=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Volume 2, Issue 6 - August 31, 1990 DDDDD D D D D GGGG D D G DDDDD G GGG G G GGG A Debbie Gibson Discussion Forum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CONTENTS * ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES * INTRO BY CHRISTIAN WALTERS * INTRO BY GEORGE STAMATOPOULOS * MORE TABLOID RUBBISH FROM STAR * THE LATEST FROM DGIF * MORE ABOUT DGIF 2.4 * MERCHANDISE UPDATE * QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS * CLOSING REMARKS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES For those of you who are returning to your respective college campuses, welcome back. If for some reason, you did not receive the issues released during the summer, please send email to ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu and someone will send them to you promptly. If you're attempting to reach another BtL member by email 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 the destination site. If these attempts fail, then the moderators will forward your email. We at BtL are always watching the media. However, we sometimes miss things. So, if you see Deborah in a magazine article or if you know she will be on TV more than 48 hours in advance, please notify one of the moderators so he will be able to send an immediate release out to inform other BTL members. Without submissions, monthly issues wouldn't be possible. Please send all submissions to ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu and keep each line within 78 characters in length. If you do not get a note indicating that we have received your submission within a few days, please remail you submission. The anonymous FTP site at bullwinkle is not operating due to the recent upgrades. Please do not put any GIF files there until further notice. 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 11566 Currently, the initial membership fee is $15. The annual membership renewal fee is $10 for those in the U.S. and $12 for those outside the U.S. **************************************************************************** BtL's Triumvirate - * Steve "Plastic" Burstall : hnr_443854@emunix.emich.edu * Matthew Jung : ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu myjung@ucdavis.bitnet * Henry "Hitman" Lee : userhlee@cc.sfu.ca userhlee@sfu.bitnet =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AN INTRODUCTION TO BETWEEN THE LINES Christian Walters (cwalters@ducvax.auburn.edu) Hi, all! My name's Christian Walters and I'm here to tell you all about my experiences with learning about Debbie Gibson's music. I guess it was about four years ago. I had become increasingly dissatisfied with the typical stuff being performed on the radio and on MTV, such as heavy metal and "glam rock." (Rap hadn't gotten so big yet, thankfully.. ah, the good ol' days.) I immersed myself in older rock music, what some people call "classic rock." Jethro Tull, Yes, ELP, and others of their ilk. I stayed away from Top 40 music for the most part, with the exception of Billy Joel, Journey, and Kansas. All was right with the world. There is a problem with listening to old music - they're not making any more of it. After awhile, I had all the Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, and Yes that was available, and could sing along with entire albums from memory. As good as that music is, it can still become stagnant if it's the sum of all you hear. I tried looking around for some kind of music that I would enjoy just as much, but had yet to explore. That's when I ran in to the video for "Out Of The Blue." If I remember right, I first heard of Debbie Gibson at around the same time I heard of Tiffany, and my mind equated the two without having heard the music of either. Unfortunately, I heard a Tiffany-remake of a Beatles song first, and I was ready to throw out Tiffany and Debbie and whoever else I lumped in that crowd. (I was much younger and much less tolerant back then :)) I finally saw "Out Of The Blue" on MTV, and I have to admit my first reaction was "damn, she's cute!" Then, after a minute or so, it was "hey! she's cute and can sing!" By the end of the video, it was "Wow! She's cute, she sings, and she plays keyboard!" A VJ popped on at that point, and said something like "That was 'Out of The Blue' written and performed by Debbie Gibson." Naturally, I thought "she's cute, she sings, she plays keyboard, and she writes her own music!" THEN the other shoe fell - the VJ said something about Debbie being 16. "Man! She's cute, she sings, she plays keyboard, she writes her own music, and she's barely old enough to drive!" What attracted me to her material was not so much the songs themselves (although they were good), but her amazing potential. She hadn't developed the musicality or the technique on the keyboard that people like Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson had, or the lyrical abilities of people such as Ian Anderson or Roger Waters, but the groundwork was all there. I doubt any of those other people were turning out music like Debbie's when they were 16. What I felt I had stumbled on to was an artist close to my own age that could reach enormous heights if she kept pushing herself beyond whatever limits she thought she had. I still listen to all the old stuff, but I see in Debbie the promise of fresher, ever-growing music. I hope she keeps it up. - Christian Walters cwalters@ducvax.auburn.edu =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= INTRO FROM DOWN UNDER George Stamatopoulos (lgeorge@insted.unimelb.edu.au) The first time I noticed DG was when I saw the Foolish Beat video on tv... It broke my heart and I was instantly in love with this kid's music... I had to find out more about her... Unfortunately, there was no where to look. Some time later EY was released... I heard her name again, and thought "ah, not this time my pretty..." and grabbed the cd. What did I think of it, well I went out the next day and bought "OOTB" :) I do prefer the first one better than the second one, but that's only cause Foolish Beat is on it... but my second best song is "Silence Speaks (a thousand words)". I was at this time that my sister wanted to know who this girl was whose CDs I was playing day in day out so I told her... [I'm so glad CDs don't wear out... or I'd have to buy a couple of them :)] She instantly became a fan after I filled a tape for her. I have managed to track down ALL of the 12" that made it here to Australia, but that's not many... Thanks to other BtLers I have more info to go on... thanks for that... actually, listing that sort of stuff and including catalog numbers is VERY helpful... 'an importing we will go...' :) I work for two of Melbourne's biggest universities... La Trobe University [officially] and Melbourne University [unofficially]... I work with computers, and am a qualified math/computer teacher. I am also one of many systems programmers on our network... I work with VAX VMS machines and Apple Macintoshes. I heard about this forum on rec.music.misc. I am the newsbase manager for this site, and so I get to know about ALL the groups :) I noticed r.m.m some time ago and have been on it ever since... Actually [ironic] what drew me to r.m.m was that someone who read it saw that they said that DG was going to pose nude in Playboy... He asked me to check it out, knowing that I was a fan... of course it was not true, but it got me into r.m.m. Then, last week [we have had a problem with our news feed, sorry people] there was a message about the latest BtL being released... Being the curious type I figured 'whats BtL???' So I read the message... hmm, sounds good... nice idea... then WHAM!!! DEBBIE GIBSON!!!! who? where? when? NOONE, but noone EVER talks about DG.. I had to get more info... So I replied to it... And, well, a few days later, I log on to find no less than 19 messages from the moderator... [back issues] Last night I finally got to read them all... packed full of info... The one that that separates this from anything else I've seen [besides r.m.m] is that we actually have the opportunity to discuss things we have in common. I heard mention of you deciding to type in the autobiography, and asking for people to type in various pages... if that is not illegal [might be] and I get a copy of this book, I could use our computers to translate it to a document for you all... OCR technology is great fun... of course the pickies couldn't be done... but I'm willing. I have been told that I am the second person from Aus to join the forum, that doesn't surprise me. Who/Where is the first??? Luv to talk to them. Also, someone mentioned some GIF format pictures of DG, where can I get them from? I'm sure I've bored you all beyond recovery, sorry, so I'll finish up. I'm very glad I found out about BtL, and look forward to participating in future polls/articles/discussions... Stay happy... Bye from Aus =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MORE RUMORS TO DISPEL Matthew Jung (ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) [article from Star copied verbatim without permission] POP SWEETIE DEBBIE GIBSON, 19, DATES R & B SINGER, 31 Pop singer Debbie Gibson is experiencing her first grown-up love with black R & B artist Freddie Jackson - and her parents are hopping mad. The 19-year-old songstress first met the 31-year-old rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter at a recent benefit dinner in New York. Since then, they've been spending all their free time together. "Debbie's parents do not approve of the match at all," says an insider. "Five years ago, they could have locked Debbie in her room or whisked her away to the country. But they can't do that anymore. She's an adult now. "Her parents fear what this relationship could do to Debbie's