=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Volume 3, Issue 1 - January 14, 1991 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 PETER BLOMGREN - Peter Blomgren * AIP ALBUM REVIEW - Bill Jackson * AN ALBUM REVIEW ON AIP - Constantinos Caroutas * CHICAGO TRIBUNE AIP ALBUM REVIEW - Felix Ng * SWEDISH AIP ALBUM REVIEW - Peter Blomgren * THE CANADIAN _RECORD_ REVIEWS AIP - Henry Lee * NOMINATIONS FOR BEST ARTICLE - Matthew Jung * WBLI OPEN HOUSE PARTY - Chris Backa * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY ARTICLE - Felix Ng * SONG POLL RESULTS - Matthew Jung * CLOSING REMARKS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES Please send all submissions to ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu and include the word 'SUBMISSION' as the subject. If you do not get a note indicating that we have received your submission within a few days, please remail it. If you are 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 of alternative routings or additional addresses to the destination site. If these attempts fail, then the moderators will forward your email. If you would like back issues (BtL 1.1-1.12 and BtL 2.1-2.11), you may also send requests to ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu and you should get them within a few days. DISCLAIMER : **************************************************************************** This forum does not necessarily reflect the views of Deborah Ann Gibson, Gibson Management Inc. (GMI), 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 moderators - * Matthew Jung : ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu myjung@ucdavis.bitnet * Henry "Hitman" Lee : userhhgc@mtsg.ubc.ca lee@physics.ubc.ca =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= INTRO BY PETER BLOMGREN Peter Blomgren (numf-045@nada.kth.se) Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 15:17:41 +0100 Hello fellow Deborah Gibson Fans! My name is Peter Blomgren (DGIF 5324). I'm currently a sophomore student of {applied} Physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. I've browsed through a couple of the back issues of BETWEEN THE LINES - interesting reading - and I gather that I'm supposed to write some kind of introduction... Well, the first time I came across Debbie was in the summer of '87. I saw SHAKE YOUR LOVE on MTV (Europe) and I liked it from the first moment. I don't know if the album was released in Sweden at that time -- I couldn't find it anywhere. A couple of months later MTV started playing this wonderful song - FOOLISH BEAT (my favourite DG song!). This time I managed to locate the OOTB CD {US import} in an obscure record store. From the moment I put on the CD I was hooked on her music - I listened to it constantly, some days up to six or seven times! I guess I shocked my friends - prior to "seeing the light" I was DEEP into heavy metal. Somewhere along the way I started collecting her records - at first CDs only, but then everything I could get my hands on (which was not very much, since she wasn't - and regrettably isn't - very popular in Sweden). When ELECTRIC YOUTH came out I joined DGIF and, for the first time, got in touch with other Gibson fans. Inevitably(?) I got to know the biggest(?) Debbie-fan in the world -- Jennifer Yeko {see introduction in BTL 2.3}. <<< Hello Jennifer, I know you're reading this >>> As I learned more about Debbie and was able {through penpals} to get more records/merchandise on her, I turned into a Debbie-fanatic {Debaholic?}......... I got ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE {US import CD} on November 14th. The first time I listened to it I was shocked! - It was so different from her previous albums. But now, after having listened to it MANY {close to a hundred, I think} times I like it very much! The use of more REAL instruments - especially drums - lifts this records above OOTB and EY. The experimentation and willingness to try new ideas proves that she's going to be in the music business for a long time. Generally speaking, I prefer her slow songs - the MOOD SWINGS side, except NEGATIVE ENERGY, sends me to heaven. I DO like of the songs on NRG-UP too - My favourites are ANOTHER BRICK FALLS and DEEP DOWN. I hope I'll be able to catch the tour somewhere in the world this time. Last time I couldn't get the Wembley date confirmed until the day after the show... My favourite 3 songs off each album: (in no particular order) Out of the Blue: Electric Youth: Anything is Possible Foolish Beat Lost in Your Eyes Sure Red Hot Silence Speaks One Hand, One Heart Staying Together No More Rhyme Another Brick Falls =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AIP ALBUM REVIEW Bill Jackson (billj@uop.edu) Date: 7 Jan 1991 14:47:35 EST The following is a modification of a letter I recently sent to Deborah listing my recommendations for singles from "Anything is Possible". It was sent in response to the "d.g.i.f. album" survey. I have deleted a few nominations from the list in order to meet the three song limit. Here are my nominations from "Anything is Possible": (*) 1) "Another Brick Falls": Catchy. A "sticks-in-your-head- till-ya-throw-up" type song. My favorite NRG song. 2) "Anything Is Possible": Great song up until she sings "pretty face". Then it just kinda falls apart. 3) "Reverse Psychology": This is my least favorite song on the entire album. The chorus is just too blah and it sounds like she's singing "It works on nerds" instead of "It works my nerves". Not good. 4) "One Step Ahead": Another catchy one. I especially like the "tossing and turning" part. 5) "Stand Your Ground": Good song, but not quite as nice as "One Step Ahead". 6) "Deep Down": Introduction is too "spiritual" for me. But I like the rest of it. It sounds like an "Out of the Blue" song. 7) "It Must've Been My Boy": I like it, but I think it's way too corny for most people. 8) "Lead Them Home My Dreams": Good song, but it's missing something - not sure what. 9) "One Hand, One Heart": Very nice. I really like how her voice comes through on this one. 10) "Sure": Depressing, but I like it anyway. 11) "Negative Energy": Second least favorite song. 12) "Mood Swings": Great lyrics, but it has limited commercial appeal. 13) "Try": If she hadn't repeated the line "Even steel can break" in the introduction, the song would've been perfect! (*) 14) "In His Mind": An eerie song with beautiful lyrics. I love it! (*) 15) "Where Have You Been?": My favorite song on the album. Deb's voice really sounds like she's hurting. It matches the lyrics perfectly. 16) "This So-Called Miracle": Incredible song, but it's just too long to release. DJ's would hate it. (*) my nominations =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AN ALBUM REVIEW ON AIP Constantinos A. Caroutas (cc433336@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 90 12:31:11 MST I have always liked Debbie Gibson's music, but, for reasons I don't care to discuss, I didn't start buying music until the summer of 1989. By that time, ELECTRIC YOUTH was out of the limelight and current stuff attracted my attention. So, when I recently got the ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE CD, it was my first Debbie Gibson album. For the moment, I don't have any plans to obtain her previous two. Below, is a review of the 16 tracks of ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Along with my comments, a grade is included. The best possible is 10. But first, a few overall comments. The length of the album --it clocks 73:35-- is a pleasant surprise. It is truly a CD-length one. This length, however, makes one thankful for the "shuffle" or "random" features of CD players. An item of some discomfort, perhaps, to the listener is Gibson's heavy, or rather, strong breathing. It is not clear if she does that on purpose, or if it is a habit she is not even aware of. But, she should do away from it. Despite the fact that all her male fans (myself included) would love to have her breath in their ears :-) The cover photo is great. But, where is her name? The album title? It feels for a brief moment that they just don't "fit". But then, one sees that they should be included. In small letters, perhaps. The picture on the back cover of the CD booklet is quite flawed. Her left hand, and part of her arm, appear fuzzy --they were not focused properly-- while the rest of her looks crispy. Additionally, the dress she's in does not cut it. Just because it does not cover much, it does not mean it is sexy. A better, more effective dress would be very easy to find. Well, on to the songs now. NRG ^ 1. Another Brick Falls (3:58) 10 Music that is fast and great; it doesn't let the listener take a breath. The subject --life is a continuous struggle-- is simple, but Gibson came up with an ingenious way to present it. The lyrics are witty and a good match to the tune. 2. Anything Is Possible (3:46) 9 The tune is great at the beginning and continues strong, but it weakens at the end. The lyrics are good, but feel insufficient. The title to this song does not feel to be the appropriate. 