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From: [e-mail] (Levien de Braal)
Newsgroups: rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson,alt.fan.debbie.gibson,rec.answers,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson FAQ v3.3.3
Approved: [e-mail]
Followup-To: rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Summary: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson
    and alt.fan.debbie.gibson. Deborah Gibson is a songwriter, producer,
    performer, actress, musician and musical star.
Originator: [e-mail]
Date: 17 Apr 2004 11:26:52 GMT
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Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson:111942 alt.fan.debbie.gibson:7246 rec.answers:86534 alt.answers:72470 news.answers:269787

Archive-name: music/debbie-gibson-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 2002/02/18
Version: 3.3.3

The rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) v3.3.3

Maintained by Levien de Braal ([e-mail])
Written by Levien de Braal and Bob MacDowell
Special thanx to Shmuel Ross and Myra Wong

This FAQ is stored as:
  http://deb.org/archives/FAQ
  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/music/debbie-gibson-faq

Questions answered here:

1. The Newsgroups
  1.1 What has Usenet to offer for a Deborah Gibson fan ?
  1.2 What is rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson (RMADG) ?
  1.3 What is alt.fan.debbie.gibson (AFDG) ?
  1.4 Can I post pictures or soundfiles (binaries) ?
  1.5 What if my site doesn't offer the newsgroups ?

2. Resources on the Internet
  2.1 What is the official fan club ?
  2.2 What is the "BtL Newsletter" ?
  2.3 What mailing lists exist to discuss Deborah Gibson ?
  2.4 What World Wide Web (WWW) services are there for Deborah Gibson fans ?
  2.5 Can I chat with other fans on the net in real time ?

3. Deborah Gibson's Music
  3.1 What Deborah Gibson albums have been released ?
  3.2 What Deborah Gibson singles have been released ?
  3.3 What Deborah Gibson videotapes have been released ?
  3.4 Why Japanese only Bonus tracks ?
  3.5 Who writes Deborah Gibson's music ?
  3.6 Who produces Deborah Gibson's music ?
  3.7 Who has had the privilege to work with Deborah Gibson ?
  3.8 What instruments does Deborah Gibson play ?

4. Deborah Gibson, the person
  4.1 Who is Deborah Gibson ?
  4.2 What has Deborah Gibson done so far ?
  4.3 What is she doing in the theatre ?
  4.4 What are GPI, GMI, and Espiritu ?
  4.5 What is this with Deborah Gibson and Tiffany ?
  4.6 Is Deborah Gibson still a teenager ?
  4.7 Are there any biographies about Deborah Gibson ?
  4.8 Has she ever posed nude in Playboy, Penthouse or similar ?
  4.9 Did she write a letter to the Times about Madonna's book ?
  4.10 Is it true that Deborah Gibson did a striptease in one of her videos ?

5. Miscellaneous
  5.1 What do OOTB, BMS, LM and all those funny acronyms mean ?


********** 1. The Newsgroups **********

1.1 What has Usenet to offer for a Deborah Gibson fan ?

 Usenet readers can keep informed about Deborah Gibson by reading the
 rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson (RMADG) newsgroup. Members of Deborah Gibson
 related mailing lists read this group regularly, post the latest news there
 and are willing to answer questions that people might have. Also, it is
 possible for people to have elaborate group discussions on the newsgroup that
 are inappropriate on one of the mailing lists.

 Please note that since the creation of RMADG, it is more appropriate to post
 there than to the old alt.fan.debbie.gibson (AFDG) newsgroup. The rec.*
 hierarchy has in general a much better availability to users than the alt.*
 hierarchy.


1.2 What is rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson (RMADG)?

 On October 13, 1995, the results were announced of the official vote for
 the creation of a new newsgroup, called rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson.
 The volunteer votetaker counted 292 votes in favor, with only 70 votes
 against. Since this outcome meets the requirement for newsgroup creation
 in the rec.* hierarchy, RMADG was created a few days later. No propagation
 (availability on news servers) or readership statistics are known.

 Official Newsgroup-line:
  rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson The music of Deborah Gibson.
 Official Charter:
  This group would discuss Deborah Gibson, her music and appearances.
 Official Proponent was: (many thanks to him)
  Richard Evans


1.3 What is alt.fan.debbie.gibson (AFDG)?

 Early February 1993 the newsgroup alt.fan.debbie.gibson was created for the
 fans of Deborah Gibson. Regrettably, the group was created in a whim, without
 any discussion, and it violates generally accepted Usenet regulations. It
 subsequently suffers from a poor propagation (availability on news servers).
 To name one thing, its name violates the newsgroup naming convention, due to
 the dot placed between "debbie" and "gibson" (should have been a dash). July
 1995 propagation was estimated at 29% of all sites that carry newsfeed, while
 readership was estimated at 3,300 people. Because
 rec.music.artists.debbie-gibson has been created since, the number of readers
 can be expected to have changed substantially.

