4 hours ago, te. said:

I mean, how old is Anita supposed to be? When were the Articulettes "big"? 

I'd assume Articulettes would've had hits in the 70s/80s... but then they've also thrown New Jack Swing vibes in there. I suspect they've never actually sat down and tried to figure it out lol 

Tamara Tunie was 30 in 1989 so I imagine the New Jack Swing so they've let us hear was probably at the height of The Articulettes success. 30 seems like a good age for her to leave the group and go solo and into a more jazz direction. I'm curious how their other songs will sound. 

I honestly expected them to have the Motown sound due to the similarities to The Supremes so I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the song initially.

8 hours ago, Vee said:

This show would never go for it based on how they've been hyper-focused on some of the characters' bonds and integrity, but I'll say it: Nicole and Bill is an option. But then TD has major chemistry with both sisters.

whatever the original plans were, they need to pivot bc a Bill/Nicole hookup makes sense to me after today. Its not something that would have longevity or be a viable option for either but I can buy a ONS that goes nowhere but has larger ramifications for everyone around them

 

  

7 hours ago, te. said:

I mean, how old is Anita supposed to be? When were the Articulettes "big"? 

I'd assume Articulettes would've had hits in the 70s/80s... but then they've also thrown New Jack Swing vibes in there. I suspect they've never actually sat down and tried to figure it out lol 

Nicole is early 50s so if we are to assume Anita had her in her mid to late 20s, she'd be pushing 80. TT is 66 so I think Anita is meant to be about a decade older than that

Edited July 25Jul 25 by Cheap21

7 hours ago, te. said:

I mean, how old is Anita supposed to be? When were the Articulettes "big"? 

I'd assume Articulettes would've had hits in the 70s/80s... but then they've also thrown New Jack Swing vibes in there. I suspect they've never actually sat down and tried to figure it out lol 

It's hard to say as soaps usually work in their own reality, but Anita should be well into her 70s, if not technically early 80s. Nicole met Ted when she was a resident, which means she would have been about 25/26 at the youngest. Nicole has mentioned being married to Ted close to 3 decades. Even if Nicole married right away, that would mean Nicole is in her mid-50s. I doubt that Anita had Nicole at a young age because she is always talking about how focused she was on her career. 

It also leaves Martin's age a little shaky. Even though Martin looks like he's in his 30s, he has adopted children that are teenagers, but his parents have been together less than 30 years, so Martin is supposedly under 30. 

21 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

 Nicole is early 50s so if we are to assume Anita had her in her mid to late 20s, she'd be pushing 80. TT is 66 so I think Anita is meant to be about a decade older than that

I must have been typing before you posted this. Yes, exactly. Anita should definitely be in that age range. 

37 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

It's hard to say as soaps usually work in their own reality, but Anita should be well into her 70s, if not technically early 80s. Nicole met Ted when she was a resident, which means she would have been about 25/26 at the youngest. Nicole has mentioned being married to Ted close to 3 decades. Even if Nicole married right away, that would mean Nicole is in her mid-50s. I doubt that Anita had Nicole at a young age because she is always talking about how focused she was on her career. 

It also leaves Martin's age a little shaky. Even though Martin looks like he's in his 30s, he has adopted children that are teenagers, but his parents have been together less than 30 years, so Martin is supposedly under 30. 

Did they ever say that Nicole and Ted met as residents bc the only thing I recall is them drilling own that they met at a medical conference. Bc of the ages, I head canon'd that they did so as early med students in their early 20s. I figured Martin was at least 31 since he wanted to be President in the next election cycle where he would have turned 35. He mentioned the kids being in college which they would be by now so he wasnt talking about 8 years from now when they theoretically would be done. I guess we shouldnt think too much on this bc this is where the age is the most inconsistent with the evidence presented to us

I assumed The Articulettes were going to have a late 70s/early 80s Funk sound more along the lines of Klymaxx... but I could have seen the group staying together into the late 80s and trying New Jack Swing... and perhaps that change in direction is what made Anita realize that her passions/interests lie beyond what The Articulettes were doing.

It kind of reminds me of the girl group Bananarama, which started out being more eccentric/creative.. and eventually moving into more bubble gum girl group by 1986/1987... and one of the members ended up quitting the group to start a different type of musical group that was the Anti Bananramas.

I would assume Anita was born in the 1940s.. and their sound probably started out Motown... but by the time they became popular... the funky/disco vibe became their signature sound.

I read Michele Val Jean's public posts on social media.  Sometimes she posts about a song from the past that she likes.  She seems interested in a variety of music, including rock, soul, blues, etc, so I'm not sure what she has planned for the Articulettes on BTG.


FYI, it's interesting to note that in real life, Michele Val Jean has a musical background in her real life.

MVJ herself was in a *real-life* group called "the Articulettes" --- but I don't know when this was or what type of music they sang.  This was mentioned in more than one official BTG interview several months ago.
 

MVJ co-wrote two songs for Deniece Williams.

• The song "Blind Dating" from the album "Let's Hear it for the Boy"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5rFNDyBHg
   
• The song "Hot On the Trail" from album of same name "Hot On the Trail"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvTuVPliz-Y

MVJ posted on twitter/instagram a picture of herself with a band, and she said that this was back when she was known as "Shelly".  Actor Ted King replied to her IG and asked her about it, and she replied to his comment "We were a bar band so we did a little bit of everything, from Steely Dan to Jefferson Airplane to Gladys Knight plus a few originals thrown in."
From the hairstyles of the men in the photos,
it looks like late 1960s or early-to-mid 1970s maybe, I don't know?
(Link to post)

Edited July 25Jul 25 by janea4old

A few months back I just figured Anita's dabbling in New Jack Swing came late in her solo career, like Aretha, etc.'s flirtations with it IRL. I'm still behind so if they're now suggesting it was a full-on Articulettes thing then the timeline is totally shot lol.

