Becky Blasband
Encyclopedia
Rebecca "Becky" Blasband is a singer-songwriter and screenwriter known as a cast member on The Real World: New York
, the first season of MTV
's reality television
show The Real World
.
to a psychiatrist father and a German immigrant mother who runs an antique store in Philadelphia, to which her family moved to when Blasband was thirteen. She attended NYU Film School
, and worked as an actress with playwright David Mamet
's theater company. She ultimately returned to her first love, music, and formed a band with Adam Schlesinger
, the leader of Ivy
, saying of the group's sound, "It was sort of Manchester-pop stuff. But after a while I started getting into Bob Dylan
and things like that, and my direction kind of changed."
, the first season of MTV
's long-running reality television series, The Real World
, for which she was paid $2,500.
In the seventh episode, Blasband had a heated argument with her African-American roommate, Kevin Powell
, about the quality of life in The United States, and racism
. Blasband said that the intense argument match was completely blown out of proportion and edited to portray her and Powell as extremist, and stated in 1996 that she and Powell were on good terms.
During the course of the series had a romance with the show's director, Bill "Corky" Richmond
. During the show, the three female cast members were sent to Jamaica
's Hedonism
II resort. Blasband and Richmond became close while in Jamaica. This upset the show's producers, who fired Richmond, and established a rule that off-camera personnel could not get involved with cast members.
signed Rebecca to a publishing contract and financed a surprisingly solid extended-play CD cheekily entitled The Rebecca Blasband. She moved to Denver, Colorado
in March 1995, and has opened for Edwyn Collins
.
The Real World: New York
The Real World is the first season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal...
, the first season of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show The Real World
The Real World
The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
.
Early life
Rebecca Blasband was born and raised in New Hope, PennsylvaniaNew Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope, formerly known as Coryell's Ferry, is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 2,528 at the 2010 census. The borough lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. A two-lane bridge carries automobile and foot traffic across the...
to a psychiatrist father and a German immigrant mother who runs an antique store in Philadelphia, to which her family moved to when Blasband was thirteen. She attended NYU Film School
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
, and worked as an actress with playwright David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's theater company. She ultimately returned to her first love, music, and formed a band with Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger is an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He has been nominated for Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy , and Golden Globe Awards. He is also a winner of the ASCAP Pop Music Award....
, the leader of Ivy
Ivy (band)
Ivy is a New York City band composed of a trio of musicians, Adam Schlesinger, Dominique Durand, and Andy Chase.-Lately and Realistic:...
, saying of the group's sound, "It was sort of Manchester-pop stuff. But after a while I started getting into Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and things like that, and my direction kind of changed."
The Real World
Blasband was cast in The Real World: New YorkThe Real World: New York
The Real World is the first season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal...
, the first season of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's long-running reality television series, The Real World
The Real World
The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
, for which she was paid $2,500.
In the seventh episode, Blasband had a heated argument with her African-American roommate, Kevin Powell
Kevin Powell
Kevin Powell is an American political activist, poet, writer, and entrepreneur. Powell is also a nationally recognized activist who speaks against violence against girls and women, appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show in March 2009...
, about the quality of life in The United States, and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. Blasband said that the intense argument match was completely blown out of proportion and edited to portray her and Powell as extremist, and stated in 1996 that she and Powell were on good terms.
During the course of the series had a romance with the show's director, Bill "Corky" Richmond
Bill Richmond (director)
William "Corky" Richmond is a television producer, director and editor who has worked for MTV and VH1. Among other projects, he has produced the TV short A Day in the Life of Jenny McCarthy, and was co-director of the 1991 documentary Two Rooms: A Tribute to Elton John & Bernie Taupin and the...
. During the show, the three female cast members were sent to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
's Hedonism
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
II resort. Blasband and Richmond became close while in Jamaica. This upset the show's producers, who fired Richmond, and established a rule that off-camera personnel could not get involved with cast members.
After The Real World
Warner/Chappell MusicWarner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company, and a division of the Warner Music Group. The company traces its origins back to 1811 and the founding of Chappell & Company, a music publishing company and instrument shop on London’s Bond Street that, in 1929, began a rapid...
signed Rebecca to a publishing contract and financed a surprisingly solid extended-play CD cheekily entitled The Rebecca Blasband. She moved to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in March 1995, and has opened for Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...
.