FAQ alt.fan.debbie.gibson
s11...@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl
Maintained by Levien de Braal (lev...@dungeon.com)
Written by Levien de Braal, Myra Wong and Bob MacDowell
Special thanx to Shmuel Ross
Sections:
* About AFDG
* Other Resources On and Off the Internet
* About Debbie Gibson's Music
* About Debbie Gibson
* Miscellaneous
******************** About AFDG ********************
Q: What is this about alt.fan.debbie.gibson (AFDG)?
At some time in Usenet history a newsgroup was created for the fans of
Debbie Gibson. This group isn't properly propagated due to the way it was
created: without any discussion and with a naming convention against Usenet
rules (dot between first and last name). Present propagation is estimated at
17% of all sites that carry newsfeed. This still seems to add up to a total
audience of 12,000 readers. (that's readers, not people who POST :)
Still, it is possible to keep informed about Debbie Gibson by reading this
newsgroup. Members of Debbie-related mailing lists read the newsgroup
regularly, post the latest news there and answer any questions that people
might have. Also it is possible for people to have elaborate group discussions
on there that are inappropriate on one of the mailing lists.
If alt.fan.debbie.gibson (AFDG) isn't available in the normal newsfeed at
your site, you might decide to make inquiries to your local news
administrator.
Q: Why isn't this group called {alt/rec}.music.debbie-gibson?
It was created improperly by a lone newbie. As it seems impossible to rename
a newsgroup, we're probably stuck with it.
Q: How come my site doesn't get this group?
Usenet spreads by connections between computers. People own those computers
and connections. They have a legitimate right to decide which newsgroups to
carry. Many sites don't carry groups of this type. Some sites even exclude
all 'alt' groups. However, most system administrators will carry a group if
you ask for it.
Q: I've got some great GIF's (graphic pictures). Should I post them here?
No. GIFs and other binaries take lots of bandwidth and tend to overload
gateways and cause lots of problems for the entire net. Instead, post them to
alt.binaries.pictures, which is designed to handle it. Remember to put a note
here telling people they can find them there. Better yet, place them on the
archive at FTP.DUNGEON.COM instead. Directory /pub/incoming/BTL/pictures/*
******************** Resources ********************
Q: What resources for information related to Debbie Gibson are available?
** Debbie Gibson International Fan Club (D.G.I.F.): **
D.G.I.F. has been in operation since Deborah's recording career started to
take off in 1987. In the very beginning, they sent out photocopied, one-page
newsletters. Since Spring '88, they've printed quarterly magazines on glossy
paper. These magazines are approximately 20 pages long. These magazines
contain full-page pictures, exclusive candid pictures, questions & answers,
"When I Met Debbie" stories and pen pal listings. Each issue also contains
a message handwritten by Deborah, which is at least one page in length.
Since January 1995 they alternate 16-page full-color magazines with shorter
B/W newsletters.
First year basic membership includes two magazines and two newsletters,
a membership card with your membership number on it, a color button/pin and
a glossy black and white 8"x10" photograph, which usually is autographed
(some photos aren't autographed when Debbie has been away from New York for
an extended period of time (like being on tour or doing "Grease")).
Membership beyond the first year includes the above magazines and newsletters.
DeLuxe membership ($25 for US & Intl) is the same as basic, except in
addition you will receive ALL of your mailings via FIRST CLASS MAIL (usually
getting it within 3 days), a COLOR 8x10 autographed photo, and be entitled
to discounts on various merchandise offered through the fan club. Special
contests and promotions will be offered from time to time exclusively for
DeLuxe members. DeLuxe renewal ($20 for US & Intl) is the same as DeLuxe
membership, except you don't receive a new membership card.
D.G.I.F. occassionally offers merchandise, such as posters, tourbooks, gift
baskets, teddy bears and calendars. Also, members occassionally receive
postcards between issues and a yearly Christmas card/postcard.
To join D.G.I.F., send your name, address, phone number, birthdate, nearest
major city and a check or money order for $17.00 for U.S. members ($19.00
for International members) made payable to "D.G.I.F." to:
D.G.I.F. Membership Committee
P.O. Box 489
Merrick NY 11566
U.S.A.
Yearly renewals are $13.00 for U.S. members, $15.00 for International members.
DGIF is on-line. E-mail address: DG...@AOL.COM
Remember, do not spam the fan club with a flood of messages. They are
monitoring the newsgroup, so you might as well send your comments there.
** Monthly Newsletter: **
On March 31, 1989, several fans got together to create a Debbie Gibson
discussion forum in the form of a regular newsletter. They first called it
'The Electric Youth', which was changed to 'Between the Lines' in the second
issue. BtL releases issues approximately every month that contain the latest
information, transcriptions of other sources, reviews and opinions, all
submitted by BtL members.
The membership started off with fifteen people and has since then steadily
grown. Currently the membership is estimated at over 300 and we have members
from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Italy, Japan, Malaysia,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand and the United States.
Internet is BtL's primary medium of distribution. BtL members who subscribe
to on-line services, such as Compuserve, have access to BtL via gateway to
Internet. BtL is also distributed through Bitnet. Issues for electronic mail
subscribers are sent by e-mail and are free of charge.
