Ivan Diller
DMA Magazine - Writer
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2001
- Messages
- 849
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 0
Ex-great Dayne's
getting a new shot
By MARISA GUTHRIE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Dayne, with daughter Astaria, has a 'Remaking' comeback on VH1.
Taylor Dayne, the big-haired '80s pop princess, is looking for a new groove.
To help find it, she submitted to a "Remaking" courtesy of cable music channel VH1.
"To me, it was about finding new opportunities," Dayne said. "I know my voice touches people. It has for years. I can't give that up."
The transformation team provided by the show includes stylists, choreographers, personal trainers and the musical guidance of producer Rodney Jerkins, who has manufactured hits for Brandy and Monica.
"Remaking: Taylor Dayne" premieres Thursday at 10 p.m.
When the VH1 team catches up with Dayne, whose big hit was 1987's "Tell It to My Heart," she's a single mom raising two toddlers and playing a daytime concert at Disney World sparsely attended by a crowd distracted by their fried chicken and French fries.
"What was I thinking?" Dayne asks defensively. "I was thinking my kids got to have a good week at Epcot Center. I was thinking, it's paying my bills. I've grinned and beared a lot of crap, trust me."
Previously, VH1 remade former Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil, who having gained much weight after years of abusing food and alcohol, was playing concerts in a Minnesota strip mall. Part of Neil's transformation included plastic surgery.
And upcoming editions of "Remaking" will focus on Jody Watley and Vanilla Ice.
Dayne, who was born Leslie Wonderman in 1962 on Long Island, said she wasn't interested in the "Celebrity Swan" treatment, as she put it, referring to the plastic surgery aspect.
But viewers will see her getting cringe-inducing Botox injections in her forehead. And Dayne was cagey when pressed on whether she had any nips and tucks.
"Really," said Dayne, "the focus was making a great song and coming together with Rodney Jerkins."
Jerkins produced a hard-driving, guitar-heavy single for Dayne called "Right Now."
Dayne's best friend, "King of Queens" star Leah Remini, hated the song.
"That guitar is killing me," Remini says in the show. "It's brutal."
The "Remaking" led to Dayne's recent appearance on "The View," where she performed the song. "Right Now" will be on her new album, which she describes as "soulful." It's scheduled to debut next month.
"I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised," she said. "It's classic. I'm going for timeless stuff."
Dayne is also toying with the possibility of a TV series. But she stresses it would not be a reality series, something that a plethora of pop music stars are doing. Rather, she said, it would be only semi-autobiographical, like "Fat Actress" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
"I'm really interested in that concept," Dayne said. "And I think most people are. It's part of our pop culture right now.
"I'm certainly a fan of 'Give the people what they want,' " she continued. "But for me personally to be that exposed, I'd rather have a script and be on a set and not in my own house. I would be playing myself, but a caricature or myself."
getting a new shot
By MARISA GUTHRIE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Dayne, with daughter Astaria, has a 'Remaking' comeback on VH1.
Taylor Dayne, the big-haired '80s pop princess, is looking for a new groove.
To help find it, she submitted to a "Remaking" courtesy of cable music channel VH1.
"To me, it was about finding new opportunities," Dayne said. "I know my voice touches people. It has for years. I can't give that up."
The transformation team provided by the show includes stylists, choreographers, personal trainers and the musical guidance of producer Rodney Jerkins, who has manufactured hits for Brandy and Monica.
"Remaking: Taylor Dayne" premieres Thursday at 10 p.m.
When the VH1 team catches up with Dayne, whose big hit was 1987's "Tell It to My Heart," she's a single mom raising two toddlers and playing a daytime concert at Disney World sparsely attended by a crowd distracted by their fried chicken and French fries.
"What was I thinking?" Dayne asks defensively. "I was thinking my kids got to have a good week at Epcot Center. I was thinking, it's paying my bills. I've grinned and beared a lot of crap, trust me."
Previously, VH1 remade former Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil, who having gained much weight after years of abusing food and alcohol, was playing concerts in a Minnesota strip mall. Part of Neil's transformation included plastic surgery.
And upcoming editions of "Remaking" will focus on Jody Watley and Vanilla Ice.
Dayne, who was born Leslie Wonderman in 1962 on Long Island, said she wasn't interested in the "Celebrity Swan" treatment, as she put it, referring to the plastic surgery aspect.
But viewers will see her getting cringe-inducing Botox injections in her forehead. And Dayne was cagey when pressed on whether she had any nips and tucks.
"Really," said Dayne, "the focus was making a great song and coming together with Rodney Jerkins."
Jerkins produced a hard-driving, guitar-heavy single for Dayne called "Right Now."
Dayne's best friend, "King of Queens" star Leah Remini, hated the song.
"That guitar is killing me," Remini says in the show. "It's brutal."
The "Remaking" led to Dayne's recent appearance on "The View," where she performed the song. "Right Now" will be on her new album, which she describes as "soulful." It's scheduled to debut next month.
"I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised," she said. "It's classic. I'm going for timeless stuff."
Dayne is also toying with the possibility of a TV series. But she stresses it would not be a reality series, something that a plethora of pop music stars are doing. Rather, she said, it would be only semi-autobiographical, like "Fat Actress" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
"I'm really interested in that concept," Dayne said. "And I think most people are. It's part of our pop culture right now.
"I'm certainly a fan of 'Give the people what they want,' " she continued. "But for me personally to be that exposed, I'd rather have a script and be on a set and not in my own house. I would be playing myself, but a caricature or myself."
