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Thursday, Septemiber 28, 1972
THE M.IHIGAIN DAILY
Page nree
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420 Maynard
UNION GALLERY
1st Floor-Mich. Union
OPENING SHOW
FRIDAY, SEPT. 29
7-10 p.m.
REFRESHMENTS
MUSIC: The Paulus Hofhaimer Ensemble
l ipt
records
Kinks... a silly relief
By HERB BOWIE
In these troubled times, when
nearly every advance in rocl;
further justifies a disbelief in
progress, when just about every
new release is a foregone disap-
pointment, when it looks like Nix-
on is going to alternately amuse
and horrify the country for four
more years, and, to top it all
off, when it seems I'm finally go-
ing to be pulled away from the
comforting teat of academia in
seven more months .. .
The Kinks are a great re-
lief.
Not that their new album Ev-
erybody's in Showbiz remedies
anything. Reality, like the com-
fon cold, has no reliable cure.
The most you can hope for it to
feel good while suffering from
it, right? Well, the new Kinks
album is a fine anesthetic.
Let me take you on a little
trip.
My supersonic ship's
inclined.
As your disposal if you feel so
inclined.
Well alright.
We're gonna travel faster than
light,
So do up your overcoat tight
And you'll go anywhere you
want to decide.
Well alright.
One of the nicest things about
this album is its total lack of pre-
tensions. It's the very antitheses
of "heavy." Take, for example,
the song from which the excerpt
just quoted was taken. "Super-
sonic Rocket Ship" bears a sup-
ficial resemblance to some bat-
tle hymn of the counter-culture
that Paul Kantner might have
written, but in the hands of Ray
Davies it's a self-consciously es-
capist, delightful, fantasy. Where
Kantner would have massive
electric guitar chords, Davies
starts his song with a tinkly riff
played on acoustic guitar; in-
stead of Grace Slick screaming
as if she were leading an assault
on the Pentagon, you have Ray
delivering the lines in a funny
mincing fashion; where Kantner
would have a guitar solo with
maximum sustain, The Kinks
have a Herb-Alpert style trum-
pet.
On my supersonic rocket ship,
Nobody has to be hip,
Nobody need to be out of
sight.
("Outasite, man! Far out!")
Nobody's -gonna travel second
class.
There'ss be equality
An dno suppression of minori-
ties.
Well alright.
The triumph of this album
is that it's so light without being
insubstantial. In a world wherre
everything must be either mean-
ingful or outrageous (John Len-
non and Ingmar Bergmann on
the one hand, The Mothers and
The Marx Brothers on the oth-
er), The Kinks are silly. Con-
trary to your probable precon-
ceptions, though, that doesn't
mean they're bad. Paul McCart-
ney is often silly, but he's also
almost always stupid. The Kinks
are geniuses at being silly. Lis-
ten to Ray Davies crooning at
the beginning and the end of
"Maximum Consumption;" lis-
ten to the horns on "Look a Lit-
tle on the Sunny Side," sounding
like they came straight from a
Betty Boop cartoon; hear Ray
Davies pack more syllables into
a bar than you ever thought pos-
sible, all over the album!
What's more, The Kinks are
unqualified pop music music gen-
iuses, despite their silliness. As
a composer Ray Davies can ri-
val the best in rock, including
Lennon and/or McCartney. Ray's
voice is great technically, fully
capable of serving as merely an-
other musical instrument; yet he
also has a dramatic sense equal
to Mick Jagger's or Bob Dylan's,
able to create enough personae
on a record to people a small
town. His lyrics are about the
most intelligent you can find
anywhere. The imagination dis-
played in the group's arrange-
ments approaches that of The
Beatles at their best. If you
don't believe that all these vir-
tues can be embodied in a
group as silly as I've just told
you The Kinks are, try "Sitting
in my Hotel" , or "Celluloid
Heroes." Either of these songs
can beat producers of more tra-
ditionally music on their own
ground.
It ain't no magic,
It ain't no lie.
You'll laugh so hard you'll
cry.
Un and down.
Round and round.
On my supersonic rocket ship.
By the way, inclhded in this
do'ible album is a full record of
The Kinks in concert. Kinks de-
votees will cherish it, since it
captures the atmosphere of a
Kinks concert fairly well (When
I saw them, Ray Davies anoint-
ed the front row with beer; it's
been reported that in New York
he wns so drnk that he fell
over into a flowerpot without re-
alizing it.) Less ardent fans will
probably react with a little less
enthusiasm.