To subscribe to the BtL newsletter, send e-mail to:
B...@EGBT.ORG
If e-mail to the above address bounces, please send e-mail to:
Myra Wong (mkw...@ucsd.edu)
or
Felix Ng (f...@acca.nmsu.edu)
It is also possible to subscribe to BtL by postal mail. The issues for postal
subscribers are printed with a bubblejet printer which allows six pages of
text to be printed on both sides of one sheet of paper. Back issues are also
available on one MS-DOS 3.5" or 5.25" high density disk. Prices are at cost
and are subject to change:
USA: $3.25 U.S. for 5 issues; $2.75 U.S. for back issues on disk
CANADA: $3.25 Cdn. for 5 issues; $2.75 Cdn. for back issues on disk
OTHERS: 3 IRCs for 2 issues; 7 IRCs for back issues on disk
** Mailing lists: **
There are several mailing lists for Debbie Gibson fans:
* BtL
* AIP
* ELECTRIC NEWS
* BtL EXPRESS
* AFDG-gateway
BtL is the mailing list for the BtL newsletter. (see above)
AIP is a mailing list for members of the BtL Newsletter to have lively
discussions regarding Debbie Gibson and any related topic. This list is
available in both Reflector (each message immediately sent) and Digest
(each day a complete collection of messages send that day) format.
Digest back issues since 1992 are available by FTP to ftp.dungeon.com.
(this mailing list used to be called 'Debhead')
ELECTRIC NEWS is a mailing list only for news and information regarding
Debbie Gibson. It is only available in Reflector format.
BtL EXPRESS is a mailing list used by BtL moderators and the DGIF fan club
to quickly send out information to interested individuals. It's only
available in Reflector format, and is one-way (receiving information only).
AFDG-gateway is a mailing list carrying the complete newsfeed from the
alt.fan.debbie.gibson newsgroup. It can also be used to post to the newsgroup
through e-mail.
Detailed information about the use of these mailing lists is given upon
subscribing to the BtL Newsletter.
** Archives available via anonymous FTP: **
Through the years the Debbie Gibson fans on the net have created and
collected a wide variety of data resources about Debbie Gibson. These include
lyric, picture and sound files. Most of these files can be obtained through
anonymous FTP. The FTP-site with the largest amount of Debbie Gibson related
files is:
FTP.DUNGEON.COM
directory: /pub/music/BTL
As this is a UK site, all newer files are currently also being stored on an
FTP-site in the USA, to minimize trans-ocean traffic. The address for this
site is:
COMPASS.GMC.MILLEDGEVILLE.GA.US
username: deb
password: yourname@yoursite
Another site where you can find Debbie-related material is:
FTP.UWP.EDU
directory: /pub/music/lists/btl
which is mirrored on:
FTP.WIT.COM
directory: /pub/music/lists/btl
** Real-time chatting with other Debbie Gibson fans: **
If you have access to Telnet and want to discuss Debbie Gibson and her
music in real time, drop a line to Jonathan Bradshaw
(jona...@nova.decio.nd.edu).
He will inform you more about Void-MOO, a MUD-like virtual environment
that allows people to chat within a certain theme.
(Theme for Void-MOO: Debbie Gibson/Merrick, New York)
** WWW server **
http://nova.decio.nd.edu/nrgup/
contains: pictures, sounds (not music though), AIP-digests, latest news, etc.
******************** About The Music ********************
Q: What are the four best Debbie Gibson albums? :-)
"Out of the Blue", "Electric Youth", "Anything is Possible" and
"Body Mind Soul".
Q: What are the three best Debbie Gibson videos released? :-)
"Out of the Blue" has the first four music videos. (30 min.)
"Live in Concert (Out of the Blue tour)", self-explanatory. (60 min.)
"Live Around the World" is another concert, plus 6 more videos. (90 min.)
All of them contain interview segments.
Q: What are the twenty best Debbie Gibson singles?
Whoa! We won't go into a complete discography here. A discography is
available through anonymous FTP to FTP.DUNGEON.COM
Q: Who writes Debbie Gibson's music?
Most of it is written by a talented young songwriter named Debbie Gibson.
If she doesn't write music and lyrics by herself, she at least co-writes
her songs. She wrote "Only In My Dreams" when she was 12.
Q: Who produces her music?
Debbie Gibson, usually, although she often lets others spin the knobs. She
produced "Foolish Beat" herself and became the youngest person ever to
write, produce and perform a #1 single.
Q: Who has had the privilege to write/produce music with her?
On Out Of The Blue she worked with Fred Zarr, John Morales, Sergio Munizibai
and Lewis A. Martinee. On Electric Youth Fred Zarr did some of the producing.
On Anything Is Possible, her third album, she worked with Lamont Dozier,
Jellybean and Fred Zarr. She also teamed up with Tatsuro Yamashita in
creating the song Without You, which was released in Japan only. On her
fourth album, Body Mind Soul, she worked with Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers,
Elliot Wolf, Phil Ramone, Carole Bayer Sager and Narada Michael Warden.
