Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American musician, songwriter, actress and voice actress.
She is perhaps best known as the singing voice of Jem in the 1980s animated series of the same name and as a member of the bands Luna and Dean & Britta. Her acting credits include the 1988 film Satisfaction.
Early life[]
Phillips was born in Boyne City, Michigan, to a musical family, but grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Her father, Peter Phillips, was a musician, songwriter and jingle composer. At the age of 19, Phillips moved to Brooklyn, New York, to pursue a career in music.
In 1985, through his musical contacts, Phillips' father secured an audition for her for the role of Jem in the animated series of the same name. Phillips was hired on the strength of her demo for the show's theme song and that version was the one used in the opening credits.
Britta has also worked on several Broadway plays.
Music career[]
Phillips was a member of the bands The Belltower and Ultrababyfat in the '90s and Luna from 2001 to 2005. Since then, Phillips has released albums with fellow Luna bandmate and second husband, Dean Wareham. They toured in 2010 performing the band's back catalog. Phillips has also toured with Ben Lee.
Phillips and Wareham have also composed the original score for the films Mistress America, The Squid and The Whale and Just Like the Son. Their song "Knives From Bavaria" appears in the film, Clean. In 2001, Phillips provided vocals on the Anika Moa album, Thinking Room. In 2007, Britta produced and recorded a cover of Neil Young's "I Am A Child" for the benefit CD Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity.
Acting career[]
Britta's first acting job was as the singing voice of Jem in the animated series of the same name, alongside actress Samantha Newark, who provided her speaking voice. The series ran from 1985 to 1988.
Cast of the movie Satisfaction.
In 1988, she co-starred in the teen rock band movie Satisfaction, starring Julia Roberts. Phillips performed several songs during the movie and is featured on the film's soundtrack. Also in 1988, she guest-starred in the episode "Always A Blonde" of the cult TV show Crime Story. She followed that with a starring role as a nurse in the pilot episode of the short-lived TV series Nightingales.
Britta in the Jem and the Holograms film.
From 2005 to 2008, she voiced various characters for the Adult Swim series Moral Orel, most notably as Bloberta Puppington. In 2006, she featured as herself in Luna's band documentary Tell Me Do You Miss Me. Since 2010, Phillips has voiced various characters in Mary Shelley's Frankenhole. In 2010, Phillips appeared alongside Wareham on Yo Gabba Gabba! in the episode titled "Ride".
In 2015, Britta had a brief cameo in the live-action film, Jem and the Holograms, in which she played the role of the stage manager of the "Open Air" nightclub. This marked her return to the same franchise that helped push her music career onward more than 30 years ago.
"Lost Jem Songs"[]
Between 1984 to 1986, the band Major Minor, comprised by Britta Phillips and Ned Liben, released three 7″ vinyl promo singles which featured songs that, allegedly, helped Britta land her role of Jem in the eponymous TV show. Intrumental versions of the tracks were included on each of the singles' B-sides. These songs were considered lost until they were recently released on Dean Wareham's (Britta's husband) website under the nickname of "Lost Jem Songs" as part of a JemCon special. It must be noted, however, that none of these songs were ever intended to appear on the TV show in any way.
The singles are:
- Through The Eyes (a.k.a. Through The Eyes Of A Child) (1984)
- Don't Think Twice (1985)
- I Just Can't Help Myself (1986)
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The Jem Theme was actually her audition; she only had to sing it once to make it to the final cut.
- In an interview for Vox, Britta stated that the earlier songs were the ones she enjoyed singing more ("Only The Beginning", "Like A Dream", "Twilight In Paris", "When It's Only Me And The Music", etc.).[1]
References[]
External links[]
- Dean and Britta - Official website.
- Luna - Official website.
- Discogs
- IMDb
| This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Britta Phillips. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Jem Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |