=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Volume 2, Issue 4 - June 1990 DDDDD D D D D GGGG D D G DDDDD G GGG G G GGG A Debbie Gibson Discussion Forum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ADMINISTRATION NOTES To BtL members, new and old : WELCOME to the "Between the Lines" (BtL) forum. The forum which is dedicated solely to Deborah Gibson is now running successfully into its 2nd year of "operation"! Of Special Note is the possibility of the July and August issues to be combined into a single July/August issue to be released at a future announced date. More details on this towards the end ... Back issues of BtL (Vol 1 #1 to #12; Vol 2 #1 to #3) will be sent to those requesting them. Please send e-mail requests to Matthew Jung at the following address (ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu). For those who requested back issues but didn't receive them, please remail your requests again. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Not only that, we encourage people to write articles for discussion and we thank you for your submissions. How these issues appear are a strong function of your input submissions. If you're attempting to reach another BtL member by e-mail and have been unsuccessful, don't hesitate to contact any one of the moderators. We'll try to provide suggestions to alternative routings or additional addresses to your required site. As last resort, the moderators will forward your e-mail. DISCLAIMER : ********************************************************************* This forum does not necessarily reflect the views of Deborah Ann Gibson, Gibson Productions Inc. (GPI), the Atlantic Recording Corporation, or any organizations to which members belong or represent. All songs by Debbie Gibson are copyrighted by Deborah Ann's Music (ASCAP). This forum is a non-profit organization. Members may disclose information about merchandise and products but may NOT advertise them for monetary sale. The purchase and trading of merchandise as such MUST be kept confined to electronic mail. BtL is NOT intended to replace publications released by the Debbie Gibson International Fan Club (DGIF), the only authorized fan club. Information on DGIF may be obtained by e-mailing any one of the moderators OR by sending a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (S.A.S.E.) to the following address : D.G.I.F. P.O. Box 489 Merrick, NY, USA 11566 Currently, the initial membership fee is $15US. The annual membership renewal fee is $10US for those in the U.S. and $12US for those outside the U.S. ******************************************************************** Thank you all for your continued patience and support. We look forward to hearing from you! BtL's answer to a Triumvirate - * Steve "Plastic" Burstall : hnr_443854@emunix.emich.edu * Matthew Jung : ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu * Henry "Hitman" Lee : userhlee@cc.sfu.ca / userhlee@sfu.bitnet =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Table of Contents ----------------- * A DoD ANALYST SPEAKS OUT FOR DEBBIE GIBSON - Daiv Stoner * ANOTHER HELLO FROM THE NETHERLANDS - Ivo Kroone * AN INTRO FROM THE "CITY OF THE ANGELS" - Eric Boe * ERRORS IN UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY, "Electric Star" - Matthew Jung * DEBBIE GIBSON ON THE TELEVISION SCREEN - Henry Lee * COMMENTS FROM EASTERN MICHIGAN - Steve Burstall * "EARTH 90" TO ABOUT ONE BILLION PEOPLE - Henry Lee * TWO NEW GIBSON TUNES ON ANA'S DEBUT ALBUM - Matthew Jung * VIDEOS : THE "TOP TWO" POLL WITH A BONUS! - Henry Lee * QUESTIONS & ANSWERS * CLOSING REMARKS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A DoD ANALYST SPEAKS OUT FOR DEBBIE GIBSON Daiv Stoner (aindiana@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu) Tuesday, May 8, 1990 / 1550h EDT Hi, this is my introduction of myself, how I became a Debbie Gibson fan and how I became a member of BtL. My name is Daiv Stoner. I'm a computer programmer/analyst working for the Dept. of Defense (Army) at an ammunition plant. I'm 24 years old, and I got my B.S. from the University of Louisville. When I first heard Debbie Gibson's "Only In My Dreams", I thought it was an okay song. I didn't really think it was that great, but I liked it. This was basically true for all the other songs that came out, up to "Lost in Your Eyes". I loved this song, and thought about buying the album (tape), but there were just too many one-good-song tapes in my collection already. Later, I heard "No More Rhyme". Since I loved that song too, I went out and bought the tape (_Electric Youth_). I was so impressed that within a couple of weeks I had _Out Of The Blue_, both video tapes, and two posters. Since then, I've added a calendar, and about 25 more pictures to my wall. What makes me like her? Many things. First, being a musician (bass, keyboards, saxophone, drums), vocalist, and songwriter myself, I have tremendous respect for the way she does all of these things, and does them all so well. Second, as a listener, I just enjoy listening to her songs, and her voice. Third, from everything I've read or heard, she is about the most down-to-earth famous person there is. She has a wonderful personality. And last (caution, male chauvinist pig emerging), it is so exciting to think that all of this talent and this great personality comes in a package that is simply beautiful. Okay, now that you're bored silly, here's how I became a member of BtL. I saw a posting about how the latest issue had been mailed, and immediately noticed the words "Debbie Gibson". I sent some email asking to be added to the mailing list. The next day, I got all 15 back issues (thanx Matthew), and read them all that night. I think BtL is great, I only wish I'd been in on it from the beginning. Now for some questions: Q. Does Deborah, or GPI know about this forum? Q. Does anyone who is a member of this forum know her, or have talked with her? Q. Does anyone know whether the videos from _Electric Youth_ will be released on tape? Being a "late blooming" fan, I have only seen "Lost In Your Eyes" about 5 times, and have never seen any other video from that album. Q. I read in a back issue about someone who had a GIF picture of Debbie, which was scanned from the "Lost in Your Eyes" 7 inch single jacket. Does anyone have this? If anyone's interested, I have a color GIF that is face shot from the poster called "White Shirt". I also have graphics programs to change it into just about any other graphics format. Guess that's enough for now. Later, Daiv By the way, if any of you ever get email from me, and it says From: Gary McCloskey", just ignore that name. Thanx. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ANOTHER HELLO FROM THE NETHERLANDS Ivo Kroone (rloon@praxis.cs.ruu.nl) Friday, June 1, 1990 / 1327h METDST Hi! After receiving about 500K of your great Debbie info, I immediately decided to introduce myself and offer some Dutch Debbie stuff. For the sake of good order : I do not have access to your net (although I am a computer user), so a friend of mine (rloon@praxis.cs.ruu.nl) up- and downloads the text files for me. My name is Ivo Kroone. I am 5 days younger than Debbie, and I am the 2nd known Debbie freak in Holland (I read about Raymond earlier). Although my D.G.I.F. membership number is #8156, I have admired Debbie for about three years now. It all started in the holidays of 1988 when I borrowed a CD-player from my friend who was on vacation those days. Together with another friend, we frequently went to the library to rent CDs. After renting about 65 CDs we were getting tired because we listened to all kinds of CDs; mostly boring, compared to what was yet to come. At that time Debbie appeared in a Dutch programme "Countdown, Europe's Number One Rockshow". She did a medley of three songs and both my friend and I immediately liked the girl and her music. The next day we got her CD from the library and we were "Out of the Blue"! As I live in a room in Amsterdam, I happen to know a few addresses where you can get "made-in-Holland" Debbie stuff. Because of the "made-in-Holland", I guess it's not available in the U.S.A. These things concern some posters (even door-sized) and 5 postcards. Throughout the years I've collected a nice quantity of Debbie pictures, including several pictures of which I am sure they're shot by Dutch photographers in Dutch studios. The main issue for you is that I am a dedicated Amiga user, and I digitized most of my pictures so I can send copies of them for all you Amiga users out there! (IFF pictures, unfortunately for some of you, in PAL). [should be no problem - RvLoon] My address is: Ivo Kroone Drieboomlaan 223 1624 BH Hoorn The Netherlands (Europe) Question: The D.G.I.F. reply coupon asks for your birthdate (but) I did not use that coupon to become a D.G.I.F. member. My question: What do they do with your birthdate? Question: Is there anyone who wants to write a review of Ana's "Body Language" album? I'm interested in buying it, but it's very difficult to get albums like that one. "The Wonder Years" took me 3 weeks to get!). Comment : There is something I don't like about Debbie's albums: the poor sound quality. (It's quite all right, but most CDs have better quality, and Debbie's CDs are the CDs I play most of the time.) I own rather expensive audio equipment, and Debbie's CDs do not sound as bright and dynamic as albums like, for example, Suzanne