Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Jan Terri - Baby Blues




Jan Terri is a former musician from Chicago that recorded two albums, High Risk and Baby Blues in the early 90s, along with VHS cassettes including her music videos.

Terri graduated from Columbia College in 1983 with a degree in broadcast communications and arts and entertainment management. While at Columbia, she interned at a recording studio in Hillside run by a country bar band called the Windy City Cowboys. Terri became their backup singer, performing at the Melrose Park honky-tonk, The Possum Pub, as well as at various weddings.

By 1992, Terri was working as a limo driver when she planned to return to making music. She recorded a collection of songs, and eventually had several music videos filmed to help promote them. Still working as a limousine driver, Terri would give copies of the videos to her clients in an attempt to drum up interest in her fledgling singing career. These became cult favorites in advertising and marketing circles for Terri's earnest but unschooled singing style and the videos' amateur production quality.

In the late 1990s, Terri's career finally enjoyed an upswing. A copy of the video eventually made its way to rocker Marilyn Manson, who was intrigued. He had Terri perform at one of his parties, and was impressed enough with her sincerity to allow her to open for one of his concerts. Some footage of her can be viewed in Manson's God Is In The TV collection. Terri's second album, High Risk, was finally released around this time, and she enjoyed a cult following in Chicago for a few more years. She used to frequent the Chicago club Bandalonis. John Willman of Iowa City, IA is her unofficial biographer. In addition to Chicago, 'cult' sightings have also surfaced in Southern California where Robin and Julio were seen mimicing Jan's personality at a halloween party dressed as 'Get Down Robins' and her sidekick 'Gunz' the limo driver. As it were, these two reigned champion with 1st place in the costume department followed, in distant second, by Dog and Beth.

Terri's last significant public appearance was on The Daily Show in 2000.


1 - Leanne
2 - Keep On Knocking
3 - Missing You (More and More)
4 - I'd Like to Make It With You Babe
5 - Time
6 - Being Back With Yu
7 - Fax My Love
8 - Never Get You Off My Mind
9 - If you Want A Divorce
10 - Baby Blues
11 - Losing You
12 - Friends


VIDEO - Losing You