=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Volume 4, Issue 3 - March 1, 1992 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 JOHN SMEH - John Smeh DEBORAH TRIES HER HAND ON TV - Steve Burstall STREET JUSTICE REVIEW - Matthew Jung ATLANTIC CITY REVIEWS - Ray Wilmott DG IN LES MIZ AND IN ATLANTIC CITY - Patrick Colcord INTERVIEW - Stephen Chan DEBBIE GIBSON ALMANAC - Jonathan Bradshaw QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CLOSING REMARKS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= 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) or Possibilities Publishing (ASCAP). Between the Lines operates on a non-profit basis. Distribution is permissible only under the condition that no part of it will be used for profit. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES =- Greetings BtL members! We'd like to say "thanks" to all who have submitted articles. It has been about three years since Debbie Gibson has had a top ten hit, yet BtL continues to thrive with the support of her fans. In fact, this is the largest BtL issue since BtL 1.10. The next few months may be kind of slow if Deborah indeed performs with the London ensemble of Les Miserables. We've been through such dry spells before in volume II so once again, we are going to ask you to help us maintain the quality of BtL which everyone has come to expect. There are still plenty of things to write about which have never been addressed such as the "One Step Ahead" promotional CD, etc. Before you submit your articles, please proofread them. As the BtL issues grew larger during 1991, we've experienced more problems editing submissions. Please remember that about 150 people are receiving BtL directly via email and our readership is probably much larger than that. We are not asking for Associated Press or Newsweek quality articles, but please submit us something that you would be proud to present to your boss or professor. Please keep your articles original. If you intend to transcribe an article from a magazine or newspaper, please notify Matthew Jung first before proceeding. He and the rest of the moderators will decide whether it is appropriate to include such submissions for BtL. To submit articles, please email them to Matthew Jung. We reserve the right to edit submissions. To submit articles by postal mail, please send them to: BETWEEN THE LINES c/o Felix Ng 2137 Qualicum Drive Vancouver, B.C. V5P 2M3 CANADA You may also submit articles on floppy disks (3.5" or 5.25" double or high density) by mailing them to the above address. Disks must be in MS-DOS and ASCII format. It is especially important for authors of such articles to proofread their work since we don't have an easy way of contacting them. To submit articles by Fax please call: Fax: (604) 322-5936 BtL is now available through postal mail for the cost of postage and paper. Rates are subject to change since some BtL issues can be twice as long as others. Canada $1.25 Cdn. United States $1.30 U.S. International $2.50 Cdn. Please make a cheque or money order payable to Felix Ng and mail it to the postal address mentioned above. We are not responsible for cash lost or stolen in the mail. -= BtL moderators =- Matthew Jung : ez000018@hamlet.ucdavis.edu mjung@bloom.ucdavis.edu myjung@ucdavis.bitnet Sandy Chen : ez003229@othello.ucdavis.edu Felix Ng : a1430001@bcit.bitnet Samuel Lau : laus@cpsc.ucalgary.ca =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= INTRO BY JOHN SMEH =- John Smeh (Melbourne, Australia) February 11, 1992 Hello people. I just stumbled upon the BtL area on cs.uwp.edu on one of my journeys through FTP-land. At last I have found some people who like Debbie Gibson as much as I do (a rare event here in Australia). You lot are doing a great job! Now I might explain why I am writing this via post. The main reason is that my university is somewhat stupid in their computer networks. We can play around all we like on certain parts (well, until someone does something stupid), but we can't get access to UNIX (officially anyway). So our solution is to find ways around this inconvenience. We can now Telnet and FTP but we cannot send mail. So if anyone would like to help me get a mail account anywhere, it would be appreciated (I am testing what is hopefully a "real" mail system out; try to send me mail at: John.Smeh@bbs.oit.unc.edu). So, enough of the pains of networking. A little about myself then.... Well, if you haven't guessed by now, my name is John. I am 20 and at university here in Melbourne. I am studying Applied Physics and Computing (I'm somewhere between my 2nd & 3rd year [final year]) and just finished the Diploma of the same course. The first time I heard Deb was on American Top 40 something like five years ago. I thought she sounded ok. The next day, I was in a record store and decided to look her up. 'WHOOOOAAAA' was my reaction at seeing the cover of _Out of the Blue_...... Well after buying it one second later, and hours of listening, I was an addict. Fortunately in 1989, Ms. Gibson decided to tour here and boy, did I have a great time! First off, a friend and I got into the Entertainment Centre two days before the concert while they were still setting up. How you may ask? Walk fast behind the BIG security guard. We were on the floor next to the mixing gear for about ten minutes before anyone noticed us. So, we politely exited. Later, I found out Deb was shopping on the other side of Melbourne that day; ah well. I got home, turned on the TV, and behold, an advertisement for a national music program wanting an audience for the next day where she was supposed to appear. No need to guess that the next day at 9:00am, I had gotten tickets (good value for under $5). The show was Countdown Revolution (now axed) and was being recorded at a nightclub called The Metro. It was supposed to start at 6:30pm. So my friend and I spent most of the day in the city. At about 2:00pm, I dragged him (he's not a Deb fan) towards The Metro. Picture this: Traffic lights; long white limo runs a red light in front of us heading for the club. I had no idea who could have been in the limo, but being a dedicated fan.... ran three blocks up-hill, just in case, to the side entrance to The Metro. I arrive just as the limo manages to squeeze into the lane and stop. (My friend is still a half a block away at this time) I'm out of breath, panting like crazy, can't talk. By this time, about four other people notice what is going on and run for the limo. The HUGE bodyguard holds us back as Debbie and her mother get out of the limo. Someone (road manager ??) says that Deb has to go practice and tries to get her inside (at this point I'm still breathless). Debbie decides to stop and sign autographs (AMEN! There is a God!). The other people push past the bodyguard and get to her first; they got an autograph and picture taken. Next she noticed me looking like a breathless tomato. And once again luck prevails; I happened to have a pen and a piece of computer paper in my pocket (I knew my computer would be useful some day). Deb asks me my name, I manage to say it somehow (mind you all, running then suddenly meeting my idol didn't help my heart rate). She signed it to "Jammin' John," and I said hello to her mother (Her mother didn't seem to mind us being there at all, yet alone what was to follow later on... which makes me disappointed at the thought of the "No Meet and Greet" policy.) My friend arrives by this time. So we decide to wait for the show to get a good position. After a line stretched halfway down the block, they finally let us in. And lucky us, we were the only ones up the front of the line with pre-paid tickets; so we grab a place up the front opposite to where the small stages' entrance was. They had two short catwalks on both sides of the stage. We were on the right. At 7:30pm, they finally started recording the program. Now imagine about 200-300 people crammed in so that there was only standing room (more like squashing room) and waiting for 3 hours (and that was just inside). Not a pretty sight. I never thought there would be so many people. Then we found out why; a "few" people were there to see the "Runaway Horse.." herself Belinda Carlisle (you'll know why I say that soon enough). First, she acts like a bigshot, and then proceeds to ignore her fans! And what gets me most, she didn't care about anyone but herself. Some people bothered to bring her cards and the like, she ignored them. She just went and mimed two songs and in the so called "dance" routines, managed to step on some fingers - some people nearby and MINE! Then she just left in huff. After what seemed an eternity of stupid videos to calm us down (You see, here in Melbourne, we are enthusiastic audiences. Judging my Deb videos, American audiences are tame), finally, at about 8:30pm, Debbie made her entrance (with her mother watching in the shadows). She spends about a half an hour just signing autographs on her way from the door to the stage (a distance of a few metres). While she is doing this, the band comes out and, while looking amused, set up their instruments. Mind you, none of them were plugged in, so we guessed it would be a mime act. Following was a dismal interview where the most probing question was something like "How are you liking Australia?" Even the interviewer was nervous; he had to ask a few questions twice! I have never seen more people laugh at one person before! Deb spent most of the interview waving at the audience. Her hair and outfit were like from the "We Could Be Together" video (i.e. leather jacket). Finally, they asked us to be quiet so they could start recording the "performance." As the band and Debbie got ready, Debbie notices one thing missing - her microphone. Then the first song they did (from memory) was "Electric Youth." And to my surprise, she spent most of the time on the catwalk where we were at. And I, being the tallest person there, had a GREAT time. Not to mention being about 10cm from her for a performance was a buzz. And the guys behind me kept reminding me how "lucky" I was...(grin). Well, you know how in concerts up in front, there is a mass of just arms grabbing for the artist? I didn't have to reach at all! I got more that my fair share of ummmmm, how should I put this......touches. After that number, one of her dancers, Keeth, came over and signed autographs for us. And Keeth warned me to step back once he started his dance routine in the next song. I wondered if I possibly could with all these people pushing - I couldn't. So after getting even closer to Debbie this time (oh by the way, the song was "We Could Be Together"), Keeth started to do his dance routine, and BANG! He splits just inches from my face! Now I have Debbie's autograph, Keeth's, and on the other side, Keeth's shoeprint and Deb's sweat. Debbie stayed on for another 10-15 minutes signing autographs for people who were in the middle of the crush (they were passing paper and record sleeves overhead to her). Then she came up to where I was and smiled and shook my hand. I could hear people gasping behind me. And one guy passed me a record sleeve to have her autograph, and then someone else. It seemed like she was only paying attention for about five minutes to the area where I was standing. Oh, and my friend finally decided he wanted her autograph.... After Debbie left, the crowd exited very fast. And the next thing happened by accident; we ran into Buddy outside, got his autograph and talked for about 2-3 minutes before some screaming girls ran up. Then we were waiting around for another friend who couldn't make it to the show (by this stage you're probably thinking that we were two of the luckiest people on the face of the Earth). Then out came the three backup singers. More autographs and chat.... It's now 10:45pm (roughly), I've had the best night of my life (so far anyway, well next tour who knows?). November 30th, 1989 a day to remember for meeting Debbie, not to mention getting on national television. By the way, the performance was not totally mimed; after watching it at home, I saw that they used her vocals and taped music. Oh... and the fun doesn't end there either. Next day was the concert. A group of us got tickets on the floor, 18 rows from the front (and centre). From what I have seen, it was the standard concert, but with Debbie singing a song that she just learned to play (well she apologized if she made a mistake) from memory; it was "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" Also, she did "Stand Your Ground," and the duet with Keeth. If that wasn't enough, my older sister liked the bass player. And as luck would have it, she then got her wish. If you notice in the Electric Youth tour book under Kirk Powers, you'll find: "Where's the bus?" A mini-bus speeds to the exit gate a half hour after the concert (we were told Debbie had already left). The band and others were inside, and I think they recognized me because they wanted to stop, but the driver didn't want to (they were rushing to the airport to get to Sydney). Then out of the darkness comes Kirk lugging three guitar cases running after the bus....looking very funny at the time. So my sister forces me to get his autograph. I dodged the security guard who conveniently held back the dozen or so others, and got Kirk's autograph. So for me, the Electric Youth tour was well worth the hours of waiting. I only regret Debbie canceling the Australian leg of the current tour. I knew that it was canceled since she mentioned that she was coming early '92 and right now all venues are booked out till July. The fact also being that WEA Records have been doing the worst ever promotion of the _Anything Is Possible_ album ever, i.e. NONE! If you want, I can also tell you about some of the publicity that Deb got on her last tour. And seeing the picture in front of me, it's no wonder why a lot of people don't take her music seriously (For any Australians, try to get hold of the front page of The Age's Entertainment Guide... Friday 1, Dec 1989, what a stupid photo. The photographer should be shot!). The media here made her out to be a religious freak who was going through puberty as a Shirley Temple/Brady bunch clone...pathetic. I wonder if any of them "really" listened to her songs. So, as you can tell, I am a real addict and would have some interesting things to contribute (that is if I can ever find a place to mail from). I am currently writing to Melbourne radio stations complaining about a lack of airplay for Deborah's singles. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= DEBORAH TRIES HER HAND ON TV =- Steve Burstall (hnr_443854@emunix.emich.edu) February 11, 1992 While trying to remember the times in which Deborah did Wendy's commercials, she comes back to TV again, this time on prime time. Since I had heard about her appearance on "Street Justice," I was curious to see how well (or bad) she would do it. With the VCR set for 7:00 on channel 20, all I needed was for me to be there and watch it. Thanks to being 15 minutes late, and the VCR not exactly receiving the full signal, I missed the first twenty minutes (darn). I then corrected all errors and sat down, trying to enjoy it. Since I had the premise from previous BtL issues, I knew I didn't miss much. After watching the show I wish I did only read the BtL issues. Okay, here I go with the fun stuff. The major problem I had was the story. Not only was it old but the writers should be shot for trying to write. It was the corniest and hokies thing I ever saw on TV. The story was choppy, major league choppy. The only bright spots were Deborah. I thought she did a lot better than the stars and what was written for her. If the writers had taken more time to develope the storyline, I might have enjoyed it. If Deborah ever decides to do another television appearance, I hope she takes the time to actually read the script. With theater background I know she can do better. grade: D+ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= STREET JUSTICE REVIEW =- Matthew Jung (mjung@bloom.ucdavis.edu) January 22, 1992 I was excited and thrilled to hear that Deborah was going to be a guest star on a nationally syndicated television show. However, after watching Deborah's stunning performance on Broadway, her first real national TV acting debut was somewhat of a disappointment. Street Justice is a cop show which is shot on location in Vancouver, Canada. This particular episode was about a singer named Gabrielle (Gibson) who was in town to film a music video. In the process, she meets Grady (Brian Genesee) and falls in love with him. The main character of the series is a cop named Beaudreaux (Carl Weathers) and he suspects Gabrielle may be involved in a money laundering operation for the Mafia. Unfortunately, Deborah's acting didn't measure up to par compared to the regular cast. Carl Weathers, the veteran actor from the Rocky movies as well as Predator, did a superb job in his role. Brian Genesee was the only thing that prevented the scenes with Deb from becoming totally disastrous. Since he has been on the series for a while, he is more experienced with television acting compared to Deborah and it readily shows. Deb was easily the weak link throughout the episode and the casting director might have been better off finding another guest star to fill her role. Some scenes were decent though. At the end of the show, there is a scene where Gabrielle decides to take the money she is supposed to launder for the mob and hand it over to the police. Conner, her road manager, catches her in the act. Deb successfully conveyed the feeling that Gabrielle decided that it was time to make things right. Another decent scene was the one of Gabrielle and Grady alone in her room playing the guitar. Here we got a little treat where Deborah hummed a tune and demonstrated her perfect pitch by matching the guitar. However, the scene where Gabrielle is eating breakfast in her hotel room was one that didn't turn out too well. It wasn't so much that Deb's acting was poor, which I initially thought. The Grady and Gabrielle scenes were shot at different times and edited together! You will notice that in that scene, Gabrielle and Grady are never in the same frame (like in the love scenes). What confused me initially was how Grady did a very good job of pulling it off, but not Deb. If Deb and Genesee were in the room together, the scene would've been a lot better. There were other scenes that also weren't so good and they paled in comparison to some of Deb's best moments in Les Miserables. When Gabrielle was being harassed by three hoodlums, Deb didn't look frightened enough. This compared poorly to how Deb, as Eponine, appeared freaked out in Les Miserables when her father and his hoods were about to rob Jean Valjean's home. The same could be said with the later scenes where Gabrielle is struggling with Conner, while Grady and Beaudreaux were beating up Conner's goons. The character of Gabrielle should've appeared to be street smart. Since Gabrielle ran away from home, and had to survive on the streets until the Mafia discovered her, one would think she would be able to at least defend herself from her manager. However, Gabrielle comes off weak and defenseless compared to Eponine whom "knows her way around." Other female singers have tried to branch out to television before and have been more successful. Sheena Easton appeared several years ago on Miami Vice. Her character was also a singer who falls in love with a main character of the show (in this case, Sonny Crockett). Sheena did a great job then. Of course, she had the benefit of a better role where her character developed rather well, but died tragically. Nevertheless, Sheena earns more brownie points for her effort than Deb does. If Deb's acting on Street Justice is any indication at all of how she might have done in Skirts, then perhaps she should be thankful that she didn't get to do the movie at all. It is one thing to flop on a syndicated TV show with low ratings and it is another to do so at the box office. So many singers have tried their hand on the silver screen, but with mixed success. Even though critics roasted Madonna on Shanghai Surprise, I thought Madonna's acting in that movie was superior to Deborah's in Street Justice. The sad thing is that her TV audience for Street Justice may actually be larger than her entire Les Miserables audience. Assuming she does about 90 shows in Les Miserables for an average audience of 3000 people for her three month stint, 270,000 people would've seen her act on Broadway. Despite the low ratings of Street Justice, and the fact that it is a syndicated TV show, the same number of people or more would've seen her act on this show. With her performance on Street Justice, many might dismiss her as just another singer who tried to act and has no acting talent. This is a shame since she has done a great job on Broadway. It's a pity to think that doing several days work on Street Justice may have negated 90 days worth of work on Broadway in terms of the public perception of Deb's acting ability. Deborah failed in Street Justice because she never really got into the role. Much of the acting seemed very impromptu like she didn't spend much time rehearsing it. The same cannot be said of Les Miserables. As we know, she always wanted to play the part of Eponine and she had plenty of time to give her best effort. Deb once said that "I would never do anything I wasn't prepared to do" (TheaterWeek, January 27 '92). Unfortunately, she was not prepared at all for Street Justice. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= ATLANTIC CITY REVIEWS =- Ray Wilmott (wilmott@remus.rutgers.edu) February 17, 1992 February 1992. The One Step Ahead tour had long since been laid to rest, and Deb had been performing in Les Miserables on Broadway for over a month when, Out Of The Blue, there came along a Debbie Gibson concert weekend... Deb played three shows at the Sands Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ on February 14th, 15th and 16th. I arrived a bit late for Friday night's show, and so ended up with 9th row seats (still not bad I guess). Chris Cuevas was her opening act for all three shows, just as he was on last summer's tour. He opened with "I Need You," and then picked up a guitar and brought out three of his "buddies from Mississippi" (his new band) for an acoustic set of "Another Way" and "About You." He finished up with his current single "You Are The One." Then it was on to the real show. Out came Deb wearing a purple jacket and pants, with a black top underneath. If you saw Deb last summer on tour, you know how the show opens...with "One Step Ahead" and "Another Brick Falls." She then did "Only In My Dreams," which she said was an appropriate song for her to be performing on Valentine's Day since "the only place I think I'll ever find a boyfriend is in my dreams." Next was a Love Song Medley performed at the piano in honor of Valentine's Day - this consisted of "One Hand, One Heart," "Heart & Soul," and "Lost In Your Eyes." Then it was on to "Shake Your Love" before letting the band jam while she went backstage to change. She reappeared with a 50's/60's sort of look (black baby-doll dress and hair pulled up in beehive fashion) to do "Out Of The Blue." Then she brought up an older gentleman out of the audience to sing "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" to. When she performed this song last summer at the Sands, she played it on the piano, unaccompanied and very slow. This time she sang while the band played, and it was done in a more upbeat fashion. "It Must've Been My Boy" was next on the roster (by the way, Herby Sanchez was not in attendance this time around - Deb's "boy" was Ray Garcia, and the whole number was tastefully done). Next, we were treated to a brand new song entitled "Little Birdy," a song which Deb wrote because she's always wanted to do a "theatrical/musical number - something like maybe Streisand might do." Anyway, it's a catchy, upbeat little tune which sounds different from anything I've heard her do before. Deb then left for another costume change, during which time Chris came out to keep us amused...by telling jokes no less! Finally that was done with and Chris & Deb performed their duet "Someday." Wearing a black jacket, slacks, white shirt, and sporting her trademark hat, Deb then treated us to another brand new song called "When I Say No." This was performed on a couch with the dancers around her. Here's the chorus from this song: "When I say No, then that's what I mean - not maybe so, or what's in between. And if I said Yes, then that's what would be. Is that what you heard? NO! So step away from me." It's a catchy pop tune - I wouldn't be surprised to see it on her next album. The band and dancers were introduced at about this time. This was a new band - no Adam Tese, for instance. I believe that John Smatla and Kevin Jenkins were the only band members from the One Step Ahead tour. Fred Levine, from the Electric Youth tour, was there. There was one new dancer, who's name even Deb herself could not pronounce. Vocalists Michele Cobbs and Terry Bradford from last summer were back again. "Negative Energy," "Foolish Beat," and "Anything Is Possible" completed the show. Well, almost. Deborah had saved for us a little bonus treat. She exited the stage, a black backdrop came down, and a movie screen was unfurled over the stage. Deb emerged under a lone spotlight (and barefoot), dressed as her character Eponine in Les Miserables. She gave a little synopsis of the play, and then performed the Broadway version (which differs slightly from the London version she was performing on tour last summer) of "On My Own," while clips from Les Mis were shown on the suspended screen. VERY nicely done; I'll take this over the typical "We Could Be Together" encore any day, even though that's one of my favorite DG songs! Saturday night's show, as expected, was similar to the previous night's. The differences were that "It Must've Been My Boy" was dropped from the lineup, and instead of the Love Song Medley, Deborah just did the full version of "Lost In Your Eyes." That was disappointing since I really enjoyed the three song medley of the night before. As far as outfits, she went from red jacket and pants, to a black & white dress and 50's hairdo, to black pants and jacket with sequined patterns and a hat. I must say that I prefer the black/red dresses she was wearing last summer to anything she wore during these shows. One amusing point in this show - Deb had a lot of trouble getting someone to come up on stage with her for "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" She was rejected by two terrified little boys. Even pleading didn't work ("Please. For me? Come on, I promise not to bite."). Finally one of the moms thrust her kid up on stage. Sunday was a near carbon copy of Saturday's show. However, Chris performed an extra song. It was a country song called "Two Of A Kind," which he sang with a heavy accent and country twang. It was actually a nice change of pace. The only difference to Deb's show was that instead of pulling someone out of the audience for "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?", she brought the stage manager from Les Mis out of the wings and sang it to him (some of the cast and crew from Les Mis came down to see the show after their Sunday matinee). Overall, it was a good set of shows. Considering her hectic schedule, Deb deserves some kudos for being able to sandwich in a few concert appearances in the midst of her Les Mis run. Friday night was, I felt, the best of the three shows. Deb seemed to be in a really good mood, and did a lot of chit-chatting with the audience during the show. One chant of "De-bbie, De-bbie" was interrupted with a shout of "Hey Gabrielle," a reference to her recent Street Justice appearance. This led to some commentary from Deb: she found it hard to watch herself on TV; she liked some scenes with herself and hated others; going into the kissing scene was uncomfortable because Mom was on the set with her, but Mom just said "oh stop being so silly Deborah, it's just a job, go and do it." Saturday and Sunday she seemed just a bit less enthusiastic; trying to rush through the show perhaps. And finally, I can't end without taking a shot at the Sands. Last summer when I saw Deb there, it was the fans who waited in line all day who ended up with all the front row seats. This time around, only a small number of seats on the front far sides of the stage were open to fans. All the best seats were "reserved" as casino comps. And so Deb had her small cheering sections on the sides of the stage while there was a huge "void" in the center sections filled with people who didn't really care about Deborah, but who were there, seemingly, because it was a "freebie." That, coupled with the Sands new "no photos" policy, really angered a large number of fans in attendance. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= DG IN LES MIS AND IN ATLANTIC CITY =- Patrick Colcord (Beaverton, Oregon) February 27, 1992 On February 13th, I left Portland, Oregon for New York City, a trip of 3000 miles. I went to go see Debbie Gibson in Les Miserables. It wasn't until I actually got to the theatre when I found out that she wasn't going to be there that night. Disappointed, I still watched the show. It was as good as everyone had told me it was, so I bought tickets for the week after. The next day, I traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey to see her at the Sands Hotel in the Copa Room, an 830 seat showroom. The first people that I met there were standing in line already at 1:30 p.m. for a 10:00 p.m. show. A lot of these fans were also BtL members. The show started at 10:06 p.m. with Chris Cuevas coming out in a royal blue jacket, black pants, black shirt and combat type boots. A few of Debbie's fans said, "Debbie." Chris responded by saying, "What are you guys doin here?" Another cry of "Debbie" and Chris said, "Go lose some money in the casino." Chris started off the show by singing "I Need You" and then for the second song he sang "There's Another Way" with backup from three acoustic guitar players and a mandolin player from Mississippi. The last two songs were "About You" and "You Are The One." He played for a total of 19 minutes. At 10:26 p.m., Debbie came out in a bright purple pantsuit with a black shirt and black shoes. The first song was "Another Brick Falls." It was followed up with "Only in My Dreams" and "Electric Youth." Both sets of songs were performed the same way as her last tour. She even mentioned the fact that she really didn't have enough time to produce an entirely new show due to her commitments on Broadway. Next came a special Valentine's Day medley with her singing at the piano. She said that she gets more roses at concerts than she gets from any one particular boyfriend, which she still maintains she doesn't have. I heard a rumor that she is supposedly engaged to one of her dancers although any attempts I made to find out the truth proved fruitless. The Valentine's Day medley included the following songs: "One Hand, One Heart," "Heart and Soul," and "Lost in Your Eyes." After these songs were played she sang "Shake Your Love" and then left the stage. Seven minutes later, as the band played the melody to "Out of the Blue," she came out with a new hairstyle (courtesy of her stylist from Les Mis), a short black dress with black stockings (which she never wore again), and a partial "see-through" (upper one-third) top with rhinestones. After completing "Out of the Blue," she brought up a rather heavy-set older (about 65) gentleman out of the audience who had to be helped up. The people who helped him up also brought up his chair with him so he could sit down while on stage. She started singing "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" to him. She ran her hands over his shoulders and chest while he sat there smiling. The audience howled with laughter. At about midway through the song, Debbie had him stand up so that the two of them could do a slow dance. Once this song was over, dancer Ray Garcia came out and she performed "It Must've Been My Boy" exactly as she had done on tour. This was the only time she would do this song over the weekend. At 11:19 p.m., she tried out a new song by the title of "Little Birdy," which she said was a Broadway style song. It was very upbeat and proved yet again that she still is one of the great songwriters of all time. Chris came out four minutes later wearing a black jacket, black pants and a white shirt. He told a lame joke for several minutes and then sang his new single in a duet with Debbie titled "Someday." Once this was over, both left the stage and then Debbie came out lying on a white couch while being wheeled out by her dancers. This was the setup for another new song called "When I Say No," another great song. It was about her telling off an over amorous boyfriend. She sat on the back of the couch while the dancers fell around her. At 11:38 p.m., she sang "Foolish Beat." This was followed up with "Anything is Possible." The last song of the night was "On My Own" from Les Mis. She sang the song wearing her costume from the play and they showed stills from the play featuring her on a screen behind Debbie. The show was over at 11:58 p.m. There were no encores and after the curtain came down, the lights came up and the show was over. A lot of the fans thought it ended rather abruptly. It wasn't her usual style of closing a show. Nevertheless, the show was excellent as usual and she was as beautiful as ever. Considering the fact that she had recently suffered throat problems the week before, she still had one of the greatest singing voices going that day. If you were one of the lucky ones to have seen her on her last tour, you would have noticed that the performance given at the Sands Hotel was very much the same. I'm not saying that this is bad; I'm just saying that considering the time constraints, she still gave an exceptional performance. Before I go on, there is one thing that I have to make a comment on. That is, the way the casino personnel sat people. Since they insist on giving the best seats to comp ticket holders, casino guests, and other high rollers (center stage seating), they make the fans sit on either side of the stage. What you end up with is people cheering on either side of the stage, while the center area is "dead," filled with people only there to see a free show regardless of who the performer is. This is not good for the fans or the artist. During the show, Debbie had to go to both sides of the stage for the greatest fan response. Even though she spent most of the time center stage, that area was nowhere nearly as responsive to her performance since they weren't her greatest fans. It was something of a strange sight to see. The next time that she plays a casino showroom, she should insist in her contract that her fans be given priority