good-girl image. They are afraid that Debbie will end up with a broken heart, and that Freddie's taking her for a ride. He's so much more experienced than she. "Debbie first shocked her parents a couple of months ago by declaring she wanted to pose nude for Playboy, just to get some exposure. But by dating a much older man, Debbie had topped even that." The couple have been spotted riding together on Freddie's moped around Long Island. Their interracial relationship and wide age gap have raised eyebrows, but they turn a deaf ear to criticism. Debbie's newfound romance seems to have transformed her from a teenager with pigtails into a mature woman. "Debbie is absolutely beaming these days. You can tell by her voice that she's in love," says a friend. "Debbie has given up dating boys like Kirk Cameron, who ended up dumping his Growing Pains co-star, Chelsea Noble," the friend adds. "After all she's had to go through with young boys, Debbie is ready for a real man." Change is also apparent in Jackson. "Freddie has a lot more energy these days," the insider says. "He dresses younger, in trendy sweaters. Debbie has taught him how to be young and carefree again." +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The unfortunate aspect of growing up is that Deborah becomes more of a juicy target for the tabloids. She had her first major taste of this when Star printed an article about Deborah wanting to pose nude for Playboy (discussed in BtL issue 2.3). Now Star continues to propagate rumors in the article above. According to the latest issue of DGIF, Freddie Jackson did backup vocals for Deborah. We can now deduce how this rumor began. Tabloids, like the Star, will probably continue to create fictional romances involving Deborah until she finds herself a boyfriend. Alas, such rumors spread like wildfire anyway. Ivo Kroone found out about this early in August on CeeFax (teletext system in Holland). This latest rumor probably won't cause a stir like the Playboy rumor, but deserves a little space in BtL for the benefit of setting the facts straight. Like Deborah said in the last issue of DGIF, if it is not mentioned in DGIF, then don't believe it. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE LATEST ... FROM THE FOLKS AT DGIF Henry Lee (userhlee@cc.sfu.ca) By far the most "professional-looking" of all the DGIF newsletters thus far, DGIF Vol. II No. 4 was entitled "Special Environmental Issue" with a photograph of Deborah at the piano at "Earth 90" (June 2) from the Brooklyn Academy of Music on the front cover. Also included in the package sent to new & continuing DGIF members were : * "A special one-time offer" DGIF "Official Member" T-shirt exclusive only to DGIF members. * A colour poster exclusive to DGIF members with the greet : ``To all my D.G.I.F. fans - With lots of love and thanks Always ... Debbie'' Aesthetically speaking, it was great to see a Table of Contents and pages that were numbered (finally!). However, getting to the good stuff, the newsletter addresses : * Her birthday to those who didn't already know ... time to welcome her to her 3rd decade this Friday. * Her 3rd album is "scheduled for release in November" and that "her next video compilation should be in stores by the end of the summer." Keep your fingers crossed ... She also has a couple of her own handwritten letters addressed to the members at-large including her rather strong (and vocal) rebuttal of "that Playboy rumour". Personally, it was nice to have seen her talk about this and just let her own words squash it and let it to rest at long last. Of special note, a BtL member, Eric Boe, who introduced himself to us in BtL 2 #4 (June 90) has his own question about the "postponement of ``Skirts''" answered in the "Questions and Answers" section of DGIF!!! (Congrats, Eric!) There is an article on Barry Lather, who choreographed the "Electric Youth" video (as well as videos for Karyn White, Sting and Prince plus tours for Sting & George Michael). As well, Lather has done work on "Captain EO" with Michael Jackson and won an MTV & Billboard awards for "The Pleasure Principle" by Janet Jackson. His musical tastes lean on pop/funk/r&b and the first single "Love in the 3rd Degree" from the debut album "Turn Me Loose" is supposed to be out on Atlantic Records this summer. (Why do I get the feeling that he's supposed to be the male analogue to Paula Abdul ????) For those of us who just can never seem to lack for a good photograph of Deborah, there is an especially gorgeous picture (albeit black and white) of Deborah standing next to a window. The back cover photograph of her in black and wearing jeans at a piano in a "studio setting" looks awfully familiar somehow ... To end (as it also does in the newsletter), here's "Deb's Fashion Pick of the Month" : ``Fashion should reflect your attitudes. Wear a blue ribbon for racial