 Due to the way it was created, this newsgroup has no official Newsgroup-line
 or Charter. The Newsgroup-line used by news servers tends to vary, but it is
 most often provided as "Thwarter of the supervillain Tiffany", which was once
 added as a joke by some unknown system administrator.


1.4 Can I post pictures or soundfiles (binaries) ?

 We suggest you do not post any type of binary file to either of the two
 Deborah Gibson related newsgroups. Picture files, soundfiles, 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 on RMADG telling people
 you posted those pictures there.

 It's best to put binary items on the WWW.


1.5 What if my site doesn't offer the newsgroups ?

 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 do not carry groups of a certain type. However, most system
 administrators will carry a group if you kindly ask them.


********** 2. Resources on the Internet **********

2.1 What is the official fan club ?

 The Deborah Gibson International Fan club (D.G.I.F.) is the only official fan
 club for Deborah Gibson fans, managed by Deborah's family. D.G.I.F. has been
 in operation since 1987. At first they sent out one-page photocopied
 newsletters. In early 1988 they started printed quarterly magazines on glossy
 paper. These magazines were approximately 20 pages long and contained
 full-page pictures, exclusive candid pictures, questions & answers, "When I
 Met Deborah" stories and pen pal listings. Most issues contained a message
 from Deborah, usually one or two pages in length. Between January 1995 and
 1999 they alternated similar 16-page full-color magazines with shorter black &
 white newsletters. For a while there were four issues each year, but in later
 years the rate had gone down substantially, and membership was then recorded
 in terms of batches of four issues, not in calendar years. In July 1999,
 D.G.I.F. announced they had stopped sending out magazines and newsletters
 altogether. The official fan club now only exists as nothing more than the
 DGIF Online area on the Official website.

  Official site:  http://www.Deborah-Gibson.com/


2.2 What is the "BtL Newsletter" ?

 On March 31, 1989, several fans got together to create a Deborah 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 (ISSN 1201-4826, electronic publication ISSN 1201-4834) operates on
 a non-profit basis. BtL used to release issues approximately every month, but
 nowadays is released more sporadically whenever there are enough submissions
 by fans. Issues generally 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 1000+, with members from Australia,
 Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland,
 Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, Spain,
 Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United
 States.

 Issues are sent by e-mail and are free of charge.

 To subscribe to the BtL Newsletter, visit the BtL ListInfo page:
   http://deb.org/mailman/listinfo/btl
 or send e-mail to:
   [e-mail]


2.3 What mailing lists exist to discuss Deborah Gibson ?

 There are several BtL (see 2.2) provided mailing lists for Deborah Gibson
 fans:
 * BtL EXPRESS
 * ELECTRIC NEWS
 * AIP
 * RMADG

 BtL EXPRESS
  BtL EXPRESS is a mailing list used by the BtL moderators to quickly send out
  information, though only in rare cases. It's only available in Reflector
  format, and is one-way (receiving information only). Also, the BtL issues
  are being sent out using this list so a subscription to the BtL Newsletter
  is essentially the same as a subscription to BtL EXPRESS. You can subscribe
  by visiting the BtL ListInfo page at:
    http://deb.org/mailman/listinfo/btl

 ELECTRIC NEWS
  ELECTRIC NEWS is a mailing list only for news and information regarding
  Deborah Gibson. It is only available in Reflector format. Subscription to
  Electric News requires a subscription to the BtL newsletter. You can
  subscribe by visiting the Electric News ListInfo page at:
    http://deb.org/mailman/listinfo/electric

 Anything Is Possible (AIP)
  AIP is a mailing list for members of the BtL Newsletter to have lively
  discussions regarding Deborah Gibson and any related topic. This list is
  available in both Reflector (each message immediately sent) and Digest
  (collections of messages sent during a day) format. Subscription to the
  AIP mailing list requires a subscription to Electric News and the BtL
  newsletter. You can subscribe by visiting the AIP ListInfo page:
    http://deb.org/mailman/listinfo/aip

 There's a message archive for all of the above mailing lists at:
  http://deb.org/archives/


 Other Non-BtL non-official mailing lists are:
 * M.Y.O.B. Squad
 * Debheadz
 * deborahgibson
 * DeborahAnnGibsonFanClub
 To subscribe, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/

 M.Y.O.B. Squad
  The goal of this list is to help promote Deborah Gibson's new album as fans,
  by requesting her songs on the radio, and getting the word out to people who
  may not be familiar with her new mainstream songs! It also serves to
  celebrate the music of Deborah Gibson. NOTE: This is a FAN Promotion group
  and is in NO Way shape or form associated with DGIF!

