electric Youth" where the set unfolds itself into a large castle. Towards the end of the song, Buddy Casimano played with a spotlight on the right tower and shined it on various parts of the audience. At this point, I already made my way down to the lower sections. When the song was almost over, I leaped over the rail onto the main floor. As she waved good-bye to the audience, I made my way fairly close to the stage to take one last glimpse of Debbie. Finally, she bid farewell and left. Compared to Shoreline and Cal Expo, this one was the best. The sound was a lot better. At Shoreline and Cal Expo, the treble was set so high that she sounded like Mickey Mouse. Here, her voice was beautiful and crystal clear, despite her illness. Apparently, her voice was not effected and it was only her vocal abilities that were. The only complaint that I had with the sound was that the bass guitar wasn't hooked up properly. The stage was setup much better than at Shoreline and Cal Expo. I enjoyed the twin towers on each corner of the stage because Debbie would occasionally visit them and it enabled her to give attention to most of the audience. The spotlight was also a nice touch. The front of the stage housed an enclosed pit that hid the piano from view. Whenever Debbie needed to use the piano, the entrance by rising from this pit was much more elegant than dashing quickly to the rolled on piano, as was the case in Cal Expo and Shoreline. There seemed to be more pyrotechnics this time around and it was nice that graphics were projected on the rear screen from time to time. Even though I had to skip classes and drive 300 miles roundtrip to Reno, it was definitely worth it. This concert was what Shoreline and Cal Expo should've been, but wasn't. The costumes weren't that spectacular again, but it didn't matter because I went to see her perform. I admire Debbie for not cancelling, like she did for Cal Expo last year, when it was obvious that she was sick. According to Fred Levine (drummer), after the concert, he said that "Deb was hurting." Well Deb, you did a fine job and I am proud of you. SONGS PERFORMED IN ORDER WERE: "Who Loves Ya Baby?" "Over the Wall" "Foolish Beat" "Out of the Blue" "Shake Your Love" "Come Home" "Don't Flirt With Me" Motown Medley: "I Want You Back" "ABC" "The Love You Save Maybe Your Own" "Stop! In the Name of Love" "Where Did Our Love Go?" "Please Mr. Postman" "Dance to the Music" "Love Under My Pillow" "Team Spirit" by Keeth Stewart "Should've Been The One" "Only in My Dreams" Encore: "We Could Be Together" "Lost in Your Eyes" "Electric Youth" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Deb of the Year From: Gregg Smith Date: Sun, 26 Nov 89 12:08:44 EST This article was found in Long Island's NEWSDAY, SUNDAY, SEPT. 17, 1989 ############################################################################## D E B O F T H E Y E A R ! ! ! ! TURNING 19 HASN'T EXACTLY MARKED THE END OF THE INNOCENCE FOR LONG ISLAND'S FEMALE PHENOM. BUT SHE'S SHED SOME OF THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THE PAST AS SHE REVISES HER AGENDA FOR TOMORROW. Just after Labor Day, when thousands of 19-year-olds were settling into their college dorms, Debbie Gibson was packing up in a hotel room in Minneapolis, the 18th city on her 1989 world tour, which comes home to Madison Square Garden Thursday night. While young women her age were spending millions of dollars on designer perfumes Gibson was collecting income from the "Electric Youth" fragrance, marketed by Revlon, endorsed by Debbie. While most students were out buying books, Debbie Gibson was preparing to publish hers. And when the kids shopped for tapes and records and compact discs, more than a few of them bought her tapes and records and compact discs. What do you say to a teenager ---an electric youth if ever there was one -- who's turned out seven Top 10 singles, two No. 1 hits, and a couple of albums that have sold more than 6 million copies? You might begin by calling her Deborah, for one thing. "I don't like the name Debbie," Debbie Gibson said. She was lounging on a deck chair, near the big pool in the backyard of her family's new house on the North Shore [Gregg - She now lives in Floyd Harbor near Billy Joel] "From the time I was five I was trying to get people to call me Deborah. Then , I thought, no: 'Debbie' is gonna flow more." "But maybe someday, when I can do a more mature, serious record, I can do the " Johnny Cougar to John Mellencamp' transition" Altering an image as finely crafted as Gibson's might take some work, but perhaps that's part of her career course. That course was set more than a decade ago, and she's right on schedule . She may even be ahead of it. Except for the Grammy. There's no Grammy yet, not even the best new artist Grammy for Gibson's 1987 debut album, and that's irritating to Debbie Gibson because she really wants one. But she's learning to cope. "My dream was to win one and in a sense it still is, but I realize now that in the long run they really don't mean anything." she said. "It's like the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated. It