seating because as she said that night, if it wasn't for we the fans, she wouldn't be where she is. No one else could have spent an average of eight hours a day standing in line to get the best seating. Yet, even minutes before the show, the "casino guests" would still be seated in the best seats. Not only is this unfair to us, the true fans, it is downright insulting. There were no photos allowed at any of the performances. There were numerous reasons for this occurrence given, but they often conflicted with each other. Many fans could not understand this since at the last concert at the Sands last summer, picture taking was allowed as well as the concert at the Concord Hotel in New York in November. Since most fans love to take pictures at Debbie's concerts, as long as you don't use an annoying flash, I can't really see what the true problem is. I hope that this won't be the case at future concerts or otherwise, there will be pictures taken more or less surreptitiously by many fans. The second concert on February 15th started at 8:15 p.m. with Chris opening the show once again. Debbie stated later that the show hadn't started on time because of a traffic tie-up. The only thing different about Cuevas' show was that he was wearing a red shirt instead a white one as well as black pants and a black jacket. The show was the same as the first night. When 8:34 p.m. rolled around, Debbie had a problem with some bad mics and started off two minutes late while the music played. This night she started off the show wearing a red pantsuit with a black shirt. The song list was the same as follows: "One Step Ahead," "Another Brick Falls," "Only in My Dreams," "Electric Youth," and then "Lost in Your Eyes." This time, during "Lost in Your Eyes," several dozen cigarette lighters came alive. Next came "Shake Your Love" and afterward, she left the stage. This time for "Out of the Blue," she came out wearing a black cocktail dress with white lapels. She also wore black stockings and had her hair "up" like the previous night. For the song, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" she looked through the entire front of the audience for someone to bring up onstage. She finally settled for a ten year old boy whose mother had to push him up to the stage. Debbie brought him back midstage to a small flight of steps where she sang to him. He was obviously embarrassed. I personally would have happily taken his place. It appeared to me that she was looking for someone who didn't look like they could be a possible boyfriend but more of a "humorous" choice of potential suitors. At 9:18 p.m., she performed "Little Birdy" the same way as the previous night. After the song was over, she left and Chris came out again. He started singing "Someday" and Deb came out again in a black leather jacket with studs in the shape of the Madonna (not the singer) with Christ on the back. She also wore a white ruffled top this time. When the duet was over, the dancers rolled out the white couch and Debbie sat down on it (Chris had left the stage). She sang her new song "When I Say No." At the end of the song (this time as well as the previous night) the dancers rolled her backstage. Next in order came "Negative Energy" and "Foolish Beat." For the only time of the concert series, she asked for a beat to introduce the musicians and she started rapping a version of Guns & Roses' "Paradise City" substituting Atlantic City for Paradise City. This only lasted a few seconds. The last two songs were "Anything is Possible" and "On My Own." The show was basically the same as the first with the exception of "It Must've Been My Boy" and the Valentine's Day medley not being performed. I asked Ray Garcia what happened and he said that Deborah decided to cut the song before the show. The show set for Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. was cancelled. Anyway, the last show was on Sunday the 16th. This time Chris came out with the same outfit as Friday night. He noticed a sign held up by a girl named Jessica who said that it was her birthday so Chris sang "Happy Birthday" to her. On this night he sang another song of the country genre called "Two of a Kind." Otherwise the show was basically the same as all the others. By the way, his new single "You are the One" is going rather rapidly up the charts for those of you who are fans of his. At 9:31 p.m., after the show started at 8:09 p.m., Debbie came out in her purple ensemble again. The show was the same as Saturday night until "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" came around. This time she sang to her stage manager from Les Mis which she brought out from stage left. A dozen or so people came down from the cast in New York to see her perform; they also started on the midstage staircase until they started dancing about half way through the song. The rest of the concert was the same as before and it ended at 10:49 p.m. All in all I think that, at least for me, it was worth flying 3000 miles to go see since it is the only concert that she is going to do this year. I would have to say that she did an exceptional job at all of her concerts and she was as excellent as ever. She is still one the the best singer- songwriters around today. It is nothing less than a crime that the music industry has not given her a Grammy yet. She absolutely deserves one a whole lot more than some of the so-called talent that have gotten one. Need I mention Milli Vanilli? RANDOM NOTES: Her sister Karen was there in a bright blue maternity dress as she is expecting a baby in June (TheaterWeek, Jan. 27-Feb. 2). Adam Tese, her saxophone player, is no longer with the band. There were no autographs given after the show because she left the venue right after each show and was totally inaccessible. Those who were caught taking pictures had their film removed from their cameras as well as the tape in tape recorders. For those of you who saw her on the "Anything is Possible" tour, you already saw most of the show with the exception of the two new songs so don't feel too bad about missing her in Atlantic City. For all of you BtL readers in Europe, Debbie will be appearing in Les Mis in the London production later this year so be aware. Since there have already been reviews of Debbie's performance in the Broadway production of Les Miserables, I won't go into detail here. In the three shows I did see with her, she was by far the best singer and had the clearest sounding voice. I concur with the previous reviews and I'll just say that for her first major stage performance, she did an outstanding job. She was also nice enough to sign autographs for fans before and after the show. She almost always arrives in a red Cadillac with two gentlemen with her. I would like to give a special thank you to all of the great fans who were there at Atlantic City, some even BtL correspondents. They are lucky enough to live nearby Deborah and see far more shows than most us can. They were the nicest people that I've ever met and