Since Ted King commented on the IG post above, I will again reiterate he is a dude this show could use. Just sayin'.

Edited July 25Jul 25 by Vee

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

Tamara Tunie was 30 in 1989 so I imagine the New Jack Swing so they've let us hear was probably at the height of The Articulettes success. 30 seems like a good age for her to leave the group and go solo and into a more jazz direction. I'm curious how their other songs will sound. 

I honestly expected them to have the Motown sound due to the similarities to The Supremes so I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the song initially.

I think the *characterization/history* of Anita and the Articulettes was based on Diana Ross and the Supremes, somewhat; but perhaps not the musical style?

And yes Ms. Tunie said at the PaleyCenter panel that Anita's solo career was more in a jazz direction.

Edited July 25Jul 25 by janea4old

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Since Ted King commented on the IG post above, I will again reiterate he is a dude this show could use. Just sayin'.

 

Just replied to that post on Instagram.  MVJ needs to bring him on as Eva's not-so-dead stepfather, Alan, who staged his death to escape cray-cray Dana/Leslie. Now he comes back to check on Eva. 

Nicole was everything yesterday. I love it when she is fierce and I agree she had Emmy worthy scenes with Bill (and others). 

Now Jacob is going to be the one left out of the loop from everyone as Nicole was. Poor Jacob. His own father and all the Duprees not telling him anything. 

I will say I've enjoyed Chelsea better the past couple days, but I'm not big on this "stalker" story. 

2 hours ago, Cheap21 said:

Did they ever say that Nicole and Ted met as residents bc the only thing I recall is them drilling own that they met at a medical conference. Bc of the ages, I head canon'd that they did so as early med students in their early 20s. I figured Martin was at least 31 since he wanted to be President in the next election cycle where he would have turned 35. He mentioned the kids being in college which they would be by now so he wasnt talking about 8 years from now when they theoretically would be done. I guess we shouldnt think too much on this bc this is where the age is the most inconsistent with the evidence presented to us

Hmmm...good question. I may be misremembering, but I am pretty confident that one of the times that Nicole mentioned meeting Ted at the conference, she said she was a resident. 

1 hour ago, janea4old said:

I read Michele Val Jean's public posts on social media.  Sometimes she posts about a song from the past that she likes.  She seems interested in a variety of music, including rock, soul, blues, etc, so I'm not sure what she has planned for the Articulettes on BTG.


FYI, it's interesting to note that in real life, Michele Val Jean has a musical background in her real life.

MVJ herself was in a *real-life* group called "the Articulettes" --- but I don't know when this was or what type of music they sang.  This was mentioned in more than one official BTG interview several months ago.
 

MVJ co-wrote two songs for Deniece Williams.

• The song "Blind Dating" from the album "Let's Hear it for the Boy"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5rFNDyBHg
   
• The song "Hot On the Trail" from album of same name "Hot On the Trail"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvTuVPliz-Y

MVJ posted on twitter/instagram a picture of herself with a band, and she said that this was back when she was known as "Shelly".  Actor Ted King replied to her IG and asked her about it, and she replied to his comment "We were a bar band so we did a little bit of everything, from Steely Dan to Jefferson Airplane to Gladys Knight plus a few originals thrown in."
From the hairstyles of the men in the photos,
it looks like late 1960s or early-to-mid 1970s maybe, I don't know?
(Link to post)

Just saw the post, based on the fashions it's more likely late 70s and possibly early, early 80s. The man in platforms is very disco eras fashion. 

1 hour ago, Vee said:

A few months back I just figured Anita's dabbling in New Jack Swing came late in her solo career, like Aretha, etc.'s flirtations with it IRL. I'm still behind so if they're now suggesting it was a full-on Articulettes thing then the timeline is totally shot lol.

Since Ted King commented on the IG post above, I will again reiterate he is a dude this show could use. Just sayin'.

Yes, when Anita performed karaoke with Dani and Naomi, I assumed that song was one of her solo hits. It did have a NJS vibe too it, so it would mean Anita was definitely solo by the late 80s/early90s.

Diana Ross's 1989 album is very NJS. Similarly, Donna Summer's '91 album also dabbled heavily in NJS. Donna Summer wasn't in a famous group like Diana Ross, but she was definitely a contemporary of Ross and may provided some inspiration as well.

Some info on Summer:

Donna Summer, known as the "Queen of Disco," was part of the blues rock band Crow in 1967, shortly before she became famous as a solo artist. Additionally, her sisters, Linda Gaines, Dara Bernard, and Mary Ellen Bernard, were part of a disco group called Sunshine, which provided backing vocals for Donna Summer and had a hit with "Take It to the Zoo" in 1978. 

Oh, I know Donna, Diana, etc. I'm just saying, we all know when New Jack Swing was big and when these singers dabbled in it IRL. So based on current show info the career timeline is all wonky, unless Anita was doing a cover of someone else at karaoke.

ETA: NVM, I see it was definitely said to be an old Articulettes song. That's wild, doesn't make sense. Unless it was a totally new arrangement.

Edited July 25Jul 25 by Vee

4 minutes ago, Vee said:

Oh, I know Donna, Diana, etc. I'm just saying, we all know when New Jack Swing was big and when these singers dabbled in it IRL. So based on current show info the career timeline is all wonky, unless Anita was doing a cover of someone else at karaoke.

I think we have come to accept that the ages on this soap have started wonky, especially with Martin as Nicole's child - some things we just have to accept and roll with, but I totally get it.