‘America’ s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine a vor Draw was or 6 arora ae ace Face Aussies! No More Traffic J ale ong ; Patt INTERROGATED! 15 Years Later €DDIE & Ua We RODS MONTY PYTI Ce ey PES pay ANTS @ SECTOR 27(On Jonuary 29 CREEM publisher and Jounder Barry Kramer died at 97, just os we siere going o press, Our business's words but they rather fall us when wt comes t0 deserbing someone who was the ual force behind ‘CREEM-who was indeed, Boo Howdy! himself We Immediately thought of Dave Marsh to attempt to unite Something, ashe worked here as editor and fnew Barry intimately at one of the most ctuclol_ points in CREEM's history.” He speaks forallofus) by Dave Marsh Bary Kremer started CREEMin the win ter of 1969 with about 95,000 and his usa tstalconvition and ambition. The mags dine was solely his, of course. The orignal ie came rom an English clerk in Kramers Full Gite record store named Tony Reay Charie Auringer, Robin Summers, Dedoy TaRene and Sandra Stretco were involved from the fit issue, and some. fay prominent people inthe Dettot rock Community were smal investors, But CREEM was realy possble—and certainly it has lasted s0 long—beceuse of Bary Kramers involvement, He was for iy wellknown face around the local rock scone, having already created the fist and best Midwestern head shop and bookstore Mixed Media, then host of a shorted WABX rao show called Tea Party, anc having also promoted a day and dione OusFord Auaitorum show’oytheInredble Sting Band BARRY! D. KRAMER 1943-1981 It_was Kramer's reputation that got CREM started and more than anything, it Was his energy and enthusiasm that kept it going, Maybe the vitality of the Michigan ‘music scene would have created a music: Criented publication anyhow. But there ‘ould never have been a magazine with so ‘mulch guts, ambition and pure spit without Barry Kramerfostering it He gave me a job that summer of 69. 1 was a skinny 19-year-old suffering from ‘over-exposure to LSD and the MCS, with absolutely no prospects. We never discuss ‘ed why he picked me up and encouraged ‘me, because after a while we didn't need to mow, already understanding too many things about one another. Anyway, the reasons and elreurnstances of how anyone —the originals or myself or later additions like Richard Siegel, Connie Kramer or Lester Bangs—came to be involved in CREEM were never as important as the nature of that involvement. In those days, this magazine was not so ‘much a job or even a publication agit was @ nonstop raving, braviing family. This has something but not everything to do with the fact that all or most of us lived in one dilapidated Detroit slum building. It was ‘mostly the result of the environment that Kramer, the eternal psych student, estab: lished from the beginning. Sometimes. the place seemed to be a 24-hour version of, group therapy with a floating corps of lndergraduate crazies and postgraduate ‘maniaes. Sometimes it seemed lke a weird prank we pulled on the rest of the world Most of the time it was genuinely both of ‘those things, because Barry Kramer wanted itthat way. IfBarry enjoyed anything, t was ‘creating chaosand attempting to controlit, ‘So he was the architect and center of everything that went on, as the magazine iaveled from Cass Avenue in Detrolt to Walled Lake to Birmingham, which in local geography is a trajectory that describes Success. Barry wasrightin the middle of the action, whether he was refereeing a bout between warring staff members or batiing himself, dreaming up some new and likely solution tothe ever-present financial deficits tr scheming on some new project to keep ‘everybody excited or counseling some staff loony (usually on the editorial side) through tone of our seemingly perpetual periods of post-adolescent heebie jeebies. That meant, of course, that one day we loved teach other, and the next wished the other would spit, butt also meant that there was f certain irreducible bond between Barry Kramer and every other human who enter- ed CREEM's doors and stayed for more than a minute. Barry Kramer offered me something more than a start and a career, or the opportunity to edit what I stil think was the best rock magazine ever in those days when we didit together. He gave me a chance to find out about the most extreme limits and potentialities of rea friendship: he taught me more about those things than | sometimesthought could bear to know. In the words of what must have been his favor- ite song: "An empty heart Is ike an empty life/And it makes you feel like you want to cry.” So today, every heart Barry Kramer touched isjusta whole lt ess full.Smee roses SUICIDE: HOT FOOTING THROUGH EDGE CITY Vega-matics Revved And Ready razor etiquette by Toby Goldstein Split Enz’ Ab-Original Arti follicle therapy by Toby Goldstein LOVE THROUGH THE AGES (OF PROPHETS, SEERS & SAGES) Arthur Lee’s Legend Lingers ...-... paychodaisies plucked by Dave DiMartino. INTERROGATING THE POLICE Big Guns And Fast Guitars .. de do do doodling by J. Kordosh STEVE WINWOOD KEEPS ON RUNNING ‘The Diver Comes Up For Air farm report by Jim Farber AC/DC POSTER & CALENDAR ROLLING ARMEGEDDON OR: ‘The Son OF Stiff Tour Breaks Their Colonial Leg .. my life as aman by MarkJ. Norton DIARY OF A SPIRITUAL HOUSEWIFE Grace Slick’s Altered States .... late as usual by Rob Patterson DEPARTMENTS SSS MAIL ‘THE CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE ROCK'N'ROLL NEWS .. ‘THE BEAT GOES ON Eddie & the Hot Rods; Tonio Kus'sNew Member, sind Useless Costeliotnto! (CREEM'S PROFILES: JOAN JETT... LETTER FROM BRITAIN y Penny Valentine ‘STAR'S CAR NO, 66: EDDIEVAN HALEN (CREEMEDIA Raging Bull& Fleaven'sGatereviewedby Mitchell Cohen; Popism the Warhol 60's review. ed by Richard Riegel: Roman Polanskibw reviewedby Jelfeey Morgan, & More! RECORDS .. THE CLASH Michel Cohen; EAGLES LAVEby Jeli Nesin, SHOESby Robert A Hull, REO SPEEDWAGON}y Rick Johnson EXTENSION CHORDS ty Alien Hester REWIRE YOURSELF by Richard Robinson BACKSTAGE, ial Stings Stange Compulsion Cover photo by Lynn Goldsmith Ga SS is, Mlopacme (313) G2e 6038 Kisses al Sonae ph, back ueand rend savee covresponconce to aomrghion Mii alteopremaetia ais eratane sumer Wak ere eee Suakeas Wot Goma? Aaversang Stes Ot ReLaylant dt oy em apse neha ats restved No pat ts mapas ray Ye rerodueasin any ormor Bfeish thou permission er wrtng from the publ “Bock Rot News", the Best Goes On’ awire oursed ES eet ofc Contes ‘Gradaten Rove Pa Spain ai “ogi a Benga ‘Wichgan APRIL 1984w me ae SCOGNTIOS M p anv FF Z % “aS ; \ & Sy & > na pes yy Ap rrrsis soces acl bse h SSSA ESD. Sen ea ‘ x &, ht "Base verxcs BP Ske 3 reel. INCOONITOS ' Tovaisbie. 954 West Dickens, Chicago, 1 Sore quantity ofeach style 8 cle color : tae m! \SRieeieirpabaees He | Hr 1 ee, ! re Hu { sil 1 | aN pee Se 4 address, 1 1 Lee Se ee : ' ae MAIL. JOHNSON BONER EXPLAINED! ‘The Heavilinto-Numbers branch of the Ranger Institute has just completed the statistical analyse ofthe 1980 CREEM Reader’s Pol, with special attention onthe tragje, unexpected results ofthe Rock Crydck portion, which tis yar was Sleazed by the ever-untkely Rick Johnson. “Tal scents from The Insttute asked the following question of voters: “Why in the work! did you ever vote for Johnson?” Here's the breakdown: ‘5% —Same fit or let name. 9% —Enstest to remember oF spel. 10% —Paid to do so by candidate 14% —Influenced by the last-minute “Every voteforme s another nallin Canade'scoftin” TV fads during Dalles. {62% Thought to themselves: “Well shit, figure we already elected one foslst pig ths year, 0 why not go ahead and elect Rick too?” Thope these figure wil be useful n preventing a recurrence of this stunning international boner Rusty Coathanger Head Boohoo Ranger Insitute Macomb, IL PUBLICNOTICE! Once again, 1 would tke to take this ‘opportunity to. publely thank those CREM reaiders who voted for me In the Rock Cite Of The Year category of CREM’ 1980 Readers Poll ‘And, even though I once again fll short of ‘show that here areno har feelingsbyalsotaking this epportunty to congratulate “Ranger” Rick ‘Johnson on belng offensive enough to cop top honors. Yank inally, I would like to inform those CREEM readers who didnt vote for me that | have been. forwarded copies ofall your ballots—and that those of you who sgned your name and adress ‘can rst assured that you willbe receving a small token of my appreciation In the mail. Soon. ‘etrey Morgan Toronto, Ontario CANADA BOZSCAGGSATTHIRD, ‘BILLY SWANATBATI Well at least Bob Seger’s and Bruce Sprina- ‘8een's inal concide wth the music they play. [Leotard Armacost Carson, CA MOREUSELESS INFO! Here are my 1981 predictions: 1) Ronald Reagan wil leave the Presidency in ly, only tobe informed that hei stil President ‘and has over three yeas let in his term. 2) The ghost of Elis Presley wil visit Truman Capote, scaring the hell out of him 3) Ted Nugent wal join forees with the Knack claiming postion inthe Top Ten, Iwould keto. | ‘on thetrnestlive album assuring thetitwon'tbe 2 i '4) Rosalyn Carter willsend Billy back to Libya in an underfueled plane, Billy wil have no comment 5} Jim Stafford of Those Amazing Animals wil emergeasthe Anti-Christ Sores co-sar Burgess Meredith will express surprise, saying, “He seemed tke a nice guy.” 6) In an effort to regain lost rating, Mork and Mindy vl become Mork And Mindy And Ted And Alte ") Doobie Brother Michael McDonald. wil changehisname to Clarence Flenningan. He will ‘not explain why. : '8) Dick VenPatten of Eight tEnough will drop his pants on an upcoming Tonight Show while excitedly telling Johnay Carson about his vasceciomy. ; ‘| Apreviously unreleased episode of [Dream Of Jeonmie wil come to the attention of the publi. Its the *Who Shot Tony" episode. Ie wil fur out tobe long-time buddy Roger. Roger will comment that it was “either him or Bb "Newnert.” 0) Van Holen's David Lee Roth will cut his hair and be widely mistaken for Elvis Costello, “Thank yoa very much, Your fiend, Bob B., Liberal KS ({11] People from Kansos will go out and get fobs ‘and stop wasting people's ime. Ed.) KORDOSHBODYINGRAVE CONTROVERSY! Tjusthad to wnt to congratulate you on your latest adlition tothe staff, the amazing John R. Brown, His artes in the February issue were ‘awe inspiring, The wity piece on the breaking of Gplatek would have been enough to convince ‘me, but that artle on Dalas really stole the Kastkal | hope to see more of his work in later By the way, Brown's style seems awully ‘smlar to that of another of your writes, the ‘quasi mythical J, Kordosh, And thatbrings eto the point of thisleter.'vebeen pondering this for several days, even lesing sleep overt, and now! Simply have to know: are J. Kerdosh and John R. Brown the same person? Please answer this ‘one honestly Forever last nthe American League, D. Normalki Detroit, Ml (Wrong. John R. Brown only has two kids. -Ed.) SNIDE MISSIVE! 1 just played Stif Litle Fingers’ "Nobody's Heroes’ for three tends, and did more for New ‘Wavethan CREM has done nthe last year. Get the plete? Dubiously Yours, Burt Myers, J Port Crane, NY (Do readers stil think handicapped people don’ have a sense of humor? —ed.) ‘ACID CULTURE HEALTHY Robot A. Hulls aceon psychedelia, “Joumey To The Center Of The Mind,” was an laminating and rewarding exploration into a period of rock history that is much maligned end. lite understood, Iwas overwhelmed by the deep knowledge shared by the author, as dramatized by his dlecusion of acl albums that I had never even known existed, or bands that were only jue legends to me. To see a national ‘RANE RE TC‘aw Ueto iabas Wh oan gvect Sea EES SEGRE cnet Bhan RNASE orCiany CHARLES AUHINGER BOY HoWOY CaAtEAN APRILA984 THE COMPLETE STORY Free with a SUBSCRIPTION SEEPAGEG3! AROCK'N' FROM THE ARCHIVES OF CREEM ‘Aunique look ot the world's most popular bandafter 12 yearsat the top. CANDID CONVERSATIONS WITH “JIMMY PAGE & ROBERT PLANT EXTENSIVE HISTORY: First American Tour CLAPTON, 35 FULL COLORPHOTOS (@ SPECIAL LED ZEPPELIN FULL COLOR POSTER (@ PACKED WITH FACTS AND PHOTOS SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION FOR COLLECTORS! TE LT Enclose check or money ordar and send to: LED ZEPPELIN SPECIAL EDITION, CGREEM, P.O. Box 1064, Birmingham, Mi 48012. ‘Send me copias of LED ZEPPELIN SPECIAL EDITION ot $2.50 plus $1.00 postage and handling] for each copy. Total enclosed $FULL-COLOR POSTER PINUPS *THEWHO * ROLLINGSTONES + BOBSEGER * CHEAPTRICK * DEBBIEHARRY “ELVIS COSTELLO. *VANHALEN + BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN + KINKS: “TED NUGENT ROCK HISTORY AllThe Important Days ROCK QUIZ TestYourlQ! OUTRAGEOUS quotes! SEEPAGE63I ETT LT A Enclose check or money orderandsend to CREM 1981 Calendar P.O. Box 1064, Birmingham, Ml48012 Send me __ copiesof 1981 Calendara!