Vega or Madonna's "I'm Breathless" album. As to the editor's request: My two favorite Debbie videos: WE COULD BE TOGETHER: The video is just as happy as the song; the party around the fire is just what you would expect after listening to the "Campfire Mix" of the song. I also like the school-bus and campfire scenes. Furthermore, I just love her orange eye shadow! SHAKE YOUR LOVE: I doubted between Foolish Beat and this one, (since) I might expect (that) everyone likes Foolish Beat, I prefer this one. I like Debbie's 16-year-old looks (she looks cute in that 50's car) in this video and the video differs from her other videos, as you can tell that it's Paula Abdul's work. The video matches the idea of the song. (Note: Ronald Loon will be heading to the U.S. for the summer. As such, please do not send mail to the e-mail address listed in the article header above. We'll inform you of any changes should Ivo be able to obtain alternative e-mail access. HL) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AN INTRO FROM "THE CITY OF THE ANGELS" Eric Boe (boe@math.ucla.edu) Monday, June 4, 1990 / 2142h PDT Well, I've been promising Henry an intro for weeks now, so here goes. Hi. I'm Eric Boe. Whew, that was easy. I first heard of D. Gibson on Dance Party-USA, and thought the song "Only in My Dreams" was quite good. I missed the singer's name, and watched the show for weeks before it was repeated. After finding out who Debbie was, I rushed to "Music +", only to be told that no single had been released. I put my name on the waiting list, and acquired the single in late spring 1987. I saw her perform on DP-USA a couple of times, and anxiously awaited the album. That fell into my hands two months later, and though I was harassed about it, I enjoyed it very much. Quietly, I went on, buying EY when it came out. The OoTB tour hit LA during finals week one year, and I had the chance at $10 tickets, but passed them up. (Oh well, school first.) Last fall, the EY tour hit LA, so I went. I enjoyed the concert so much, from my private SKY seats, that I joined the DGIF (#6799). In the next few months, under the heat of persecution, I wrote for and received an autographed photo, and bought both videos. This seemed to be all, 'til I was reading rec.music.cd. Some unnamed person was flaming D.G. really bad, and was discussing burning her CD. After receiving flack for 3 years, I broke, and wrote a rather restrained defense. That's how I found out about this group. As a side note, the posting received dozens of replies to me by email. The net result was 90% in favor of the defense, even though only half of those people liked her music. I've enjoyed this group very much, and hope that I am able to continue as a member, even though I will be leaving UCLA and my computer access next week. A bit of biographical info: Eric Neil Boe DOB : 10-4-65 3440 Elm #6 POB : Sioux City, IA Long Beach, CA 90807 (213) 595-4947 Education: B.S. Math, Computer Science, Physics. Hopefully, M.A. Math in 9/90 Hobbies: photography, reading, Disneyland Other Artist: Kim Wilde Employed : Hughes Aircraft, designing of airborne radar systems Feel free to mail me if you have any questions on my above listed areas of expertise. For you technical types, I can also forward resumes to the right people in Hughes, provided you're qualified. That's all for now. Take care. Eric Boe =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ERRORS IN UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY, "Electric Star" Matthew Jung (ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Thursday, June 7, 1990 / 2056h PDT Unauthorized Biography Full of Unreliable Information "Electric Star," by Randi Reisfeld, attempts to tell the story about both "the sweet, wholesome purveyor of pop tunes" and "the serious, classically trained musician who breezed onto the music scene" at the same time. This book does manage to do this with a very flattering tone. It even has some merit since it discusses certain details left out of Debbie's autobiography "Between the Lines" (written with Mark Bego). Nevertheless, it appears to have been written to cash in on her popularity. Numerous errors can be found throughout the book which indicate poor research and plain carelessness. For starters, the back cover of "Electric Star" claims that Debbie "racked up five #1 hits all before she graduated from high school." This is untrue. When she graduated from high school in 1988, "Foolish Beat" was number one on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. "Foolish Beat" was also her fourth released single. So, if all her previous singles managed to hit number one as well, she would still only have four number one hits before