Q: What instruments does Debbie Gibson play?
Piano, programming synthesizers and drum machines, guitar and flute.
At age six she won first place in a piano recital, playing the full
"Fur Elise". She can hack on the drums, but not well enough to record.
******************** About Debbie Gibson ********************
Q: Who is Debbie Gibson?
Full name: Deborah Ann Marie Gibson
Birth Date: August 31, 1970
Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York
Education: Sanford H. Calhoun High School, June 1988
Deborah is a very family-oriented person. In her career she has always had
the support of her family. Her mother, Diane, is also her manager.
Her sisters have also helped from the start by designing her stage-outfits,
sound engineering, running the fan club and much more.
She supports several charities, among which are the Pediatric AIDS
Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St.Mary's Children & Families
Foundation. The latter is a home for abused, orphaned and/or neglected
children. Deborah's father, Joe Gibson, has spent several years there.
After listing those causes, it should come as no surprise that Deborah is
very fond of children. She hasn't got any of her own yet, but has stated
that she definitely wants several children, of her own as well as adopted.
Although her appearance on the cover of Modern Bride Magazine in a wedding
gown (gorgeous picture!) might suggest the opposite, Deborah hasn't married.
Q: What has Debbie Gibson done so far?
Debbie Gibson started her career at a young age. She got experience in
theatre by playing roles in plays like "A Christmas Carol", "Annie" and
"Mickey Mouse and Friends". At age 12, she started songwriting seriously.
She was part of the Metropolitan Opera for several years, doing operas like
"Hansel und Gretel", "La Boheme" and "Le Rossignol", some of which meant
singing in a foreign language.
Deborah got her first recording contract at age 16, for a 12" aimed at the
dance market. In late 1986, "Only in my Dreams" was released, a song she had
written three years prior. After it became a hit, 6 months of hard work
performing at various clubs later, she recorded her first album, titled
"Out of the Blue". It went triple platinum, just like her second album
"Electric Youth", which was released in January 1989. With the song
"Foolish Beat" she set a record: she became the youngest artist in chart
history to have written, produced and performed a Number 1 song.
After Debbie's third album, "Anything is Possible", she made her Broadway
debute as Eponine in the musical "Les Miserables". She continued her efforts
in theatre by appearing as Sandy in the musical "Grease" on London's West End
for a period of nine months, shortly after she had released her fourth album
"Body Mind Soul".
Besides her own career, she has written and/or produced material for several
other artists (Chris Cuevas, Ana, the Party, Jobeth Taylor) and regularly
participates on 'various artists' albums benefitting charities.
Q: What is she doing in the theater?
Debbie has been involved in the theater longer than she's been in music.
She got her "Equity" card at age 11 when she did "A Christmas Carol".
From the very beginning (even before her recording career started in 1986)
she participated in many plays and auditioned for many many more.
Also see previous question...
Q: What are GPI and GMI?
Debbie's production/managment companies: Gibson Production International and
Gibson Management International. GMI also manages other acts. Both are run
by either Debbie or her mother Diane Gibson.
Q: What is this with Debbie Gibson and Tiffany?
A long long time ago, Debbie Gibson and Tiffany were teenage artists who
appeared on the music scene at nearly the same time. That drew a connection
in the eyes of the public, though their music is really quite different.
Q: Isn't Debbie Gibson still a teenager?
Time marches on. She was born August 31, 1970. Figure it out! :)
Q: Are there any biographies about Debbie Gibson?
The best is the authorized biography by Mark Bego: "Between the Lines".
It was written in 1989, so it's not up to date. Published by Eakin
Publications, Austin, Texas. (the book and the Internet mailing list
coincidentally have the same name).
Also, "Debbie Gibson: Electric Star" by Randi Reisfeld, March 1990, Bantam
books, New York. It's scarce and unauthorized. While it fills in the picture,
it is quite lacking in the "scandal" department.
(perhaps not enough scandals :)
Further: "DEBBIE GIBSON" by Gary Poole. Modern Publishing, New York 1989.
And: "DEBBIE GIBSON - UK BIOGRAPHY", 1990 Omnibus Press. (small)
They are all out of print.
Q: Has she ever posed nude in {Playboy/Penthouse}?
No, Deborah refused an offer made by Playboy. The offer itself lead to lots
of rumors in the tabloids, but Deborah has said flat-out: "NEVER!"
Q: Didn't she write a letter to the Times about Madonna's book?
She wrote a letter that the New York Times never published. She questioned
that a role model of so many teenage fans would publish a book of rather
bizarre erotica.
Q: Is it true that Debbie Gibson played a stripper in one of her videos?
Technically, yes. She plays a stripper in the video of "Losin' Myself", the
first single released from her fourth album, "Body Mind Soul". Don't expect to
see anything indecent though :) Watch the video. It's actually pretty modest.
******************** Miscellaneous ********************
Q: What do OOTB, BMS, LM and all those funny acronyms mean?
These are song or album names. Some people have a {good/bad} habit of using
these a lot. OOTB = "Out of the Blue", BMS = "Body Mind Soul",
LM = "Losin' Myself".