Tuesday, December 10, 1974
THE MIS HIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Tuesday, December 10, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five
Records in review
THE ELECTRIC Light Orchestra has produced a new concept
album titled, Eldorado. Thematically, the LP centers around
thoughts of failure and disillusionment, and the fantasy of with-
drawal to a death-like plateau - Eldorado.
Although the jacket claims it is a "symphony," it is not; it
is a collection of eight songs, beginning and ending with an or-
chestral theme that resembles classical romanticism. At places
in between, there are snatches of baroque.
Unlike other rock groups that have attempted to cast modern
pop music into a classical idiom, the seven-man Light Orches-
tra supplies its string arrangements itself, through two cellos
and a violin (and with a lot of double tracking). Maybe for this
reason, the strings come through more often as an integral part
of the arrangement. They blend along with some well delivered
melody to produce a number of good bands. In spite of sticky
sentimentality at times, this is a good LP, and we can expect
to hear a lot of it.
-Ron Langdon
Linda Ronstadt is the best damn female singer in the world
and she proves it with her new album Heart Like a Wheel (Capi-
tal ST- 11358). Only problem is that perhaps nobody knows it.
She doesn't flood the top 40
market with her music, the only
song that was halfway success-
ful was "Different Drum", re-
corded with the late Stone Pon-
eys. But that lack of notoriety
does not diminish the fact that
Linda Ronstadt, blessed with
the voice of an angel, is the
best around.
On her latest release, she
sings in her familiar country
style about a familiar country
theme, love; good love, bad
love, no love, the wrong love.
Songs like "Faithless Love",
Paul Anka's "It Doesn't Mat-
ter Any More" James Taylor's
"You Can Close Your Eyes" are
all done with the same style, inda Ronstadt
and grace.
, On the Anna McGarrigle-written title song, Ronstadt teams
with Maria Muldaur for one of the album finest moments.
But the best is first - the very first cut "You're No Good"-
a song that is too soulful for a country label. With a George Har-
rison-like solo guitar combined with a great orchestrated back-
ground, this 3:19 track is worth the whole album.
If a group as good as Eagles would want to play back-up for
Linda Ronstadt, it's about time somebody recognized the plain
truth . . . ain't nobody better.
-Chuck Bloom
A .
TF YOU'RE looking for an average white band, Average White
Band (Atlantic SD 7308) won't fill the bill. If you are instead
seeking an average soul band, perhaps AWB will. Most well
known for the temporary loss of its bassist due to drug overdose,
AWB plays some rather uninspired rhythm and blues numbers.
Relying on the traditional formula of strong bass and percussion
with occasional guitar and piano fills, the band places heavy
emphasis on lead vocals and often shaky backing harmonies. The
overall effect is one of hollowness, instead of the intended funki-
ness,- the obvious attempt at duplicating the work of the O'Jays
and Isley Brothers (the latter composed one of the better tunes,
"Work to Do," contained on the album) fails.
One gets the vague notion that if the musicians in AWB
latched onto a better arranger and producer, and perhaps added
a bit more instrumentation, things could be more than just aver-
age.
-Bob Taub
B. J. Thomas, Dionne Warwick, Bert Bacharach, and Spec-
ter Records were at one time a winning combination. Anythingt
Bacharach wrote and Thomas and Warwick sang turned into
Specter gold.
But the Specter label has long since disappeared from the
center of any vinyl disc. Warwicke has added an "e" to her
name, Thomas has re-discovered his homeland of Texas, and
Bacharach is not the magician he once was.
But United Artists Records bought the Specter tapes and
have re-released them in a convenient package, The Very Best
of Dionne Warwicke (United Artists UA-LA 337-G) and The Very
Best of B. J. Thomas (United Artists UA-LA 338-G).
The albums are what they claim to be, the "very best" of
Dancers present
~'Sistice' concerts
The dance department of the
School of Music this week will
present a series of three con-
certs called Solstice: A Dance
Celebration, which promises ex-
citing, inexpensive entertain-
rient.
The series opens with two
performances of Dance Sand-'
wich, an informal concert of the
work of six independent chore-
ographers. The program stress-
es a non-traditional approach
to the concert structure. All the
participants collaborated to
produce a sequence of dances
that flow into one another even-
ly.
Some of the pieces are with-
out accompaniment. The dances
which are set to music have
b'rckgrounds ranging f r o m
Chick Corea's jazz to Javanese,
Gamelan to Frank Zappa's
whatever. Thematically, the
program maintains a strong
sense of the absurd.
Choreographers Sue Feld-
stain, Ruth Hurwitz, Andrea
Katz, Debra Levine, Paula Ra-'
vitz, and Barbara Smith will
employ a talented team of nine
dancers. Dance Sandwich hits
the boards in the Barbour Stu-
dio, Barbour Gymnasium, at 9
p.m. tonight and tomorrow
night. Admission charge is a
donation.