she graduated from high school. Besides, the fact is that "Foolish Beat" was her first number one hit. So by simple arithmetic, it doesn't add up. Amin Kamadoli points out that someone else may have written this summary. If this is the case, then Randi Reisfeld obviously didn't look over the book too carefully. The author should be responsible for all the material in the book and that includes the back cover for that matter. Henry Lee brings up the possibility that these statistics were compiled from other charts such as Radio and Records. Even if this was the case, it would still be extremely difficult to come up with five number one hits all before she graduated from high school. Some details about her education are shady at best. In her school photo, the caption says "Brookside Junior High's graduating ninth grader..." Yet on page 61, Debbie remarks about the star struck group in high school by saying "like ninth-grade boys would leave a note in my locker saying 'I can't believe you go to my school!'" How can this be? Did she attend Brookside Junior High and Calhoun High at the same time? In some instances, the details are completely wrong. A prime example can be found on page 10 where Debbie "saw her first rock concert (Billy Joel on Long Island's Nassau Coliseum)." This is incorrect because the first rock concert she went to was a Beach Boys concert. The account on how her prize winning song got to the WOR Songwriting contest was also incorrect. On page 82, it says "As it turned out, Debbie was also using that song as her class project. She had to have Dr. Deck listen to it and grade it first: only then could it go to the radio station. The contest deadline was nearing; the Gibsons got in gear. Just as soon as Dr. Deck was done, Joe Gibson rushed to school, took the tape, and drove it down to the radio station." This is totally untrue. According to Debbie and her mother, from a television interview, what really happened was that Debbie gave the tape to her mom at the last minute. Diane was contemplating whether to send it in or not. She finally decided to call up a messenger service and they delivered the tape to the radio station. Other parts of the biography are just as fabricated. For instance, on page 78, "last time she sold out Los Angeles' Greek Theater, Debbie made sure Scott [Grimes], his sister Heather, Alyssa Milano, and actor Ryan Lambert had front-row seats." A fellow BTL member, Maurice Montoya, had seats close to the front-row. As an eyewitness, he saw Alyssa Milano et al behind him! As if all this creative license isn't enough, this book continues to support the rumor about Debbie writing "Lost in Your Eyes" for Brian Bloom. This can't be true because she didn't meet him until a Christmas party in 1987. According to the song-by-song account in her official press kit, she said she wrote the song in the Fall of 1987, which is months before she even met Brian! In fact, Debbie denied writing the song for Brian on Good Morning America. Randi Reisfeld's research is further questionable since names of key figures are incorrectly spelled. Jim Yukich, who directed several of Debbie's videos including "Lost in Your Eyes," had his name misspelled Jim Ukage. Keeth Stewart, one of her dancers, is constantly misspelled Keith Stewart. Granted, it is also misspelled in the album credits of "Electric Youth" and her autobiography, but I have met him and I have his autograph as evidence of the correct spelling. There are probably more errors waiting to be corrected, but the ones presented so far should suffice. This article is mainly in response to Amin Kamadoli's review of "Electric Star" published in BTL issue 2 volume 2 where he welcomed others to point out errors. Amin made some good points about this book and it is a valuable second source about Debbie's life. However, his comment about "the WAY Randi got her information seems just as or even MORE reliable than from what we've been exposed to" doesn't seem to be justified. As we have just seen, the reliability of "Electric Star" is questionable at best. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= DEBBIE GIBSON ON THE TELEVISION SCREEN Henry Lee (userhlee@cc.sfu.ca) Wednesday, June 6, 1990 / 1120h PDT * CBS's Bugs Bunny 50th (birthday bash) : Wed May 16 During the opening number by Little Richard, shot mostly in Los Angeles (with portions shot in Ed Debevic's Restaurant), several celebrities joined in the song with their own parts. Also in the number saluting Bugs Bunny, Deborah appeared, but not for more than a total of 5 seconds. [Deborah celebrated her 18th birthday at Ed Debevic's.] * ABC's "Good Morning America" : Fri May 25 Debbie Gibson appeared on G.M.A. for about five minutes in the last half-hour of the show. She spoke of her co-hosting duties for the upcoming June 2 world-wide broadcast of the "Earth 90 concert". She said that she would be hosting from New York's Brooklyn Academy, as well as performing a song written by her especially for the event. Her time on the Earth 90 show is discussed at greater length in a subsequent article in this issue. Also, she spoke about "her recent awareness to the environment" and how "surprised" she was at how much more her friends and younger cousins were informed. She acknowledged the presence of Iris (Eplan?) off-camera and looking coyly to the side (presumably at Iris), she said (that she had) "... Still! Still no boyfriend ..." When the topic of the third album came up, she mentioned "October" as a possible release date towards the end of this year. * (Syndicated) "Regis & Kathy Lee Show" : Wed May 30 Debbie appeared on the "Regis & Kathy Lee Show" for the 5th time in 3 years on May 30th. Upon introduction, she came out of back stage wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans (with no "kneeholes") and a "multi-coloured" tie. She gave a black hat to each co-host : "Out -- Regis" to Regis and "Cody's Mom" to Kathy. The "interview" lasted for six or seven minutes. They spoke of the newly added / expanded section to the Gibson residence which is the recently updated 48-track "in-house" studio. Deborah said that she had co-written a song with Lamont Dozier that would appear on the upcoming 3rd album. The co-hosts mentioned that she would be turning the "magical" 20 this August and that she would be shedding the "teen queen" image; one that Deborah said "... was getting quite stale." Also, she spoke of the possible problems that are associated with having parents as professional managers. In effect, she has always maintained that she and her mom have agreed to work for "long term goals" and that "no one knows a person better than their parents". They then spoke of the Earth 90 event, its importance & impact, and of course, her co-hosting duties. She mentioned, too, that she wrote and would perform a song "Whose World Is It Anyway?" just for the event. Primarily, she wanted to bring attention to environmental awareness to the predominantly young audience watching that evening. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= COMMENTS FROM EASTERN MICHIGAN Steve Burstall (hnr_443854@emunix.emich.edu) Friday, May 25, 1990 / 0923h EDT Members of BtL, I was finally able to see Debbie on TV for a change. She was on "Good Morning America" at about 8:40 EST. She was there talking about the special she is hosting next Saturday about Environmental Awareness for Kids (exact title eludes me right now) Also there was some interesting things I heard and found when she was giving said interview: 1) Her new album is coming out in October. Title wasn't said. 2) Her lisp was very prevalent. 3) She became very defensive when Joan almost asked about Debbie having a boyfriend (Debbie downright answered the question before it was completed). She said she's working with her friend and a definite NO to anything to that nature. Alas, I didn't have a VCR to record any of this. I did write a few notes when she was talking just for this memo. Hope to have a VCR by this week so I can record the special next Saturday. Steve - trimoderator p.s. The special is co-hosted by Olivia Newton-John and John Denver from Tokyo. Debbie will be in New York. (QUESTIONS to BtL members at Large :) Wednesday, June 6, 1990 / 1605h EDT Q: It seems many members are musically talented. What are your musical skills? Opinion Poll: Should Deborah release a double or single album in October? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "EARTH 90" TO ABOUT ONE BILLION PEOPLE Henry Lee (userhlee@cc.sfu.ca) Monday, June 11th, 1990 / 1415h PDT As announced on MuchMusic's news program "FAX" on May 11th, "Earth 90" was to be a 3 hour Live concert broadcast to over 100 countries in the world. It was aired LIVE on MuchMusic (Canada) on Saturday, June 2 for three hours starting at 6:00PM PDT. The concert was in lieu of "International Environment Day" as designated by the United Nations Environmental Programme. =================================================================== From the newspaper "USA Today" - Tuesday, May 29, 1990 page 3D ("Television" heading on top) Inside TV / By Peter Johnson (along side picture of mostly a facial shot with caption "DEBBIE GIBSON: Singer to host show on environment") "EARTHLINGS: ``Earth '90: Children and the Environment'', airing in syndication Saturday [June 2] ... isn't just for kids, but pop singer / host Debbie Gibson hopes the three-hour international telecast