3. Reverse Psychology (4:27) 7 This one has a lot of percussion, but not enough music to match. The raplike chant part is quite good --both the music and the words. The main body of the song is quite weak lyrically, however. 4. One Step Ahead (4:52) 7 Typical advice on being one step ahead. Nothing really special. Also, the song feels too long. The tune is not bad, but it fails to deliver excitement. 5. Stand Your Ground (3:50) 8 The lyrical content is pretty typical here too. But, the tune is quite perky and catchy. 6. Deep Down (4:53) 8 The subject --love-- is quite common, but the lyrics are not. Good. The music feels typical, however. The opening, gospel-like, part has no place in this song. 7. It Must've Been My Boy (4:20) 10 The most common song subject is love. So, it is no surprise that so many songs fail to stand out. Not this one, though. It stands out not only because of its witty lyrics, but also because of its exciting tune. 8. Lead Them Home My Dreams (5:37) 6 This track feels long. The meaning of the lyrical content is not very clear. Maybe not clear at all. Boring. The accompanying music is quite good, but the tune of the vocals is boring. Mood Swings 9. One Hand, One Heart (4:37) 8 Nothing special wordwise. The music is captivating, however. A good slow song. 10. Sure (4:18) 8 The lyrics are not too bad. The music is quite good. Another good slow song. 11. Negative Energy (3:42) 5 The words are weak and disappointing. The music is disappointing too; with the exception of, perhaps, the music of the chorus. 12. Mood Swings (3:54) 5 A typical love song really. The tune is nothing special either. 13. Try (4:09) 7 Quite touching, but quite weak. The song feels a bit long. 14. In His Mind (3:35) 8 Probably everybody, at one time or another, has thought of what Gibson sings. She expresses it in words quite well. The tune feels intuitively appropriate. 15. Where Have You Been? (6:09) 9 Gibson is successful in using words to describe a charged atmosphere. The emotions that take place are accurately painted into the listener's mind. This song is so strong. The choice of music is almost as good as that of words. It is more than just "moving". 16. This So-Called Miracle (7:28) 10 Words and music paint a picture that's so strong and which feels so real. This song is so sad, so touching, so moving. It is a great and successful effort. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CHICAGO TRIBUNE AIP ALBUM REVIEW Felix Ng (fng@questor.wimsey.bc.ca) Date: Fri, 04 Jan 91 12:50:13 PST The following is a submission from John Shew on Fidonet. I sent him all the back issues of BtL. He should be getting access to a Usenet BBS soon. From: John Shew (Fidonet 1:115/769) Date: 30 Dec 90 The following review appeared in the Chicago Tribune's "Home Entertainment" section on Dec. 13, 1990. Debbie Gibson: Anything Is Possible (Atlantic) Rating: *** of **** Reviewed by Jan DeKnock, Music Editor. "With her first two albums, Gibson established that she was a promising teen perfomer with a precocious ability to write appealing pop melodies. Now all of 20, Gibson is back with "Anything Is Possible," an ambitious, 16-song set that again demonstrates her deft touch with songwriting and production. Although her voice is still a bit too chirpy to sustain interest on its own, Gibson has enough studio smarts to make the dynamics of the song more important than her vocals. And there are plenty of songs on this LP, which leads off with an entire side of dance/funk and flips to a lineup of Gibson's signature ballads (including the gem "One Hand, One Heart"). Among the winners: "One Step Ahead," a sizzling collaboration with club mixmaster Jellybean; the gospel-tinged "Deep Down"; and the current hit "Anything Is Possible," one of several cuts co-produced with Motown legend Lamont Dozier. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SWEDISH AIP ALBUM REVIEW Peter Blomgren (numf-045@nada.kth.se) Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 15:17:41 +0100 Expressen; January 4th, 1991 {Translated from Swedish} DEBBIE GIBSON "Anything is possible" (MCA). Rating: * of ***** Somewhere between "Electric Youth" and "Anything..." innocence, freshness and big-eyed curiosity got lost. "Anything..." reeks of desperate follow-up, long, sweaty studio hours, without pleasure, with the dollar-whip lashing over her back. Unfortunately it seems like New Kids On The Block have taken over Debbie's role as teen-phenomenon entirely. Tragic. - PETER OHMAN ---- NOTE: "MCA" is not a type-in error... This indicates how much - or little - time he used to review the album. (Maybe he still had a New Year's hangover?) It is released on WEA (Warner-Electra-Atlantic) outside the US. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE CANADIAN _RECORD_ REVIEWS AIP Henry Lee (userhhgc@mtsg.ubc.ca) Date: Wed Jan 2 13:47:46 PST 1991 _The Record_ December 3, 1990 (Record) Reviews (Record Pick : one of five this week) DEBBIE GIBSON - Anything Is Possible - Atlantic CD-82167 (Warner) Pop diva Gibson works in a conservative pop style and she's certainly a gifted artist/songwriter/producer. On her third album, she continues to sing about the juvenile themes of last year's _Electric Youth_, but this new set, co-produced by Gibson with Lamont Dozier, Jellybean, and Fred Zarr has considerably more depth. Title track lead-off single is a no-nonsense CHR delight and will likely be followed by _Another Brick Falls_ or _It Must've Been My Boy_. the (sic) uptempo dance tracks are the album's highlights; Gibson is on less solid footing with the numerous ballads. Unnecessary are the 100+ liner credit thanks and personal messages, although the inside cheesecake photo will likely make some male fans' hearts beat a bit faster. (Rating: **** of *****) -------------------------------------- According to Warner Music Canada (from the inside cover full page ad of The Record for Dec 10/90 (pg.2)) CRIA has certified both the OOTB and EY albums at triple platinum. This was also mentioned in the 1/12/91 issue of Billboard on page 65. On that page, there is a photo of Deb, Karen Gibson (sister and manager), and several Warner Music Canada reps. at the Toronto Hard Rock cafe with the CRIA awards. As of the Dec 24/90 issue of The Record (week of Dec 17 to 24), AIP single : Top 75 CHR chart (week 3) #37 / 46 / 58 Top 40 Hits (week 2) #17 / 33 / -- (rack & retail) AIP album : Top 100 Albums (week 6) #58 / 73 (retail) The AIP video single continues in Medium Rotation on the Canadian national music video MuchMusic station. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NOMINATIONS FOR BEST ARTICLE Matthew Jung (ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 22:56:30 PST Thanks to all of you who participated in BtL last year with submissions. Here are the nominations for the best article contest: Ken Mathis BtL 2.3 - Response to Playboy rumour Robert Chesnavich - BtL 2.9 - Intro article Dan Welty - BtL 2.10 - Intro article Robert Chesnavich - BtL 2.10 - AIP album review Jason Harvey - BtL 2.11 - AIP album review Please vote for the article you feel was the best for last year. Send your vote to ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu and Matthew Jung will announce the winners in BtL 3.2. The winner receiving the most votes will receive a color 8x10 of Deborah taken at the 1990 People's Choice Awards. The runner up will win 7-inch vinyl singles of _Out of the Blue_, _Lost in Your Eyes_, and _Shake Your Love_. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= WBLI OPEN HOUSE PARTY Chris Backa (CSC3CSB%HOFSTRA.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 90 12:47 EST The North American Open House Party!! WBLI 12/16/90 Guest: Debbie Gibson Here is a summary of the Questions from callers and Debbie's answers: Topic: New Look People were calling in to tell her they liked her new look, and she looked great in that black outfit in the video. Also, one caller asked her why she changed her look. Debbie said that "... if you take a 16 year old, and then see them at 20 they will look diferent". Another person asked how she picked out the outfit. Debbie said that there is a stylist on the set with a rack of clothes, she said she picked the outfit like anyone else picks clothes, she felt like wearing it. Debbie's last comment on her new look was that "people have an image of me stuck in their head of me on the merry-go-round from "Only in My Dreams". Topic:Skirts She