$2.95.ach. [Add $1.00 for each ocoverpestage& handling Tota enclosed 8 ‘publication finally give the spotlight to long ‘uerlooked bande ike the Thirteenth Floor Elevator and Red Crayok This commend But in the vein of constructive erticsm, | noticed many albums listed in hie chart which were not psychedelic inthe least, although they helped set the stage for what would later follow. ‘These included Sen Francisco Roos, Jefferson Airplane Tokes Off, and to 2 lesser degree Greteful Dead (the fest album of the Dead). ‘Certainly the classicacid albums for these last vo bands were After Bathing At Baxters and Live Dead, and of course the akeadyrlsted Anthem ‘Of The Sun. Whe could not mention "Dark Sta” from Live Dead in any discussion of essential poychedele muse? And sadly mising Is any ‘mention of the grea ve Filmore performances of Quicksiver Messenger Service captured on, Happy Trail, a mandatory psychedelic album. ‘On the other and | can forgive Hull for {forgeting to mention one of the great acid rork sionals, Skip Spence of Jefferson Arlane and Moby Grape. His quintessential poychedelic masterpieces, “Seeing” from Moby Grape ‘69 ‘and "War In Pence” from his sole album Oar are fn abbums that are virtually impossible to find, Oar having sold only 700 coples worldwide, But in my book these two songs capture the elevated and anccendentaurarenessand vston ofthis era Ina way that few other psychedelic compositions attained, Hopefully Spence’s works wil find their ‘deserved niche in rock history just lke Hull has helped to do with other sadly overlooked rmatterpieces from the paychedelic ers, Douglas Hawes ‘Oakland, CA GOODYEAR FOR BALTIMORE Letterto Richard Riegel thanks forinroducing me to Jim Carroll & his band, I ust bought tard ‘an'tetop playing it, You made It sound just the thing te hear. How about an in-depth article on the quy? He's prety good, yes? I love the track i's Too Late,” and hey, can anybody translate Nina Hagen’s album for me? Whats she saying? Isshe happy? Thanks forthe Wendy O, Willams CREEM Dreem, I love your magazine, | really do, : What's the diference between a Canaden and a tire? ‘A: tire is round made that up, just for you. Mark (the Goose) in Baltimore, MD P.S. And thanks for the John Waters article, Local boy makes pages of CREEM! His mother ‘must be proud. (Or eating eggs. Ed.) NO BOOTLEG AVAILABLE! Dear Bruce Springsteen, My name is Mary. I'm seventeen, MAKE ME PREGNANT! PLEAAAASSSEEE! Love, Mary Queen of Ohio a.k.e. Vanessa Vermin person frend of Sissy Sitch, punkockera large. ‘Cincinnati, OH MORAL MINORITY! hatlefnieend; thisis the most reverend bu-ford kkk. save: thesouth. 1am heere to tel yall that have seen the light and the ight bright. yes, mah feends inchris, | want Yall to bow yo pau lelle heads and sing, say-a sing out loud and be sure to teal ‘eva-bodlthatjee sus washere and told me tee Yall to buy consolidated steel, yes mah fiends, bbuy now while the price is high so the reverend can cash in lke the goood lord intended. 1 saay, \yyaoae:yad: friends yallkin be save-ed by jus onating a small amount, like say a hundred bucks, so keep that cash a-olin in, bless val, and they lord be with, ‘sincerely, the mostieverend bu-forsk kk. savethesouth churchofthedivine county time lemonade ‘confederate avenue roberts, lee. TN send that donation today andbe save-e. (Someday al people will be created equel Ed) ‘TEACHER, TEACHER loved your article lt month on Rockpie “Seconds OfPleasure, Years Of Drinking "Uhad hours of fun reading it think I'm in lovel Wow! Dave Edmunds i the most absolutely gorgeous doll in the work Is he manted? Does he fool ‘round? Can | go in search of? ‘Crawly fromthe tablecoth, Rosie Euclid, OH (And someuimes he even plays music, too!—Ed.) JONSON WONT SUMTWO! Rik Jonson teol dura, Why he say Van Halen no good. Ithinkthey neat, Hedumm, B-52's and, Talking Heads veal good too, And Ted Nugent. ‘Why you rite about Nee! Young and Pete Towns Hend. They don't play loud enuff. Your hole ‘mag suks dk Singned, David Lee Roft Bakimore, MD P.S. | wood tipe this but no tpe wider i in ‘ABC order. So excuse the felt ip ink pen. They won't let us use enyting sharper wher I live at P.P.S. Why youmake fun of my chest? I kant help fam a late bloomer. P.S.S.S. Drugusersdurmm, Why kant evyone bbe normal and cool icke me? BOOK OFLISTLESS! ‘America’s Top 10 Female Vocalists: Deborah Harry Debra Harey Debbie Hay Debby Hamy ‘Miss Horry Ms. Herey Deb Harry Blondie Debrah Hany 10, Rod Stewart Blondie Forever, ob Rack Hilton Head, SC P.S, veseenallolthese and!’ iketo strangle ‘each fucker who messes her name up again. P.PS. The correct spellings are Deborah Harry and Debbie Harry. PPPS. You're lucky you never crewed it we. P.P.P.P.S. NooffensetoPat Benatar, Chrisie Hynde, Rachel Sweet, Marianne Fatfull, Lene LLovich, Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson, and all the (How about to us?—Ed.) HE'S BACK! ‘Alright people, some fair warning. This guy f know, Trevor. falthful CREM reader (vas, there ae such things) hes made it known 40 me that he finds your loters pages are getting very boring lately. And why? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT PRINTING ANYTHING BY ME ANY. creemMORE, THATS WHY! See; he usually kes my letters. So do I, come to think of. At any rate, should you contioue this totally unacceptable shelving of my printed missives I'm afr he'll be forced to STOP READING YOUR MAGAZINE. Know what that ‘meane? That'sight,notwo day vacation without payin Philadelphia for Dave DiMartino this year! Hal But anyway. You know I missed the January CCREEM. First time in about two years that that’ happened. | just couldn't fin the fucking thing anyplace, but two of my fiends got and I saw the as-close-as nude-as-you'lLever-get pictures ‘of Pat Benatar who doesnt use sex to sell her records of 20 she says, Uh-huh. And that’s why she's always wearing clothes that make you want fofucherbrains out on a rock under mooniight. Vohink she stinks, She RUINED Kate Bushs wonderful "Wuthering Feighs” and speaking of Kate Bush why can't I find Lionheart anyplace? Oh well. Nice to see pictures of my heroine Wendy 0, Willams rubbing hersolf with shaving CREM (ha-ha, big joke, no?) which of course will epresent sperm fo all those degenerates out there who read this magazine and buy Van Halen records, Tha ofcourse was a tautology. Anyone ‘who buys Van Halen records te automatically a degenerate and I needlessly repeated the pot ‘As for myself, I view the shaving cream as beingthesexual frustrations ofthe Victorian male represented in an impressionistic wey on Wendy's pantheistic breasts with a Kafkaescue ‘idiom underiing the inherent theosophical connotations implied inthe Machivellan photography as viewed thra the punk/bohemian ‘esthetics of an obviously pimple-fced college lt Student with heavy interests in the dialectics of Donee, Irsh Mythology and Maud Gonne’s masturbatory hablis while looking at pictures of W.B, Yeats in drag ‘Andina, Thaven'tthe slightest idea what any of thatbigemeans, buttzounds impresiv, style is content, the new Clash album is GREAT, I bet Bily Altman hates i which is OK. because everyone hates Billy Altman but who cares Anyway because Ron Reagen won and you ‘stupid letoes wil finally get what you deserve hipchip-hooray. ‘And on that chemy note I leave you. | gotta finish reading Testament Of Youth which as of page 200 is better than the T.V. adaptation, ‘which was fucking fantastic. Its a long way 10 Tipperary Disinfeciantly yours, Peter “who gives a fuck” Eicher dackson Hgs., NY P'S [went to the doctor today, see, because I getnose bleeds, ee, and they teated my blood for V.D. True story, sweat [just wanna know why V.D? Donat despair, though, | con GUARANTEE you that LDONTT have V:D. And anyone who ‘can make thatclaimattheage of 19 sin very bad. shape socially speaking, 'V.D.?2 | should be 80 lucky (There are many who would agree. —Fd.) MORE“DEEP" LETTERS! ‘The two biggest questions currently plaguing ‘mankind are 1) Wil Ronald Reagan really drop thebomb? and 2) What do we do with Canada? Wel, now how to answer both questions at once! Just phone Ronnie, tell him you're Pere Trudeau and you think John Wayne and Knute Rockne were both fags, then ask him if Bonzo was a good lay! ‘Next month: How t have fun with your Congressman's wife, gilsiend, or mother. Or, wth hie wfe's grend’s mother! Michael Lewis Mansfield, OH EVERYTHING BLURTS IF YOULETIT! ‘Cheap Trick’s new album eat phleama. The only redeeming quality here is Robin Zander’s voice (and the fact that he almost lookslike aman ‘onthe cover! Nowonder Tom et. Rick Nelsen, you are King Feed in my book. Your face looks like a whoopee cushion; your songs sound tke Yours Truly Earlene Navajo Houston, TX RIVETHEADS REVOLT! Dear My” Rick Johnson, [Inreference to your Heavy Metal Review/Oet. 1980!ssue.] 'veread yourarticleon Heavy Metal, and your review of various HM albums, Tve heard yout opinion, and now, I would APPRECIATE it Yyeuwouldlstentormine, Tye been contemplating exactly what I would ke to say, and since ean't decide which of my opinions to use, I will disclose bath of them 10 Sou. COPINIONNO. 1: FUQ. You don't know what you're takingabout. You have no taste in musle whatsoever, Your name should be Dick instead office BUT, being the wellmannered person that fam, 1 will apologize for opinion No, 1—I'm SORRY —Now, tocontinue. OPINIONNO. 2: Everyone is ented to their ‘own opinion, and I respect yours, eventhough I don't agree with it, Don't you think that your Nae POWERFUL. COHESIVE. EXPLOSIVE. THESE ROCK'N’ yma ITT NEVER SOUNDED SO SURE, SO aa ee ale ROCK’N’ ROLL. BEWARE. Ragen FALL VICTIM TO UFO’S CURRENT AMERICAN TOUR. a Te Eat ee arr rare ad1@ 1981 Pro-Line Guide ‘A comprehensive 64 pg. color guide to all Carvin ProLine equipment including illustra tions, technical Information and specifica: tons with Special Direct Prices, * Carvin’s new products for the 80's include; ‘Gouble neck guitars, modular power amps up fo 700w RMS. Recording and road mixing boards, JBL Pro speakers, bichannel tube ‘Guitar amps, Parts, plus much, much more + As weinlroduce you to the finest Pro Equi ment available, you'll appreciate Carvin policy of selling Direct for exceptional values. Write CARVIN Dept. CMeo,135ingusial Ave Escondido 0A Stes Phone: 14747-1710] “CARVIN FREE CATALOG #rtmstuncomned) $800+ Spree honten hereon Sete aeRO SmUSGBA EG rd 02> 3588 ssricesion rosters 2-4 $225e$1pah(s4 enh ‘Roun coun rostns i038 $375:5ph 47a) ‘Bonen touerwactans 51007 sopangs oa) Seok tanmabsan tats 1002 Sopa aso) ah iaivone ouciee tees wees Maw wrist AS CATALOG 35¢ Seareive, review might have been just a bit too citicale (Nauseating would be the more appropriate word for it) ln MY opinion.) Don't you have ANY regard for other people’ feelings??? I you led "Disco! | wouldn't degrade you for t. YOU, Mr Rick Johnson, have ‘degraded’ millons fo, people, Inhuding me, by caling us all "Rive heads." JUST because ie like geting wasted and listening to HM, doost gle you the right to treat us, of our favorite groups, ike iterate, untalented, completely oblivious “object,” Most ‘of us ate very inteligent, and, most of us are EVEN considerate of OTHER people's FEEL- INGS. (which is more than I ean say [at the momen] fer YOU.) Respecthlly, LY. ‘Kris Simmons UNFORTUNATELY from Ebensberg, PA—homecl the RED NECKS. B'S. CREM & sil 9 great magazine PPS LLOVENY. &RockiRoll (Rivetheed. —Ed.) KISSFANSTILLEXISTS! {just finshed reading your February issue, So yout assholes finally managed to get KISS in your ‘ag without makeup. BIG FUCKIN’ DEAL!" KISS isthe best Rock & Roll band of alltime ‘Makeup or no fuckin’ makeup! You shitheads ‘seemtoputdown KISS more than you put down (Canada! Why don't you all ust fue off!?2? You can't knock a band that pull in over 8 hundred and ity milion bucks a year You know T'm ight, se you probably won't print this leer unless you can think of some stupid. fuckin comment to write below. Tore out the one good picture of KISS and threw the rest in my cats Iter box. You see, don't lke cats ‘MUCH later, Excite New York (Rock City), NY P'S. Your magazine sical P.P'S. Hey Ed, don'trank on Peter Cris. He's probably your father! P.P.P.S. As long as | have a face, Rach! Sweet will aways have a place to st (And dogs will aluoys have 2 place to walk Ed) PUCKS FLY SOUTH FORTHE WINTER! ‘Alter having o endure the endles extn by ‘our northern neighbors and others in general 1 fell have to make a statement. Please read on. Fst: All you Canucks should stop. your complaining and remember that CREM isa ot better entertainment that watching your national hooligans chase a litle plece of rubber across a freezing sewer Second: Lie n Birmingham isso far superior to spending one’s entire exstonce in a down Jacket that no other comments are needed, Third: Tm convinced if i hadn't been for CREEM, Canada would sil think the Guess ‘Who and the Stampeders played rock, Final: Anyone who doesn't think Eddie Van Halen is the GREATEST rock guharist Is ‘obviously the same type who doesn't beleve the USA landed on the moon, ‘Yours truly, Guy lajerk Birmingham, MI (Actually they'landed in Vancouver—but hey, what's the dif?