comes out and people talk about if for a week. It's a moment," she giggled, unconvincingly. But there are other things on the agenda for Debbie Gibson. There's acting. A Columbia film called "Skirts," a modern musical even though it's set in the 60's, goes into production in January, starring Gibson as a high schooler who loves to dance. She plays herself, sort of; a teen from a suburban family, trying to cope in 1964 with the culture shock of moving from Scarsdale to the Bronx. "Skirts" will be directed by Kenny Ortega, who choreographed "Dirty Dancing." "I've been reading scripts for a year and a half, but nothing appealed to me," said Gibson, who acted--commercials, industrial films, television--before she aged in to double digits. "This film is very light-hearted. I don't want to do an intense first movie, that would be a mistake. The one thing I have go- ing for me here is I can use a lot of myself in this role." Gibson will write half the songs for the film. And then she'll make another record, a follow-up to her double-platinum sophomore success, "Electric Youth." "I mean," she said. "I could put together another album right now. I really wanna do a double album. I don't like it when an album has only eight songs. It should have at least ten, Eleven. Or twenty." In between those projects, there are two books in the works charting Gibson's life so far--she's recently turned 19--and she's got a screenplay working for a movie she wants to make, because what kind of an actor doesn't want to direct too? And in her spare time, Gibson is writing and producing songs for other artists including a 15-year-old powerhouse from Cuba named Anna, who's signed to CBS "If I had a week off," said Gibson, "I'd like to direct her video." Plus she's planning to learn the drums and some Japanese, so she can talk to the locals next month when she tours Japan. Oh, yes. There's the tour: a wham-bam extravaganza that has sold out Madison Square Garden. It's Gibson's first show there if you don't count her appearance last year at Atlantic Records' 40th birthday party. "It will be magnificent," said her mother and tour manager, Diane Gibson, who can be excused for counting her chickens when it comes to her expectations about her daughter. Gibson's show is flashy, fancy and fullsome, with good-looking guys playing behind her (Tommy Williams' red-light guitar is a giggle) and giddy choreography from two super-supple dancers, Keeth Stewart and Buddy Casimano, to hold the attention of the teens when the star steps offstage to make her costume changes. You won't mistake her for Edith Piaf or Lena Horne, but Gibson has shed some of the preciousness of her past, and her repertoire has matured as well, with a luscious ballad such as "Lost in Your Eyes," her love song to ex-boy-pal Brian Bloom, and the spunky energy of "Electric Youth." There's plenty of confection and bubblegum to go around, too, because most of Gibson's audience - especially the 4,000 who gathered earlier this month at the St. Paul Civic Center - aren't old enough to drive. So Gibson is - has to be - unerringly positive in her act, her image and her music. But in St. Paul, even in her "EY" cheerleader jacket, her presence suggested polish and class as well as enthusiasm. The live version of "Shake Your Love" evoked Madonna more than it smacked of Gibson's contemporary, Tiffany. Her Motown medley - with lots of help from her backup trio of Linda Moran, Christine Clarke and Iris Eplan - was sassy and sexy and shades of Detroit. Still, turning 19 hasn't marked the end of the innocence for Long Islands's primo female pop phenom. "When people socially talk to me like I'm an adult," she said, "I feel like saying, 'Hey, how old do you think I am?' People forget . . .but my mom never lets that barrier break. I say, 'Why can't I do this or go here,' and she'll say, 'Do you remember when your sisters were your age?' But I don't like to be talked to like I'm a baby." Gibson claims stubbornness is one of her strongest traits - "I've been known to be open-minded a couple of time" - but accentuating the positive is where she's always at. "Did you see Arsenio last night?" she said. "Eddie Murphy was on. What he said was great, cause people always say to me, 'What do you have to fall back on, what if it all ends tomorrow?' And he said what I say, which is that if you create something to fall back on, you're gonna fall back." Gibson raised her fist and grinned. "I was, like, alright, Eddie!" Success might spoil Debbie Gibson, except she's go no time to be spoiled. On a hot summer day, she was out by the pool, taking a rare break from rehearsing the tour material working in her Electric Blue studio, an upstairs room that's equipped with a 32-track recorder, a digital audio tape machine, stacks of high-end Perreaux amplifiers and a soundproofed chamber with a Baldwin piano. The Gibson house, with its wide-open interior and pastel furnishings, is a refuge for the family, who becames the stars of Merrick with Debbie's success a couple of years ago. The new home is somewhat secluded, but curious visitors have already