RockJem.com / Index / Episode Guide

Synopsis:
Jem and the Holograms are cutting their first big album. The Misfits ask Eric to stop Jem and the Holograms from releasing that album, so Eric sends Zipper to steal it. The Misfits come up with the idea of anonymously making a treasure hunt out of it, where Jem and the Holograms can search for their album.

Characters:
Jem/Jerrica and the Holograms, The Misfits, Synergy, Rio, Eric, Joanie, Zipper, Tim recording engineer at the Starlight Recording studio, Gabor's housekeeper Matilda, The Misfits recording man, Bubba garage owner.

Locations & vehicles:
Starlight Recording Studio 8603, Eric's temporary office, Starlight Music, Rockin' Roadster, Gabor mansion, hotel, Flash! Recording Studio, club, Clash's car, The Storehouse Club, Mirage Garage, beach, Blue Waves surf shop.

First appearance of:
Starlight Recording studio, Flash Recording Studio.

Songs:
"There's A Melody Playin'" Jem and the Holograms
"There Ain't Nobody Better" The Misfits

Part of songs:
"There's A Melody Playin'" by Jem and the Holograms.

Instrumentals:
"There Ain't Nobody Better" by The Misfits.

Genres:
Adventure, Humor, Mystery, Action, Romance.

Original airdate:
11 October 1986.

Releases:
Released on DVD.

International:
Italy: Aired on TV. The episode title was "Caccia Al Tesoro" (The treasure hunt).
France: Aired on TV. Released on DVD. The episode title was "Le Dernier Disque" (The Last Risk).
Holland: Aired on TV.
Sweden: Released on VHS. The episode title was "Det Stulna Masterbandet" (The Stolen Mastertape).
Venezuela: Aired on TV. The episode title was "En Busqueda Del Album Perdido" (In search of lost album).
UK: Aired on TV.
Australia: Released on VHS. Released on DVD.
New Zealand: Released on VHS.

Trivia:
This is the first time ever that we get to see something called Starlight Recording Studio, which almost looks like Starlight Music.

On the building where it says Starlight Recording Studio, inside the star it also says 8603 which to me seems like March 1986, which is probably when this episode was animated.

We get to see Jem and the Holograms perform, and apparently they, just like real singers, need a few takes, as they're on take 14 when the episode starts.

Apparently the Holograms do some singing aswell, more than in the background, as Aja keeps singing a bit of the lyrics before Jem stops her when Jem wants to start over.

There is a magazine called "Music Bizz" where Jem and the Holograms are featured.

It's not only Jerrica who works at Starlight Music, the rest of the Holograms do aswell.

Aja talks to someone on the phone called Sean who apparently does the album cover art for Jem and the Holograms, or atleast for their first big album.

There are sheets music of Jem and the Holograms music at the Starlight Recording Studio. The sheets say 1986. I can't read music, but it would be interesting to see what it would actually sound like. Someone who does read music is the Jem fan Nabil Khazzaka who actually provided a music file of what this mysterious sheet music sounds like, aswell the following information about it: First of all, you will notice that the music is totally rubbish. It sounds more like a contempary piece of music than a Jem and the Holograms song. Secondly, there are a couple of measure changes. This is sometimes used in popsongs (like in the chorus of "Only The Beginning"). It adds a bit of an unexpected twist to the song. But in this case it's just too weird: one measure in 4/4, then two measures in 5/4, then a measure in 4/4, followed by three measures in 2/4, and then one in 3/4, followed by a couple of measures in 2/4. Lastly, there are a couple of mistakes: the top of the score looks like a piano score (bass and treble key) but the last two lines are two treble keys (without bass line). Nobody writes a score like that. There are also mistakes to the time signature for instance at one point the melody line is in 5/4 and the bass line underneath is in 4/4. That's impossible. My guess is that somebody at the animation studio with a very basic knowledge of music must have written something quickly down.
[Music file and information by Nabil Khazzaka]

When Jerrica and the Holograms are looking through phone books, they find Mirage Garage which is apparently at 470 Way Out There Blvd. Ca.

Other things that can be read in the phone book is "Audi" and "Volkswagen".

Synergy has a scanner that can analyze notes and somehow find out some info about them.

Jem and the Holograms are number one in the "Music Bizz" magazine. The rest of the artists on the top then list resembles exactly the top ten list from the episode Glitter and Gold, where the Misfits are number one though. Number 2 is some artist called Pauper (Cindy Lauper?), 3 is Bruce Fallsteen (Bruce Springsteen), 4 The Moss Covered Stones (The Rolling Stones), 5 Mundanna (Madonna), 6 Rodents (can't be seen here but in the other episode), 7 Iron Fading (Iron Maiden), 8 Twisted Brother (Twisted Sister), 9 The Roomoans (The Ramones), 10 Tom Potty and the Head Breakers (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).

The song "There's A Melody Playin'" by Jem and the Holograms and the song "There Ain't Nobody Better" by the Misfits is the same song, except for the lyrics and groups, this was done intentionally because of the story of the episode.

Back to index