T-Babe (stylised as t-babe) was a virtual pop singer[1] created by husband-and-wife team Sascha and Tessa Hartmann for their independent record label Glasgow Records. The couple were looking to sign an artist to sing the dance tunes that Sascha had written, but were unable to find anyone suitable.[2][3] As a result, they decided instead to create a 3D computer-generated character who could perform the songs.[3]
The Hartmanns developed T-Babe over the course of a year.[4] Initially, her purpose was to attract further attention to the label from the rest of the music industry, but the couple soon began to treat the character as an artist in her own right.[5] Tessa met with a number of focus groups to develop T-Babe's personality and to make the character relatable.[3] She created a five-year timeline for T-Babe, including events such as when her hair would grow and when she would have boyfriend problems.[3] It was decided that T-Babe would be 18 years old, single, lonely, fluent in German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, and "a big fan of shopping [and] athletics".[5][6] The T in her name stood for Saint Teresa,[3] and her parents were a university professor and an ex-hippy.[6] The singing voice for T-Babe was supplied by an American singer who chose to remain anonymous, as she was already an established singer.[4]
T-Babe was first previewed in 2000 at the music festival Midem in Cannes, where Glasgow Records formed part of the British Phonographic Industry's stall.[4] She gave her first TV interview in March 2000 with Matthew Price for the children's news programme Newsround.[7] Her debut single, "Peter Pumpkineater", was originally slated for release that month,[5] but was instead pushed back to September.[8] In May of that year, T-Babe was featured in the magazine Vogue and was offered a contract with the fashion designer Louis Vuitton.[citation needed] She later appeared on the American Broadcasting Company's programme Good Morning America, and was also named "Most Beautiful New Pop Artist" by the Italian version of Cosmopolitan and "It Cyber Pin-up of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly.[9][10] During this promotion, commentators compared T-Babe with similar computer-generated/animated characters of the time, such as Gorillaz, Lara Croft, Kyoko Date, Ananova and Germany's e-CYAS.[2][5][11]
In May 2000, the Hartmanns launched Glasgow Animation, a sister company their record label that would develop T-Babe further. They sought to raise £5 million in private equity for the development, and hired Benfield Advisory from the City of London to assist in raising the funds. They received a £10 million offer from a public company, but turned it down.[8] Silicon Graphics provided sponsorship to the company, and supplied graphics software used to develop the character.[8]
"Peter Pumpkineater" was eventually released on 15 March 2001,[3] but failed to make the UK's Top 100 chart.[12] In January 2002, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian stated that T-Babe had sunk "without a trace".[11]
References
edit- ^ "Virtual pop star's chart bid". London: BBC News. 25 February 2000. Archived from the original on 2 October 2002. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Virtual Idols". London: BBC World Service. 22 August 2000. Archived from the original on 18 October 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Spavin, Vicky (15 March 2001). "I WANT T-BABE TO GET A REAL LIFE...; Cyberstar's creator thinks of virtual singer as her 'baby'". Daily Record. Glasgow: Trinity Mirror. ISSN 0956-8069. OCLC 500344244. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ a b c "T-Babe and her cybermates are Scotland's rising online pop stars". The Herald. Glasgow: Herald & Times. 7 February 2000. ISSN 0965-9439. OCLC 29991088. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Cyberbabes: A babe new world". London: BBC News. 22 February 2000. Archived from the original on 17 December 2002. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ a b Delingpole, James (28 March 2001). "Even better than the real thing". The Daily Telegraph. London. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. Archived from the original on 28 February 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ^ Levine, Tom (14 March 2000). "'T-Babe' ist Englands neuester Popstar – ein Sängerin, die es nicht wirklich gibt und gerade deshalb so Erfolg versprechend ist" ['T-Babe' is England's newest pop star – a singer who doesn't really exist and is therefore very promising]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Berlin: Berliner Verlag. ISSN 0947-174X. OCLC 224572068. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ a b c Bennett, Neil (30 July 2000). "T-Babe seeks £5m backing". The Daily Telegraph. London. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. Archived from the original on 27 February 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ "t-babe – Welcome to t-babe.com". Glasgow: T-Babe.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2002. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ Byte Me: 20 Hottest Women of the Web. 8 March 2008. NBCUniversal Cable. E!. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (18 January 2002). "Some day, will all bands be made this way?". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 18 March 2001 – 24 March 2001". London: Official Charts Company. 2014. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2016.