found it. "It got pretty bad in Merrick, what with having three sisters and living near the high school," said Gibson. "I didn't mind that people would knock on the door. What I did mind was when it was eight on a Sunday morning and I'd gotten home at, like, five." Gibson was crunching hard on the contents of a bag of Samurai Puffs, a new-wave health snack, even though two days earlier her four wisdom teeth had been extracted. "I had to cut a promotion trip," said Debbie, meaning, like, so what if I had to undergo surgery and be anesthetized and have my gums cut open, I had to cut a promotion trip. "It started the day of the Prince's Trust [England's annual mega-class rock benefit show, to which she was invited to sing] and I had to go to a dentist in Rome." She ingested another Puff. "When we saw that the dentist had a liquor cabinet next to his chair, we said, 'This can't be right, let's go home.'" Home is where Debbie Gibson's heart is, not to mention her '57 Ford Fairlane, her manager-mother-guru Diane, dad Joe, assorted sisters and visiting bandmates, and stuffed animals and other girl stuff. These are the rewards of an efficiently orchestrated life, which began with piano lessons at age 5 (the same year of Gibson's first composition, "Make Sure You Know Your Classroom"), talent contests, television commercials, and, since she was 12, an emphatic obsession to sign a recording contract. And so, what if she was this wholesome mall kid, a cheerleader type with pop idols (Billy Joel, Wham!) and braces ("Wore them on the inside")? She had the music pouring out of her, songs, hundreds of them, "notebooks full," and they tumbled out, and still do. "Writer's block" has no meaning for her. "If you analyze every 'if,' 'and' or 'but'......" She shook her head. "Once I had a song idea, and I sat there for half an hour, trying to write it. Then I realized, 'This isn't working.'" Debbie has kept many of her friends from Calhoun High in Merrick. "My good friends have been loyal. It's mainly people who don't know me who have mixed reactions," she said. "I didn't walk around school telling people, 'Guess what I do after school. I go home and make demos.' Nobody really knew that, so you'd have to expect they'd think I was lucky." While most of her girlfriends were going through their Boy Crazy stage, Gibson wasn't. And the Debbie Gibson that the public sees now is usually sans boys. The rumor mill might grind on about soap-opera star Bloom or teen idol Scott Grimes, but the Gibson camp doesn't feed it. She's been most recently linked with Matt Goss of BROS, the high-profile British twin-brother rick duo that's opening some of Gibson's shows. Goss is movie-star handsome and shows flecks of George Michael's influence. "If there's a big romance," Debbie said, "it's going on between set changes." Dealing with other disruptions are more complicated. When the family got wind that Bantam Books was preparing an unauthorized biography of Debbie, freelance writer Mark Bego was quickly commissioned to work with her. The result is that the "authorized" Debbie Gibson story get published in about a month, while the Bantam book won't be out until March. The chutzpah factor - how could a 19-year-old singer presume to writer an autobiography? - is moot, according to the subject. "The only reason we did it was because of the unauthorized version. It would be egotistical, I fully agree." Gibson cocked her head and let out a smile. "But if anyone was gonna summarize myself, I was." Bigger smile. "Actually, I do have a lot to write about. I've done more is eighteen years than a lot of people know." Randy Reisfeld, the author who caused some of this commotion, says her "Debbie Gibson: Electric Star," "is not at all unflattering. There's nothing negative in my book because there was nothing negative to say." There's a chapter on boys, which I suggests that Gibson is "not old-fashioned, in that she doesn't sit around waiting for the phone to ring. She pursues boys," But Reisfeld, who works for Sixteen magazine, claims the book doesn't address Gibson's sexual experience (or lack of same) and minimizes the issues that separated Gibson form her former manager, Doug Breitbart. Bego, who's written 16 unauthorized biographies ranging from the Captain and Tennille to Rock Hudson, from Aretha Franklin to Cher, says his "Between the Lines" deals with Debbie's reminiscences "about what it was like in high school, how the other kids treated her, how she juggled classes, She talks about issues that teenagers will be able to relate to. "She's not squeaky-clean. She talks about how she's not into having a steady boyfriend and that she hasn't had a serious love. She doesn't have the time." Although the Gibson clan decided to go public with Debbie's story, the company line on Doug Breitbart is to ignore him. Breitbart, an entertainment-industry attorney, was actively courted years ago by Diane Gibson to take the reins of her daughter's career. It was he who eventually persuaded an Atlantic executive to gamble on the "Only in My Dreams" single and orchestrated the promotion of the song, a project