tlc-crystal

 

This morning, the founding member of the group TLC visited the Ryan Cameron Morning Show (V103FM-Atlanta) to share her side of “Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story”.

 

As shown in the movie, which premiered on Vh1 last night, Crystal Jones was apart of the original group which was to make up TLC.  During an audition for Pebbles, Crystal was asked to sing while Left Eye and T-Boz did harmony in the back. When everyone realized Crystal could not sing a lick, that is when Pebbles decided to replace her. Eventually, Pebbles found Chilli and put her in the group.

 

During her radio interview this morning, Crystal’s stated that her portrayal in the biopic was not 100% accurate. Her manager at that time, Ian Burke, was also in the studio to clear up some of the falsehoods about the film. Both insisted that they actually thought of the idea about creating a female 3-member group. The group was to be reminiscent of the male group B.B.D. (Bell Biv Devoe).  So, it was not Pebbles creation at all as she claims. Pebbles only gained ownership of the group and its name after the girls were signed to PebbiTone.

 

Several more interesting tidbits were revealed by Crystal and Ian that answers some of the “unknowns” many of us fans were wondering about.

 

  • Ian claimed at first he did not want to put Lisa in the group. He initially rejected Lisa from the group because she wore a dress to the audition. Ian was looking for a girl in baggy clothes. But once he made Lisa rap for him, he was sold. Also, Lisa didn’t like the dress either. She told him she normally wears baggy clothes. That sealed the deal. 
  • Ian knew T-Boz was the one for the group after visiting her home at 2am. She had missed the auditions. So, he went to see her in person at her home. When she opened the front door, he immediately know she was “the one”. 
  • Ian says one pivotal part in TLC’s journey that the movie didn’t capture was Jermaine Dupri’s involvement. JD was actually the person who had T-Boz sing in her lower register. Her tone eventually became TLC’s signature sound. 
  • Ian expressed that TLC was actually SWV’s name. Since TLC hit scene first, SWV could no longer use it.
  • TLC was never supposed to be a singing group; instead a girl power “movement” of some sort.
  • Crystal says yes she has an issue with how she was portrayed during the audition scene. She insists that she can sing (but she didn’t take the opportunity on Ryan Cameron’s show to prove it to the world). *side eye* 
  • Crystal claims Pebbles indeed gave her a contract as well. However, she didn’t sign it because she wanted her mother to look over it first.

 

This interview with Crystal and Ian did bring up a good point. The producers should have allotted more time to (or a 2-night premiere) include other pivotal moments in TLC’s career. They says that a lot more things occurred surrounding T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli’s career.

 

It wasn’t mentioned on the radio exactly what Crystal is doing these days as a profession. But she did say that she was preparing a memoir about her life. The book will not be full of TLC bashing. But, we can expect a couple paragraphs about her short lived days in TLC. She’s since moved on and believes that everything happens for a reason.

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