The second concert in the
series, Zuzu II, is a synthesis
of theater and dance. There will
be one performance at 8 p.m.
on Thursday, December 12 at
Schorling Auditorium in the
School of Education. Again, the
admission charge is a donation.
The Young Choreographers
Concert is the final segment of
the series. There will be two
performances, Friday, Decem-
ber 13, and Saturday, Decem-
ber 14 at 8 p.m. in Schloring
Auditorium. Admission is free.
The Solstice concert series
will provide the University
community an opportunity to
witness talented dancers of the
'70s at '20s prices, and to un-
tangle psyches in the midst of
finals madness.
Daly Photo by KAREN KASMAUSKf
A°) ° o , r'fi'r '>gull eday A u1 K
AIR
Sa
Nearly 20,0)0 concert p
jammed the Cow PaLce i
Francisco where the d
Deep Purple and the L
Light Orchestra ware
ing. Chaos reigned b
concert, including fire
assorted flving o1i 5.
sparklers. Before Dee
came on stage a hurn
rocket was thrown on
at that point the rOad s
ed the crowd "uncr
from the band, if anv1a
that happens one more t ,
the group will ~.t
Things ted do
and the showwet o)a
ned.
A large replica r
Starr, dressed in a
uniform and poised ;...id; a
rocket ship and King oa
been placed on top ofthe
tol Records tower i-
wood. All the tr p-
erected to launch the rale3'
of Ringo's new albm d
Vienna.
Carlos S tnna-
ed that he has decd
his band Santns
quoted as saying "'1 ti> ate
end of this yer, it- 'b h
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tih s up a
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IT ' London
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- ' -34-'44:-'. a
G oacd seats a, iable at U-M Union1 1-5:30 daily (763-
4553) aclsojd-v of the snow, Union 12-4 , and at the door
f;o
4
"_4 announces an amazing
Art Poster Sl ,*;
DEC. 6 to DEC. 13 ONLY
Any posters purchased before Dec. 13 ;
can be framed by us before Christmas. 4
F
{f HUNDREDS OF POSTER BARGAINS +1
Centicore Bookshops on May-
I. nord Street has one of the Hicks 4
Albers largest selections of original art
Trov o osters in the United States. Klimnt '
S T v our sources are in many parts I
+, Picasso of the world, and we carry a Dufy
- largie number of posters that
Lindn er are difficult to find anyplace in Matisse
this country. Leger
VOsarely These posters are created and
Do K i executed by the artists, them- Kandinsky e
selves, to commemorate exhibi- Warhol
Miro tions of their works. Most of Woal.t
ro them are oriainal silk-screens Brogue
y Poolozzi and lithoaraphs; they are not
mere reproductions of paint- W th
Munich inas. With the passaae of time y
their value can increase by the and
Stella some percentage as does the 4
value of other works by the many others
same artist.
CENTICORE BOOKSHOPS
336 MAYNARD
1 4 - ! .' G$ $' c
each artist. Warwicke's album is entirely Bacharach work from end for me in th
"Walk On By" to "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" Her know that newt year h
work reflects the change in Bacharach over the years, starting work at another lcl"1r1
with "Anyone Who Had a Heart" to the soft, sensitive "Alfie", in- will probably fluin a fh"a,
cluding the finest song she ever sang "Message to Michael." band, most i kel oL -I
Thomas, the hitmaker from Houston, recorded Bacharach's "Davadip" (his sr
biggest hit "Raindrops . . ." But his best cuts on the album come Get ready fo a
from his earlier works - "Hooked On a Feeling", at one time the China Burger
banned from many stations for its so-called "drug" overtones, troduced . . . :di
and the semi-classic "yes of a New York Woman
He has since gotten off of drugs and into Longhorns, but not
really into music.
The record market is being saturated with re-releases and
anthologies and in this time of tight money one has to be careful
of what he or she buys. If you've got it, get it.
r } fk > u
F"
-C
huck Bloom t
21
1954
FEDERICO FELLINI'S
LA STRADA
(at 7)
A waif (Giulietta Masina) is sold to a circus
strongman (Anthony Quinn) but falls in love
with a clown (Richard Basehart). An allegory
of the conflict between the soul, body and
mind.
A EDWARD G. ROBINSON in
A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER
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4,7 ,.~
44,
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4 -4 i ~ 1 44
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4L is
4 144, I
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ty S
71 fi YAM ppow
It t out
(at 9)
A very funny Runyonese comedy about a pro-
hibition beer runner who tries to go straight
but finds a corpse in his home.
/
Cinema Guild
$1.50 FOR
BOTH SHOWS
OLD ARCH.
AU D.
TI,
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