reaches younger viewers loudest and clearest. She'll appear with Olivia Newton-John, John Denver, the Smithereens, the Jeff Healey Band and others, ``to educate young people and get them involved somehow.'' Earth '90 from the producers of Live Aid, is the first of 10 annual telecasts planned by the United Nations Environmental Program, through the year 2000. It will be aired on TV and radio in more than 100 countries simultaneously, including the Soviet Union, and is expected to reach more than a billion viewers." " Gibson, who will appear live from the Brooklyn Academy of Music, will sing ``Whose World Is It?'', an original tune she penned for the event. And she's taken the environmental fight to her Long Island home. ``I've written down things we can do, like buying glass milk bottles instead of cartons or buying liquid detergent. It makes a difference.''" =================================================================== "Earth 90 - Children and the Environment" Hosts over the three hours : * Debbie Gibson (& Rolland Smith) from New York, USA (BAM) * John Denver & Yu Hayami from Tokyo, Japan * Olivia Newton-John (& Herbert Leonard) from Metz, France * Gilberto Gil from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Over the course of the 3 hour concert and approximately 28 "song" segments, Debbie Gibson co-hosted (& performed) in a "New York share" of 11 segments. Wearing black pants, a black blazer-type jacket (with green, white & red "trim-stripes on the lower arm) over a white blouse with a "Peace Symbol" broach, she carried herself very professionally and simply, very well. She was certainly very comfortable in front of her "home crowd" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). With a projected audience of one billion, there was little sign of any nervousness. The 1st segment was shown from BAM where Deborah received a loud and spirited reception upon introduction. About 30 minutes into the show at the "5th segment", Deborah performed her song "Whose World Is It Anyway?" on a white Baldwin baby grand piano. It did not appear that she had any of the backup band or vocalists during the song. While melodically "ok", the song boasted some thoughtful lyrics that was clearly more important as intended for the watching audience. The last ("28th segment") was from BAM (with some shots from Japan & France) where Dave Edmunds, Deborah and Raffi led the main vocals on the long time favourite "Here Comes the Sun". Supplying backup vocals on the finale were the Smithereens, the New York City Kids Foundation Choir and the Jeff Healey Band. To BtL'ers : I have managed to "catalogue" every video, musical and spoken portion / segment to the entire 3 hour event. If you are interested in obtaining a detailed outline for "Earth 90", I will be happy to supply you with the information. Henry Lee =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TWO NEW GIBSON TUNES ON ANA'S DEBUT ALBUM Matthew Jung (ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Wednesday, June 6, 1990 / 2100h PDT As if to give us something to tie us over until October, when Debbie's next album is to be released, we get two delightful new songs on "Body Language." This album features the young Epic recording artist Ana. Unlike the previous teen acts, such as Tiffany, her voice does not reflect her age. In fact, if I had listened to this album before knowing her age (supposedly, she is only 14 years old), I would have sworn she was older than Debbie. Her voice is deeper than Deb and has a greater range. Even the picture on the album cover makes her look older than she actually is without the use of heavy makeup. "Everytime We Say Goodbye" was written, produced, and arranged by Deborah. The studio musicians feature members of her band such as Kirk Powers on bass, Freddy Levine on drums, Tommy Williams on guitar, Adam Tese on percussion, Gary Corbett on keyboards, and Leo Rizzo also on keyboards. The production is nice and clean without the over-synth arrangements found on both of Debbie's albums. "Friendly" was also written, produced, and arranged by Debbie. The musicians she used were similar to her studio musicians on her last two albums. This song may be an indication of changes in her lyrics for the future. It obviously is a song about her life with lyrics such as "I'm tied down, so are you, ... " If there is an indication that her lyrics are not as innocent as before, it is in her chorus: I don't want to be your lover, don't want to be just friends, rules were meant for breaking, rules were meant to bend, so, since you can't be mine and I can't be yours completely, let's not take it slowly, let's be friendly. Like "Everytime We Say Goodbye," the production of