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Bonoff'sso smooth,
she lack the edge
By ERIC ZORN
Karla Bonoff has announced that she isn't interested in
letting other performers sing her songs.
Over the years,-she complains in a recent Associated
Press interview, she has been accused of singing "other
Restless Nights
Karla Bonoff
Columbia
The Michigan Daily-Thursday, October 11, 1979-Page 5
Hey you troubs!
It's Soundstage time.
By SID "THE KID" SLEZGO;
Today and tomorrow are the last auditions for UAC's amateur
coffeehouse "Soundstage."Tryouts are from 2-4 p.m. in the Union for
any kind of musicians or performer who is interested.
Seems some folks thought our announcement last week indicated
that just Barry Manilow-types were welcome at these auditions. We
were just being cute, of course, as is out lot. Really. Last year, Soun-
dstage had all different sorts of acts, and, well, Mr. Manilow isn't even
welcome.
UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES CENTER (UAC) sponsors the weekly
coffeehouses, and they will begin on November 1 in the University
Club at the Union. This year, admission will be 75 cents for students,
and $1.00 for non-students.
"Soundstage is a unique opportunity for local artists to share their
creative abilities with members of the Ann Arbor Community," reads
a press release. The shows are Thursday nights starting around 9:00.
All musicians are welcome to audition, remember, and direct fur-
ther questions to Jenny Schuman or Stephanie Samuels, 763-1107.
Karla Bonoff
Yes,please. Knuke the Knack
people's. songs" that are, in fact, her own compositions.
Linda Ronstadt, for example, sings "I Can't Hold On" and
"If He's Ever Near," both Bonoff originals. Whenever
Bonoff sings them, though, casual listeners think she's
ripping off Ronstadt.
The whole point is, Bonoff doesn't want to make her
name as a songwriter, but as a performer. Curiously, it is
as a songwriter that Bonoff excels, and both of her
albums-the latest is Restless Nights-exhibit this power-
fully.
As a singer, Bonoff is certainly very good, but she lacks
the edge of her competitors: Her voice doesn't cry and
soar like Ronstadt's, and it doesn't bite like Emmylou
Harris's. She's very smooth and romantic, but not ex-
traordinary in any way.
THE MUSIC on Restless Nights is very much like that
on her first album, Karla Bonoff, that is to say quite
sweet, and, alas, in spots mellow. She is equally capable in
uptempo pop-sounding tunes like "Baby Don't Go," and
the hauntingly stately traditional love ballad, "The Water
Is Wide."
Is there room in the music business for Karla Bonoff to
become a superstar? Probably not. She doesn't have that
certain extra "something" in her voice, songs, or image to
capture the imagination of the public.
There is not a very good market for a very good singer
singing very good songs.
guis.................:....................................::.
Get the Knack
The Knack
Capitol
By PATTI DIETZ
Elsewhere in the rock press, the
Knack have been described as "the
Cars with dirty minds. This is the
quintessential summation of both the.
group and their debut album, Get, The
;Knack.
This L.A.-based band isn't as dumb,
as the silly grins on their album cover
make them seem. Guitarist/writer
Doug Fieger (who originally hails from
Detroit) has established two platforms
on which he guides the Knack's
promotion: 1) Sex sells, and 2) A little
Beatles-influence doesn't hurt much,-
either. However, Fieger's (perhaps
subconscious) over-emphasis on these
two ideas has alienated much of the .
rock world, to the point where some
illustrious rock stars have taken to
wearing "Knuke the Knack" T-shirts.
Controversy is advantageous for any
cause, and it certainly hasn't hindered
the Knack's sales. Get The Knack went
platinum seven weeks after its June
release, and "My Sharona," the album's
first single, has been certified gold.
Then what's all the fuss? The album is a
sexist tribute to unfortunate sufferers
.of the "blue balls" syndrome done up in
60's Beatles style.
GET THE KNACK begins where
Billy Joel's ".Only the Good Die Young"
and Meatloaf's "Paradise By the Dash-
board Light" left off. I wouldn't object
to the album's sexual explicitness if it
didn't so saturate every lyrics. But the
overwhelming majority of Knack
tracks are nothing more than Fieger's
wet dreamings of getting into
adolescent girls' pants.
"(She's So) Selfish" and "Good Girls
Don't" are prime examples of what is
most offensive about this album.
Fieger's lust objects simply won't 'put
out' ("She says she'll make your motor
run/Now you know she'll never give
you none"). Through all this sexual
name-calling, though, Fieger shows one
inkling of morality when, during "Frus-
trated"'s fade, he desperately pleads
"Is it my breath?"
"My Sharona" is likewise objection-
able, for sexual as well as technical
reasons. Fieger subtly lifts Town-
shend's nervous stuttering from "My
Generation" in describing his woman.
He also imitates John Lennon's
orgasmic panting ("Lovely Rita")
toward the end of the cut.
The Beatles' influence on the Knack
is obvious to anyone who hasleven glan-
ced at the album's jacket. Parallels
have been made to the cover art on
Meet The Beatles, the black and white
outfits-are certainly similar. It's also an eerie coincidence
that Get The Knack is the fastest release-to-Gold LP since
Meet the Beatles. The Knack effectively use Beatle-esque
harmonies ("Your Number Or Your Name") and basic
60's pop structures, and the band, while not original, are
competent players.