said the that the film got caught up in studio politics. When Sony bought Columbia all scheduled films were put on 'hold'. Hold means 'good as cancelled'. The production team, the actors all went on to other projects. Debbie didn't want to wait and do nothing, so she told them that she was also unavailable, because she was starting production on her third album. Topic:Choosing songs for an album A caller asked her how she decides what makes it onto an album. She said she chooses the songs after she demos them. She feels they should sound good in their most basic form. Topic:Boyfriends Debbie says she does date, but has NO boyfriend now. She also said that with the promotions,tour, and other traveling it is hard to have any sort of relationship. Topic:Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Debbie admitted to seeing a psychic last week. She said that the psychic showed her some funny stuff, but told her absolutly nothing. She would like to keep on doing what she is doing now. She would also like to get married and have a family. Topic:Other forms of entertainment She would like to get back to musical theatre, where she started out when she was five. She would also like to do films. Topic:Tabloids She was reading the GLOBE in the studio, because John Garbeadean(sp), gave it to her. She started to talk about the article on NKOTB. Then she mentioned her experiences: Dating Kirk Cameron(sp), before she ever met him. The truth is that she met him once on the set of Growing Pains, along with the whole cast. The tabloids went on to say that she left Kirk for Freddie Jackson because she wanted a real man. She said the only thing they did was record one song for her new album. She also mentioned the Tiffany Voodoo Doll. Topic:The Tour Starts in late January in SE Asia-Japan-Austrailia and then to the US in early March, late Febuary. Topic: Arsenio Hall ***She will be on his show sometime in January!!!!**** Topic: Music Controversies Madonna:She hasn't seen the video, but she feels that we can't blame Madonna, but society because that's what they want to see. She also couldn't beleive that Nightline had Madonna on when where almost on the brink of war in Saudi Arabia. Milli Vanilli: She was picking on them all night. Vanilla Ice: She was picking on him too, for his false image. Debbie has written a song about all the controversy that has happened in music this year. She called the song: "Does Music Shape the World or Does the World Shape the Music." The DJ's were teasing Debbie for eating their chocolates and Donuts. Topic:Next door Neighbors Include: Talyor Dayne, Twisted Sister, and Mariah Carey's producer. End of Interview ---------------------------- *If I new about this a lot earilier, and I was home, my friend and I could have gone down to WBLI, their studio is 20 minutes away from where I live. -Chris =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY ARTICLE Felix Ng (fng@questor.wimsey.bc.ca) Date: Tue, 25 Dec 90 12:12:02 PST >From _Entertainment Weekly_ December 21, 1990 THAT GIBSON GIRL page 24 COPIED VERBATIM WITHOUT PERMISSION DEBBIE GIBSON, GLAMOROUS AT LAST, WANTS YOU TO KNOW SHE'S STILL, LIKE, A REGULAR GIRL By Linda Sanders DEBBIE GIBSON'S HOUSE IS very, very white. I don't mean Debbie's old house, the amazingly normal one in Merrick where she spent her adolescence doing amazingly normal things like going to school and hanging out with her friends and releasing double- and triple-platinum albums and becoming the idol of millions of teens and preteens. I mean Debbie's much more secluded *new* house on Long Island, part star abode and part command center for the Debbie industry, where production and promotion people run in and out all day and where Debbie lives with her mom and younger sister and hopes that her new album, _Anything Is Possible_, will go platinum too, now that she's an amazingly normal young woman of 20. "Hi!" she greets us at the door, her hair in a towel and her pretty face scrubbed clean. We're barely inside when all three Gibson dogs come romping in, wiggling and wagging and leaping and making everything fun and normal. "This is Gingersnap, and this is Diega, and this," laughs Debbie, holding up an ancient and impassive weenie dog, "is Sam! Oh, and Mel, you have to meet Mel!" she says, running upstairs. She's back in a minute with a little yellow cockatiel. "This is Mel," she says drolly. "Mel Gibson." And then --- *poof!