—Ed) UPSIDEDOWNANDITSA“V"1 Ti mustbe considered “coo!” in some circles to be ignorant and naive ofthe socal status which currently surrtinds us. What’ even cooler isthe ably to make @ Joke of everything whether we Understand it or not. January's CREM Dreem, Siouxie Sioux, is just one such example, tune really great of vouto ran her plete, you're one ofthe few magazines that would, but why the ‘pun? We've come to two conchisions Ether you knew what she was doing but dda’ acknowledge ‘tor you were totally blind to t and didn't realize she was contorting her Body 6 form an "A" for ‘anarchy. Thepagelisel serves as atorder, so the _symbolstherefore se contained, We thought it was most effective. You, of coutse, used i a5 another slam to the Canadians, and was fail hhumoreus. However, we can think of better fargets to alm _mediz-manipulative missles at rather than the Canadians Thank You Thea) Mabole Norfli, VA STUFFIT Pip pip and hello good editord It ic 1, Sir Reghhald Lesley Winston Fartholemew Ill, noted botanist archeologist, stamp collector, big game hunter and professor of Brixton University am ‘curently studying a phenomenon known as Heavy Metal, or “Rockirollus Obnoxious”. I seems these’ creatures, long believed to be ‘extinct, stl roam the earth! Strange but true ‘Although hated by nearly everyone, persecuted and forbidden to lve in certain concert halls, these creaming monstrosities are todey enjoying ‘2 new popularity from many young people who ignore thelr dangerous characteris, and have been given sanctuary by, of alplaces, AMradi! The Rockinrolicus Obnoxious are easly recognized: they range from very young to very ‘ld, are huge, hairy and emit a screeching roar that can cause deafness. They feed primarily on hallucinatory plants, and dsplay an insatiable sex appetite. Seen any in your neighborhood, hmmm? Tameurrenty planninga biggemesefar where Thopeto huntandlllsome ofthese evolutionary wonders. Iam particularly interested in certain species |e, the "Young Angus” (never sts still the "David Lee” (ften mistaken for female) the ‘Motor City Madman” (loves torture ard sel abuse) and a very old and feeble species, the “Zeppelin,” 2 once majestic onimel who has spawned many offspring. The female of the species is far more cunning, expers will gre. It uses its dazaing beauty to lure its victims ito ts deadly grip. Truly, the Benatar is the most alluring and most dangerous adversary, only for the fitest of hunters. Cannot wait to get that fempiress stulfed and mounted next to my Hendrix-skin rug Jolly good that. ‘Anyone interested in joining my expedton, please contact me ¢/o Rick Johnson, Bs sure you ere welhequipped with elephant guns, teargass bombs, plenty of eannebis (for bat) and ‘most important earplugs! Cheero, mates! Yours, ‘Sit Reginald Lesley Winston atholemew Ill Cleveland, OH P.S. Keep up the excellent journaler, Less heauy metaland more everything alee (especially Rick Johnson) BRING ONTHEPUBILES! ‘Thanks, Toby, for your very postive STRANGLERS artce! As the only two female STRANGLERS devotees probably not mention- din the arele, we think i's time to “Straighten Out” poor Toby on whether or not she ls maso- chistie“JOHN ANDERSON” (Warmer Bros) =: May- be thisientthe best country abum of 1980, but takeitover Wille Neion'ssupersessions, George ‘Jones's refurbished macho, and even Merle Haggard's inspired revivalism. The songs fade on side two, but not since Hank Willams Jr. fell off his mountain and Gery Stewart fell off his bar ‘stool has anybody put so much vocal musce into lunadomed hard stuf. Convincer: Buddy Spich- ere fiddle break on the definiive "She Just Started Liking Cheatin Songs. B+ T-BONE BURNETT: “Truth Decay” (To koma)z: What does t mean when the best (Christian record of 1980s alsothe best rockabilly since Sam Phillips taked Jerry Lee Lewis into defaming the Pentecost. Bumet equally ‘comfortable withthe (divine) “power oflove” and 8 fleshy) “love that's hot," so maybe something has happenedta Christianity, too. But don't take Pascal's wager quite vet—not unless you believe that tobe “In search of an historic Jesus” isto throw "a wooden nickelinawishingwell” Ax CHANGE: “The Glow of Love” (Wemer Bros./RFC) "New and true and gay,” this gold ‘bum confirms disco’ continuingautonoriy asa market and asa tle, From the Rodgers & Ed Wards eipof "A Lover's Holiday" tothe good ole Giorgio Moroder of “The End,” heres the complete bag of ticks. Luther Vandross’ best Teddy Pendergrass impression doesnt redeem the miltanly escapist iris and probably isn't meant to. But “its A Gufs Aff,” sung by ocelyn Shaw, is softcore teat andspel at Girls" on your nex! printing please B+ CHIC: "Real People” (Atlantic) As on Sister Sledge’ follow-up, Rodgers Edwards have run tut of sure shots--no “Good Times” here, But ‘Risque was more than “Good Times,” and this beats Risque. Jumpy, scintillating chythms fuse with elegantly abrasive textures for a funk that’s ‘ot light but sharp. Plus post chic Iris that go nth the attenion-grabbing heat and invention of Nile Rodger’s post-rock guitar. Ax ERIC CLAPTON: “Just One Night” (RSO) ‘Who needs another lve double? A master Whose studio albums have been cted for unfair competition by the makers of Sominex, that's ‘who, Allyour AMand FM faves plus, served hot raw, orboth, B. | by Robert Christgau ALBERT COLLINS: “Frostbite” (Aligator Tn is way, this is 08 formule as a Linda Ronstadt abum—pick good tunes, gather good ‘musicians, identify good takes. But in blues the Good is simpler, more satsying, and harder to come by than it Is I superpop, and while I ‘wouldn't say Albert plays better than Linda sings, wouldn't argue # you did, Albert sings okay, too. BY DEVO: “Freedom of Choice” (Warmer Bios.x Hey now, don't blame me—I insulted them every chance I got back when your room: mate stil thought they might be Important. But hnow that that's taken care of itse¥ we can all af. ford to glade. Robot satire indeed —if they ever teach thythm boxto get funky, a Mothersbaugh willbe there to plugin Bt JOE ELY: “Live Shots” (MCA impor): Els hot the fist American whose live abum went Unreleased here—about 2 thousand jazz and blues guyebeathim tot, But wth Ely swith the | Ramones the tari is doubly annoying, because ven prime material acutely performed sounds a litle redundant in an artist whose fundamental songs Stil, this really S prime and acute, and let's hope he rides the Clash's taihnd right into downtown Lubbock plea that’s one of Haggard'sfew great love songs, I the only original that transcends his usual poses, with “Sky-Bo—"Thats a new kind of hobo for planes’ ~the mostcloing offender. But Hoggard’ chief value ha been voeal since "Okie From Muskogee” saddled him withas image, and bere his resonant, reflective bartone transforms three Emest Tubb tunes from stendards into timeless pieces of Americana. If Wille Nelsons Bing Crosby, Haggard’s Sinatra B+ JIMI HENDRIX: "Nine to the Universe” (Reprise): With posthumous Hendex i's always ‘best to concentrate on the improvisations as fhe Were a jazz musician, and these relaxed jams are bis jaziest contexts to date. Unfortunately, at least in theory, the only jazz player on hand is ‘organist Larry Young, who got prety far outwith Miles and McLaughlin but sounds lke Jimmy ‘Smith over the Billy Cox Mitch Mitchel beat. So the greatest electric guitarstin the world stretches ‘out nastyle where the compression of structure tight force him to think herder and faster BracingprocressiveR&B, butnomore, B+ ALBERTA HUNTER: “Amtrak Blues” (Columbialz: After the bland Remember My [Name soundtrack, John Hammond's gem is @ Llessing—It would have been tragic Hf the rebih ‘ofthis 84-year-old wonder of nature and history, ‘easly the most authortative clasic blues singer alive; had been documented only in print. A het thythm section, anchored by pianist Gerald Cook tnd jazzed up by hormen Vic Dickenson, Doc ‘Cheatham, and Fronk Wess, pitches in’ wlth undeniable verve on material from “The Darktown Strutter’ Ball to “Always” to several worthy Hunter originals. Timing and intonation areas eavvyas you'dfigure, and thoughthe voice [en'tauite a full ae # must have been, it packs an amazing wallop—when Hunter gloals about (getting her butter churned the memory sounds fresh ke maybe the dairy man poked his head in that morning. More good news—shellbe beck in the studio with Hammond soon. MICHAEL HURLEY: “Snockgra (Rounder) More songs about dying and food — ‘and rambling from the old-timey existentalist, ‘whose oblique wal recals both Jery Garea and ‘John Prine because all three are more obsessed with mountain vocal styles than most mountain vocal sys, “Jole’ Blon,” "Tla Mari," and 2 few others are more or less what you'd expect, but you ever expected “You Gonna Look Like A Monkey" or "| Heard The Voice Of & Porkchop, "you're wo up on me. A THE JACKSONS: “Triumph” (Epic): More cluttered than Off The Wall, partly because Michaets brothers are Buting ln, partly because APRIL 1981 9is \ ¥ Mr. Dream Whip & Boy Howdy! available in White T-shirt &tank top. All shirts are only $4.50each plus $1.00 each for postage & handling. EEE ETT TT A A A Enclose check or money order & vendo ‘CREM T-shirts, P.O. Box 1064, Birmingham, Mi 48012 Send me (Circle size and color) cer toy Howdy! White tank top SM L. XL Me. Dream Whip White tonk top $M. L XL = boy. Howdy! White shit SM L XL = Me: Dream Whip White, blue or yellow T-shit SM L. XL Allshirtsare$4.50 each plus $1,00 each or postage & handling. Total amount ono! sendcash. Nome Address Quiney Jones fant, But most of the cutter is sheer, joyous muscleflexing—hated the chorale that opens "Can You Feel Ie at frst, but now 1 ‘chuckle at their audacity everytime teomes on, ‘Anyway, you know about solo albums—the ‘songs do improve when the group butts in. And you can dance to them, In short, thei best. A “ROBIN LANE & THE CHARTBUSTERS™ (Warner Bros): Formally, this sa reactionary, from Lane’s chesty melismas to the band's fakebook leks, and the songs go on too long. But ‘every one catches, and despite Lane's lndy-ma- cho stage moves her yrcs seem fet n what can ‘only calla progressive way-—autonomous but not ‘anomie or selfish, compassionate but not Infinitely long-suffering. B+ ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW: “Mega- Shebang” (Warner Bros es When I heard the funky fereebeat of "Night Time DJuke ing” L was deighted—sounded like the man had invented DOR allon his own, and in Wales yet. But as ‘perused the lyrics I began to suspect that his heart—a conceptthatin Low always inekides the ‘mind—waen't entrely commited. Good fun from anartstwho'scapsbleofthebest. B+ LPJE: “Live at the Montreux Jazz Fes- tival 1980" (Latin Percussion Ventures, Inc.) Begin with Tito Puente on timbales and Patato Valdez on congas. Add three dedicated young, Improvisors, making sure that atleast one is as snazzy as electric violinist Alfredo De La Fe. Let them play what they want. Presto pure poly huthm rules. Try i Address: 160 Belmont ‘Avenue, Garteld, NeJersev07026. a ‘THE SUBURBS:"I Combo" Twin/Tone): T know its endearing amateurism that makes ‘middle America’s new wave tick, but these ‘Minnesotans think clockwork fun-—thel music ‘slibly witty, even decelerating into a mournful couintry tock rind to make a joke. Ther scatter: shot, nasty-to-nutball humor Is oblique or fougue-incheck enough to convey an under- Curent of empathy most ofthe time, And when they're comparing cows feet to those of sheep, rot much empathy i required, Address: 445, Oliver Avenue South, Minneepols, Minnesota 55405, a ‘THE UNDERTONES: “Hypnotized” (Sivv) 1 From the opening chonis—"Here's more songs about chocolate and grs/It's not so easy owing theyll be heard”—the. good:-kids of the-year are as honest as power pop (remember powerpop?) ever gets. They're also as powerul, Which bet has something to do with why they're $0 honest. The improved melodies have something to do with why i's not so easy any mare. Ac “WANNA BUY A BRIDGE?” (Roush Trede) Rough Trade has become the biggest British post punk indie by (ort lest while) brooking no compromise politically or aesthetically. Polically this hasled dio ant ice the Pop Group's "We ‘Are All Prostes”; aesthetcaly ifs. meant ‘approachments with incorsgble art rockers lke Mayo Thompson and Robert Wyatt ae well asthe diddle-prone experiments of Young Marble Giants, the Raincoats, Essential Logic, and Cabatet Volta But its also provided sich classic punk protest as Spize Energ!s "Solder Soldier” and. Siff Litle Fingers’ "Alternative Ulster," and none of the above-named diddlers would have been taken aboard without a surefire tune or two in their packet, Hence this superb 14-single compilation, Rough Trade's fist U.S. LP. Kleenex’s “Aint You" and Deka 5's "Mind ‘Your Own Business, "1wo ofthe finest post punk 145s, do help. As do Sct Polit’ arty, potical, hypnotic "Skank Bloc Bologna’ and “At Last | ‘Am Free,” by none other than Robert Wyatt A.‘ean play just ike Jit Hondelx claims young Chrissie Hynde, "but ‘only when Iwant fo! The Pret thepen of Chrtese:” Message of Love". Mucho ews from Editions EG theJEM distributed label that ‘recently reissued Emo's MusicFor Fimsand Fripp & Eno'sNo Pussy footing and Evening Sar: Enos classe Ditereet Muse, ‘originally sued on hisown Obscure Ibbel, should be ourby the time you ead this, notiomentionthe debut oINY's Lounge Lizards. Next few monthsuillbsing hot Britband Killing Joke's debut anda James White /Chance ‘compllaion tiled Second Chance. Longtinersthe Good Rats have changed theirineup sight incorporatingnew guitarist Bras Tullck (previously wih Meatloat and Blackjack) and bassist ‘Schuyler Deate. New P called Great American Mustedue out Imminentlyon the Great American Records label. Inal.A.Timesinerview, Bob Dylan cautioned against the poliicalexcestes of fundamentalist ‘Christian groupslikethe Moral “Majority. Bobby ofcourse considers iso "born again,” but he pointed ‘utthat his religous fervor comes fom within, Instead of from Jerry Falwelliypes.. we demand D-Gel forfervor ror within APRIL284 CradleCal: Meat Loafandhis lovely Lealtenow the proud parents oitle Amanda, who ats. oundsisonlyaslivetoffthe old block... And Barry Gibb became a papa forthe third Ge, tonuraber three son Travis Ryan Gibb. Garland Jeffreys, whosenew vinyl eon Escape Ariss in your comer dite shop right now, gathered {an impressive cotpsof musielansfor the record; Gilda Radner hubby GE. Smith played guar, Rumourthythmsection Andrew Bodnarsnd Steve Goulding ‘were prevent, aswere Danny Federielirom he EStreet ‘Band, Big Youthend Linton Kwesi Johnson, funkatecr Adrian Belew, the Brecker brothers, LouReed fonbocking Vocal], tc Infact the Rumour have been escape ass themselves, leaving Graham Parkeriobsck up Garand on bis Earposan andU.S. tours (no werd from GP. astohis band plans...) Frank’ Where's My Sense Of Humor?” Zapparecentiiled criminal charges against East Coast ‘concert promoter Rlebard A. Cohenaferthe baterhanded Zappa'sproduction company an allegedtbad cheek for $22,500. Reports unconfirmed that Zappa ako ied BWM Mernandes, noted schoolbuly, who extored Zappa's milk money when both wereids back in 1955, Fronk’s new eudlence con only nderstond sign language! Getit? ee SoltRecords'prez Dave Robineonhad histo sayinthe Son of tif Tour pressrelease: “Personally wouldritwakeacty confrontation with theRusshis flares ‘up, Reagan ean rock ourto “Anarchy lntheUK."—whbe Nancy get funky to Y.M.CA.". .What, 0 Dead Kennedys cord? Exetting new wave band Save Brown. no, uh, walta fuinute. boring old wave band, Savoy Brown... that won'tdo, cther.wel, uh anyway, actual band SavoyBrown will ance again ‘Wendy's dramatic reading of Hamlet's soliquoy slays make herahows “specel,"fons agree! Wendy likes te wrestle but not ike this! Block tasee those bandsthat disappear upto thelrnavelsin dry ice "Foirenough, butwhy didthe Plasmaties employadiy-ice machine durmg tev appearancein Fridays?...ThePlasmates recently got busted in Milwaukee for obscone Sesturingandresiting ares. More days later, Wendy O. Williams: ‘was arrested in Claveland for ‘wearing nothing butshaving cream, ‘which she fst tested on CREM. teadersin the February 1981 issue. ‘Wendy was quoted assayingatter the Cleveland incident, "Nobody arvestia man the takescfthis shi Avista nabbed Bea ‘Tehalkovaky. RONNIELIKES“GOONSQUAD” “The Recording Indust ‘Assocbation of Americastocks the White House Record Libary ia cate you dida'thnow. Some new ‘dations the Reagama can relax cover: Chie, the Stones, Funkadelic, Donna Summer, the SexPlatole, Elvia Costello and The Village People. Just think! When nerve faving be tourngthese ine slates, thistime ‘withlend vocalist Ralph Morman, (formerly with Joe Perry Project, drummer Keith Boyce (irom he Bram Tchalkowely band), and guitarist Barry Pasa (of ‘mid-70's pads Fleavy MetalKids), Asusual guitarist Km Stmmondevillbeatthe helo, hisrest home allows himto leave the premises after p.m, In The Studio LonAingely, CA Record Plat VaNorseePatiocrme | Setirronsiiie Ronevkon | Pyoducing): Burbonk | GicKendinfecotire Rusia | Uchasonatatetakest | relic tule Sen Praneeco~ Hyde Sree Studion Mike Bloom (Norman ayron producing) he ulna Femdst Nl Dacord Studion PopTars Deve Hane prodocn, the Bonet Dera Na~Suerea/ esi Recording Sud Mle Kies Royal Oak Ml~TremorReconing: Cineing NME notes that Sag willbe recordinga version of Rev. Robert Dylan's"IShallBie Released” fore coming TV fl called Parole, the single ue outon RSO Recordsratherthan A&M, Sting stalentforgenuflectingat random intervalsmay come in handy Ex Flamin’ Groovie Roy A. Loney willbe relonsinghisthird fort for Sold Smoke Records tis ‘month, onthe label'snew subsidiary WarBrideRecorde..Where'sthe new Flamin’ Groovies LP ie what ‘we wanna know. More lawsults: Bruce Springsteen was avarded an unprecedented $2,160,000 in damages aterEIBosso sued CCalioria bootegger Amdren Waters (A.K.A. Vick Ving) and others. Prank Zappa not involved. New Year'sEve at CBGB'sbrought former Ver Tom Verlaineback onthe sage forthe fisttime in slmosttwo years. Veriaine satin ‘uth new NY band called Telet featuringformer TV-mate Fred ‘Smith, J.D. Dougherty (ex Patti Smith Group), Brace Brodyand Richle Fleigier (erdohm Caleband and Revelon George Plecard.Band performed Verlaine's"Breakin'In My Heart” and “Aint That Nothing, ‘and we wish we were there. Ifou Reed could use Don Cherry ‘Dept: Legendary jazer Sonny Rolline villbeblowing his tenor saxalong with Mek Jaggerand LP, netted Emotional Cripples, ‘though considering thei title for thelr neweet best-of, Suckingln The "70's, maybeii shouldbe. Highlighting this years Cassie Errors, Fantasy Records hasjust discovered thatthetrrecent Creedence Clearwater Revival ive LP, The RoyalAlber HallConcer, wasnotrecorded at the Roval Alber Hall—but, infact, atthe Oakland Coliseum three ‘months earerthan orginally errorby givingtheseta new cover anda newttle (Creedence Clearwater Revival The Concer and investigatingtherumorthat Budokan actually the name ofa cheap stp joint in Boogie, owa. Newalbumby the Turiaters rmakingabignolsein L.A. and vallable nationally onRhino —— | Records. | Former Rolling Stones’ manager ‘Andrew*Loog” Oldham ill prodiice a"rork/ theater venue called Dementos!” whatever that ‘Thetlive Patel Sent album has beenpulled offthe Arta release Tt Blondie'sdrummerboy Clem Barkels set io produce the Speedies Fleetwood Macbessis John ‘MeVie was arrested onthe'ele of Maul for possession ofeoeaine. I | convicted, the Mac hack faces | deportation. Kath i arenes arvival of Judie Tavke but keep drinking anyway! Interestingnote for Anglopils: rats, afulllengih animated space ‘Nick Mason! Pink Floyd fontasy fick releasinghisfist sole LP, called Fietiious Sports. Featured willbe ‘ld mate Robert Wyatt, Karen cat, Chrle Spedding, Gary Windo, Mike! Saclion sot Caetiog vio ‘produced thesetwith Mason and ‘deserves anews temol her ow. Bestheedline ofthe month, ‘courtesy of Vanery: CANADA MAY OUTLAW UNLICENSED DISHES. Nothing was said, however of prossurecookers, spatulasorcorkscrews, Care gutor tar Eliot Easton ‘Teagicnews: Tle Hardin, who | wasenistedby Utopla’s Kasim composed If Were A Carpenter,” | Saltomforhelp on his upcoming Misty Roses "and “The Lady soloLP. ‘ComeFrom Balimore,” among ther classes, wae found deadinhis | Joe Strammer’sbeen keeping LA. home nlate December, Atera | himself busy by puting together an series of superb albums forthe LP of previously unsoleased ‘Verve/Forecastlabelinthe ‘materialfromhisol group the ‘mid-60'sand three undeservedly | 104ers. Nodeal's been made with ‘overlooked onesfor Columbia, the | label yet, butwaichthis space for Influential folsingerfadedtrom | furtherdevelopments pableconsousness durinathe70s ‘nd never ally tur Detroit's Cadillac Kidehave shame broken up, duet theusual “personal diflerences” Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Cheap TeichondEarth,Wind | Robert Quinevos replaced by &Flrearesatedtocomposeand | Ronnie Draytoninthe perform songeforsomethingcalled | punk/funk group Deadline. Phil May, legendary Pretty ‘Thingeand composer ofthe equally legendaryS.F. Sorrow, bum, now working on a allt version ofsaldreck opera, nhopes of bringingitto various Brith cites before the summer. How boutjust bringing our band here, Phi? OnTour ‘Cheap Tick, Nazareth, Robin Lane’ ‘and the Chartbusters, Eddie and the HotRods, Dity Looks, Joe" King” CamraccoandtheCrovms, the Plasmatis, Blue Angel the Vapors, deny Lee -awis, Rush, Edgar ‘Winter, Polode, Hurman Sexual | ResponseHot Rods To Hell EAST LANSING, MI— Its another “New Wave” Monday ‘at Dooley’s, a prepoie-oriented showbar near the Michigan State University. campus. A small group of decadent punks (some of them accounting majors from Grosse Pointe) have dressed in. thelr ‘hottest 1977 UK. fashions to witness a performance by England's Ed- ddie and the Hot Rods, Despite the high eneray being produced ‘onstage, audience enthusiasm is low. “Welll play some Sex Pistols songs if youll dance,” jokes lead singer Barrie Masters tolltle aval, One lone couple is ‘on the dance floor for most of the band’s set. “This isn’t anew wave band!” complains one of the club's trendy elitists. "That drummer has hair below his shoulders” Ironically, Eddie and the Hot Rods wer cal the nats punk rock band” by the British press in 1976 when Joe Strum- mer was stil, gigging with an R&B band called the 10lersand “the great rock 'n’ roll swindle” “What?” Said The Cymbal Player ZURICH, Switzerland —Inareal ‘blow to complaining moms and dads everywhere, a Swiss re searcher has announced that classical music can make you just as deaf as rock 'n' roll, although not necessarily as stupid, Octologist Juerg Frie tested 139 members of the Zurich Symphony Orchestra and found that 44% had hearing damage. The percussion and Wwind-instrument sections had the biggest earaches, where “uzzing, aching ears and loss hearing" area dally occurence. Frie say the problem is music that’s just plain too. goddam loud, whether rock, classical or hula’ However, he refused to ‘comment on rumors that many ‘orchestra members have been secretly listening to Krokus albums, Rick Johnson ws jst a. gleam in Malcolm McLaren's eve. Spawned from the BritsH pub rock scene (lead guitarist Dave Higgs was once a oadie for Dr. Feelgood), the Hot Rods were the first band to merge the “anything goes” spirit (of (60's American garage rock ith an aggression of late 10's British working class youth. The band was an over- Right sensation in England ‘where they were voted best new ‘band of 1976 by both New ‘Musical Express and. Sounds, ‘and the Hot Rods headlined “The First European Punk Rock 1 Festival” with Nick Lowe and theDamned that same year. Unfortunately, the “punk” label eventuallybackired onthe band "Wie were actually the fi explains Masters, “but K was taled pub tock at the time Then they invented the word ‘punk forthe old American 60's thing and ‘began ‘using it 10 describe us. We thought k was Great at fist, but then ‘punk Become a fashion thing, in Briain. They forgot about music and were more interested. in tihat people were wearing, s0 We opted out. We tied 10 explain everywhere we. went that we weren't ‘punk We're a rock bend. We didn't mind being called a garage. band “That's what we were. We spent years rehearang in soaae utpunk” was just aitle we got fedup with.” Despite thelr contrary claims, the Hot Rode were offen mis: fakenly lumped alongside the Sex Pistols during. the early Stages of thei career. The to tbands began a tour fogether In 1976 with the Pistols as support. ing act, but the Hot Rods issed the band after only says, ‘Fuck off, you cunt,’ He's just litte eunt, $0 I picked him Up. That was It There were five ‘of six press people around just fs[ was about t6 belt him, and there was something about it in the press every week after that Itwasjusta hype, Itreally wasn't any sort of a bad time. It never came to fists. If it had, there ‘would have been no contest.” ‘When the Pistols became a phenomenon, the fickie Britsh press began fo attack the Hot Rods for not being “relevant” enough. Masters tends to shrug itoff. "We hate politics. Basical- ly, allwe're saying isdo anything Yyouwantto do and have a good — | time. People don't want 2 ‘one gig at London's Marquee | lecture when they go to a gig club. The feud which ensued is | We make afew suggestions, but legendary. "Malcolm’McLaren | we never tell people to follow couldnt get them @ gig when | anything.” As’ far as Lydon's they first started because they | few role with PL is concemed, ‘were dreadful musicians,” ela- | Masters just makes a face. ‘It's borates Masters. “Ed ‘Hollis | aboutas useless as an ashtray on {the Hot Rods’ frst. manager) | @motorbike.” became pals with MeLaren and |" Teenage Depression, the told him we'd give the band a | group's first LP, entered the support The press wastherethe | Briish top 30, and the. bend first night, and Johnny said he | scored.a Top 10 single with “Do ‘was going to trash something. | | Anything You Wanna Do” from | {old him not to because that's | their second LP. Life On The not a good way to get gigs. He | Line, But success in America | just stood there, and McLaren | hasn't been nearly as rapid. The whispered in his ear. Then he | Hot Rods are curently. on a NEW KISS MEMBERS, CONTINUED! 4am: hing previously mem: APRIL 1984third American tour, promoting album, lke “Life In The Food- their latest LP, Fish 'N" Chips. Tonio K, pai and Do The, Funky ‘The new album as produced estrn Civization." But, 38 bysupercessormer Aikoope, | Band Not had feared, his band didn't do viho also, contibuted hey more than deliver a distracted, boards. Steve Weston has | LOS ANGELES— After parting Competent rendiion of the ar Jed tha Hot Rods on key- | company with CREM’ inde fangements learned and dran- beards for the current tour, | fetigable photogrepher Bob S| cdotallspontancityby repeated and eweomer TC dead | Matheu, who was bound forthe fehearsae (probably at Studio Anger forthe late Brian Jones | Gary Numan concer, l reed instrumental Rentale, but sn. Haber cea Pani Gearon bas | acai es ev Web es TR demeath the affected patina of Giitazst Graeme Doulas, who | curous about Tono's ow grade competence Isensed the poten- played a predominant role on | infectious popstar, which has fal for his tunes. Tonio seemed je On The Line, recently left | been growing over the last wo Iohide behind a week's grown the band due to. “personal | yearsin L-A. | knew he was of Paul Butteeld type beard, diferences.” Masters) Figos | generally a mild rocker with land his sel-conscious theatcs Gnd drummer Steve Nichol | Session cats up the wasoo for @ Paclied the Saturday night Raveteon uiththeband inceits | band, but darn tallthe cas Peni gota Ve patie inception got some good cynical ris stand up and yell at im to assa if the apathetic. Dooley’s | inside, !noticed the beers were Ssinate the players in his band audience (which resembled the | served in. glass bottes for = and get. some. pimolefoced stl if Mastrs sings about on | change. That meant the man. file Spitefeckers from’ Huntington “ignore Them’) is any indica. | agement wasn't worled about Beach, but I wasnt drunk tin Ametean successyouy not | Resdhnockee ancl Blecklog enough. I. lett “before he'd te'Yorthcoming for Eddie and | adolescents teoring up. the P= finshed the se, plssed that I'd the Hot Rods. Sill, Masteresaye | place. Taleo noticed that the forced out the bread but hoping the band wal continue whether | crowd was 2. disgustingly that Tonio” would someday they moke it in thi county or | decent menage of college removehimecffrom the neulat nol “takes more than a ow | preppies and sweatered corort. | cleaned lether panis—just an- | edeltism of A. “professonal- Americans o pullusdown, We | y selers. What have I gotten | other blend band from the | is’ that paralyes the majority never worred about breaking | myselfinto? I sat at the back and | valley. Finally, Tonio came out | of conservative West Coast England. All we want to do's | nursed my outsider atttude, | dressedin he’s gn, sporing | music. Someday he may take keep playing. It would be easier | The band ‘came on and sure | six guns and his trademark | somerealchancesandId like to if'we made some money, but | enough, they were the typical | shades and pointed nose. After | be there o se t when he does money has never been s source | competent LA. type “players”, | some nanerematks thoy eked | Inthe meantime, eta haiest lrealpleasuretome" Nice’ poof ‘aizdes. and’ cry: | info thetunes liked on hisfist Buddy Helm Dave Higgs grees, stating what seems fo be, ihe bands ee ey ae TVI.Q. Hits fave apace to pay anda place tosleep, that sal that matters" Record Low Boles robes depper LAYFAYETTE, IND—I you ee ease a sete fo Ler, hae out hat RG Poot ce erie eal Sat hy! Nerve” Ullerhaee eee ee ae es Coneumer piyeholgst Jac- pbleleby ened cna amar of nearly 3,000 carefully screen- oe cen. Ghoeed seu neat tence bie! rut Bay aeie el hoppne® ae peed ienartey Vaniconcinca eid eee ae we ne Ti fis Then ney ware ed Lon eae oth theyeaw “Urea,” Dr Jacoby eon sates tpteaaneee wiseeee? See ber andeood then as Monika ain eon one 1 StorStudded Event! It wos tees Aerie Blackmore's | "iat hey sid my muse was cheesy-"squecks Bion John, “Someone | ndscoms? a, etl Mactan | Se De sa aa ta aan recess etiam |e anes th See Gray in England.” Blackmore, | mail. then someone stuck two mousetraps in my plano, All my porn | tis-face was stumped on that Sayethe L.A. Free Press, named | videotapes wore erosed and filled with Tom & Jer point, but suspected the answer defi Beck, Tommy Bolin | 07s the script to Midnight Comboy ond und Tiessomewhere between the two Tehotookoverhiscetin Deep | atte Ria Then AnnetteFunicale celled peup-twantieadrven'. | mast popular viewer responses Farol sl) Kelth Moon | Sor" chen open Sees tn, tt, tag | cs vome™ an Who dents in his wife's disfavor. he a rae Rick Johnson 44Costello Legend Shrinks BIRMINGHAM, MI— Nobody cares about Elvis Costello ex- cept for Elis Costello according toarecent CREEM poll This highly scientific study. conducted by certiied CREEM editors or filler in the Beat Goes Gn section of their magazine, touched bases with untold thou: sands of people romall als of “The pollwas conducted in the following manner: People were called and asked one. simple Beate anh won't Es | “thisisnot very funny end not my idea ofagood ake, ”hultsEvis.”And Costell talk tothe press seers Opinions were varied and wide- | *2™AatUCestellechymeswihARO?I” cnn tet spread, as, in fact, many have | = “Why?"—dJack Kronk, | ate tendency to answer the been calling the artist himself | CREM Subscription Manager. | interviewer's questign before thesedays.Here'stheverdict.. | “ "Are you sefous? Is this a | he's asked it" —Jetey Mor WHY WON'T ELVIS COS. | riddle?" Ginny Cartmell, | gan, CREEM Contributing Eat TELLO TALK TO THE | CREEMAsistant An Diector. | or PRESS? *"Gee, | don’t know..."San- | * "Maybe his grammaris as bod * "Who's he?”—Leo Feinberg, | dy Hanson, CREEM Direct | asmine."—LilKarwouski, pro Jeweller Sales. peta of Lil's Bar, Harmtramnck He won’ talk to the press | *“Ididn'tknow he wouldn't.’— | “image.” —dim Farber Becauisepeoplewil ind out e's | Edouard Dauphin, CREEM cok. | CREEM ute gota navel the sie of ais." — | umnist ake Riviera is rin Mark: Noron, CREEM Asso. | "if he tost his. glasses he | Bob Dvlan imp with him ciate Editor wouldn't be able to tead his | Matheu, CREEM photograph "don't know how to sayit in | interviews!" —CheetahChrome. | er English." Amira. Scocayas, | * “Elvis suffers from what is | * “Deep in his heart he's really CREEM Comptooller known in the rock ene feld as | an illiterate. Alle does i play **Why in my opinion whar?”— | ‘premature eerkulation.’ That's | war word games.” —Joe Fern: Gary Grimshaw, CREM Asso. | to say, lke his brother Radar | bacher, CREEM Contributing ciate Art Director. ORelly, Elishasthe unforun- | Editor Wiser/Gmees | * "He doesn't have to."—J Kordosh, CREEM Contriouting Editor “Because he's afraid of stupid questions. And that’s certanl Wihet hed get from mel Hick dohnson, CREEM Contributing Editor | Because he'sa smart quy."— Richard Riegel, CREEM Con tnbuting Editor. “"L can' think and I don't care." Diuine, movie star "Tm quite satisfied with the situation."—Jell Stein, director of The Kids Are Alright * “Honey, Ithink you asked the usrong person.” Edith Mass ey, movie star Has anubody ever talked to him?" Mitch Ryder. “He's learned his lesson.” Bebe Buel. “This sa poll?”—Richard C. STING VICTIM OF Walt,” CREM Contibutng STRANGE COMPULSION! ! Fees habe pete hiscloset.”— Rick Derringer, * “Elvis will do anything to get 9 jood review—and he doesn't Called Porkchopitir, this new killer dlaables those I Tofecta by forcing | fo continuously oat! "Con Nt with these dopey Freudian | lke to, talk with his mouth naa the, woop Se full”Jemy Vie, Soon To Be cl Whip The prspnonet nacrby decir sl ‘AMajor Motion Picture * "No comment.”—Jane Berk, Columbia tour publicity Sid Gallup MamaLiked [fj Chilidogs [3 PARIS—After a 20-year survey ‘of dietary effects on fetuses, French pediatrician Joseph Sto- kowski claims that over 80% of [pregnant women pick the sex of theirrugrat without realizingit “The trick is accomplished by eating salty foods for boys and cheese for gil. Stokowski foundthal the intake of minerals such as sodium, calcium and potassium is major factor in determining whether baby getsa pinky ora dinky. Incidentally, the Doc did his studies on reptiles, not people. So think «wiee before you go tossing any more Cheet-Ohs to youralligator Rick Johnson, SORRY SID... ‘CANADA DOESN'T You Should SeeThe Buns! * HALIFAX, CANADA— The official ine on hotdog ingredi entshas always been “anything Slou-tornanimate:" Some act uly contaln more bee than rt Signatures, ut most weines are Sirung out of the Dead: Meat Pile Now researchers ere at Mout St.Vincent U. have de eloped what they consider to bee better ‘hot ‘dog. The Contents cod and squid mea. Mr-mmn! Squidogs do have thelr ad- vantages fewer calories essa Sand more protein. Ale, these tasty "codpuppies would be Considérable cheaper 10. pro dice. Says reseatcher Elen Leblone, “There's lots of fish avaiable, 30 why not make beter use. of our martime resources?” Good question, Elleen! Of course in Half, there are lots and ots of moose turds avaiable too Chew on thot one for awhile frankstane Rick Johnson 45ee 7 HOT FOOTING THROUGH EDGE CITY by Toby Goldstein The atmosphere at most performances of Suicide is not unlike that which I imagine permeates’ power plant in the midst of a hhuclear accident. White knuckled and feathery-brained, people think quickly about finding the nearest exit door and heading someplace nonpolluted to detox fy. "Welve been knowin to empty places out of a couple of hundred people in three ‘minutes, grins Sulede’s peppery vocalist, Alan Vega. He and his sidekick, instru ‘mentalist Martin Rev, have almost com. pleted their first decade as New York's group-you-love-o-hate, and are highly amused to watch the times attempt, but ever quite suceed, at catching up ‘with them. Given the spit-drenched, safety pin skewered shows of punk’s early years, when the fans pummeled each other into sodden pulp and loved it, Sulcide’s explosiveness makes primeval sense. Vega hhas adapted the self-absorption of one of his ‘idols, lay Pop, into a guteral dialogue with the crowd. He rants, he shrieks, he batters the microphone on his head and throws it off the stage. He jumps in people's laps. All the while, like a silent witness to murder, Rev keeps a steady hypnotic pulse moving ‘on his thythm machine and keyboards. ‘You are correct to assume they wear black, and leather, and dark glasses. "I always feel I'm the teal person up there,” says Vega, looking far less sinister sitting in the ZE Records office. “That's the ‘way 'dlike to be walking around the streets. People might hate us, but they'll admit we live up to ourname. I's a heavy name. We ‘could have called ourselves Homicide ot Genocide, Fuck or Shit, and we'd get it through. But everybody's doing it Jay Sverhooks, In thek own way. Thev/te saving, hey, I'm ‘sting here smoking cigarette which T imnow is gonna kil me. People are running around foo fest, eating wrong, deinking ‘Whats =the things that are bse for you. you like.” Rc Ocasek cals the Subide ‘Hect“superrealty.” (Ocesek and the Cars can take credit for bwnging the seemingly dela! dio mo national consciousness and in superimpos- inga thin veneer of mass appeal over thek extremism, atleast on record. At various times, af the Cars insistence, Sukide ‘pened gigs forthe wheely ones, proving they were es adept of dodging hurled objects in stadiums as in cis When the Cars hosted. Midnight Special, Sukie buted on network TV, as Marty and ‘Aan, floating on a gauze wrap of colored mole, performed “Dream aby Dream,” which Oeasek produced. Ric's involvement With Suicide culminated in his production of the group’. latest ZE/Antiles album, recorded at New York's Power Station last year. ‘Gcasek's reasons for_working end admiring Suicide are famlr to those of us {who've been putting up wih years of abuse from the duds many! detractors. Ric and ‘Aan share e devotion to lagy. the Velvet Underground. and rockablly’ (the later being especialy evident on Vega'sZE/PVC solo album). More lastingly, they all have a stel-honed sense of the absurd and envoy teetering onthe cuting edge of creat Says Ocasek, List heard ‘Ghost Rider and Rocket U.S.A. on a jukebox at The Rat. Then they played at The Rat, | saw Yem, and L was gated. { mean, {thought ‘Alan wat fal belevable, From that ime, I shanted to doa record with them T Couldnt see them being supressod no matter what they di, Its not that what they were doing wosn' good. It wes $0 good, went over many people's heads. To shatch Alan's face and the contre! between fim and Marty—wih just 2 ile bit of equipment, they sill did this amazing theatrical show that came fom the hear. I was untouched territory.” Asthe threesome Thixed Suicide’ album inthe smal hour of the morning, the amblence wes unmistake- ably one of people working n harmony, a State that not normally part of Vega ahd Revsrelaionship with outsiders, “The concoptof Sulede grew out of Marty ‘and Alan's separate but compatible visions, Marly an inospectve, ongiime musician (who has also recorded a solo album, on Infidelity Records, Alan, a suiptor who Was egal parts conceptual arist and rock ‘n roll rebel, Says Rev, a soft-spoken, stoned ‘nduidel,"ahen | met an, Ireallyhadhad my filo groups. was Blaving by mvs or atx ours 8. do: Studying all these high-flown crazy kind of techniques. The material was d0ing was fettingto.8 stage were not many people trould wantio don anya, “Onstage, something gets into. me— blood starts to flow diferent. lt used to happen tome when | played gigs a «kid 12'or 13 years old. We'd be doing these straight dance tunes, but they wouldnt come out thet way. People would be fying around the room dancing and then they'd Come overto™me and sa hat the hel was thot? The musie sets the pace for the theater TURN TOPAGE EOAll those years, all those miles, all those stories, all those songs, all those sights, all those sounds, all those dreams... all those sons, one of them is going to be a star.He is America. He is the son of its heroes and its villains, its soldiers and its lovers, its builders and its dreamers. They lived for him and died for him and everything they did, they did to music. This is his story. These are his songs. It’s an epic journey down through the music of American time through the eyes and spectacular moving art of Ralph Bakshi, the creator of ‘Fritz the Cat,’ ‘Heavy Traffic” and ‘*The Lord of the Rings.” t’s the ultimate sight and sound experience with the mind-blowing music of Bob Seger, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and many other great American artists. COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS A MARTIN RANSOHOFF PRODUCTION, A meee BAKSHI FILM “AMERICAN POP” ‘Written by ecutive Producer Produced by RONNIKERN _ RICHARD ST.JOHNS _ MARTIN RANSOHOFF & RALPH BAKSHI ~~~ Directed by RALPH BAKSHI Dd [potsv stereo)” oe IN SELECTED THEATRES Coming Soon to Selected Theatres= Pec eed OS Se BU erat ces BB arte Nets toteby Toby Goldstein ‘Amazing, the stuf rock cries get nthe mailtems fiendishly clever in’ design, Calculated to adorn the wearer orthe home, planned witha prine drective to corvo asa haguing reminder that Group XYZ is the best money can buy, so write about ‘em, you dot One such objet d'art that comes fo mind is an earthenware. planter sent complete wth easy-grow seed packet. The receptacle looked ike some unfortunate soul whose head was cloven in a deep Vikings ike lobotomied wn. And according to ts record company) this Gzeature of invention actully resembled @ tember of an Australian band called Spit Enz, More lke a buncha feaks, thought | although the mood of the album being hyped, a debut called Mental” Notes, occupied some indeterminate. space. be: ftieen smooth and strange “We asked for i, and we can't blame anybody for taking that aude,” admits Ene spokesman Tim Finn, perched on the ‘edge of his chair in a midtown hotel room, Nether Finn. or his younger brother Nell look partcularlyoutre inthe grayish dayight, although atlrving Plaza that night, thet oft clouds of har were twitched into towering quits, jutting over brows lke precarious mountain cif, Absent also ate the band’s chall-white facial masts, ‘con- frasted by mult-hued eye shadows that matched ther stage suls-sx tutt-rut ie Gream conesplayingrock'n rol. ‘Never mind that America’s heartland might choose to view this curious malttude asthe rebirth of glam-tock oan imported Kissoid clone. To the Finns, who tend to speck sbout their place in. Me quite seriously, the look and sound of Spit Enz have always been two pars ‘of an Unbreakable whole, “Noe! (percussionist Crombie) started doing costumes before he twas in the band, We didnt tar out a6 @ Concept at al, just an organic thing that grew and grew. The whole bands like fat we jst act instinctively and we don't conceptualize or theorize at all {think ater the effect we made, we sort of rationalized whet we did and why we did t, but while We're doing, itjust feelsright. Naive.” ‘Actually, with the "polished melodic spurts of energy that mark Spit Enz newest and most successful album, True Colours, supported by their equally 2c complished ive show, this band s anything bat naive. At the time when melodic tunes are top often the province of Manilow {ypes, SplitEnegot the assembled Saturday ‘ight date punkettes fo applaud wo sweet love tunes smack in the mle of their set, At selected moments, Tim Finn hurled around doing hend and footie infrontof a Strobe ligt, an chalked up a few ovations {or clever use ofthe old psychedelic tidbit ‘Aker slogging around the Australian boonies for sik years, 28 well a surviving extended out-offashion satus while living in Europe, Spit Enz know what they ie That some ‘oft may be art appears Incidental ‘Says Tim eameslly, “We've done 30 many gigs in Austale that we can come into a place ike New York and not get too Wore about t, You are up there to do 2 job. We're very rectiona nour perforrn=ec aoe iar cost teally played electric quitar before that, so eae eet justthat I honestly believe he’s a schmuck,” APRIL 1984 like playing with extremes. «Tim Finn who would replace himt beats the lovey-dovey Gibb castrat, whose wobbly three-part harmonies must have joined the Beatles in influencing this lot in the early years at home. Farbigger than the jokes of a family feud, there’s @ constant cutting edge at work during the Split Enzlive show. The group's ‘dynamism is far too pervasive for this 800-capacity club, and it must seem that nexttime out, Split Enz will star to climb up the concert jadder. They have, as Rick Neilsen once, said ‘of Cheap Trick, “big personalities,” and the analogy between ‘one's first glimpse of those two bands is not coincidental. An audience might come to lookat the weirdos, but after afew minutes, the thril is gone, and the music remaining hasto suffice. Nell thinks, “to a certain extent, the ‘Tubes probably had the same problem we did a couple of years ago. They were remembered more for the way they looked ‘and represented themselves onstage than for the records.” Tim agrees, “back then, ‘we didn’thave the same strength that we do how, think our muse is quke Nighi “Wesstill have an image. The fact that we Jook different \s a bonus, I guess, ‘cause people can see us better—it makes us a bit larger than life, but beyond that if we don't succeed musically then, we're not satisfied ‘and the audience won't be either. I don't care what people say about us so long as they stand and watch and listen, and they ‘usually do. | think even people who hate us have a healthy respect for us, ‘cause they seé that we mean what we're doing. Any artist or musician that makes it always looks like they mean it, People can tell on a gut level.” Like the laser-otched designs on True Colours, wihich hide the spectrum under basi black, Split Enz.can quickly transform themselves past normalcy before they go ‘onstage. Less than an hour to showtime, ‘drummer Malcolm Green races down the backstage stairs, unremarkable in button- through shirt and jeans, Forty-five minutes later, he’s been altered into a temporary twaxivork, Nell Finn's white makeup Is s0 TURN TO PAGES! 2and Manfred Mann, i's» Burt Bacharoch/ ial Davi tune thet Love made dtinty thet oun, a tly clas single thet ete tthatverfllcrock ntencons the band had wit pulsating energy mont bands foday Mould Ge ther eyeteth for. Love (lke ERS: 74001), the band’s frat tibum i 9 Sutstanding debut tat today sounds only slightly dated that due mainly {othe thenctoplaly ofthe lies Mush tom doude Bre forming/ And the sy Is dark and gray”) and the LP's 1965 folk-rock production values, Through Love't "Hey Joo" does hal upto the Leaves more frenzied version, it matches “My Little Red Book's adrenain peak and hits at what = two to be heard onthe next Lave set, Da Copel s sees eget Biging “Hey Joe " was Bryan Maclean, ae ANd Sages): |» ental awe in Love tor the bands frst i ‘three albums, though hardly as dominantas Lee, His “Sofly To Me" was superbly ele- gant and, like the bulk of ‘Tee's own ‘compositions, much more sophisticated. 