Sure, the Beatles had sex on their minds, too, but they
were never as lascivious at the Knack. From his success,
Fieger has no doubt learned that such jack-off tunes sell
well, and it is unfortunate that he will probably continue
tow rite them with perverted expectations of women.
Pigtown Fling:
20 tasty tunes
By ERIC ZORN
At last there's a really listenable record album out
featuring the local folk talent in Ann Arbor. A while back,
a disc called Stone Soup featured a hodgepodge of area
singers doing a song or two each, but it was a difficult
album to listen through because of the abrupt changes in
voices, styles, tempos, and moods.
Pigtown Fling Dulcimer Sessions-a record of
traditional songs featuring 79 of Ann Arbor's finest in-
strumentalists-suffers not from this problem. The 20
tunes all feature the mountain dulcimer, and the sharp,
sweet tone of the instrument gives the whole album a soft,
pleasant feel.
Pigtown Fling, though locally recored and mixed, is a
top quality old-time music pressing. The blend is ex-
cellent, and the instrumentation-nothing short of high
quality-always tasteful and cleanly executed.
JAY LEIBOVITZ AND LEO KRETZNER are the
featured dulcimer artists. They are joined by Craig John-
son, formerly of Ann Arbor, Bill Meyer, Robin Lewis,
Ellen Jacobs, David Cahn, Vinnie Tufo, and Dave Orlin.
Twenty tunes may seem like a lot for one album, but the
little taste of each is the essence of traditional music-
recordings. They are as much for listening to as they are
for learning new songs, and Pigtown Fling, with its clear
melodies, is an excellent "library" record as well.
The lap dulcimer can get a bit monotonous to hear after
a time, like the bagpipes. The seeming sameness of the
sound make this not an album to hear through carefully,
rather one to set spinning while doing other things. It has a
fine sound. A smooth, sparkling sound.
World premier
right here
The world premiere of a composition
by a University of Michigan faculty
member is among the highlights of a
performance here Monday, Oct. 15 by
guitarist Michael Lorimer, protege of
Andres Segovia.
William Albright's "Shadows" was
commissioned by *the University
Musical Society for Lorimer's ap-
pearance at 8:30 p.m. in Rackham
Auditorium. Funding for the work was
provided by the Michigan Council for
the Arts.
Lorimer, who has been the guest of
the Musical Society in 1973 and 1975,
will also play: "Preludio - Allegro and
Ayre" by Santiago de Murcia; "Suite in
C major" by Francisco Corbetta;
"Soleares" and "Rafaga" by Joaquin
Turina; excerpts from "Platero and I,
Opus 190" by Mario Castelnuovo-
Tedesco;.selections from "Etudes" and
"Preludes" by Heitor Villa-Lobos;
"Suite in D minor" by Robert de Visee;
and "Asturias" by Isaac Albeniz.
Tickets for the performance are
available at the Musical Society offices
in Burton Tower,
PARIS (AP)-Fall will not be the
season for quiet, simple jewelry if
French designers have their way.
At the recent showing of the fall
collections, big, attention-getting
pieces were the rule, with designers
zeroing in on long, tassel necklaces,
- indchime earrings, beaded chokers
and bright enamel pins.
A NN A . 'e
L 5th Avenue at Libert rSt. 761-9700
Formerly Fifth F~orum Theater
... a nonstop orgy
of assaults on the
funny bone." N.Y. Times
/&
ii
{
Thur-Fri 6:30, 8:20, 10:10
Adults $2.50 til 7:00 (or capacity)
Sat-Sun 12:50, 2:40, 4:30, 6:30,
8:20, 10:10
Adults $1.50 tit 1:30 (or capacity)
Midnight Shpws Fri-Sat
gtown Fling
Dulcimer Sessions
p ig itf ' 2X3 $ -
George Cukor's 1952
PAT AND MIKE
"In 1952 KATHERINE HEPBURN and SPENCER TRACY played
together so expertly in Pat and Mike that some of their previous
films seems almost like warmups."-Pauline Kael. Hepburn is
an all-around athlete; Tracy is her trainer.
Short: CHOW FUN (Sally Cruikshank) Addicts of old 78s love the soundtrack
and lovers of Betty Boop-meets- Looney Tunes cartoons go crazy over the
kaldeidoscopic imagery.
Fri.: MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT AT
7 & 9.05
OLD ARCH. AUD.
$1 .5U
Pigtown Fling Dulciner Sessions
Leo Kretzner, Jay Leibovitz and Friends
Green Linnet
ENERGY.
We can't afford
to waste 1it.
I
Use
Daily
Class ifijeds
STARTING TOMORROW
FRIDAY 7:05-9:35-SAT. & SUN. 12:35-2:40-4:45-7:05-9:35
What happens when kids grow up
and parents don't.
ISRAEL
FLIGHTS
EUROPE-ALL CITIES
(212)689-8980
Outside N.Y. State
L .800.223.7676
The Center for Student Travel"
40BROADWAY N Y C. N Y
k.e.
TAe Ann Arbor Film CoobarsvflB Presents at Aud A: $1.50
- A4gi r( Pi9 X N77