=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Volume 4, Issue 9 - October 5, 1992 DDDDD D D D D GGGG D D G DDDDD G GGG G G GGGG A Debbie Gibson Discussion Forum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= CONTENTS =- ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES INTRO BY CHRIS FOOTE - Chris Foote INTRO BY MICHELLE CHOBOTAR - Michelle Chobotar INTRO BY MAURICE BLOK - Maurice Blok DG COLLABORATES WITH RHYTHM SYNDICATE - Terry Carroll MORE DEBHEADS COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET? - John Shew LG73 APOLOGIZES AFTER MAKING FUN OF DG - Felix Ng 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 =- Before you submit your articles, please PROOFREAD them. Remember that about 190 people receive BtL via electronic mail and a significant number of people are receiving BtL via postal mail. Copies of submissions should be sent to all moderators. We reserve the right to edit, defer, or reject 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 Postal submissions must be typewritten so that Felix can scan them. To submit articles by FAX, please call (604) 322-5936. For those of you who do not have access to electronic mail, you may subscribe via postal mail. Issues are printed with a bubblejet printer which allows 6 pages of text to be printed on one sheet of paper (both sides). Prices are at cost and are subject to change: Canada $0.50 Cdn. United States $0.50 U.S. International $1.00 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. Issues are always mailed via first class. For those of you interested in joining the "bouncing" version of the BtL mailing list, please send email to Matthew Jung. The supplemental list is for the fans who like to discuss Debbie Gibson and her music on a frequent basis. For those of you interested in joining the BtL Lounge on Time Traveller, please send email to Jonathan Bradshaw (jonathan@nova.decio.nd.edu). This is where fans can discuss Debbie Gibson and her music in real time with other participating fans. Debbie Gibson GIFs (these are computer graphics files) and BtL back issues are available via anonymous FTP at cs.uwp.edu. For instructions on how to use FTP, please ask one of the moderators. -= BtL moderators =- Matthew Jung : ez000018@hamlet.ucdavis.edu mjung@rosarita.engr.ucdavis.edu mjung@pcocd2.intel.com myjung@ucdavis.bitnet Myra Wong : mkwong@sdcc13.ucsd.edu JSXS97D on Prodigy Felix Ng : a1430001@bcit.bitnet =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= INTRO BY CHRIS FOOTE =- Chris Foote (Worcester Park, UK) August 21, 1992 Hi there! Let me introduce myself; my name is Chris Foote, and I am an 18 year old student (hoping to go to Reading University, but awaiting the results!) from the UK. My home town is Worcester Park (in the suburbs of London - about 8 miles from the city centre). Well, it's been a hectic month for me - being a relative newcomer to the D.G.I.F. (D.G.I.F. #9716), I wanted to get in contact with other Deb fans. Well after my note was printed in the Notes From Abroad section of the last D.G.I.F. I've been inundated with letters! If any of you who responded are reading this, THANKS! One of the letters I received was from Felix Ng, who sent me a copy of BtL. It looked like a great idea, so Felix kindly sent me all the back-issues of BtL via disk. After spending about 5 hours reading them all, I'm now totally genned up on BtL! I think BtL is a great idea, and my only regret is that I haven't been a part of it sooner! I've noticed that there only seems to be two other BtL'ers from the UK, so being close to London, I'll hopefully be able to pick up more info about Debs in the UK (eg: news about her West End debut in Les Miz). Like most people, I first saw Debbie back in the summer of `87 when a UK music program showed the video to "Only In My Dreams." Even though I was only 13 and had a strange taste of music then, I could tell that Deb was going to be big. Well I think the rest just follows on (bought the albums/videos/ posters etc...). One annoying thing is that I've still yet to see her perform live! I had the chance of seeing her perform when she was supporting Bros at Wembley, but because she was only supporting, I thought I'd wait until she comes again for a proper tour. Well it's 3 years later, and she still hasn't been back! We're still waiting for her to come over and perform Les Miz in the West End (she understandably chose to have a break to record a new album), but if and when she does - BtL will be the first to get a review! Although I don't do it professionally, I like to computer program in my spare time, and I can relate to Mark Susskind's experiences that he mentioned in BtL 4.7 - her music can be really inspirational. If ever I get stumped or receive major hassles from my program, I just pop on EY or AIP and everything seems to fall into place! Incidently if any of you out there have got Operation Lemming (a game I wrote for the Amiga) then type Debbie Gibson / Electric Youth / 1 Hand 1 Heart in the high score table for different