June 8, 1997—Special Edition #1 Administrator Interview: Britta Phillips Lesley Aeschliman year will be as good at this first year has by DéAnna Gegenheimer It’s hard to believe that it’s been a been! Hi, all you Jem fans. We know that Britta Phillips is the singing voice of Jem, whole year since I first started the Truly ADOBE ACROBAT FILES Outrageous! Mailing List. But some- The Truly Outrageous! Anniversary Issue is an right? Well, recently this little songbird times it’s harder for me to believe just Adobe Acrobat file. This document was arranged for the opened up to let us know a little bit more standard 640x480 monitor, but you can “zoom in” to ex- how much this list has grown and amine something more closely with the magnifying glass about herself and her work on the show. changed during that time. When Truly tool, above. Your left and right arrow keys will allow you Thanks for joining us, Britta. It’s to navigate forward and back through the pages. Also, Outrageous! 1.1 was distributed on there should be a table of contents on the left hand side. been a long time since your work on June 4, 1996, there were only nine peo- If you do not see it, select one of the layout controls at top Jem. It must have been such a blast left. ple subscribed to the list…but now, a This Anniversary Issue should print out very getting paid to do what you love to do year later, there’s about 300 people that nicely from any printer, but bitmapped images (photos) best. How did you first hear about sing- have been reduced to screen resolution to save space. receive these digests. All artists have been credited in the event you should wish ing on the Jem show? I’d like to thank all of you for your to contact one of them by private e-mail to request a higher My father had worked with Anne support and involvement with this mail- resolution image. Bryant for many years and was told that ing list. If it wasn’t for you, this list Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Incorporated. they were looking for a singer for the Jem and the Jem logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Incorporated and wouldn’t be what it is today! Sunbow Entertainment. This document is an unendorsed fan maga- voice of Jem. They were looking for And here’s hoping that this next zine. someone who was not a professional “jingle” singer. They told me about a CD they released How did they decide on you? for dogs (songs about dogs for dogs and They had everyone auditioning dog owners/lovers) when I saw them at record the Jem theme song. The “Truly my father’s wedding last June. Outrageous” theme song you hear on What were your recording ses- the show is my audition. sions like? Do you know if they hired the sing- I don’t read music, so Ford would ing voice or the speaking voice first for sit at the piano with me and sing the the show? song. He and Anne would also fill me in I don’t know…Sorry. on what the corresponding storyline was Did you have any input on the for that episode. I would memorize it as songs, or help to write any of them? quickly as possible and begin record- Anne Bryant and Ford Kinder did ing. It took approximately one hour per all of the writing. Ford also did some song. singing for the male characters. Occa- How many songs did you do in a sionally I would improvise a little em- day? bellishment, but usually stuck to their At least two and up to six. specific arrangement. Britta Phillips Did you know any of the musi- When you sang songs that in- Original photo courtesy of Britta Phillips cians that played while you sang? cluded other singers (i.e. the Misfits or My father played a lot of the mu- the Stingers) did you actaully record with Holograms and Misfits. I’m forgetting sic on keyboards, using MIDI, samples them? someone… etc…I met some other players, as well No. We always recorded one at a (My guess would be that Ford might (most of them acquaintances of my fa- time. I would usually lay down the initial have been the singing voice of Riot, but ther). Ford did most of the piano music. voice track and they would go from Britta cannot confirm this as she never Were there any songs you liked there. They did record the background recorded with the other singers.) in particular, or hated? vocals all at once. The Holograms and How did you all get along? I didn’t enjoy hitting some of the the Misfits were the same singers. I was friendly with all of them, but excruciatingly high notes in some of the Who were they? they were quite a bit older than I was so songs, but I don’t recall actively hating Ellen Bernfeld was Pizzazz and we didn’t spend much time together. I was to sing any of them. The songs that also sang backup vocals as a Misfit and 21 at the time. My father is still friendly stand out in my mind are “Only Me and a Hologram. Ford was at least one of with Ellen Bernfeld and has played in the Music”, “Only the Beginning”, “We the regular male characters. Florence bands of hers since Jem. She and Anne Can Make a Difference”, “Happy End- Warner sang background vocals for the Bryant had a band together for a while. ings”, “Shangri-La”, and “Jazz Has.” “Jazz Has” was fun because I got to try again. Why did they never go back and a slightly different singing style. correct it? On the cassette tapes, it says the Hmmmmmm…I believe it was music is a product of Wild Star/Star Wild suppose to create some realism. Music. Do you know who they are? What sort of benefits did singing I assume it must be Anne Bryant on the show have for your career? (music primarily) and Ford Kinder (words It never really had an impact on and melody primarily). Unless they sold my career. My short-lived acting career the rights to someone else. was in a different genre and after that, I Did you also sing for the commer- never volunteered the information about cials? Jem or my acting experience while pur- Yes. suing a record deal with Belltower. The Glitter ‘n’ Gold Jem theme was Okay, I’m confused. Why would not used in the show. Are there any other you not credit yourself as the singing songs that you might have recorded that voice of Jem? It would seem that a big were not used? job like that would get people’s atten- Not that I know of. tion. Did you ever use it as a credit on Any funny or amusing stories you your résumé? remember about any songs? I did include Jem on my résumé Ah yes…There was that time I in- as an actor for a while, but it wasn’t re- sisted on singing an entire song in Latin. ally relevant to the style of music that In the song “Let’s Not Forget the Belltower was doing. Past” with Bobby Baily, there is a bit of a Are there any similarities between flub in it. You started a bit early with your what you sing now and what you did as singing, stopped, then started the song Jem? Just some timbral similarities your singing voice is to Samantha ways trying to get me to sing the Jem since it is my voice, but I was singing Newark‘s speaking voice? Some people theme for them. “in character” at the time so it sounds still can’t believe they are two different Do you ever give in? very different to me in spirit. I also sing people. I have, on rare occasion, been quite a bit lower in register these days I never really thought about it. They persuaded to parody myself for a few and my voice has matured a bit so it did a good job, but she doesn’t really seconds. doesn’t sound as much like a kid. sound like my speaking voice. You mentioned your little brother. Have you ever sung any Jem Do you know it’s been said that you Tell us about your family. songs in a concert (or anywhere else), look like Jem? My sister’s name is Inga, and or wanted to? Ha! No I didn’t. Of course, my she’s 32 and lives in New York city with I have not. I wanted to do a dark, grandmother says so, but that’s her job… her husband. My brother, Webb, is 18 slow version of the Jem theme when So, you didn’t do any of the years old. He will be going to Stanford Belltower played at my little brother’s photoshoots for the merchandise pack- in the fall (ohh, hear that all you single high school last year since most of the ages? kids knew that I was the voice of Jem, Nope. but I had some resistance from the other Do you have any of the dolls? band memebers. I have one. Jem, of course. My (Ohhhh, wouldn’t that sound grandmother bought me one. My dad cool?) bought one, too. He still has his, too.