 Debheadz
  Debheadz: Followers of the Legendary singer/actress Deborah Gibson.
  Discussion group for the members of Debheadz.com.

 deborahgibson
  This is a mailing list for all fans of Deborah Gibson. The topics for this
  list are anything that has to do with Deborah.

 DeborahAnnGibsonFanClub
  Thanks for stopping by a new Deborah Gibson group. I created this group for
  Deb fans to chat about Deb.


2.4 What World Wide Web (WWW) services are there for Deborah Gibson fans ?

 There are a large number of WWW-pages created by fans. The deb.org site
 attempts to provide as objective information as possible: the latest news,
 a short biography, information from this FAQ in HTML format, archives for a
 few mailing lists, and many links to other resources on the net related to
 Deborah Gibson. It has an extensive list of other WWW resources on the net.
 The URL:

  http://deb.org/

 Other sites that should be mentioned here:
  Official site:            http://www.Deborah-Gibson.com/
  Nicky Jacob's site:       http://Deborah-Gibson.net/
  Webring site:             http://deb.org/webring/
  WWW index Unita FTP site: http://ftp.unina.it/pub/music/dgibson/
  Lesley Aeschliman site:   http://www.angelfire.com/pop2/deborahgibson/

2.5 Can I chat with other fans on the net in real time ?

 Check out http://deb.org/void.html
 It 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: Deborah
 Gibson/Merrick, New York) You can access the Void-MOO when you have telnet
 or a Java-capable browser. Pointers to download required software are given
 at the above location as well.


********** 3. Deborah Gibson's Music **********

3.1 What Deborah Gibson albums have been released ?

 Deborah has recorded seven studio albums:
 "Out of the Blue", "Electric Youth", "Anything is Possible", "Body Mind Soul",
 "Think With Your Heart", "Deborah", and "M.Y.O.B. (Mind Your Own Business)".


3.2 What Deborah Gibson singles have been released ?

 Whoa! We will not go into a complete discography here. A discography is
 available at:  http://deb.org/discography/


3.3 What Deborah Gibson videotapes have been 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.


3.4 Why Japanese only Bonus tracks ?

 Domestic CD prices in Japan are set by the Japanese government. These prices
 are far above the normal market price for CDs imported from the USA. To
 improve sales of the Japanese CDs, extra bonus tracks are included that are
 not available on the USA versions of the CDs.

 The Japanese version of "Anything Is Possible" was sold with an additional
 3" CD, containing the song "Without You". "Body Mind Soul" in Japan has an
 extra song called "Eyes of the Child". The album "Think With Your Heart" has
 even got two additional tracks: "You Know Me" and "Call Yourself a Lover".
 The Atlantic Records-released Greatest Hits album contains both "Without You"
 and "Eyes of the Child" as bonus tracks.


3.5 Who writes Deborah Gibson's music ?

 Most of it is written by Deborah Gibson herself. She uses her actual name,
 Deborah Gibson for the credit lines, while she initially got famous using the
 name "Debbie Gibson". If she does not write music and lyrics by herself, she
 at least co-writes her songs, with only a few exeptions for an occasional
 cover of a song she loves to perform. Deborah wrote "Only In My Dreams", her
 first hit, when she was 12.


3.6 Who produces Deborah Gibson's music ?

 Deborah Gibson, although she lets others spin the knobs on occasion or
 otherwise merely co-produces her own songs. She produced "Foolish Beat"
 herself and became the youngest person ever to write, produce and perform
 a #1 single.


3.7 Who has had the privilege to work with Deborah Gibson ?

 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. The
 privilege of co-writing and/or co-producing for her fifth album, "Think With
 Your Heart", was given to nobody at all. On "Deborah", she teamed up with
 Joy Swinea, Richard Drummie, Mark Portmann, Steve Rosen, Junior Vasquez, and
 Anna-Jane Casey (duet).

 Artists that have worked with Deborah outside of her own albums include Ana,
 Jobeth Taylor, the Party, Chris Cuevas and the Circle Jerks. Many people were
 suprised to see Deborah team up with the Circle Jerks, sing backup vocals on
 their last album, and stagedive into a mosh-pit during their gig at CBGB's in
 New York.


3.8 What instruments does Deborah 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.


********** 4. Deborah Gibson, the person **********

4.1 Who is Deborah Gibson ?

 Full name: Deborah Ann Gibson
 Confirmation name: Marie
 Religious denomination: Catholic
 Date of birth: August 31, 1970
 Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York
 Education: Sanford H. Calhoun High School, June 1988
 Marital Status: Single

 Deborah has an upbeat, caring, open-minded, ambitious and family-oriented
 personality. 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 doing things like designing her stage-outfits, sound engineering and
 running the fan club.

 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
 has no children of her own yet, but has stated that she definitely wants
 several, own as well as adopted.


4.2 What has Deborah Gibson done so far ?

 Deborah 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 Deborah's third album, "Anything is Possible", she made her broadway
 debut 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". Her fifth album, called "Think With Your Heart", once more shows
 her abilities as a songwriter, musician, singer and producer. It contains
 mostly ballads with Deborah playing piano, accompanied by an orchestra.

 Deborah played Betty Rizzo in the National Touring Company of Grease. She was
 part of the cast from October 29 1995 through March 3 1996, touring through
 the USA and performing in 19 different cities in a usually sold out theatre.
 Deborah recorded her sixth album, "Deborah", in the summer of 1996, after
 which she starred as Fanny Brice in a brief revival of the musical Funny Girl.
 She continued showing her passion for theatre by playing "Belle" in the
 Broadway musical "Beauty and the Beast" for nine months, followed by starring
 as Gypsy Rose Lee in the Papermill Playhouse production of Gypsy, playing the
 narrator in the US touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
 Dreamcoat, and the title role in the US touring production of Cinderella.

 On March 6, 2001, she released her seventh studio album, titled "M.Y.O.B.
 (Mind Your Own Business)".

 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 benefiting charities. She surprised
 many, including her own fans, by singing backup vocals for a song on the last
 Circle Jerks album.


4.3 What is she doing in the theatre ?

 Deborah has been involved in the theatre longer than she has 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. (see also 4.2)


4.4 What are GPI, GMI, Espiritu, and Golden Egg ?

 Deborah's production/management companies: Gibson Production International and
 Gibson Management International. GMI also manages other artists. Both are run
 by either Deborah, her sister Karen or her mother Diane Gibson. Espiritu
 Records is the name of the Gibsons' first own record label, while Golden Egg
 Records is their second record label.


4.5 What is this with Deborah Gibson and Tiffany ?

 A long long time ago, Deborah 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. The stories about them being in competition with one
 another at the time were mere media hype.


4.6 Is Deborah Gibson still a teenager ?

 Time marches on. She was born August 31, 1970. Do the math.


4.7 Are there any biographies about Deborah Gibson ?

 The best is the authorized biography by Mark Bego: "Between the Lines". It was
 written in 1989, so it is 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 is scarce and unauthorized. While it fills in the picture,
 it is quite lacking in the "scandal" department, most likely due to a lack of
 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.


4.8 Has she ever posed nude in Playboy, Penthouse or similar ?

 No. Playboy made an offer to Deborah shortly after she turned 18. At that time
 she refused that offer, saying flat-out: "NEVER!". The offer itself lead to
 lots of rumors in the tabloids though.

 Over the years, Deborah has changed her opinion on nudity though. In 1999,
 a report in TV-Guide on-line stated Deborah was seriously considering posing
 topless for Playboy Magazine. D.G.I.F. portrayed the report as just another
 rumor in their January 22 hotline message, but Deborah herself later stated in
 an interview with Music Choice Magazine that the rumor was true. The deal
 didn't go through because she and Playboy could not reach an agreement on
 which photographer to use.


4.9 Did 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, stressing the importance of being a good role model to
 young people.


4.10 Is it true that Deborah Gibson did a striptease in one of her videos ?

 Yes. She plays a stripper in the video of "Losin' Myself", the first single
 released from her fourth album, "Body Mind Soul". Do not expect to see
 anything indecent though. The video is actually pretty modest. She stripteases
 down to a well-covering bathing suit.


********** 5. Miscellaneous **********

5.1 What do OOTB, BMS, LM and all those funny acronyms mean ?

 These are song or album names. Some people have a habit of using these a lot.
 OOTB = "Out of the Blue", BMS = "Body Mind Soul", LM = "Losin' Myself", etc...
 Take a look at http://euclid.ucsd.edu/~amedrano/dnd.html  for a listing.