* --- she's gone, hurrying away to dress for the photo session scheduled to begin a scant two hours from now. As I'm sitting on a pink leather sofa that matches the acre or two of pink blush carpet, watching Debbie's new home video and trying to convince Gingersnap not to eat Mel, a well-dressed, rather tense-looking woman in her 40s sits down and we start to chat. "The thing I'm proudest of," she says, "is that Deborah is very much her own person." Since no one would be likely to say such a thing except her manager or her mother, it's pretty easy to figure out that this is Diane Gibson, who's both. Anyone familiar with the Debbie legend knows that her mom (recently separated from Debbie's dad, a customer-service representative for TWA) is no stereotypical pushy stage mother, it was *Debbie* who knew that she wanted to be a performer by the time she was 5, a tot savant destined to become, at 17, the youngest human ever to write, produce and perform a No.1 single. Diane has merely done whatever it takes to make it happen, from chasing down a professional manager when her daughter was 12 to replacing that manager with herself in 1988, reportedly after a good many disputes over his desire to "package" Debbie. "I don't believe in the `package,'" Diane says, and as she's talking about the importance of freedom to the young creative mind, a teenage boy dressed in black comes loping down the stairs. "This is Chris Cuevas," she says, smiling happily, and explains that he's a young man from Mississippi ("good solid upbringing") who's been staying at the Gibson house while he uses its state-of-the-art studio to record his debut album. How nice, another young performer. "Oh, we're working with 12 of them at the moment," she says proudly. It seems Diane has expanded her management activities beyond her daughter to include other deserving performers Debbie's age or even younger. "The youngest is 12," she says. Then she suggests with some firmness that we adjourn to the studio to *hear* Chris' new album. Several people join us there, including Debbie's grandparents, the Pustizzis---she in sensible shoes, he in one of those winter hats with earflaps grandpas everywhere wear---solid folk you wouldn't associate with the slick frisky dance music coming out of the speakers. Soon Diane Gibson remarks, to no one in particular, "Gee, Chris is usually dancing all over the place when he puts this music on." Nothing happens, so she says it again and this time he starts to dance and lip-synch like the pro he already is. She beams, and the Pustizzis beam, and the rest of us beam, just like a normal happy family watching one of the kids play "America the Beautiful" on the ocarina. And later, as I'm looking over the rest of the premises, with the pool and security cameras, the classic T-bird and the new tennis court, fat old Sam the weenie dog waddles over to get his ears scratched. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. "I DON'T FEEL LIKE I've made this great leap from child to adult," says Debbie, sitting on her mom's bed a few hours later in the only quiet room in the house. "I hate to dwell on it because people will just think I'm trying to tell them, Look, I've grown up! That could come across really cheesy." Cheesy is not a word that Deborah Ann Gibson evokes. She still has a cute lisp, still lapses into Long Island locutions, as in "they were real sarcastic wit' me." But behind her steady, slightly wary gaze are a lucidity and intelligence that inspire respect, a self-possession that isn't in the same league with your basic ingenue poise. Which is not to say she's candid, exactly. As an amazingly normal teen role model, she seems compelled to answer questions in politician-like sound bites: "If it's squeaky clean not to do drugs, drink, or smoke, well, I don't do those things. But that doesn't make me a wimp." The difference is that if you confront her with a brassy, obnoxious question, she's got the guts to answer---as she does when I ask if, now that she's no longer a teen, she still says she doesn't believe in premarital sex. "I still say it," she says, lifting her chin. "And do you still live it?" "I still live it!" she laughs, volume rising. "You're getting really personal there!" "I suggest that "no comment" is always an option. "No, I'll be honest about it because I've never