It's not easy making the transition from childhood cutie to rock & roll chanteuse, but Tina Yothers is giving it a go. Though the artist formerly known as Jennifer Keaton has been making noise with her band Jaded for five years, she doesn't mind helping out her old clan, especially now that Nick at Nite has added Family Ties to its lineup. EW asked Yothers to take a stroll down memory lane, to which she replied, ''Sha-la-la-la....''
-- Seeing your adolescence played out on TV has to be tough. When you watch Ties now, is there anything that just makes you cringe?
Probably the big-ass hair. People have also been pointing out the really bad wardrobe that shows that era -- the leg warmers and stuff.
-- Growing up, were you a tomboy like Jennifer?
Definitely. I have three older brothers, and the only way they'd let me play with them was to be goalie in their street hockey games. They'd take slap shots at me, and I'd stand there and take it. Michael J. Fox used to refer to me as the strongest person in the world.
-- Why, did you beat him up between takes or something?
Yeah, we'd wrestle. I used to arm-wrestle everyone in the crew, and I'd usually win.
-- Family Ties was obviously a funny show, but it was also heavy on the ''very special episodes.'' Is there any one that stands out in your mind?
We touched on some real issues, but being the kid on the set, I thought the biggest dilemma was if the Keatons ran out of orange juice.
-- Stand By Me stars River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton both played boys with crushes on Jennifer at different points, which leads me to ask: Have you ever been stalked by Corey Feldman?
Never stalked, but I have hung out with him. We did functions together when we were kids, but no romantic link.
-- Do you ever give Michael Gross crap for playing an uptight dad in a movie with Vanilla Ice?
I never knew that!
-- Yeah, Cool as Ice. It's like Footloose with cheesy white-boy rapping.
Nuh-unh! I'm going to have to rent it, I guess.
-- Does the success of Jaded mean we won't be seeing any reunions of the Permanent Waves, the pop band Jennifer fronted in episode 118?
No, I don't think so. Plus, I already burned that gaudy pink taffeta dress.
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