slightly less complex than the D-Day invasion. The relationship ended last year. Diane Gibson took over as manager. Debbie does not relish discussion the issue: "It's like a hazy part of my past," she says, In Bego's book, Breitbart is not named, referred to only as a "music industry lawyer." Says Breitbart, "Mom wanted to manage. It had become a fusion of identities: the artist and the artist's mom. The rule of thumb in the world of artist management is, if an artist doesn't want to be managed, you don't." Breitbart, who continues to hold a financial interest in Gibson's records, also takes credit for "marrying Gibson with the role in her upcoming film. But, does Debbie Gibson make the 'Grease' of the Nineties and become the new Olivia Newton-John?" he asked. "And if the film doesn't make it, the question can be, is she around a year from now?" If there are any questions please write. I love email. Bitnet: Gsmith@sbccvm or Internet: Gsmith@ccvm.sunysb.edu Gregg Smith [ D.G.I.F. 404 ] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Music, Computers & Software From: Yoshio Nakamura Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 01:25:46 EDT Music, Computers & Software December 1988 US $2.50/Canada $3.50/UK #2.35 MCS Volume 3 Number 7 Editor/Publisher Bill Stephen MUSIC, COMPUTERS, & SOFTWARE is published monthly by Keyboards, Computers & Software, Inc. Executive and editorial offices at 190 E. Main Street, Huntington, Ny 11743, (516) 673-3241. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Second Class postage pending at Huntington, NY Post Office and additional entry points. Subscriptions in U.S. $30.00 for one year, payable in advance. Add $9.00 in postal money order in U.S. funds for subscriptions outside the U.S. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery. Design and contents copyright 1988, Keyboards, Computers & Software, Inc. ISSN 0886-6228. Post-master: Send change of address forms to P.O. Box 625, Northport, NY 11768. Article starts on Page 36. DEBBIE GIBSON Nothing distinguished the suburban house from any other on the street except for the driver leaning up against his limo. Quiet and unassuming, the Merrick, Long Island home hardly looked like the seat of the Gibsons, a place where a young high school girl cut the demos to an album that would command attention on the charts and reach near Triple platinum status. Inside, however, the bustle was on. It was high school graduation day rehearsals and Debbie Gibson was waiting for friends to pick her up in between doing a cover story and approving copy for her photo spread for Revlon. At 17 she hit the big time, yet despite all of the sales, a cosmetic company deal and a smattering of prestigious gigs (Atlantic Record's Anniversary show, for example), Debbie Gibson remains somewhat of an enigma, a young performer relegated to the lollipop sarcasm surrounding unaffected pop music, when, in actuality, she deserves much more respect. It's true. Inside her home MIDI studio there are stuffed animals, a few pinup posters and even a home made percussion device containing ice cream sprinkles, but while the Jody Watleys of the world drone out their tunes and hardly know which end of a microphone is up, Debbie Gibson is bouncing tracks on her Tascam Portastudio and laying in bass lines on her Emax. An accomplished musician who has the gift of perfect pitch (a "gift" that can drive the best of engineers nuts), she started studying piano at age five. Hardly shy, she cut her professional teeth as a child performer, doing stints in the children's chorus of the Metropolitan Opera in her ninth, tenth and eleventh years and getting "road" experience. "I had a different kind of background. It's not the bar circuit like a lot of musicians, but I went on auditions for years and years and if you've ever experienced the stage mothers and kids, it's an experience in itself, and it's not easy. You go on five auditions a week and you get a commercial every four months. I do know the meaning of work. And a lot of people don't know that about me." Now, as a bonafide musician pop star, she takes easily to the rigors of the studio, the road and the glitter trappings. Alright. Fine. We've established that the girl has musical chops, she's been on the theatrical circuit so she's hip to the treadmill. But why cover her in MCS? After all, being a pianist with perfect pitch doesn't mean she can program a drum machine. Normally, that's true, but in Debbie Gibson's case technology has become a way of life, and she is the embodiment of what MIDI is all about: the democratization of music, or equal access to all. As she puts it: "There are a lot of everyday people who can do what I'm doing because of the technology. Like my Mom always says: 'There are a lot of kids with a lot of good ideas, they just need the right tools to bring those ideas out.' After all, to start all you need is a keyboard, a four track, a drum machine and a set of headphones. So, don't buy a car right away, save up for equipment." This unbridled optimism is endemic of Gibson's personality. Through the support and motivation of her