been in love with anybody really, and I'm the kind of person, I couldn't even *imagine* fooling around with this one or that one. I heard you guys talking about _Playboy_ before, and no, I'm not posing for _Playboy either!" I assure her I had just been kidding her publicist, but this is not a girl to leave any loose ends. "It's so funny," she goes on with a laugh, "because I'm always, like, I don't want to sit in this outfit because my body doesn't look good. I'm not about to take off my clothes for strangers, no thank you." We chuckle, then I ask her if she's felt patronized because of her age. "That was what the whole song `Electric Youth' was about," she says dryly, not sparing me from the lameness of my question in light of the gigantic popularity of her anthem to youthful achievement and deftly paying me back for the sex stuff. Clearly the press isn't going to have Debbie Gibson to kick around anymore, though Lord knows it has. What about that _Spy_ magazine promo, I ask her, in which rock industry types responded to the question "What do you think Debbie Gibson will be doing in 20 years?" and the answers ranged from "She may be a real estate dealer for Century 21" to "They'll still be debating whether she was pushed from that building or jumped"? "Oh, pleeease," she says, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I *know* I'll never jump, you know? So when people speculate, I think, they don't really know anything about me. I just find that all funny." Hardly anyone remains the darling of pubescent America on a permanent basis, however, so what *does* she want to be doing in 20 years? "I want to do both film *and* theater," she says enthusiastically, as if adults hadn't been asking her that question since she was old enough to talk. "I want to be the best all-around performer I can be. You just have to keep getting better and better, and I think that's how I'll overcome the teen label and make that transition." She pauses. "I realize that the second you stop working at it someone's gonna sneak up from behind you and pass you right by." She says this twice during our talk, and by the second time I'm involuntarily looking over my shoulder; waiting for a horde of teenage pop sensations to stampede into Mom's room. (In this house, it could happen.) To judge from her new album, she *is* getting better and better. But will it be enough? Doesn't conventional record industry wisdom hold that *everyone* over 15 is too cool to listen to her music? Is it going to be Hollywood for Debbie? Or Century 21? AN HOUR LATER I'm returning to Manhattan on a train from hell. Somehow I've gotten stuck in a car packed with what appears to be every heavy metal fan on Long Island, headed into town for a Kiss concert. It's so bad the conductor doesn't have the nerve to enter this car and collect our fares. Mangy and sullen, reeking of cigarettes, Bud, and Clearasil, these kids are everything Debbie Gibson could have become, but didn't; everything, you might say, that Debbie Gibson was put on this earth to try to prevent. But they're polite, too, as proven by the fact that when couple of guys realize they're spilling beer in my lap, they stop. Then they ask what I'm writing in that notebook, like, am I a reporter or something? With visions of inciting an orgy of mass ridicule, I tell them I'm writing a piece about...*Debbie Gibson*. "DEBBIE GIBSON!" squeals one little big-haired girl next to me. "You mean you've *met* her and everything?" I stare. "You mean you *like* her?" "Yeah, she's okay," says one of the guys who'd spilled the beer. "Debbie Gibson. She's a babe." So much for the conventional wisdom of the record industry. The babe's headed for Hollywood. >From _Entertainment Weekly_ December 21, 1990 Youthful N-R-G page 27 COPIED VERBATIM WITHOUT PERMISSION By Gina Arnold GIVEN HER HISTORY as a quick study, it shouldn't come as any surprise that Debbie Gibson's third record, _ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE_ (Atlantic;CD ,T), is a more polished work than her vibrant debut, _Out of the Blue_, or her brasher follow-up, _Electric Youth_. What she's lost in raw teen energy she's gained in musical assurance, and a little bit of help from Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier (who collaborated on hits for, among others, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, and Marvin Gaye) sure