unity.'' =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= DGIF 2.4 Ken Mathis (mathis@handel.cs.colostate.edu) About the issue... This one isn't color, at least mine isn't. It does seem to be better organized though. It has a table of contents which I don't remember seeing before. They also say that Deb's "next video compilation" should be in stores by the end of summer, and that her new album is scheduled to be released in November. I did notice that the pictures on pages 5, 17, and the back cover look VERY NICE. Especially 17 and the back cover. Deb sure is beginning to look like a woman, and what a woman she is!!! :-) Also included was the color poster, approx 18x24 - horizontal. Unfortunately I think it's one of the worst shots of Deb I have ever seen. Since I've seen her looking better I can put up with the picture, but for someone seeing her for the first time they will probably get a bad first impression. I don't think I'll put this one up in my apartment this year. Descript. of poster: I can't tell what the surroundings are, the picture is too blurry to make them out. It sort of looks like she's sitting on some wood stairs. Her face is in the center of the picture, and very grainy. Her hair is also pretty messy, the back looks like she tried to tie it in a knot. If you look just at the face you can see the real Deb, but taking in the whole picture detracts so much. This is, of course, just my humble opinion. It also sucks that they had to fold the poster, creasing her face two ways. The T-Shirt offer is there as well. They cost $15.00 inside the US, and only come in adult X-Large. They say that the offer is good "While supplies last." The front has the DGIF logo in the top left corner and the back has a "full color" picture of Deb standing with her feet together, hands raised, and head down, wearing a baseball cap. Since I usually wear out my T-Shirts I'll order 2, just in case. One note about the T-Shirts, the orders must be postmarked by Sept 21, 1990. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AN UPDATE ON THE CURRENT MERCHANDISE AVAILABLE Matthew Jung (ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Landmark is supposed to have a new Debbie Gibson 1991 calendar which might be available now. It should sell for $10.95, so check the stores. Natural Wonder is now marketing eye makeup under the Electric Youth line. They are also producing two different Electric Youth perfumes. The original has been labeled Hot Pink, while the new one is called Mellow Yellow. Just in time for school, Rock Express has made available Debbie Gibson folders. These folders have a painted picture of Deborah similar to the photo of the "Lost in Your Eyes" single, except she is smiling. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q: George Stamatopoulos (lgeorge@insted.unimelb.edu.au) Also, someone mentioned some GIF format pictures of DG, where can I get them from? A: Bullwinkle used to be an anonymous FTP site which had a GIF file of DG, but as indicated in the ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES, it is not functioning properly due to upgrades. Ask Michael Scheele (pershing@athena.mit.edu) since he has some GIF files of Deborah. Q: Matthew Jung (ccs013@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Has anyone seen any of the commercials Deborah has done earlier? Also, was anyone able to record off radio the Christmas song that Deborah sung with her father? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CLOSING REMARKS Matthew Jung (ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Since several members are just returning from summer break, and weren't aware of the contest that was going on, we have decided to extend it until the end of the year. We have this lovely color 8x10 of Deborah in a football jersey taken back in late 1987. At the end of the year, the submission judged by the moderators as the best (moderator authored articles exempt of course) will win this prize. With her album and videotape coming up, there should be plenty of topics to write on. A few changes will occur starting with the next issue. Instead of rotating the moderatorship between the three moderators for two issues a piece, we will centralize the work at one site. We should be able to get issues out at least every month like we have since creating the triumvirate. If enough material is generated, like it was during the release of the Electric Youth album, then we might even temporarily revert back to sending issues out every two weeks. Please participate in Steve's poll. Would you like Deborah's next album to be a double or not? Simple yes or no answers can be sent via email to hnr_443854@emunix.emich.edu and Steve will compile the results for an upcoming issue; he will also be sending the results to Deb. The poll closes at the end of September so please get your votes in. HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY DEBORAH!!!