Still catching up from a busy end o' the semester on things I wanted to publish earlier...
I was steaming toward the three-quarter pole of my undergraduate college life; by the end of the month, I'd be taking a course in Environmental Philosophy for May Term. I probably saw The Breakfast Club that month and it wouldn't surprise me if Stop Making Sense was the midnight movie at the Kentucky Theater one Saturday night, too. As for the latest issue of SR that had arrived in Dad's mailbox, awaiting my next visit home? Let's check it out.
Article
Rock Gender Benders, by Steve Simels
Excerpts from his then-upcoming book Gender Chameleons: Androgyny in Rock 'n' Roll that veer from Bolan to Bowie to Reed, from Alice Cooper to the New York Dolls to Patti Smith.
Our reviewers this month are Chris Albertson, Phyl Garland, Louis Meredith, Alanna Nash, Mark Peel, Peter Reilly, and Steve Simels.
Best of the Month
--Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Welcome to the Pleasuredome (MP) "…an invitation to chuck the conventions and morality and inhibitions of a bankrupt civilization in favor of the pursuit of pleasure…Under the brilliant hand of producer Trevor Horn, Frankie's music is richly layered and compellingly rhythmic, a frenzy of sweaty rhythm chords, pounding percussion, and raw vocals that are colored with elaborate sound and special effects."
--Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive? (SS) "It's as rooted a pop record as I've heard in ages, a nearly flawless mix of styles you'd have thought were rendered hopelessly old hat by the current wave of overproduced synth-pop ironists. Yet here it all manages to sound fresh, heartfelt, and up to date."
Other Disks Reviewed
--Big Country, Steeltown (SS) "Yes, the imitation-bagpipe effects remain impressive, and yes, the overall sound—an evocative mixture of Celtic roots and heavy-metal—is still likable. Mostly, though, what we get here is a lot of pointless riffing, aimless non-tunes, and gargantuan overproduction."
--Captain Sensible, A Day in the Life of…Captain Sensible (SS) "You hear echoes of Ian Dury's Cockney r-&-b, unrepentantly straight disco, Beatlesesque whimsey and psychedelia, and even Rodgers and Hammerstein…Unfortunately, you also hear Sensible himself, and his affectedly flat working-class twang is nowhere near as charming as it intends to be."
--Judy Collins, Home Again (AN) "…she has lost me of late. I don't hear much emotional involvement from her any more, nor anything of much musical interest either."
--Gail Davies, Where Is a Woman to Go (AN) "Davies is producing with sharp, bold strokes, bringing in only the instruments she wants, and only when she wants them…There are only a handful of country artists who want to see their music grow instead of just branch out, and Gail Davies is one of them. Give her a listen."
--Bob Dylan, Real Live (SS) "The recording, despite the efforts of genius producer Glyn Johns, sounds as if it had been phoned in via a bad satellite connection, and the star himself sounds alternately uninvolved or desperately overtired."
--Barry Gibb, Now Voyager (PR) "…he radiates the oily assurance of a guy convinced he has the Formula. He doesn't."
--Steve Goodman, Santa Ana Winds (AN) "…a generous reminder of his splendid gift for spotting society strolling along with its slip hanging out."
--The Gospel at Colonus (AN) "…a remarkable tapestry woven out of ultra-cool pop, funk, blues, and gospel that shimmers with hallelujah frenzy…Punctuated by swaying soul and dynamic doo-wop, at least six of the numbers are guaranteed to get even the most acrid, dried-up curmudgeon on his feet seeking salvation."
--John Hartford, Gum Tree Canoe (AN) "Hartford and legendary gonzo producer Jack Clement have created a multicolored sampler of the American musical heritage that spans more than a century and evokes as many moods and tempos and styles as you are ever likely to find on one album."
--Rebbie Jackson, Centipede (PR) "…sounds like five or six other well-known singers at various times but never enough like an identifiable self to generate more than the mildest interest."
--Cleo Laine, Cleo at Carnegie—The 10th Anniversary Concert (PG) "Evergreens like 'Any Place I Hang My Hat,' 'Georgia on My Mind,' and 'Stardust' are pruned into fascinating new shapes by (husband John) Dankworth's arrangements…There is a special excitement in the way the two of them engage in musical exchanges, trading increasingly demanding solos note for venturesome note."
--Madonna, Like a Virgin (MP) "Whether you like (this album) has nothing to do with the music and everything to do with whether you perceive Madonna as a tough, terrifically sexy graduate of the streets or as successful entertainment packaging."
--Barry Manilow, 2:00 AM Paradise Café (PR) "…with this new release he has become a genuine pop-music star of the first rank…He's taken the set-'em-up-Joe style of delivery and placed it securely in an Eighties idiom."
--Reba McEntire, My Kind of Country (AN) "If she keeps coming up with performances—and song material—as strong as this, she'll be one of the Big Ones soon."
--Jean-Luc Ponty, Open Mind (CA) "…immerses his considerable talent in a swamp of synthesizers, letting it rise occasionally only to dissipate, as if in an ever-shifting wind."
--Elvis Presley, A Golden Celebration (AN) "There are a couple of ways to react to the package. One is to laud RCA for excavating some truly revelatory material and for bringing much of Presley's historic, seminal work together. The other, however, is to admonish the company for using the anniversary to pick over the bones of what is already a pretty stripped-clean skeleton and for labeling every unreleased scrap of tape a 'treasure.'"
--Ramones, Too Tough to Die (SS) "Still, most of the album is the same listless, going-through-the-motions guitar thrash these guys have been dishing out since they got upstaged by the New Wave."
--Revenge of the Killer B's (SS) "Here's yet another collection of oddities and B sides rescued from the Warner Brothers vaults…for my money the less experimental things come off better than the more self-consciously modernist entries."
Video Reviews
--Bryan Adams, Reckless (LM) "Not only have you seen it all before, but you'll wish you hadn't."
--Kim Carnes, S/T (CA) "Video producers too often ignore the lyrics and dish out silly visual accompaniments, but that is not the case here."
--Phil Collins, Live at Perkins Palace (CA) "Collins is not a great singer, but he has a certain magnetism that comes through on this set."
--Hall and Oates: The Daryl Hall and John Oates Video Collection—7 Big Ones (LM) "Given that Hall and Oates are, as the liner notes maintain, the most popular duo in rock history, you'd think their videos would be slightly less banal than the rest of the canned brain damage you get on MTV. And on the basis of this particular collection, it seems that they are—slightly."
--Styx, Caught in the Act (CA) "If you aren't totally gaga about this group (I mean, to the point where fan loyalty has impaired your senses), I suspect you will be embarrassed by the dreadful bit of drama that has Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw fighting against a Big Brother type who has banned rock-and-roll."
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