cheat modes! (I always try to include something of Deb in our products - the game we're working on now will feature some digi-pics of her somewhere!) Speaking of digi-pics, I'm always on the look out for pictures of Deb on the computer. Although I've only got an Amiga and would prefer them in its own IFF/ILBM format, I can import GIF files as well. I've got quite a large collection of my own piccies, so if you want any, send a disk (3 1/2s please) and state the format you want them in (Amiga, MS-DOS, IFF/ILBM, GIF). The UK music scene is getting very depressing, the chart is full of dance and rave music. Believe it or not, since "We Could Be Together" (my personal Deb favourite), she hasn't been in the chart at all! If you're interested, here's Debbie's UK chart entries over here: Title Chart Entry Highest # # Weeks In Chart -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only In My Dreams 26 Sep 87 54 5 wks Shake Your Love 23 Jan 88 7 8 wks Only In My Dreams (re-entry) 19 Mar 88 11 7 wks Out Of The Blue 7 May 88 19 7 wks Foolish Beat 9 Jul 88 9 9 wks Staying Together 15 Oct 88 53 2 wks Lost In Your Eyes 28 Jan 89 34 7 wks Electric Youth 29 Apr 89 14 8 wks We Could Be Together 19 Aug 89 22 8 wks (Figures for last year are not yet available, so I'm not sure if AIP reached the Top 75 - but I know it definitely didn't reach the Top 40). I think the record company in the UK has done a really bad job in promoting Debbie. I only heard AIP played ONCE on the UK's biggest commercial radio station (Capital FM) and that was only because she'd just been interviewed on air! It's bad enough trying to get hold of Deb's merchandise (books/posters etc.), let alone her records! Oh and yes I get the obligatory hassles from my friends for supporting Debbie (is there anyone who doesn't?!). If you want to contact me, you'll have to do so via normal post, as although I've got a computer, I haven't got access to a modem (the phonebill would hit the roof if I did!). However, IF I do get to university, I should be able to get hooked onto Internet! So for now, you can reach me at: 9 Dundela Gardens, Worcester Park, Surrey. KT4 8UB England Thanks for reading this, and I might hear from you soon! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= INTRO BY MICHELLE CHOBOTAR =- Michelle Chobotar (Surrey, Canada) September 20, 1992 Hello to all fellow Deb fans. My name is Michelle Chobotar and I'm 22 years old. After reading some past issues of BtL, I thought I would do an intro myself. The first time I saw Debbie was on "Entertainment Tonight." They showed a bit of the "Only In My Dreams" video. I didn't know much about her and thought she was just another young singer trying to make money. After hearing more songs though, I started to like what I heard. I told my brother about her and he bought me the _Out Of The Blue_ tape for Christmas. I was shocked to learn that not only did she produce all her own music, but she also wrote her own songs at such a young age. I was even more impressed with the _Electric Youth_ tape. In my opinion, this album was better than the first one. Debbie is also a great performer in concert. She has non-stop energy and flare for the stage. She is always fun to watch in concert. I was anxiously awaiting the release of _Anything Is Possible_, but I was too impatient. I went across the border to the U.S. and bought the tape and video before the Canadian release date. AIP is her strongest and best album in my opinion. I am looking forward to her new album in Jan '93. Here are my favorite songs from each album. (I love all her songs though). _Out Of The Blue_ 1) Foolish Beat - Excellent song. Breaks my heart. 2) Fallen Angel - Upbeat, fun song. 3) Play The Field - Good everyday message about people in relationships. Lovely backing vocals. _Electric Youth_ 1) Lost In Your Eyes - Wonderful piano and lyric combination. 2) No More Rhyme - Heart wrenching. Sad, sad, sad. 3) Over The Wall - Strive for the best. Upbeat, dancy. _Anything Is Possible_ 1) Where Have You Been? - Haunting, powerful song. Makes you want to hit the guy who cheated on her. 2) One Hand, One Heart - Deb at her best. Beautiful piano and vocals. 3) This So-Called Miracle - Lyrics and music well written. Powerful singing. Good song all-around. 4) Another Brick Falls - Great instrumentation! Deborah Gibson is truly one artist to be reckoned with. Her unique voice and extreme talent will keep her in this business for a long time. Thank you Deb for all your wonderful music. Truly, you are an inspiration to us all and I myself will always be a dedicated fan. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= INTRO BY MAURICE BLOK =- Maurice Blok (mgjblok@cs.vu.nl) September 28, 1992 Hi there! I was just browsing on cs.uwp.edu, looking for a new picture to serve as background picture for my terminal, when I stumbled upon the directory with all the BtL letters. I never heard of this group before so I decided to read the latest issue. I decided to subscribe ASAP and I also wrote a small intro of me... My first contact with Debbie Gibson's music was in a local record store about 4 years ago. I was looking for some new record and I found Debbie's album _Out of the Blue_, listened to it, really liked it, and bought it. After spinning the record a few times, I quickly became hooked on her music. _Electric Youth_ and _Anything is Possible_ followed "quickly" and became very welcomed additions to my (small) collection (my favorite songs being: "In His Mind" and "Where Have You Been?"). In my Tour of Duty for the Dutch Army, I visited several U.S. Army installations. One thing I noticed was that Debbie was much better known there than in my home town. They even had a video of one of her concert tours. I bought the video and raced home to watch it, only to discover that the U.S. uses a different TV coding system than Europe. Bummer... but I should have known... That was 2 years ago, I guess, and I still haven't been able to watch it. Maybe one day I'll own a VCR on which that tape will work... I have yet to see Debbie in person, which will probably never happen, or in concert even. She's not very big in Holland and most of her songs don't make it in our Top 40. Sometimes I think I'm the only fan of Debbie's in this small country. I'm glad to see that I'm not. I'm still hoping that she'll drop by Amsterdam for a small concert or something. Debbie seems like a great person to talk/chat/party with. Some of you might know for sure. But one thing is certain, she's a great singer and writer. I hope she'll be around for a long time to come. Some misc. stuff about my person. I'll turn 22 in Octobre. I`m an Artificial Intelligence student at the 'Vrije Universiteit' in Amsterdam. And my hobbies are music, soccer, gaming. Favorite music: Genesis, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, House/Tecno and of course Debbie Gibson (to name just a few). Groetjes/Greetings, Maurice Blok Van Nijenrodeweg 449 1082HK Amsterdam The Netherlands =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= DG COLLABORATES WITH RHYTHM SYNDICATE =- Terry Carroll (tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com) October 1, 1992 THE HARTFORD COURANT September 4, 1992, A Edition A decade ago, they were playing the little clubs like the Bridges Cafe in East Windsor, frat parties at the University of Connecticut, and what Evan Rogers remembers as "all the high school proms." But maybe it was, as their band name suggested, Too Much Too Soon. The band, which played a tight version of R&B at a time when it wasn't the most popular kind of music, finally decided to break up and pursue different careers in music. Rogers and his friend Carl Sturken stayed together as a writing and production team that eventually gained clout in the industry by turning out hits for Karyn White and Stephanie Mills before arranging a comeback most people thought impossible: that of Donny Osmond. "Once we established ourselves as producers," Rogers says, "we got the opportunity to put the band back together and make our album as a band." Four of the six were interested in getting back together. A couple other recruits were added, also Nutmeggers. "We all felt it would be cool if the band was all from Connecticut." And almost from the beginning, Rythm Syndicate was a hit, with its first single, the Prince-sounding "P.A.S.S.I.O.N." reaching No. 2 for two weeks last year, and a follow-up, "Hey Donna," rising to No. 13, before eight months of touring with C + C Music Factory and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. In no time, Rythm Syndicate had become the state's most successful group ever -- at least on the national charts (as influential as they were, the Five Satins' biggest hit, "In the Still of the Nite" only made it to No. 24 in 1956). Not resting on their laurels, Rogers, who lives in Greenwich, and Sturken wrote and produced the new album in just three months earlier this year: "Sex, Life & Love" which is just out this week. Their first single, "I Wanna Make Love to You" will be one of two of their songs featured in the upcoming John Landis vampire film "Innocent Blood" Sept. 25. And with their success behind them, they were able to do some things they've always wanted to do, such as change their name to the correct spelling: Rhythm Syndicate. (Some marketing guy told them spelling each word with Y as the second letter would look cool; now you'll have to find the two Rhythm Syndicate albums in different places in alphabetical bins at record stores). They've changed something else: "We wanted a new look for the band, something more mature, more high fashion," Rogers says. "We had the unfortunate experience last time of being rushed into a photo session at a time when our record already was being played on the radio. So they were rushing everything and we ended up hating our album cover." But what's more important to the band is what's inside the cover. "There's a lot of growth in the writing," Rogers says. "We cover a lot of topics on the album. Well, sex, life and love. And it's broken up into three parts: the raw sexual songs, the more romantic songs, and the songs about life, which cover everything from child abuse to interracial relationships and prejudice they have to put up with and love conquering that. There's another song, 'Living on the Front Line,' that was done during the riots that's a social statement about the state of the country." What's more, he adds, "Musically, there's a lot of different styles here. "'I Wanna Make Love to You' has a reggae hip-hop groove and it's got sort of a semi-rap like Arrested Development would do it. 