In Search of the Stolen Album is the seventeenth episode of the first season, and the 17th episode overall, of the Jem animated series.
Synopsis[]
As Jem and The Holograms prepare to release their debut album, Eric Raymond hires Zipper to steal it so The Misfits can use the material for themselves. Pizzazz sends The Holograms on a treasure hunt, placing anonymous letters in different locations with clues that will supposedly lead them to the stolen album, but instead leads them into dangerous situations.
Plot[]
At Starlight Recording Studio, Jem and The Holograms are recording a new album, and practice a snippet of "There's A Melody Playin'", but Jem notices that someone is playing a off-key. Meanwhile, The Misfits are in an unkempt and abandoned town after being banished by Pizzazz's father from Misfits Music. Eric Raymond's temporary new office is inside a filthy building containing rats and debris. Pizzazz reminds Eric that he can keep her father to be happy by making lots of money, and demands that he put a stop to the release of The Holograms' debut album.
Back at Starlight Music, Jem changes into Jerrica and the girls get busy to answering phone calls and taking care of business. The next day, they head back to the recording studio to finish their new song while Zipper meets up with Eric to discuss the plans for the The Holograms' master tape robbery, and heads to Gabor Mansion to let The Misfits know they're heading out of town so they can't be blamed for anything. Zipper sneaks into Starlight Recording Studio in the dead of night, stealing the new master tape and sheet music of Jem and The Holograms' new album. The recording engineer, Tim, lets the girls know of the bad news and admits it was a pro-job, as he can't tell how the burglar got inside. Meanwhile, on their vacation, The Misfits decided to create a treasure hunt using the tape and cryptic clues. They record a new song titled There Ain't Nobody Better using stolen instrumentals from Jem and The Holograms and Eric admits that it should be a hit record.
The Holograms find the first treasure hunt clue at Starlight Mansion, which reads "for really good tunes, the very best yet, check out the Storehouse and talk to Chubette". They quickly figure out that they need to visit the Storehouse in hopes of finding their album, which is a dingy-looking club in a bad part of town. After asking the hoodlums inside, they learn that Chubette is a nickname for a soda machine, where they the find next clue: "if it's not in the Storehouse, it's at the garage, that dent in your fender is not a mirage." The girls quickly decide to leave but are followed by two of the gangsters from the club. Aja drives the Rockin' Roadster in hopes to shake them, but soon reach a dead end where the girls realize they're trapped, as a gang approaches their car. One of the boys throws a brick at the car, and Jerrica quickly asks Synergy to create the illusion that the vehicle is set alight and they run away in fear of being caught by the police. Jerrica and The Holograms decide to go home to avoid any more trouble.
Pizzazz hides Jem and The Holograms' tape and switches it for a blank one, which is what she hopes they find at the end of the hunt. The Holograms discover Mirage Garage and head out there, where they meet the owner, Bubba. Jerrica distracts him by showing him the dent in their car, which he tells them should be an easy fix, while The Holograms search for the third clue. However, in the haste to find the clue, Kimber, Aja, and Shana disturb the giant pile of tires which come crashing down through the roof of Bubba's garage and Jerrica offers to pay for it. They find the note and tell Bubba they should actually fix the dent in the city, and set off after reading the clue: "surf and sun sound good to me, riding blue waves is good to me." Jerrica tells her bandmates she's beginning to give up on the idea of the treasure hunt. They head to the beach and enter the Blue Wave surf shop, where Kimber finds the final clue underneath a surfboard. It tells them to go 30 paces forward, and Jerrica digs at the sand until she digs up the blank master tape. She then reminds the girls that Synergy should be able to help, and feeds her the treasure hunt notes through the system. Synergy reveals that each location is linked to Pizzazz and some way, and deduce that their tape is being held at Flash! Recording Studio. They quickly travel to the studio and use Synergy to change into The Misfits. Inside, they discover their tape and also switch The Misfit's as revenge. The next day during the release of their album, The Misfits are shocked to find it had been switched for a tape of French lesson and the press are so annoyed that they leave immediately. Jem and The Holograms celebrate the rave reviews of their own new album.
Songs featured[]
Quotes[]
- Jem: Somebody's playing a little flat.
- Aja: Nah, couldn't be me. Must be the mic or something.
- Shana: Maybe you're just wearing the wrong shoes.
- Aja: No, my shoes aren't flat. They're sharp, don't you think?
- Shana: We're trying to find Chubette.
- Scar: Ask him.
- Kimber: Do you know where she is?
- Punker #2: Buzz off, babe. You're not my type.
- Jerrica: I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but we own one of the world's most powerful computers.
- Aja, Shana and Kimber: (all together) Synergy.
- Eric Raymond: Don't slam... (Stormer slams the door) ...the door. (Plaster falls from Eric's office ceiling on to his head)
Gallery[]
Goofs[]
- The first clue reads "for very good times", when it should really say "for really good tunes" as Jerrica read initially, as it hints to their stolen album.
Trivia[]
- Jem, Shana and Kimber pose as Pizzazz, Roxy and Stormer to get their master tapes back.
- All the song titles in this episode are capitalized.
- After Jerrica and Aja see the dent in the Rockin' Roadster, Jerrica's words are coming out of Aja's mouth.
- There are only two featured songs in this episode, instead of the usual three. Both songs, however, used the same background music.
- Jerrica says "we'll see who has the last laugh", which could be an indirect reference to their song featured later on, The Last Laugh.
- The Holograms release their first album.
- The Top 10 list shown briefly at the end of the episode shows parodies of various real musicians and groups: Pauper (Prince), Bruce Fallsteen (Bruce Springsteen), The Moss-Covered Stones (The Rolling Stones), Iron Fading (Iron Maiden), Twisted Brother (Twisted Sister), The Roomoans (The Ramones), and Tom Potty and the Headbreakers (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).