MovieChat Forums > Jem (1985) Discussion > Does anyone else

Does anyone else

posted 9 years ago by LaunchpadMcQuack
3 replies | jump to latest

Love the Stingers and wish they were a real group? Or is it just me? I've been watching the show on Hub/Discovery Family and I just can't stop singing "Under my Spell" (as seen in "The Day the Music Died" I think). Love it!
Ok, I was just curious how other people feel about them.
BTW, I hate this movie they're coming out with. I might have actually been interested in seeing it if they had just made the same movie but without the forced connection to Jem. Don't they know they're fing with peoples' childhoods?!

I can't swim.
--Vasiliy Fet

[–] mdnightwnd 9 years ago

You aren't the only one. It's funny, I watched this as a kid back in the 80s and I loved the Holograms songs - didn't care much for the Stingers and have never really liked the Misfits. Now I find that I LOVE the Stingers. Their songs are far superior in almost every regard. Britta has a lovely voice and has some outstanding vocals, but Gordon Grody is in a league of his own. I think the writing/composing of the Stingers music is just much better.

I hate the movie as well. Doesn't seem like anybody really likes it. A Jem movie could have been great if it was done right.

[–] rapture87 9 years ago

I could be wrong, but I feel like you're merely referring to the fact that Gordon Grody has a very sensual/sexy kind of voice - unlike Britta Phillips and Pizzazz's singing voice - and the Stingers' songs themselves have that smooth, "sexy" undertone that is much more pronounced than in the Holograms' songs and the Misfits' music. I am personally NOT a fan of such SCHMALTZ, so I would take the Holograms' and the Misfits' songs over the Stingers ANY TIME (for the most part - because the Stingers DID have one or two songs that I thought were really great, while the Holograms and the Misfits had their share of total stinkers too!)

Britta Phillips is the one who is in a league of her own though, in my opinion, because she could hit everything from at least a Low G all the way up to a High Soprano C, very seamlessly and beautifully! But to each their own.  I LOVE how diverse all our preferences are.

It's hard to compare the actual writing and composing of the Stingers' songs with the Holograms and the Misfits however, because each group represented something entirely different. It's the equivalent of saying that Riot was written much better than Pizzazz and Jem, as a character - which wouldn't be correct; the best one could say, in my opinion, is that they PREFER Riot's character to Pizzazz and Jem, or similarly, that they PREFER the Stingers' songs to the Holograms' and the Misfits'.

[–] rapture87 9 years ago

I HATED the Stingers in the beginning, and never really liked their songs, or their "sound" (except for 'Destiny' which was very different by showcasing Rapture as a solo singer). As you can tell from my screen name, it didn't take long for Rapture to become one of my all-time favourite cartoon characters - she was written brilliantly, and the voice actress did a truly FLAWLESS job with her on top of that!!!!

I could care less about Riot and Minx, although Minx could be very funny on occasion. I totally understand, and even appreciate the very different dynamic that they brought to the series from a narrative/dramatic point of view, but do I want to see them as a real group? No!!!!! I WOULD like to see RAPTURE exist as a real person though (just her). 

I can see how some people might like 'Under My Spell' due to the very "smooth" lyrics and music, but it's just not my cup of tea at all!!

All that being said, I'm glad that the Stingers and their songs have ardent fans such as yourself, as Christy Marx and the others on the Jem team clearly put a LOT of thought and effort into those characters and did a very commendable job at giving them a very distinctive "sound".

As for the JEM movie, I'm going to ignore its very existence. I even know one of the actors who is playing a key role, and I told him I'm NOT GOING TO SEE IT EVEN FOR HIM!!

I can't say I'm surprised about the atrocious state of the film, of course. I met Scooter Braun, one of the producers, earlier this year, and the man was as daft as you could get.