mother, who is now her full time manager, she has developed a professional personality that is confident and driven, surefooted in its ideas yet quick to realize her weaknesses. With her manager's encouragement, she turned to the "right tools" with a vengeance, setting up a 12-track studio in her bedroom containing a Kawai K3, Akai AX60, Yamaha DX7, Yamaha TX802, an E-max, Yamaha MEP4, Linn 9000 Sequencer, E-mu SP12, Tascam Patchbay Editor, Effectron II, Yamaha Digital Reverb R1000, Yamaha Rev 2, two Symetrix Compressors, an Akai MG1212 and Tascam 22-2, as well as a Casio MIDI Thru Box, a Yamaha K-520 and Onkyo cassette deck. As a pianist/songwriter, what drove Debbie Gibson into the arms of technology: frustration. "I was going to a bunch of other studios and there'd be musicians there, and I'd write out a lead sheet and they'd do what they do and by the end my songs didn't sound like my songs anymore. I had all these ideas in my head and I wanted to get the tools that would allow me to do it myself". MIDI, however, has not really changed her approach to music or the way that she writes songs. (One of her biggest desires is to have a Yamaha Controller so she can bounce around on stage and play "Crocodile Rock". One had to resist the comment, being it was that time of the year, that she might get it for graduation.) "When I write songs, I write them off the top of my head. I'll write down the lyrics and then I'll write E, G, A, whatever, and go from there. My main concern is still the piano, and I use the other keyboards and MIDI primarily to make my arrangements tighter. I actually use the piano sounds on the Emax a lot. Even though I have all this equipment, I like to stay with the basic feel of the acoustic piano. But I still create a full demo with bass lines, percussion and all, and then the band adds to that." If we still have to prove Gibson is a musician, consider that fact that she hates manuals. And this is a testament to her honesty that whereas she can use the equipment, she is in no way a MIDIphile. "Well, I don't really like to use the manuals, so I don't know all the technical terms. I don't really see the point in it because I'm more into the music side than the technical side. I like using the keyboards for the sounds and MIDI capabilities so that I can lay down the basics. But when I had the four track, I obviously knew what "bouncing down" was, but I never got it from the manual; when I figured it out I was really excited because at that point I understood it much better. I like to figure it out by myself first, although once I erased all of the sets of sounds in my drum machine by not using the manual." While cutting her demo she fell prey to the seduction of sampling. "I use the Emax for some sampling. In one of the songs I have to hit a really high note and it can be wearing so I sampled it and every time it came up I hit the Emax, so i guess I cheated a little on my demo. I've never done it on the actual record or live though." Gibson's confidence can be unnerving. While most debut bands shiver in the night over the lurking "Sophomore Jinx", she can't wait to release her new record. Gibson felt that _Out of the Blue_ did not really do justice to her vocal capabilities and that this record provides an appropriate show case for both better arrangements and stronger vocals. "For this record I did all of the demos here except for two of the songs; I haven't had as much time as I did the first time out. Fortunately, I had eight of the 10 songs already written for this album and I feel it's much stronger than the first. I can't wait to show everybody that the sophomore jinx didn't get me. But for the other two songs I just made a piano and vocal tape and Fred (Zarr - see Sidebar) and I just worked from there, which is something I'd never done before. He took it and arranged it and my involvement at that stage is more directed toward the vocal backups. On one of the songs it worked out great, but on the other one I had a totally different feeling in my head an it could have been taken in two ways, with different feels, so now we've got to start over on that one. I believe my demos are important just to give the basic direction." Gibson is gracious to her producer, who she makes clear is the studio power behind her records. While she is confident in her musical ability, she understands when and where to defer to those who are the production talents. This does not, however, inhibit her from getting her musical point across to other musicians. "Knowing what I'm talking about when it comes to music is very helpful to me, particularly when working with the band. The perfect pitch helps a great deal. It's also kind of bad because if I hear one little note go off it bothers me. So sometimes I have to compromise: If the feeling is there and I go off a little, should I let it stay there an let it bother me for the rest of my life (laughs) or should I let it go?" Debbie Gibson, fortunately, has a sense of humor, and in the record business it's a signal for long survival and ultimate success. As part of the Atlantic team she was able to perform