5 melodically than standard mid-60's rock fare. But “Orange Skies” from Da Capo (Elektra EKS-74008), Maclean's only ma- Jor contribution to the second Love LP, ow sounds almost too sickly sweet and pretty ("Orange Skies/Camivals and cot- ton candy and you") especially when com- pared to. Arthur Lee's newest compos- Te pana 0 Bear gana, ae von | tens, Whete Maclean was, unknowingly signed 10 Elektra Records, beating out Los | approaching movie soundtrack musi, by Dave DiMartino Angeles compatriots the Doors and getting | Arthur Lee was rocking out: Lee’s divinely | thet tis ith the: same outhentented | schizoid “Stephanie Knows Who” (suitably There are stories about people like Iggy | “folk-rock” the Byrds were making famous. covered by the Move long ago) and “Seven Pop. Brian Wilson, Lou Reed and Van | Of course you've heard “My Lite Red | & Seven Is” are absolutely astounding Morison, Most ofthese stories have words | Book”-—swipedtrom What's New Pussyeat | bursis of rock inteligence that no one's oe ee ier toga “aroun | Thetcst Love lbum,eleatedn March 196. them somewhere, ight next to other words - like disappointing, personal problems and misfit. And they all have one thing in ‘Common: they sound lke obituaries writen for people who haven't dled yet. What's tnspoken in such stories i ustally this: i ‘would be better these people had died. Or atleastneater, neaterfor rock history gy had died two hours after recording Row Power, Brian Wieon after Pet Sounds, Lou Reed after The Velvet Underground or Van Morrison after Astral Weeks. ESTABLISH THE LEGEND, THEN KINDLY EXIT is what'sunspoken, DON'T STAY AROUND TOTARNISHTT. Some people might suggest that Arthur Lee has mishedhis legend. He blew it: he didn't die when he should have. And of ‘course nobody's stupid enough to actually Sy these things, but had Arthur Lee been fit by.2 busin Los Angeles minutes after recording Forever Changes in 1967 chances are he'd be much better known today. Which obviously s our problem and Tot his, because 14 yeats later Arthur Lee is btilin Los Angeles and sil alive, and alot of ther people arent In 1981, 11 albums are in rocord store racks and bargain bins bearing the name of ‘Arthur Lee or Love. There'llbe another LP ‘ny day now on Rhino Records, and— however haphazardly—the “legend” that is Arthur Lee’ continues to grow, become better known and perhaps more commer: ally viable, Some people care, and some people don't wae In 1965, Love was the first rock bandbeen able to top since—least of all Arthur teed laghne mirath Pan jam that features Lee expounding punkily ee eer an awful lot like the Rolling Stones “Going Fee Ges reer ing, but certainly isn’t as bad as some critics. ee es ets pete Sea Forever Changes (Elektra EKS-74013), the third and last Love album featuring the oe Pairing, is the band’s master- tacdplay of Arthur Lee’s talents. Critical: ly hailed when it emerged in late 1967, the album continues to be influential today. among new U.K. bands like the Psychedelic Furs, Teardrop Explodes and Echo & The Bunnymen, and not incidentally remains. rare aaa ea ees eee ie aan ee Beatie ity Mes ecstasy Rome eC ees ee peuiie neers eyes te ett eee CoS re eet ooo Love-as-we-knew-it; two years later came. eee ee eer oe recon erases y 46 was so far ahead of mytime, I just had to take alittle nap and let everyone catch up... 5 5 closed the book on Arthur Lee—because nothing could ever top Forever Changes, they said, this new Love was a lost cause and a waste of time, Yet nothing could be further from the truth: new gultarist Jay Donnellan (neé Lewis, of West Coast band Morning) replaced the strings and orches- tration of the Test Love with 2 surging, powerful elect guitar that made "AU Gus," Four Sails opener, a heavy metal Stunner, distortion filed, fenete quitaring fon top of Lee's drug-innuendo of a Iyre {Cleswith me wherever | go/ »(t keeps me fogether/It picks me “up” when Im down... Lee's songwriting chops hed, if anything, incteasedand the melodiism of earlet Lee tunes lke Forever Changes: faybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hildale” (Lee was alivays concise with song tes) was there tobe found fone onlylooked Out of the seme sessions that produced FourSeilcame Out ere (Blue Thumb BTS. 9000). This tine things weren't quite so ideal; two of the album's four sides were filed with long instrumentals, one featuring a psychedeli but-excessive guter solo by an inexpicably new guts (Gary Rowles} and, horrors of horrors, a dreaded yawn of 8 dram solo that dlrupted an otherwie fine ites tune, For Arthur Lee and Love, twas the fist hint that the possiblity of expandable muste was there, and It was a minor dseppointment—though tunes lke "Gather Round,” “Wilow Wilow" and “I Stil Wonder” were stl ine consolation, ‘With "False ‘Stort (Blue Thumb BTS. 8822), guitarist Donellan was of to begin a Juerative production career and was replac edby, ofall people, Jimi Hendrix —at least for ‘the. Evedasting Fist” the| album's ‘opening cut. Taken from‘ session that produced enough Wacks for a full fledged Coe/Hendeix LP and is now {to Lee's extreme chagrin) “misplaced” somewhere, (6 Peyote 707’s TAKING OFF. Itstarted in Detroit. Picked up speed, in L.A. And 707 has been touching down in cities and towns all over America with their new album of first-class rock and roll. Get on it “The Second Album’ featuring ““Tonite’s Your Nite.” the cut typifies the hard rock approach ofthe album's remainder. Mystery guitarist Gary Rowles, from Out Here's one track, plays_on the LP's other cuts, and while functional, he’s hardly as distinctive as Jay Donellan. Murking up the mix somewhat is vocalist Noony Rickett, a friend of Love bassist Frank Fayad, who accompanies Lee ‘on most of the tracks and proves itle more than a minor distraction. Nonetheless, False Start was a respectably commercial showing for Lee thet by all rights should have provided him with the radio exposure he certainly needed at the time. It didn’t, though, and T guess we can blame Blue ‘Thumbfor that, Next came Vindicator (A&M SP 4356). It asthe summer of '72—long after Riots On ‘Sunset Strip were being talked about and seen in movie theatresand the LP seemed to signal the offical demise of Who would have ever thought there wouldn't be any more hippies... 8 5 Love. Credted to “Arthur Lee with the group, Band-Aid" the slbum was eons Sway fom the cool melodicism of Forever Changes "and even Four Sell sounding lke the chaotic Hendiix track from Fale Stor faken tots fest extreme, Interest Ing though, wat thot t sounded —and stil fotinds tke an incredibly ‘hot album, rammed with’ powerful guitar licks and Sarelully controled excess. Museally, tins the tghtes set since Four Sal and lot of that had to do with Lee's backing band quirist Charl Karp and bass’ David Flu who would leter form RCA's White Chocolate. land re-cut Lee. and. Karp's “Busted Feet” ag ther own’ “Midnight Fight"), were the best mutcians Lee had had lor Years. Thev'd goon to prove t (ort of) later ae the: Dity Angels, but on Vindicator they are young and apparently ulin to please. Though its impocable to find these days, Vindeator placed Arthit Lee among 70's rock bigwigs much the Same way the first thee Love albums had likewise done vears eater Feel-To-Real (RSO SO 4804), released sn 1974, wascrectedto yet another version ctLove:Thistemainethelastlogtimete Lee slbum-and, unfortunately, its also the wrote. Alter a relative slence of two years, nein stud whofe orginal ne song: he'd had tore-cut Singing Cowboy” ftom Four Sal and both “Busted Feet” and “Everybody's Gotta Live"from Vindicator. Not to. mention his cover of Wiliam DeVaushan's “Be Thankful For. What You Got which remains to this day’ an incredible song Lee's version, que fathul tothe orginal, is nonetheless ot quite what tie'd come to expect from the man whord brought us Forever Changes and. more. The album dled a dismal Geath, perhaps deservedly (hough i sil sounds good to ime), and witht died Arthur bee's as ation with amajorrecord company Thus it was no small_ surprise in the summer of 1977 when an EP by Arthur Lee surfaced, On Da Capo Records, it featured four new songs! Do. Wonder,” “Just Us," "Do You: Know The Secrel?” and ‘Happy You" and was surprisingly good, reminiscent of the Lee's Four Sail period, mtly. No deals were given on the EB leeve; it appeared. to be British and Telatively lot budget, and that was simply that. Three yeas later, Le himself told me the disc was “a ripoff” he recelved no money for, the result of bad management and someone's il will Good as it was, Provided Arthur Lee withnotasingle dime. ‘And that about wraps. it up. Rhino Records, managed to” lease. sufficient material from Elektra to put together a Best Of Love set last year—since Elektra's own went out of print years ago-and that, along with Forever Changes remains the ‘only Love album stil availabe in the States today. A Briish set called Love Masters (Elektra U.K. K 32002) may sill be around; compiled by joumalist John Tobler, ls got interesting sleeve notes—but I must dise- gree with his assessment of the post For. ever Changes Love. Its especially valuable, though, for ifs. inclusion of "Laughing Stock," “Your Mind. And. We Belong Together" and"NumberFourteen,” al 45's by the pre-Four Sail Love not avalable on ther Elektra albums. ‘What's most hearioning, though, is that Rhino Records fa about to release a new Arihur Lee album. This time i ull include the four tracks from the earher-mentioned EP—which means Lee wil get royalties this time—and several tacks he and his most recent band have put down now as I wke this. New material. a new label, and new exposure. Its too bad i's taken this long, butat eastt's happening And 10 years from now, various Best Of Love albums will be in print, maybe even Forever Changes. too, if Elektra can ‘manage it, and all the music will sound at Good then ast did inthe 60's and as it does even now, And ArthurLee won't havetobe dead orittomakeadiference Maybe. ARTHUR LEE AGAIN OR: 1981 UPDATE Currently Arthur Lee lives in the Los Angeles area, just ke he always has. As far {as music goes, he's busier at this point than he's been in years: recording new material for an upcoming Rhino LP, planning a tour In Japan and possibly the U.K., tracking down old tapes he's made that haven't been Issued yet, and much more: I spoke with him over the phone for about 45 minutes, Some of the more interesting bits of conversation: How did you feel about that Rhino repackage of your older material? Tt was alright for old stuff, man. It was alright. ButT'd like to do some more up-to- ate stuff. Like the stuff that’s going fo be ‘coming out—that'sthe stuff I've been doing the last couple of years. I have about three ‘or four piles of music—albums worth ofalbum deal I've got with these guys [Rhino] , much sense to me. pause) {nah it ti itd be a trip. A few of 'em, a few of those ‘5 your bestelburn? Forever Changes were my last words of Love, you see. Forever Changes was—ike this John Lennon trip, OK? The only thing different between Staring Over and Forever Changes was that he got shot and I TURNTOPAGE62 ate be Produced by Myles Gooduiyn & Miko Stone A IN CONCERT NEARby J. Kordosh erro ery caer kere ‘My Children as part of my holiday bonus, Loe ee cnsee! a ane rae Martins were decoratingthe tree and Tad— eee eee re ee ee LT oe ME RC ing his misery by laying on his bed, blowing reefer (try Crown Roval next gt, Tad) and ~ get this— LISTENING TO THE POLICE! ete tare my American soap opera the day before Sa Ca cme] zatherlisten to the Police than decorate the Seca Sa ee eng RS re ee Ree era i Coe POC tt) POLICE ee er es Bape Reenter oer eee ey Er Erect aad Pegi sete pre een trond Ai ane nL TY SC nee ae ery En Comte aera Ee aren teeraed aera) Perea ea ras Preset ed Ce Perreau | mereka iced Peer Eine ee rer) the top ten in many simlar countries. ke Waly, "Avstraie, Belg, ‘Spain, and Canta, 2M—and the overseas singe ‘Don't Stand So Close To Me’-~had en tered the Bulish charts at #1. Yipes, Hs 8 message na bank bal igus this all proves thatthe Police are much-loved oral the very eat, extremely Welvlked allover the third planet But, tke Dylan once said, why and wha’ the reason T dont know and | doubt ifthe Pol feally know, ether. caught ‘em between Ghicagoand South America on thet seer fhaly neverending our and couldnt igure Aout mysel. Wal, don't get me urong—I think theyre one of the cool groups, foo best. Not only that, the Police are genuinely lee guys: articulate, self-effacing, consid- ate...heck, I'l be glad to have them for neighbors after Imake my second milion, Th Keeping with their good-guy natures, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland ‘graciously submitted to lengthy discussions ‘with me overPolice matters when their tour Pulled into Detroit. The interviews were onducted in the band’s “shower and rest room’ backstage, which, with one wooden. ‘chal and 50-watt lighting seemed pretty appropriate for a Police interrogation. Sting politely begged off; as Copeland told me, ting doesn't actually talk that much be- use it hurts his throat.” No matter, the other sity-sie-and-two-thirds percent of the Police told me enough to get a at start on my book, Police, Please Me. et to the excerpts, though, I don't want to ignore you trivia fans out there. Here's four quick questions, with an swers to foll How did the Stinghave another name? (3) “i's a brillant Tterature, well worth reading, Andy Summer's ‘opinion of what book alluded to on Zenyatta Mondatta? (4) One ays Zenyatta Mondatia sa bastardiz~ ation of “Zen,” “Jomo Kenyatta,” and ‘monde,” the French word for “world.” What does Andy Summers say Zenyatia Mondatia means? Any reader who can answer these questions correctly wins abso- lutely nothing because he or she probably stole my notes! Nox fem back so we can dothisinterview There seems tobe an underlying pessimism fo much of the material on Zenyatta Mon datta Copeland: I's not pessimism, Isuppose it's ‘a world thing; that’s because we've been all around the world, ‘De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da?” That's an ptimisticsong> cammersil think that's one of the best lyrics ‘of people confuse ying—like, “he's . andthey'retotaly taken out ¢ This is what is said in the verse; the chorus makes absolute sense Copeland: Sting snot a bleak person, but he’s aserious person OK, “Driven To Tears,” “Bombs Away "Dé Do Do Do,”...t seems lke every other on the album has ths feeling of gi up. "When The World Is Running Down Copeland: Well, itis running down. It feeis that way, It feels that in the future we're gonna have to do without things we take forgranted....things ore running down. Our sides losing its lead. There's another thing, tehich i the Third Word, which you hear about and which you see in magazines. You think, “Well, they're over there and we've over here.” And you see pictures of them ‘which might arouse feelings of pity or con- cern. And so on. But when you actually go ‘over there and see it and see that it sa realty—and that they vastly, vastly out. ‘number us—and that, with modem com- ‘munications, they now can see us. In the past, when they were just colonies, they ouldn’tsee us; they jus lived theirlivesand that's all they knew. Now that they all have televisions they can see us, they can see our television shows, they can see how’we're living off the fat of what's underneath their earth, They know that we're exploitn them; they can see what we're getting out of § it—how come they haven't got some of that 3} good stuff? Maybe they don't even want it, f but we represent, lke, some fat evil to = them. And they're gonna have to get theirs, and we're gonna have to accomodate the ‘Third World How does America fit into this? What do youthink of America? Copeland: Uh, I think it’s a great place to boring up your food. Ilike alot about it and | don'ttkealot about t.8 a very extreme place. Summers: [ ke America. [lived here for a few years—out in L.A.—and Ihave a very affectionate feeling for it But you can't really answer that question. When we see ‘America, we gota very jaundiced view of it, rushing in and out of towns—it's a very strange view. If you can generalize, 'd say Tike trather {han not lke it. I's such a dyn amiccountry: itsfull of horror and i's ful of really good things Copeland: I don’t subscribe to the Usly American—I think America, as a world force, isthe most postive, America is defn itely the most honest, the least bloodthirsty, hhas the best conscience...America as a major power isa lot more dependable and honest, and there are more constraints on #| American actions, q ‘Are there any American musicians you par ticularly lke? Copeland: No. There's the B-52's, the Talking Heads, and the Devos and stuff they're good groups. But, they had to go to England tomakeit, you know. How are things in England? ‘Summers: | think t'sin agreat state of trans ition, I's taking along time to get from one thing to another, from being an empire to being a small, independent country. We're having a ternble time with the unions—the Labor Party has virtually folded. Copeland: In the music industry, England is theplace to go, but that's the only thing that England hasinisfavorinthatrespect low are other British groups doing? Sa the Clash? a Summers: In terms of, popular success we're much more popular than they are. Although I think the Clash havé a niche for themselves andl think they were an impor tant group about two oF three years ago. AndI don't mean their music, I mean polit teally What about the older British groups? ‘Summers: Specifically, I think the album Pete Townshend did last year was very good, much better than anything the Who APRIL4984 Gelow) Andy Summers reacts tothe oleh lated slovator shoot ven himby have done in along time. [think he's great eniceto see that he can sill do it—put as mauich energy into itas he did on that album. Copeland: The really important legendary ‘groups that'l go down in history... for ever ‘one American band, there's five Englis hands, Really: the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, all the really important ones, they're all English. And when you consider the populations of the two countries—it's ot really putting down America, but i's a fact, stalistically—you can see that Eng land, for some reason, 1s a much more effective breeding ground. And it’s just a toss-pollination: we have to own up that ‘The ingredients of all these groups—even the Beatles, they started out on Chuck Berrytunes the ingredients are American. Summers: And it's really a shame about John Bonham; isreallysad. lonlymethim last year for the first time ever. He came to see us play in Birmingham, he brought his kid, and he was fantastically enthusiastic about the Police. very charming person. Pd heard all these horror stories about him, but he was a real nice guy. I think it's very sad, ‘cause he left a wife and a young kid. itssad. I actually lke Led Zeppelin. A lot of people tend to be very snotty about them, but think that Jimmy Page in particular is 3 really clever musician. Some of his ifs and his thythms are very clever. And John Bonham was agreat rock drummer, Iemakes me wonder how your success is af fecting you personally Copeland: The differen: T've got more friends than Ineed. Isuppose you soon learn to sortout; lend up with just ‘asmany friends that are meaningful ‘Summers: It’s really tough, especially if you've gotreally young kids. The first time | ever came here (America) my wife was heavily pregnant when I left—seven-and-a- half to eight months, When I got home, it was ike a dead rush. It was supposed to be a week off — the delivery date—and she had the baby two days later. The first year, the ‘group was starting to snowball, and here we had this kid and we're trying to keep our selves together. And all of a sudden, big success. I's very difficult. I was the hardest year of my life, Ithink. People who knew us intimately can't understand how we could get through it and keep oursanity Copeland: Itis an interesting phenomenon Tsuppose, that ~when happens o you, yoursllI mean, | think alot about f. what on earth ei, tm thesame Joe Blow that was a year ago, but now, suddenly, all my old gitiriends want to call me up and suddenly I'm ten times ‘more altactive to the people around me than Lused to be. And'T see normal boys and girs responding to me asif was some. thing more than [really am, And what they rerespondingto sn" me, buttheirown imagination which has concocted an image they project onto me. IPs feelings and im ages that they already have inside of them and they just need someone to project it nto. And thet mekes that person ten feet taller, Or, in Andy'scase, she feet all Ieitworth i? Summers: Oh, |thinkso, yeah, You know hhow transitory tals Allshe people cling you up, ea symbol of being very sucess {ul There are too many pluses, there are a few small minunes ‘The biggest minus isthe eifeett has on family fe. Those things do fake very serous. {think being away from mylitie g—she just turned two about two daysago-thet’s very ough, Copeland: We re very fortunate in our gen- eration of musicians that the road tothe top Ss well paved by now and well sign-posted The drugs, the marrage breakdowns, the €g0—you know, when you have this image projected onto you, ts possible to forget your own personally that you started out Guth. You start believing Inthe image that ‘Shows upon the papers and that you see re flected n the eyes ofthe kids and you lose yout own personality. We can avold these Dials because we've read the papers about the Roling Stones, who went through the dug sbuse, and vicve read the stories of Lee Marvin's manage thing: weve reed all the stories of al the diferent people who fucked up. And we can avoid'al the mis. fakesthat al the others have made because We ean see wherei'spossiblefogowrong. How did yougetintoreqgae? Summers: We didrit start out playing i Reggne wos happening: we were all listen: ing ot on our own, And it st became 9 partofwhat we were doing. We started ac {ally playingitas songs alter awhile, in sor Penn enee Peer sniaettt Seer al stock up onthe: ey of formal way, and we started to find our musical direction. It didn't happen over right. Ittook afew months before we star {cd togeta glimmer of where we were going to go with i. I'really came out while we wwerein the studio Copeland: In Curved Air we used to jam Jotof reggae. But we never didi onstage \we just sort of tinkered around with it And then, when the Police were formed, we Continued i a ite bit more. And at’ that time, winere Sting was, they didn’t have an aul lot of reggae to listen fount! well ater we'd already sort of established our ‘own thing in that direction. We don't actual- Iylisten to all that much reagae. Is like we taketh few ingredentsin that inepted ue alot Dopecmle eich fod “polghark yous bir suggest thot youre not ive rage Muse Copeland: Oh, we'ee the first to emphasize the fect that we are not true reagee ests ‘And the reason for that is~1 mean, that's the diference between us and, sav, Erle [8 Clapton's“! Shot The Sherif"! Shot The fs Sherff” was a reggae tune that they took from a reqgne artst. They played # exactly the samein an attempt to recreate the Ja- ‘aican Sound. Infact, we wanted to avoid the standard rock'n'roll sound. We wanted to make our own sound, And s0 we con sciously avoided playing true reggae. We don't want tobe considered a reggae band, We want tobe considered a band thats do ing something new and making good use of 2 new ingredient which reggae is. Reggae is the most important new ingredient to ‘musi sinee the blue note, or the backs. I? the most diferent and, in the lona run, Tm sure, will have the most effect. The backbeat—that rhythm "has lasted us through about 30 years, through jaze, rock ‘n' roll, funk, disco, everything. The back beat has been the basle format forthe shy thm of all the diferent forms of music— contemporary music. And with the innove- tion of reggae, where the important beat is the third beat ofthe bar, that is completely diferent, Youhave to approach your drum setin a completely different way. I's totally evolutionary, what the drummer and the bass player are doing together. And not on Iy that fs very lenible -T' say there's an ‘ther 30 years worth of exploring the poss bilites ofthis differentrhythm Do you take the press rock press, that e— tall seriously? ‘Summers: I don’t really. There's sort of @ pattemn that sets in; you can see it coming. Before we finished Zenyatta Mondatte we sort of made a game our of what the head- lines would be. And we were prety correct about i as far as the English press is con ered. Pressin America is totally ciferent, ittends to be more enthusiastic, generaly We've been received much more favorably over hete, whereas the Brilsh prose are Screaming cynics. Copeland: I think thas entertainment val Lue, The English press has been very hostle to us, considering how big we are. | prefer reading the NME~although | would hike to lillevery one of the journalstson that paper Tike to strangle them al even so, that’s ‘my favorite paper and Ireed it avidly every ‘eek. It hat an entertainment value, the function of eling people whatzecords to go TURN TO PAGE 62