extremely friendly to me. I can't thank them enough, especially Jennifer Yeko. The last thing that I said to Deborah was, "Deborah, I just wanted to tell you that it was worth coming 3000 miles to see you." She said "Thanks," got into the red Caddie, and drove off into the night. So ends my adventure to New York. If you would like to write to me I can be contacted by writing to: Patrick Colcord 609 SW Philadelphia Way Beaverton, OR 97006-3607 United States of America =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= INTERVIEW =- Stephen Chan (chans2@rpi.edu) February 8, 1992 The following is the transcript of an interview I conducted with Debbie Gibson on July 23, 1991, when she started her "One Step Ahead" tour. The interview was for an article I wrote for Rensselaer's (a university in upstate New York) student paper, "The Rensselaer Polytechnic." There has been slight editing in the transcription, removing unnecessary colloquialisms, correcting grammatical errors, and smoothing out "rough" patches. The interview covers her work, her next album, her fans, and bits of her personal life. There is one note of interest, because of her current work on Broadway: at one point, Gibson said she wanted to do musical theater in the future. DG: Debbie Gibson SC: Stephen Chan DG: I just got in on one of those little commuter flights--one of those Winnebago-with-wings type flights. SC: Not exactly first class, huh? DG: Well, not too good on the stomach, actually. SC: This is the first time I ever interviewed a celebrity, so I'm kind of nervous at this-- DG: Don't be nervous. SC: Okay. Let's see. Last time you were in this area was back in 1988 and, in fact, you were playing at the RPI Fieldhouse. DG: That's right. Actually, this is where we ended the tour, or it towards the end of the tour, I remember, yeah. SC: And so you're now kind of like doing things in reverse, right? DG: What do you mean? Oh, yes--the opening here, yeah, yeah. SC: Let me start with a general question here: What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? DG: Rocky Road. Yeah. SC: What's the thing you like most about your work? DG: To me, the thing I like the most is the personal challenge. When I set out on tours, my goal is to make every show better than the last. It sounds like a pretty simple goal, but it takes a lot of work. And it's just great to know you're going to come out of a tour as a better entertainer. So I guess that's the goal I have in mind when I go on the road. I guess my favorite part, though, is just entertaining people and just being able to make people happy with what I do. SC: Now switching to an opposite thing: What's the hardest thing about your work? DG: The hardest thing probably is the traveling. SC: Yes, I was looking at your schedule; here and there-- DG: Yeah. Things that people don't think about--just adjusting not only to the time differences. For instance, we were just in Asia, and just adjusting to the food, the air, the water--just all those things, as a performer, affect you. So that's probably the hardest part; just adjusting to new places and stuff. SC: Let me ask this question before I forget: Okay. Both you and Billy Joel are Long Islanders. In fact, I'm a Long Islander myself; I'm from Patchogue. DG: Oh, really? SC: I was always wondering, would you and Billy Joel ever get together for an duet album or a song, or something like that? DG: I've always wanted to work with him. I actually had the opportunity to perform with him. He invited me up on stage at Nassau Coliseum and so I performed with him live--actually, that was the second time that that happened. But I always wanted to either write something with him or record a duet with him, or maybe even record a piano duet with him or something. Because I know that that would challenge me and make me work harder knowing that I would be doing something like that with him. He's been my favorite since I was eight years old. SC: So is that something in the near future perhaps? DG: I don't know yet. I'm not starting to put the next album together till the fall. I definitely want to start making some phone calls about that one, though, because I want to see if that would be able to work out. SC: And speaking of your next album, have you thought about what kind of themes you want to present in it? DG: Well, I've been doing a lot of writing because I write constantly. I just really write songs based on what things are going on in my life and there are songs--as far as issues go, there is one song is about the power of celebrities, from my point of view, about how someone you don't even know could touch you and could help you solve your problems and stuff because I've always found that to be an amazing thing. There's also a song that I wrote called "Tear Down These Walls" about prejudice because I can't believe--it always amazes me--that it's still 1991 and there are still racial issues. It just amazes me. And there are love songs, the stuff that I guess people are used to hearing from me, like the dance, pop songs, and stuff like that. SC: How would you describe your fans? DG: I think the people who are into my music are the people who don't care about being "cool" necessarily because it's no surprise that it's not the hippiest thing in the world to be a fan of mine, you know what I mean? There are a lot of people who go into a record store and have a lot of trouble saying, "Can I have a Debbie Gibson album?" or I know my older fans will always say, "Oh yeah, well, I like your music," but I'm constantly trying to explain to people that it's music that is for people for all ages because people have this preconceived notion about it and stuff. I think that my fans are definitely people who have their own ideas about what they like. SC: Who can stand on their own two feet and not bow down to peer pressure? DG: Definitely, and people who can enjoy music that's just fun music. A lot of times, people have to intellectually justify why they like something in order for them to listen to it, which I don't quite agree with. It's funny, since you're from a college newspaper, it amazes me that people say, "Oh, well I'm into alternative music," right? But it's not alternative. The alternative music is the "pop music" of colleges, you know what I mean? It's the thing that everyone at college listens to. And here you're say, "Well I'm doing something different" and I'm like, "Well, no, you're not" because for your peer group, you're listening to whatever else everyone is listening to. And that's the same thing that a lot of those people criticize kids for doing--"Oh, well you're listening to Debbie Gibson just because all of your little friends are listening to it"--well, it's like the same thing. I think definitely a lot of my fans are younger people, but I think the ballads helped open up a broader audience--older people. SC: Do you still see yourself doing this, say, five, ten-- DG: Definitely. SC: --fifteen years from now? DG: Definitely. Actually, five, ten, fifty