at the Atlantic Records Anniversary Concert: "It was the most exciting and nerve racking thing I've ever done. I'd never performed on a live television broadcast like that. It was also the toughest audience I'll probably ever have to play in front of because they were mostly Zeppelin fans (laughs)." Playing pure pop to metal fans can shake the foundation of the most veteran of performers, but Gibson _is_ her music. It's a cliche, but it works. She is as uplifting as the songs are bouncy. If "Shake Your Love" and "Only In My Dreams" are not pop classics, they owe their catchy hooks and driving beats to an era that serves as the foundation for her songwriting: the pop sensibilities of the Fifties and Sixties. [Yoshio's note: This line below is a continuation of the above paragraph.] The result of embracing this style has proven a double edged sword - big sales undermined by critics' bashings: the result: little or no respect for her talent. And, of course, Debbie has an opinion about that. "What I don't like about critics is that they praise anything that is underground saying, 'Well, it's not contrived'. But it's so contrived to be underground. The second you sign a record deal it's like saying you want to go public with this, so it's kind of a contradiction. Also, just because pop music is catchy that's no reason to dislike it. I love the music of the Fifties, it's simple and upbeat, and if you think about the song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and how simple the chord and lyrics were...that's what I like and that's what I'd like to bring back. If bands like Depeche Mode or the Cure have an overly positive lyric they put them into a haunting melody line or a minor key to down play that positive attitude. But what I like to do with positive lyrics is to go with the idea all the way and come out with a strong hook and major chords." With nearly three million in sales and a Gold Video, Gibson has a comfortable cushion against what's to come, but her enthusiasm for her next record is a product of the belief and enthusiasm she has for her work. She is aware that she is not the greatest producer, nor t he finest technical wizard, but she has captured a wide audience with pop hooks and a sense of energy that will drive her forward to greater accomplishments; something she is acutely aware of. "On my next album there's only one song that repeats a phrase a hundred times. (I had to put one on, she laughs). The album sounds different, the choruses are stronger. I think it's like the Wham-to- George Michael transition that he made; call it bubble gum pop (I like the Wham album, though.) to what he's doing now. Just because he was doing photo sessions in shorts and smiling for the camera no one wanted to take his music seriously. "I'm not going to change like he did to this totally serious person." Serious or not, Debbie Gibson is having a broader affect than merely her music, she is influencing young people on their ability to reach higher goals than previously could have been imagined. Gibson, while having the dreams of becoming a rock star, was able to turn fantasy into reality; and she's conscious that her success is reaching beyond fan popularity. "I'm getting a lot of letters and I know a lot of girls that have strong ideas about production and are having trouble being taken seriously, maybe what I've been able to accomplish will help them." On her recent tour, Gibson's infectious enthusiasm garnered her kudos, and at though at times the performances can seem corny, they're never not pure Gibson. "I have a piano on stage and play for a couple of songs, but I want to get up and move around and do songs like 'Crocodile Rock'. I like to do a singing/dancing kind of show. I have dancers on five songs because no matter who you are it gets monotonous to watch one person. A lot of people compare me to a Madonna type, and they're amazed that I can get up there and play. I guess because there aren't really any single female artists who do that now." Well, Debbie Gibson has made an impression and if she has her way she'll soon have a 24-track studio ("I want a lot of options".) and a computer. And, after watching her dance around in her living room as she demoed a rough cut of an upcoming tune, there's little doubt she'll lack the energy to tackle any problem that may rear its head in her future. Text: Bill Stephen MCS sidebar about Fred Zarr Music, Computers & Software December 1988 US $2.50/Canada $3.50/UK #2.35 MCS Volume 3 Number 7 Editor/Publisher Bill Stephen MUSIC, COMPUTERS, & SOFTWARE is published monthly by Keyboards, Computers & Software, Inc. Executive and editorial offices at 190 E. Main Street, Huntington, Ny 11743, (516) 673-3241. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Second Class postage pending at Huntington, NY Post Office and additional entry points. Subscriptions in U.S. $30.00 for one year, payable in advance. Add $9.00 in postal money order in U.S. funds for subscriptions outside the U.S. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery. Design and contents copyright 1988, Keyboards, Computers & Software, Inc. ISSN 0886-6228. Post-master: Send change of address forms to P.O. Box 625, Northport, NY 11768. Article starts on Page 36, Sidebar is on Page 39. Producers Corner Talk to anyone in the "Gibson Organization" and you get an immediate sense of family; they all seem to be genuinely interested in the advancement of Debbie's career. It's a refreshing change from the typical battles of management vs. producer vs. artist that are often the by product of the music business. Fred Zarr, who produced seven of the 10 songs on Gibson's multi-platinum debut album, _Out of the Blue_, exemplifies this communal spirit. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Zarr's first gig was "playing Farfisa organ at a wedding." He later performed in lounges, bars and bar mitzvahs and eventually went on tour with Evelyn King. Some time later, after making the rounds of the New York City studio scene, he was asked to replace a few of the keyboard tracks on a song called "Everybody", recorded by Madonna. Impressed with Zarr's work she hired him to play on her _Holiday_ and _True Blue_ albums. In the fall of 1986, Doug Breitbart began a search to find a producer for a talented songwriting high school student named Debbie Gibson. Zarr's manager, Abbe Rosenfeld recommended Fred. Gibson brought Zarr a demo tape of 29 songs composed and recorded in her parent's home on Long Island. "They were good" he notes, "but they weren't record quality." >From those tapes, Fred chose "Only in My Dreams" as the tune for her one record deal with Atlantic Records. The song was released in December of 1986 as a 12 inch. "We all did our homework, calling the radio stations trying to get the song airplay. Six months later it began to take off. That's when the record company decided to do an album. Except for some of the mixing, Zarr produced _Out of the Blue_ in his home studio in Brooklyn using an Apple //e computer and Syntech software "because it was a program that I had and was able to work. The big problem with it was lack of memory. I'd be down to two percent of memory and have to store it. But, since I have the studio here (which includes a 24 track Studer and an MCI 400 console with automation provided through an IBM PC clone) I'd just do another pass." By using an SBX-80 to stripe the tape with SMPTE, it was possible to lock the Apple up to the tape deck. Making it even more cumbersome was the lack of song position pointer; locking up to MIDI clocks was always a matter of starting from the top. Says Zarr, "That wasn't really a problem then, but now that I have song pointer I couldn't live without it." These days he's working with Digidesign's "Creator" on an Atari 1040 ST which, "has plenty of room". Zarr's experience with sequencing goes back to the days when the Oberheim system was, as he says, "it". Back then, a sequence could run along and in about four or five minutes, "things would begin coming unglued." He still has his OBX, DSX and DMX along with an interesting collection of sonic equipment; an Emulator II, a PPG, DX7, DX7II, TX-7, RX-11, Prophet 5, Oberheim Expander, S-990, Ex-8000, Voyetra 8, D-550 and a Mini Moog MIDI'ed through a Roland MPU-101. On Gibson's album, they triggered drum sounds in the Emulator from the DMX through the computer which provided velocity not available in the DMX. When he's "programming", Zarr's term for laying down sequencer parts into the computer, he uses a variety synths to get the parts across. "I'd try to make the parts work, make sense and not clash with the vocal. I might come up with a line I really like, but if it clashes, it's out." Does he edit the MIDI stream to fix the tracks? "Occasionally, but being a player, it's usually easier to replay the parts." "Debbie will drop by the studio late in the day after everything has been programmed, listen to the sequence and give me her feedback. Then we'll set up a mic and record her on the digital recorder (Sony 601). On the first album we'd sync up and record the vocals direct to the 24 track. We had final vocals before we laid down any of the instruments to tape." For Zarr, working in the house he grew up in has it's advantages and disadvantages. Recently, when he had the flu and couldn't stay in the studio a moment longer, he left the controls to the engineer and went up to his bedroom on the third floor. He turned on the stereo, brought up to "two mix" and directed the remainder of the session through the household intercom. They worked like that for six hours because "we had a deadline that had to be met." Zarr produced three tunes on Debbie's newest album, however, Ms. Gibson is not alone in seeking his talents. He's been getting a lot of calls from other young female artists. It's no surprise, considering the number of gold and platinum records on his walls. In addition, there are a number of veteran vocalists including Dionne Warwick, Eartha Kitt and Whitney Houston for whom Zarr is a familiar face. Recently, he produced Samantha Fox and Pretty Poison, a mere indication of the breadth of musical styles this talented young musician/producer has to offer. -Bill Lewis