hasn't hurt. Gibson doesn't seem to have been influenced much by big-selling modern rock bands like U2, Bon Jovi, or the Cure; nor is she a big R&B fan, like her rival/ peer Tiffany. But she does draw on sources that are nearer to the hearts of her generation than to those of her avowed musical heroes, Elton John and Billy Joel. She has a full command of synth-driven, forget-yourself- on-the-dance-floor idiom, for instance, and in a couple of numbers even dips into a white-bread form of New Kids-like rap. _Anything Is Possible_ doesn't have a single as infectiously Madonna- esque as Gibson's 1987 hit "Shake Your Love." But the high-energy title cut (or "hi N-R-G," as Gibson enthusiastically labels it in the lyric sheet) and the equally positive "Another Brick Falls" come close, while the buoyant "One Step Ahead," with its chorus of "Don't calm down/bring the energy up," is made to order for aerobics classes nationwide. Still, Gibson's talents are far more imitative than innovative. And since her musical inspirations are the least challenging pop tunesmiths, the result is music that has more conviction---Gibson is nothing if not earnest---than depth; Gibson believes implicitly in the power of positive thinking. But beyond a bouncy injunction against "negative N-R-G" and advice like "when life really kicks/learn to catch those falling bricks!" her opinions aren't earthshaking. That's especially true on the ballads--- all lassoed together on what she calls "the mood swing" half of the album---where lyrics like "the only police are in your mind" and "I put all the bad things like money far lower on the list than pride" come off as preachy. Clearly Gibson means well; her advice just isn't very meaningful. But if she gets a little more emotional experience, a little more insight about life and how to live it---and a slightly bigger record collection--- anything really may be possible. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SONG POLL RESULTS Matthew Jung (ez000018@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu) Date: Mon, 14 Jan 91 00:00:00 PST Thanks to all who participated in our most successful poll ever. Twenty members voted for total of 60 votes. The votes were restricted to the tracks off the _Anything is Possible_ album and each vote was given equal weight: SONG VOTES ---- ----- One Hand, One Heart 13 Another Brick Falls 11 Sure 7 This So-Called Miracle 6 Where Have You Been? 5 It Must Have Been My Boy 5 One Step Ahead 3 In His Mind 3 Deep Down 2 Try 2 Reverse Psychology 1 Negative Energy 1 Anything is Possible 1 _Stand Your Ground_, _Lead Them Home My Dreams_, and _Mood Swings_ did not receive any votes. _One Hand, One Heart_ was clearly in the lead from the beginning and remained so until the end. It is interesting to note that the first single off the album, _Anything is Possible_, only received one vote. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q. Constantinos A. Caroutas (cc433336@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu) The cover photo is great. But, where is her name? The album title? It feels for a brief moment that they just don't "fit". But then, one sees that they should be included. In small letters, perhaps. A. This is a good question. The Canadian version of the CD has the name of the album on the bottom left cover of the linear notes, but ones made in the United States do not. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CLOSING REMARKS Deborah will be embarking on her world tour very soon. If you see her show, please tell the rest of us about it. This should be a great year for BtL with all your reviews of Deb in concert. According to last week's Billboard, for week ending January 12, 1991, _Anything is Possible_ is at number 26 with a bullet on the HOT 100 SINGLES chart. Since the last issue of BTL, the _Anything is Possible_ album has gone GOLD (RIAA sales of 500,000 units). Unfortunately, the album falls to #61 on the TOP POP ALBUMS chart. It is time to set that VCR again. Deb will be on Arsenio Hall this week. If it is like the previous appearances, you will certainly not want to miss this one. Thanks again to all our watchdogs out there who keep us up to date with Deborah's television appearances. Again, please vote for the best BtL article of volume II. BtL 3.2 will be released in about one month so you have until then to get your vote in.