Doris D (born Debbie Jenner; 22 February 1959) is a British singer and dancer who spent her career in the Netherlands.
Biography
Jenner was born in
Skegness
Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...
, England, and settled in the Netherlands at the age of 20 to start a ballet school there. There, she was a featured dancer in the Dutch pop music television program ''
TopPop
''TopPop'' was a Dutch television programme. It was the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly from 22 September 1970 to 27 June 1988. Presenter ...
'',
and she worked with the
girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
Babe
Babe may refer to:
* Babe, a term of endearment
* A newborn baby
* An attractive (especially female) person
People
* Babe (nickname), a list of people
* Jerome Babe (1837–1893), American inventor and miner
* Thomas Babe (1941–2000), Ame ...
. In 1980, she was asked to become the face of the
studio band Lipps Inc.
Lipps, Inc. ( , a pun on the phrase "lip sync") was an American disco and funk group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is best known for the chart-topping 1980 worldwide hit single " Funkytown", which hit No. 1 in 28 countries and was certi ...
in the Netherlands, which had a big hit with "
Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a song by American disco-funk group Lipps Inc., written and produced by Steven Greenberg and released by Casablanca Records in March 1980 as the second single from the group's debut studio album, '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1979). T ...
".
In spring 1980, the record also reached the number 1 position in the Netherlands on the then-three hit lists on the Dutch public radio station
Hilversum 3: the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...
, the National Hitparade and the
TROS
TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...
Top 50. Jenner's striking appearance also caught the eye of
Piet Souer
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Souer (born 29 March 1948) is a Dutch record producer, songwriter and arranger. Through his collaborations with acts such as Luv', Mouth & MacNeal, Liesbeth List, Ramses Shaffy, American Gypsy, and Champagne, he has achi ...
, producer of fellow girl group
Luv'
Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe ( Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Cana ...
, and he asked her to become the lead singer in a new girl group he formed called
Doris D & The Pins.
The first song Jenner sang for the group was "Shine Up", which was already finished by the time she joined the project.
The background vocals on the song were provided by singer Trudy van den Berg, known as Saskia of
Saskia & Serge.
The stage name Doris D was an allusion to
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...
. In February 1981, the single reached the number 1 position of both the Dutch Top 40 and the TROS Top 50. In the National Hitparade it reached the second position. After the follow-up "Dance On" reached number 2 in the Dutch Top 40, the group's success started to slowly decline in 1981 with "The Marvelous Marionettes" only reaching number 8.
followed by an album in which, in addition to Debbie jenner
After breaking up with The Pins in 1982, who continued independently under the name
Risqué
Risqué may refer to:
* Material deemed slightly indecent or liable to shock, especially sexual suggestiveness
* ''Risqué'' (album), 1979 recording by American disco band Chic
* Risque (comics), mutant character first appearing in Marvel Comic ...
, Jenner put together a new The Pins with dancers from England. quickly deteriorated with the band.
In 1983, Jenner, under the name Doris D, released an
aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, Muscle, muscular strength, and ...
instruction LP ''Aerobic Dancing with Doris D.'' that became very popular. After a comeback with another new line-up of The Pins in 1984 yielded only a modest hit, she gave up her singing career to focus entirely on choreography, including for the
Dolly Dots, and aerobics instructional videos.
In 1986, she choreographed the movie ''Mama is boos!'' ("Momma is angry!") and the TV series ''Reagan: Let's Finish the Job'' by . In addition, she was featured as an actress under her own name in the comedy television film ''Daar gaat de bruid'' ("There goes the bride"), alongside
Allard van der Scheer,
Ina van Faassen,
Pieter Lutz and
Lex Goudsmit
Alexandre Joseph "Lex" Goudsmit (; 15 March 1913 – 10 December 1999) was a Dutch-Belgian actor.
Goudsmit's father, a diamond worker, was Jewish and his mother Roman Catholic. He became famous in 1966 for playing Tevye in ''Fiddler on the Roo ...
.
In the early 1990s, two compilation CDs by Doris D & The Pins were released, both of which contained the same tracks. In 1998, Jenner performed with the original Pins at a one-time reunion concert in honor of the 1998
Gay Games
The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and other individuals.
Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was s ...
, which was held in Amsterdam.
Since 2000, she has been involved almost exclusively in teaching
Pilates
Pilates (; ) is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Pilates called his method "Contrology". Pilates uses a combination of around 50 repetitive e ...
courses and workshops. She opened her first studio in Amsterdam and received several well-known artists and top athletes as clients. In 2002, Jenner received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the EFAA for her efforts as a pioneer in the fitness world over the preceding two decades. In 2013, she returned to England to live in the countryside, but she still comes to the Netherlands for training and teaching instructors and physiotherapists. Since April 2020, she has also been teaching online classes to consumers and instructors through "Deb's Online Health Club".
Discography
With Doris D & The Pins
Albums
* ''Doris D & The Pins'' (1981)
* ''Aerobic Dancing with Doris D'' (1983)
* ''Starting at the End'' (1984)
* ''Shine Up & Other Great Hits'' (1991)
* ''The Very Best Of'' (1992)
Singles
* "Shine Up" (1980) (Weeks: 21, Peak: 15)
* "Dance On" (1981) (Weeks: 11, Peak: 39)
* "The Marvellous Marionettes" (1981)
* "Jamaica" (1982)
* "Who Cares" (1982)
* "Girlfriend" (1983)
* "Everybody's Doing Their Thing (Hula Hoop)" (1983)
* "Starting at the End" (1984)
* "Heartache" (1984)
* "Men Like Big Girls" (1984)
Filmography
* ''Daar gaat de bruid'' (1986) – Polly
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doris D
Living people
1959 births
20th-century British dancers
20th-century British women singers
English film actresses
English television actresses
English women choreographers
English female dancers
People educated at The Skegness Grammar School
British women pop singers
People from Skegness
Actresses from Lincolnshire
Actors from East Lindsey District