'All You Non-Believers' has about two minutes of speed metal in it." The last album, as successful as it was, "was a hair too poppy for me," Rogers says. "This one says we're a band and we want to make a point of it." It's a lot like their old band and why not? Four members are the same -- in addition to Rogers and Sturken there is Manchester native John "Noodle" Nevin on bass and drummer Kevin Cloud, originally from Ellington, who was found out in Los Angeles drumming on "The Byron Allen Show." To that, they've added Rob Mingrino from Meriden on sax and keyboardist Ron Skies on keyboards. Together, they have a ton of credits; Skies has been on sessions by Glenn Frey, Diana Ross and Deep Purple; Sturken has worked on sessions with Hall & Oates and Paul McCartney, and Rogers' work has been on Bee Gees and Bruce Springsteen records. But the biggest credits come in writing and producing. Their breakthrough was "Stand Back" by Stephanie Mills; since then, they wrote and produced Karyn White's first hit, "Facts of Love," and were brought in for Donny Osmond's surprising comeback that turned out his first Top 10 hit in 16 years in the 1989 "Soldier of Love." "The thing about him was he had a lot of talent," Rogers says. "But I had to really work closely with him on his style and ad-libbing and the whole attitude of his singing." Before work started on the new album, Rogers and Sturken lent a hand to the new Dave Koz album. And they have just put the finishing touches on seven songs with another former teen idol, Debbie Gibson. "She wanted a change," Rogers says. "She needed a fresh approach. We're the first people she's collaborated with." The result, due out next month, "will be just as shocking as the Donny Osmond," Rogers promises. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MORE DEBHEADS COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET? John Shew (JOHN.SHEW@boardwatch.com) October 3, 1992 Are more Debheads coming out of the closet? In the October 2nd issue of Goldmine, in the letters section, reader Jim Hall from Pittsfield, MA responds to another reader's complaint about Goldmine's Madonna issue. "I am really not that big of a Madonna fan and probably never will be. However, I feel that the article was good and had every right to be in Goldmine. People have different tastes in music and Mr. Cline has to understand that Madonna, a tabloid queen to him, is still a music sensation to others and has every right to be recognized. Let's put it this way...Van Halen is one of my all-time favorite groups but I won't deny the fact that Debbie Gibson is one of my all-time favorite artists also. You have to accept all forms." Maybe we can convince Goldmine to feature Debbie in a future issue! Elsewhere in the same issue I noticed that DG collectibles have become pricey. Items like 7" promos from Japan and the Electric Youth lightbox display are advertised for $30. Those are Madonna-like prices! I think I'll be hanging on to mine for awhile. Deborah is also mentioned in Goldmine's "Grapevine" page. That's where they have news about upcoming releases and record conventions. This one mentions that Deb's autograph would be one of the items for sale at the Mammoth Music & Record Mart. The MM&RM is a charity sale held every year just outside Chicago to benefit ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) research. It also has the distinction of being the official charity for Goldmine. The MM&RM is a show I go to every year since it is only 20 minutes away. And with DG items available, I sure wasn't going to miss this year. The show had started three hours before I arrived, so I don't know if I missed any items. I did manage to buy an autographed copy of Deb's book, _Between the Lines_ and an autographed picture. The picture is like the one on the cover of the One Step Ahead tour book, but a fuller shot and much less grainy. They also had a program book for this years show. At the back there's a section titled "Special Thanks To Our Product Donors:" where everyone who donated items is listed. Most of the names are record companies or distributors, with Atlantic Records included. Debbie is the only artist listed. However, she's listed as "Debbie Gibson International." I'm not sure what this means. What I do know is that Deborah is a kind and caring person who will donate her time, her money, or her name to a good cause, whether or not it brings publicity. Oh, the picture came in a folder with a card that said "Compliments of Debbie Gibson." We thank you Deborah! -John (john.shew@boardwatch.com) P.S. I made a second trip to the MM&RM show, but did not find any more DG collectibles. Deborah's influence was with me though and I did something I normally wouldn't do. I signed up as a volunteer to help with next year's show. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= LG73 APOLOGIZES AFTER MAKING FUN OF DG =- Felix Ng (a1430001@bcit.bitnet) September 1, 1992 On Deborah's birthday, one of our local radio stations made fun at her after announcing her birthdate on the Morning Zoo. They said she was all "washed up" and she was out. I got very upset after hearing this so I FAXed them this letter: Felix Ng 2137 Qualicum Drive Vancouver, B.C. V5P 2M3 Tel:(604)322-9188 Fax:(604)322-5936 9.1.92 LG Morning Zoo CKLG 1006 Richards Street Vancouver, B.C. Fax:(604)280-3299 To LG Morning Zoo Staff: Subject: _APPALLING COMMENT MADE ABOUT DEBBIE GIBSON_ I, along with many Debbie Gibson fans found the remark you made regarding Debbie Gibson on the LG Morning Zoo extremely rude and impolite, especially on her 22nd birthday. Debbie Gibson completed a world tour last year, finished a very successful stint in Les Miserables on Broadway a few months ago, and is now working on her fourth album which will be out in January '93. She is certainly going to be around longer than you think. I was really disappointed to hear the remark you about her because I respected you all. I was wrong. Because of the rather unthoughtful comment, I will not be joining you all ever again for the first time in many years unless you do the following: (1) Apologize for making the remark on air, (2) Play any Debbie Gibson song. Since I will not be listening, you will either have to phone or FAX me in advance to let me know that you will adhere to my very reasonable request. You have until 10:00am Sept. 1 to comply or the frequency, 730kHz AM will NOT exist on any of the radios I use. Sincerely, Felix Ng "X" LG73 listener At about 7:50 A.M. the day after, a phone call woke me up. I picked up the phone and to my surprise, it was the Morning Zoo. I didn't expect them to reply especially live on the air with no delay. One of the DJ's then explained to the listeners why I was so upset and he read out the whole letter. They did apologize on air, but they did not play a Deb song. Instead, they put me first in line to talk to their special guest, a psychic after the 8 A.M. news. I agreed to this deal (I know I shouldn't have, but I just woke up and I didn't want to start an argument with them on the air). I asked the psychic about Deb, but before she did a reading of her, she told me, "It's not surprising that you are a loyal fan because you are very stubborn." I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but chose not to say anything. Basically, the pyschic said Deb had some trouble last year, but '93 will be a good year for her. I was on the phone with the Zoo for about 12 minutes and live on the air for around 6 minutes. Now if I can find someone who taped this, I can send a copy to Deb. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS =- Q. Matthew Jung (mjung@pcocd2.intel.com) Does anyone have the _Atlantic Hits for Holidays_ promo CD? I am wondering if her track is one of the older Christmas songs like "Silent Night" or the new one which will appear on the _A Very Special Christmas 2_ charity CD. A. Myra Wong (mkwong@sdcc13.ucsd.edu) I called a mail order company that was selling the _Atlantic Hits For the Holidays_ promo CD. The track is not a Christmas song; it's a song from one of Debbie's albums. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -= CLOSING REMARKS =- Even though television commercials promoting the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon mentioned Deborah as being one of the featured performers, Deborah was not shown on the telethon this past Labor Day weekend. According to USA TODAY (9/28) and Entertainment Tonight (9/25), Deborah was present along with other celebrities at the Jean Paul Gaultier AIDS benefit fashion show held on September 24th in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium. According to Tommy Montalto, who called GMI on October 2nd, the next album is still going to be released in January. Deborah's contribution to the _A Very Special Christmas 2_ album is a cover of "Sleigh Ride" and in November, she will be supporting that album. There will also be a special on TV where Deborah will perform the song. A video is in the works and it will probably be released as a single with possibly a different B-side. According to Shaun Stuart, the release date of the _A Very Special Christmas 2_ album was listed as October 6th in a music distributor's catalog. Joey Richards (ljr3721@usl.edu) has FTPed two MIDI files ("Try" and "Lost in Your Eyes") in /pub/music/lists/btl/midi at cs.uwp.edu. If anyone has more MIDI files, please FTP them to cs.uwp.edu. Joey will be placing more MIDI files on cs.uwp.edu in December.