this song is quite clean. These songs were recording during the summer of 1989 at Debbie's home studio even before construction was completed. She sang backup vocals for both songs, but it is not noted in the credits for some reason. Debbie's voice is clearly evident in "Friendly" especially when she sings "I don't want to be your lover, I don't want to be your friend" several times during the end. Even though Gibson only worked on two tracks of this album, I found it pretty amusing that she was given a section in the credits to thank people: Thank you to all my family, friends, Atlantic Records, Gibson Productions, Pat Miguel, Tony Martell and especially Ana ... who really knows how to chirp! Stay fierce girl!!! Thanks a bunch. The other tracks were produced by Maurice Starr (the creator of New Edition and the New Kids on the Block) and a bunch of guys from the Miami Sound Machine. Hence, this album has a certain variety. Some of the songs sound like they are from the Miami Sound Machine minus the brass and Gloria Estefan. Others sound clearly like Maurice Starr's work. The sound of this entire album is more 1985 pop than 1990 without the heavy dance orientation. This might hurt her chances for commercial success, but it nevertheless is a pleasant change. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= VIDEOS : THE "TOP TWO" POLL WITH A BONUS! Henry Lee (userhlee@cc.sfu.ca) Sunday, June 10, 1990 / 1600h PDT I thank those for taking the time to making these votes ... Results of the TOP TWO FAVOURITE VIDEOS poll are as follows : * 14 people submitted/e-mailed their choices * In order of chronological release of singles : SONG VOTES #1 #2 Only in My Dreams : 4 4 - Shake Your Love : 2 - 2 Out of the Blue : 7 4 3 Foolish Beat : 4 1 3 Staying Together : 0 - - Lost in Your Eyes : 6 2 4 Electric Youth : 1 - 1 No More Rhyme : (1) - - We Could Be Together : 4 3 1 * Someone had accidentally put in "No More Rhyme" as their 3rd video. I've included it into the vote above. * The clear favourites from this poll were "Out of the Blue" and "Lost in Your Eyes". Strong showings were made by "Only in My Dreams", "Foolish Beat" and "We Could Be Together". * Of some personal interest, there was little activity to videos (that) I thought had some merit for votes - - "Shake Your Love" (Paula Abdul choreographing) - "Staying Together" (parts live, some staged; highly energetic) - "Electric Youth" (expensive but elaborately staged video) - "No More Rhyme" (gorgeous ballad / especially acoustic) * Also a surprise was the strong showing for "We Could Be Together". Granted that the video was not played very often on many video shows, it would have been interesting to see just how much more votes would have gone for the video had it gotten more "airplay". * In general, it appears that people started to "catch on" when the single "Out of the Blue" was released. Various introductions from members seem to confirm this as well. * Further comments with regards to this poll are most welcomed. Please address them to and I will post such comments together as an article in a future BtL issue. AS AN ADDED BONUS, what follows are the peak positions of Debbie Gibson videos on Much Music - Canada's video network (as far back as I had information) : Peak Position VIDEO (Much Music weekly Top 30 chart) Only in My Dreams : top 10 (#6 ?) Shake Your Love : top 20 (top 15?) Out of the Blue : # 6 (2 wks.) Apr 1st & 8th, 1988 Foolish Beat : # 4 (2 wks.) Jun 24th & Jul 1st, 1988 Staying Together : #14 (2 wks.) Sep 30th & Oct 7th, 1988 Lost in Your Eyes : # 4 (2 wks.) Mar 17th & 24th, 1989 Electric Youth : did not enter top 30 No More Rhyme : did not enter top 30 We Could Be Together : was not added to playlist :-( =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (Answers are supplied by the moderators.) Q : Daiv Stoner (aindiana@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu) asks - > Does Deborah, or GPI know about this forum? A : GPI recognizes the fact that there are sorts of "independent" fan clubs and (snail) mail groups across the continent and the world. However, once these "indies" start charging for their services, that becomes illegal. This is why each BtL newsletter has a disclaimer within the administration notes. > Does anyone who is a member of this forum know her, or have > talked with her? A : Yes, there have been some BtL members who've been fortunate to have met and spoken with her in person. > Does anyone know whether the videos from _Electric Youth_ will > be released on tape? Being a "late blooming" fan, I have only > seen "Lost In Your Eyes" about 5 times, and have never seen > any other video from that album. A : The two "Out of the Blue" videotapes (compilation & concert) were released by Atlantic. Presumably, Atlantic will be releasing a compilation of videos from "Electric Youth" single releases and a concert video from the 1989 "Electric Youth" tour. From the past two DGIF newsletters, DGIF has stated nothing more than "the videos are expected to be released sometime in 1990" and that the "(E.Y.) concert footage was filmed in Atlanta, GA." > I read in a back issue about someone who had a GIF picture of > Debbie, which was scanned from the "Lost in Your Eyes" 7 inch > single jacket. Does anyone have this? If anyone's interested, > I have a color GIF that is face shot from the poster called > "White Shirt". I also have graphics programs to change it into > just about any other graphics format. ========= Q : Ivo Kroone (rloon@praxis.cs.ruu.nl) asks - > The D.G.I.F. reply coupon asks for your birthdate (but) I > did not use that coupon to become a D.G.I.F. member. > My question: What do they do with your birthdate? > Is there anyone who wants to write a review of Ana's > "Body Language" album? I'm interested in buying it, > but it's very difficult to get albums like that one. > "The Wonder Years" took me 3 weeks to get!). A : Matthew Jung has reviewed the album as seen above. If any BtL members have acquired a copy of Ana's album and wish to review the album, please do so. ========= Q : Steve Burstall (hnr_443854@emunix.emich.edu) asks - > It seems many members are musically talented. What are your > musical skills? > Opinion Poll : > Should Deborah release a double or single album in October? * Votes to be solicited for SINGLE or DOUBLE album * Send all responses to =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CLOSING REMARKS As mentioned in the Administration Notes, the moderators do not expect many newsworthy events to be "reported" into BtL. It was quite an unexpected surprise to discover that we would get such a flurry of activity in late May and early June. However, in lieu of "low activity" for the remainder of June; July and August, it is quite likely that we will Combine the July and August issues into a single July/August issue. If, however, we receive a sufficient number of articles by mid-July, we will then proceed to publish a single issue for each of July and August. In trying to keep members informed of events, the moderators have started "Immediate Releases" by way of . We appreciate that members NOT reply to mail that comes from that address. We hope to keep the "airwaves" as "clear and efficient" as possible with this policy. Thanks for your co-operation. As always, we will continue to accept introductions from members who are new to our unique newsgroup. If possible, we would be interested in knowing : * how and where they first "discovered" Debbie Gibson * how they came to finding "Between the Lines (BtL)" * what kind of difference, if any, BtL has made for allowing "closet DG fans" to come into "full light" Suggestions for BtL Vol 2 #5 (July or July/August 1990) * Comments from those who watched "Earth 90" on June 2 * Please remember any of the questions above that have not been answered * Introductions from new members * Review of Ana's latest album (re: 2 songs from Deborah) As well, there are still lots of surprises in store for the "Hot Summer Issue(s)"! From BtL v2#3 (May 1990) : "HOPE FOR 'SKIRTS'?" Perhaps I generated a too optimistic view on the possible developments with "Skirts" in the near future. Whether or not Disney Studios (re. Dawn Steele) gets any start will depend on who actually owns the rights to the script for the film. As of writing, there has been no additional news. I apologize for any confusion from my article. Again, my thanx go to Matthew Jung and Steve Burstall. This issue was extremely special for me since I finally had gotten around to seeing television interviews for the first time and watching her co-host Earth 90. The experience of moderating the last two issues was most enlightening but most of all, it was great to see people so enthused about the Long Island woman with little fear of "having their egos smashed into little pieces". (Sunday, June 10, 1990 / 1520h PDT) A quick little update : Matthew Jung has mentioned to me that the (upcoming) June 25th issue of "US" magazine has an article mentioning Debbie Gibson. The article itself concerns with the recent "seventh annual ASCAP pop awards" where she won an award for "Lost in Your Eyes" as one of the most played songs of the past year. One of the accompanying pictures has Deborah with Bruce Hornsby and Howard Jones. Matthew Jung now takes over as BtL moderator for the next two issues in continuation of our three-moderator system. It was a pleasure serving you guys ... Henry Lee