GYROS ErE SHISH KABOB /3/10PAUErS. "0
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1-1

cerebral coffeehouse snicker-of
the eighth in the series of 13 Chicken
Suzanne Vega. As a result, we get the
Soup books. It just celebrated its 52nd
worst of both worlds. The bespecta-
week on the best-seller lists of both
cled folk singer comes off as a really
The New York Times and Publishers
heady woman who should have
Weekly, where it's been surpassed by
known better.
the second book Shimoff co-authored,
Loeb scored big in 1994 with
Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul.
"Stay," a diverting little ditty that was
What makes a story good enough to
helped immeasurably by its inclusion
be a Chicken Soup story?
in the film Reality Bites. This track
"It needs to move you," said Shi-
fueled sales of her 1995 album, Tails,
moff. "It has to make you laugh or cry
or evoke some form of emo-
tion."
When asked about her
favorite narrative, Shimoff
quickly points out the passage
"Just In Time."
"Just In Time" recounts a
late-night encounter between
an older African-American
woman on the side of an
Alabama highway in a driving
rainstorm and a kind young
white man who offered to stop
and help her. The man took
her to safety, helped her get
assistance and put her into a
taxi cab. She wrote down his
name and address, and
thanked him as the cab drove
away.
Lisa Loeb
A week later the man
responded to a knock at his
but then Loeb fell off the face of the
front door. To his surprise, a giant
earth for almost three years. During
combination console color TV and
this interim, a slew of female
stereo record player were delivered to
singer/songwriters cut in on her dance,
his home. A special note was attached.
and cut into her market share.
Dear Mr. James, Thank you so much
Loeb's much-delayed Firecracker
for assisting me on the highway the other
isn't likely to win back many fans. A
night. The rain drenched not only my
rousing opening track, "I Do," is
clothes but my spirits. Then you came
crowded out by too many meandering,
along. Because of you, I was able to
mid-tempo ballads that address love
make it to my dying husband's bedside
without embracing much emotion.
just before he passed away. God bless you
Perhaps tormented by the success of
for helping me and unselfishly serving
the half-sung, half-spoken ballad
others. Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.
"Stay," Loeb doesn't always feel com-
If past performance can calculate
pelled to sing her lyrics. Does she
the future of Chicken Soup books, Shi-
think she's a poet? She isn't. She talks
moff and her three co-authors are in
her way through portions of "Falling
for the long haul. The authors are
in Love," "Jake" and "Furious Rose,
finalizing A Second Helping of Chicken
and it's hard to muddle through these
Soup for the Woman's Soul.
other milquetoast tracks. Though it
And not to fear. The authors have
may come as a surprise to Loeb,
plans to release Chicken Soup for the
nobody bought her last album because
Man's Soul in a few years, says Shi-
they thought she was so intelligent.
moff.
No, they liked the songs, the melodies
— Michael A. Levine
and the hooks. And that's precisely
Kansas City Jewish Chronicle where Firecracker is so lacking.
With a few notable exceptions —
"I Do," "Truthfully," "Wishing Heart"
OF NOTE... NEW ON CD
— Loeb snubs her guitar in favor of
Firecracker
her pen, and she just doesn't have suf-
Lisa Loeb;
ficient thunder to keep our attention.
Geffen
Lisa Loeb combines the earnest
— Reviewed by John Godfrey
schoolgirl poetry of Jewel with the
Copley News Service

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