Old Meets New is the twenty-first episode of the first season, and the 21st episode overall, of the Jem animated series.
Synopsis[]
When Jem and The Holograms perform a cover of a song called "Rock And Roll Is Forever" at an outdoor concert, they infuriate an elderly singer named Bobby Bailey, who turns out to be the lead singer of a '50s rock and roll band called Bobby Bailey and The Tornadoes.
However, Bobby turns out to be a man with a big heart, but also a big problem: his flat is scheduled for demolition and Eric Raymond is behind it. Will Jem and The Holograms manage to help Bobby or will the wrecking ball win the day?
Plot[]
It is a warm evening, and Jem and The Holograms are performing for a benefit concert dedicated to musicians against intellectual poverty. They do a cover of "Rock And Roll Is Forever" by Bobby Bailey and The Tornadoes, a song that was written in 1954, just as rock and roll first started. The fans in the crowd go wild after the song is finished, but a horrified heckler in the audience runs to the front of the stage and tells them their performance was lousy. Backstage, the heckler forces his way past security to speak to The Holograms in person, who are shocked to discover it is no other than Bobby Bailey himself. He tells the girls their new instruments didn't fit the song, and takes the group to the place it was originally composed.
They arrive at an old building that's been blocked up with a condemned sign, and Bobby rips it back down. He explains that the owner of the building needs an excuse to tear it down and replace it with a factory - the owner being none other than Eric Raymond. Nearby, Eric uses a wrecking ball hung from a crawler crane to demolish a building, disclosing to The Misfits of his plans to build the biggest record album factory on the east coast. Bobby takes The Holograms up into an apartment that used to be a recording studio as Eric pulls up outside and bribes The Misfits to help him by saying he wants them to perform the ceremony for a huge party he wants to throw. Pizzazz, blinded by the idea of more fame, takes a hold of the controls and swings the wrecking ball into the building despite Eric's cries that there are still people inside. He is unable to stop the machine, and they jump out of the crane before the ball crushes it. Bobby runs out, hurling insults at Eric as he manages to stop the machine. A police officer that witnessed the commotion writes up a number of tickets for Eric and The Misfits, bribery being one of them.
The Holograms spend the afternoon painting and fixing up the building, when suddenly The Misfits show up and sing "Jack, Take A Hike", used as a public service announcements to all the tenants in the building. They return to Eric's yacht, where he introduces his new henchmen, Torch and Mickey, to The Misfits. Torch sneaks into the boiler room of the building and disconnects a pipe, letting out spurts of water. Meanwhile, Mickey climbs up a utility pole and cuts a live wire which goes swinging down to the sidewalk where Bobby and The Holograms are walking. Kimber tackles Bobby to the ground, narrowly avoiding the cable. Shana recognizes Mickey and the group attempt to chase after him, but unfortunately are unable to keep up.
The next day, Jerrica, Shana and Aja pick Kimber up after she completed research at the Court's Public Archives, saying she has discovered a way to save Bobby's apartment. She shows him the building's real estate records, explaining that since it is situated in a residential area, building a factory there would be illegal. Jem and her bandmates then pay a visit to Eric's yacht and inform him of the zoning laws. This encourages Eric to meet up with Carl Sanford, a shady City Hall councilman, and offer him a proposition. For a large amount of money, Eric convinces him to change the building's residential zone to a commercial zone. When The Holograms hear the bad news, Kimber refuses to give up, and Jem enlists Video's help to create a documentary about the building for posterity. Video uses her high connections to get the documentary televised.
After members of the public watch the documentary, they join together with tenants of the building to stand their ground as Eric and The Misfits drive toward them with bulldozers, but are stopped when Kimber yells that it's still against the law. Mr. Wellington, head of the city's Historical Society, declares the building a historical landmark, which means it can never be demolished. Bobby gives Kimber his utmost thanks, and Jem and The Holograms collaborate with Bobby on "Let's Not Forget The Past".
Songs featured[]
- "Rock And Roll Is Forever" - Jem and The Holograms
- "Jack, Take A Hike" - The Misfits
- "Let's Not Forget The Past" - Jem and The Holograms (feat. Bobby Bailey)
Quotes[]
- Bobby: That song was meant to be played straight and simple without those new fangled synthesizers, moogs and other electronic claptrap.
- Kimber: What good is a guitar if you can't plug it in?
- Bobby: That song. That song was all wrong.
- Kimber: What makes you such an authority on how we should be playing that song?
- Eric: Oh, how relaxing! (maneuvers the wrecking ball at the building)
- Stormer: You sure got weird hobbies, Eric.
- Bobby: (to Kimber) I may be an old fossil to you, but I don't need some new wave-age, space cadet to tell me how to swing a hammer.
- Jem: Eric Raymond is really playing dirty.
- Bobby: Hey, it could be a lot worse. Eric could bring back the Misfits and have them play their music.
Gallery[]
Goofs[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode since Broadway Magic to have three featured songs.
- This is the only episode where the opening theme wasn't replaced to the new second Jem Theme.
- Torch and Mickey, Eric Raymond's two new henchmen, are introduced.
- Oddly enough, after having a big introduction, they never reappeared in the series.
- Lindsey Pierce introduces a special repeat performance of The Misfits latest concert hit, "Jack, Take A Hike", and another look at Jem and The Holograms' outrageous video hit, "Rock And Roll Is Forever".
- The truck that The Misfits perform "Jack, Take A Hike" on is based on the truck that real life band, Dokken, performs on in the video of their song "It’s Not Love" from their 1985 album "Under Lock and Key".