years from now. Because I started in musical theater when I was real little, so I definitely want to get back into doing musical theater, and that's something that you could do at any age, any time. I want to get into doing films. Also, I've been working on writing a few screenplays of my own and so I would love to eventually tackle those--act in them and/or direct them. So I have a lot of things, a lot of little individual goals that all revolve around entertainment, but those things will take me a while, so definitely I plan on doing this for a long time. SC: So I guess after your tour you're going to be starting work on your next album? DG: Yeah, yeah, I'll be finishing the tour in September and I'll probably take a month to do whatever, you know? A month to do nothing, then I'll probably start work on it in October. SC: What do you usually do to just relax? I mean, either when you're on the road or at home? DG: Let's see. It's funny cause like music is my hobby, as well as my career, so it's really my hobby first, in my mind. So, a lot of times when I'm home, I'll just enjoy the fact that I can sit at the piano and play for myself and just fiddle around with coming up with new songs and stuff. So to me, that's a big part of what I do to relax. I love to go bowling and just hang out. When I have like a month off, the thing is I just don't plan anything, you know, wake up and say, "What do I want to do today?" You need to do that from time to time or you'll go crazy. Also, this time, I would love to go on a vacation after I'm done with this tour. I don't know where yet. I find that very hard to do usually, but I'm getting more used to traveling. I finally learned how to enjoy traveling. I've never taken a vacation with friends, that's something I'd like to do at the end of this tour. SC: Going to go to Disney World? DG: I don't know. I don't know yet. SC: "You just completed a tour--where are you going to go?" DG: Probably wherever like people won't recognize me or anything, someplace where I could really--you know, go to like some little island or something, if I can. SC: Is there anything else you'd like to say? DG: Let's see. Well, is there anything else you want to ask? SC: No, not off the top of my mind and I don't want to keep all your fans waiting. DG: No, I think we covered a lot of good things. SC: Okay, thanks a lot. DG: Okay, that wasn't nerve-wracking, right? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= DEBBIE GIBSON ALMANAC =- Jonathan Bradshaw (jbradsha@mentor.cc.purdue.edu) February 19, 1992 Dear BtL members, I would appreciate your help in compiling a list (a Deb Almanac if you like) of any dates that relate to Deborah's life. This can be related to anything from birth to current, from music, theatre to personal. I would be interested in your OWN personal Deb dates, such as the date you first heard her, went to her concert etc. I have only managed to compile around 50 or so dates so far and I know there are many more. I would greatly appreciate it if you would compile and email to me any dates you can find with a description. If you would separate personal and Deb dates, that would be even better. The results of this compilation will be freely available once completed. Thank You. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS =- Q. Andrew Shurak (ajs@gcm.com) We all saw the article in the last BtL about the guy who was obsessed with Debbie, but the part that states what eventually happened to him and where he is now in 1992 seemed to be left out. What's the scoop? A. Matthew Jung (mjung@bloom.ucdavis.edu) The appeal partially reprinted in BtL 4.2 didn't have any new information about where Mr. Pelfrey is now. Hopefully, he is still in jail pending re-sentencing. Q. Sandy Chen (ez003229@hamlet.ucdavis.edu) The Modern Bride article mentioned that Debbie's sister, Karen, got married on September 14th of this year, and that Deb sang "One Hand, One Heart" at the ceremony. In reality, Karen was married in 1988 and "Lost in Your Eyes" was the song that was featured (it's not known if Deb actually sang it), so this is a BIG mistake. Perhaps Deb attended some other marriage ceremony (maybe her sister Michele got married)? Does anyone have any information on this? A. Anonymous (no email address) This is no mistake. Indeed, Karen married Bill Behre on October 2, 1988, but they are no longer married now. Karen got remarried and that's what the Modern Bride article was referring to. Q. Ray Wilmott (wilmott@remus.rutgers.edu) I know that the US promo CD single of "One Hand, One Heart" had just one track on it. Does the Japanese 3" CD single of "One Hand, One Heart" also include "The Most Beautiful Love Song"? A. Myra Wong (mkwong@sdcc13.UCSD.EDU) Yes. Most Japanese 3" CD singles parallel their American equivalent which is the cassette single. Q. Myra Wong (mkwong@sdcc13.UCSD.EDU) I heard that in Australia, the _Anything Is Possible_ album was released with only 12 tracks. What four songs were left out? A. Ray Wilmott (wilmott@remus.rutgers.edu) I've got the Australian record of the _Anything Is Possible_ album. The missing songs are "Stand Your Ground," "Deep Down," "Try," and "In His Mind." A. Matthew Jung (mjung@bloom.ucdavis.edu) The German _Anything Is Possible_ lp is also missing the same tracks. Q. John Smeh (Melbourne, Australia) Any chance of someone forwarding me forms for D.G.I.F.? I wrote to them ages ago (with US postage return prepaid) and never got a reply. A. Matthew Jung (mjung@bloom.ucdavis.edu) DGIF is often very disorganized. You aren't the first person to have their membership request ignored. The best thing to do if you want to join DGIF is send a cheque or money order, along with your name, address, birthday, and nearest major city to: Debbie Gibson International Fan Club Attn: Membership Committee 375 North Broadway, Suite 201 Jericho, New York, 11753 United States of America The amount of the cheque or money order should be $17 in the United States or Canada and $19 anywhere else in the world. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= CLOSING REMARKS =- According to Peter Blomgren, "In His Mind" has been released as a single in Japan. It was released on February 25, 1992 in the 3" CD format and the catalog number is AMDY-5076. According to Henry Lee, the song is being used in a Japanese drama of some kind. Will Deborah participate in the London production of Les Miserables after her three month stint on Broadway? This is still not clear. According to Graeme Lyall, the Palace Theatre (where Les Miserables is playing in London), claims that no contracts have been signed with Deb. Some of you over the years have expressed a desire for us to create a bouncing mailing list where any email sent to a certain email address would be forwarded to all the other members. We've finally decided to create one to supplement the regular BtL mailing list. If you would like to join, please send email to Matthew Jung (mjung@bloom.ucdavis.edu) and he'll give you the details.