Recap / Kids Incorporated S 5 E 8 The Guitarist

This episode sees the kids have to find a temporary fill-in guitarist, only for the kid chosen (guest star Jade Calegory from Mac and Me)^note interestingly; one of Calegory's co-stars in the movie, Tina Caspary, is the older sister of Dee Caspary, one of the show's dancers to be self-conscious over his being in a wheelchair.

We start off with a performance of "Help"; a rather appropriate song considering that - with Brian and his family going out of town to visit his grandmother - the band needs a temporary guitarist to fill in. First up is a kid known only as Dude (guest star Glen A. Fagin) - who when Richie asks if that was the name his parents gave him, curtly responds with that being the only name he goes by. Dude's audition got off to a bad start by his complaining about the song the band was preparing to rehearse ("I Think We're Alone Now"); preferring songs with titles such as "I'd Pierce My Nose for You", followed by his nearly getting in a fight with Richie before finally getting to play, where he proves that his ability to shred would have worked perfectly...if Kids Inc. was a Heavy Metal band. As that is not the case, Dude is then unplugged.

Unfortunately; things quickly go from bad to worse when the next auditionee (presumably played by one of the female dancers, though as her back is turned to the camera it's unclear which one) proceeds to play the guitar...with her teeth. At this point, Riley brings in a kid named Tommy Martin, who gets plugged in as the band finally gets around to practicing "I Think We're Alone Now", with Tommy doing well - in spite of his being self-conscious about not being able to walk - on his guitar solo; well enough to be brought in as the temporary guitarist.

The rehearsal of "Man in the Mirror" in the garage proves much more difficult (Tommy starts off playing off-beat; then a string breaks, Stacy nearly trips over a wheel); and the stress proves too much for Tommy, as he blows up - accusing the others of choosing him only because they felt sorry for him - and rolling out ("Love Will Save the Day"). Ryan then tracks Tommy down for a quick man-to-man talk on facing your fears; managing to mix in some tough love in the process of encouraging him, though the seeds planted did not seem to take root immediately ("With or Without You").

Back at the garage; it appears the band is back to the drawing board (Richie suggests an accordion player, the others react in a hostile manner, Richie tries defending it by saying it's better than nothing {Kenny: "I'd rather have nothing"}; Stacy mentions having a guitar-playing cousin...in Wisconsin) when Tommy rolls in, deciding to tackle his fears head-on; setting up "Man in the Mirror".

Songs performed in this episode:

• “Help!” (The Beatles cover; lead vocals by Devyn)^note if one looks closely, you can see Stacy struggling to keep her guitar strap from sliding off her shoulder during the song
• “I Think We’re Alone Now” (Tommy James and the Shondells cover^note also recorded by Tiffany; lead vocals by Stacy)^note the second cover of a Tommy James and the Shondells song that was covered by a different artist for 1987; as the episode “The Talent Search” four shows prior based its version of “Mony, Mony” on the version by Billy Idol
• "Love Will Save the Day" (Whitney Houston cover; lead vocals by Connie, Stacy, Richie, Kenny and Ryan)^note previously used to close out "Trouble's Cooking" the previous season. This version used an additional verse not used in the previous season's version. Also, in an interesting note; the episode's director, Jeff Margolis, directed Whitney Houston's live performance of this song for the opening ceremonies of the 1987 Special Olympics that aired on a one-day delay on ABC on August 3, 1987
• "With or Without You" (U2 cover; lead vocals by Ryan)
• "Man in the Mirror" (Michael Jackson cover; lead vocals by Kenny)^note the original recording by the King of Pop included background vocals by a choir led by iconic Gospel singer Andrae Crouch - whose own recordings Kenny Ford's family had worked on as backup singers (with the song later being used at the end of Jackson's funeral) - along with another Gospel group in The Winans. Incidentally, one of the song's co-writers, Siedah Garrett, had been a guest star on a Season 1 episode bearing her name

Tropes present in this episode:

• Face Your Fears: The main aesop of this episode.
• Hopeless Auditionees: The guitarist attempting to play the guitar with her teeth.