INTELLECTUAL INSIGHT
LONDON ( ) - Shortsighted
children are often brighter than
those with normal vision. Dr.
Charles Brown, an eye specialist
who conducted a survey for the
medical publication "Practitioner,"
discovered that most children who
excelled in intelligence tests were
bespectacled. "Persons who wear
glasses often have large eyes, in-
dicating larger brains," Dr. Brown
concluded.
'I
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0(
WED.-SAT AT 9:00
AND HIS
SUN.-TUES. AT 9:00
WOLFGANG
;C UII vt URkE AL EI E)A k
FILMS-Ann Arbor Film Coop shows Two-Lane Blacktop
in Aud. "A" at 7, 9:30. About this film, Daily reviewer Pete
Ross writes: "There's one redeeming quality about this
otherwise horribly incompetent movie and his name is War-
ren Oates. He's been doing psychopathic heavies for years,
and here gives his best performance since In the Heat of the
Night. Warren plays the freewheeling compulsive liar "G.T.
O." who challenges co-stars (the real) James Taylor and
Beach Boy Dennis Wilson to a thrilling winner-take-all car
race. Neither singer can act, and the killer ending was un-
fortunately a mistake; but Oates is almost worth the dollar
admission." Also tonight, Cinema Guild features American
Underground Retrospective Program 3 in Arch. Aud. at 7,
9:05, while the People's Ballroom (502 E. Washington) brings
you a collection of women's films at 8 and 10.
DRAMA-The University's Student Laboratory Theatre pre-
sents William's Lord Byron's Love Letter and Bowen's Trevor
this afternoon in the Frieze building's Arena theatre at 4:10.
Also, No Place to Be Somebody is being performed tonight at
8:00 at Detroit's Vest Pocket Theatre.
UPCOMING CONCERT TIPS-Muddy Waters will appear in
concert at Schoolcraft College in Livonia next Wednesday.
Tickets $3. For information call 591-6400 (ext No. 355).
ART GALLERIES-The Union Gallery on the first floor,
Michigan Union, will hold their opening show this Friday
from 7-10.
Daily Photo by DENNY GAINER(
Student Lab Theatre
Two women embrace each other in an opening scene from yes-
terday's performance of "Trevor," produced by the University's
Student Lab Theatre.
Symphonic pleasure
tonight'
8:00 2 The Waltons
4 Flip Wilson
Don Knotts, 'Melba Moore,
Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks.
7 Mod squad
9 World Hockey
(taped) Canada vs. U.S.S.R.
at Moscow
6 Duffy Daugherty Football
9:00 2 CBS Movie
"Mackenna's Gold," '68, Greg-
ory Peck, Omar Sharif, Telly
Savalas, Julie Newmar, Ca-
mina Sparv, Keenan Wynn,
Ted Cassidy. A group of men
and women experience an
Apaches rampage while seek-
ing a legendary lost canyon
in the Southwest during the
1870's
4 Ironside
7 Assignment: Vienna
56 The Last of the Mohicans
62 Big Time Wrestling
6 CBS Movie
10:00 4 Clean Martin
7 Owen Marshall: Counselor-at-
Law
9 News-National; Local
11:00 4 News-Local
7 News-Bonds-McCarthy Team
9 The Cheaters (B)
50 The Golddiggers
11:20 2 News-LeGoff-Caputo Team
11:30 4 Tonight-Johnny Carson
50 Movie
"'Rere Comes the Navy," (B)
'34. James Cagney, Pat O'-
Brien.
7 Dick Cavett
9 Movie
"The Ugly American," %63,
Marion Brando, Eiji Okada,
Sandra Church, Arthur Hill,
Pat Hingle. Personal and po-
litical disasters come to U.S.
diplomat in Southeast Asia.
10 Tonight Show
11:50 2 Movie
"The Shoot," (B) '64, Lex
Barker, Marie Versini, Ralf
Wolter, Rik Battaglia. Two_
men pursue a kidnapper-ban-
dit. (German; English dub-
bed)
1:00 4 7 News
1:50 2 Movie
"Captain China," (B) '49.
John Payne, Gail Russell, Jef-
frey Lynn.
an old friend, Beethoven's 7th
Symphony. The orchestra un-
folded a tapestry of interwoven
melodic and contrapuntal voices
withithe utmost clarity and con-
viction. 'Alcantara, as a pied
piper, coaxed his followers on,
at times expressively violent to
gentle, but always with effusive
enthusiasm. His exuberant and
highly enunciated style inspired
the musicians on to greater and
greater emotional expression
throughout the evening, but at
no point was this interaction as
evident as in the rich, majestic
performance of the Beethoven.
What minor unprofessional char-
acteristics the orchestra did pos-
sess were more than compensat-
ed for by its vibrant spirit and
sureness.
By ROY CHERNUS
Contrary to popular belief,
there are still many ways to
get "something for nothing" to-
day; Tuesday night it was a
free concert by the University
Symphony Orchestra at Hill
Anditorium, under the direction
of Theo Alcantara. The perform-
ance was magnificient, and all
the more so when one consid-
ers that the group has rehearsed
only since the beginning of the
term, and that almost half of its
members, students in the School
of Music, are new.''
The program consisted of three
works of contrasting styles:
Charles Ives' Decoration Day
(early 20th century America),
Joaquin2Turina's Sinfonia Sevil-
lana (20th century Spain), and
Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Ives'
unique style is a collage of many
separate American musical ele-
DELTA SIGMA DELTA
Dental Fraternity
FR1., SEPT. 29
7 p.m.
.1502 Hill, Ann Arbor
LIVE BAND
REFRESHMENTS
ments such as spiritual hymns,
patriotic songs, folk tunes, as
well as highly dissonant con-
structions. Decoration Day is an
example of Ives' stylistic me-
lange. This strongly nationalistic
work, part of his symphony "Hol-
idays" depicts the many emo-
tions and facets of the holiday:
somber and melancholy ceme-
tery scenes, joyous and pompous
parades with military-like fervor,
patriotic inspiration, and fun-
ereal bell pealing. The orches-
tra's splendid rendition of the
work illuminated all these moods
in a surreal aura.
Turina's Sinfonia Sevillana, a
multi-faceted portrait of the
composer's birthplace (Seville,
Spain) is a spirited and dynam-.
ically rhythmed work of Spanish
flavor. It ranged from lyrically
light and airy to brazenly fast
and furious. The work explored
the orchestra's full rhythmic and
dynamic potential, and spotlight-
ed certain instrumental sections;
particularly the percussion in
complex and subtle counter-
rhythms including some flam-
boyant castanet work. The con-
cert-master had some beautiful
solos, but was clearly beset by
nervousness which affected his
vibrato control, intonation, and
projection.
The climax of the evening was
S2PM. - 2A M
STUDENT LABORATORY THEATRE
LAST PERFORMANCE
LORD BYRON'S LOVE LETTER
I~ORDby TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
directed by JENNY MARTIN
AND
n TRE VOR
TiEte by JOHN BOWAN
directed by DEBRA POGATS
4:10 p.m.-ARENA THEATRE
-< (FRIEZE BUILDING)
--JAMES TAYLOR
WARREN OATES
LAURIE BIRD
e DENNIS WILSON
A UNIVERSAL PICTURE.TECHNICOtORI
ANN ARBOR
PREMIERE!
-TONIGHT-
September 28th
-ONLY!-
7 & 9:30 p.m.
in Cinemascope
11
Thursday, Friday and Saturday Only!
EVIL EYE
JUST RETURNING FROM CANADIAN-MIDWEST TOUR
FULL MENU-REASONABLE PRICES
(4:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M.)
GOLDEN FALCON
314 S. FOURTH AVE. 761-3548
"ONE OF THE FEW GOOD TRULY FUNNY
AMERICAN POLITICAL COMEDIES EVER MADE!"
-Vincent Canby, N.Y. Times
'IT'S RIGHT ON THE NOSE SO OFTEN THAT IT
MAKES YOU GASP AT THE PERCEPTIVITY OF
THE DIRECTOR AND WRITER."
-Jack S. Margolis, L.A. Free Press
0 "ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS AND INTERESTING AMERICAN FILMS OF
THE YEAR . . . immaculately crafted, funny, and quite beautiful, resonant with a
lingering mood of loss and loneliness. There are extended pauses and dialogue ex-
changes full of deliberate paradox. Few film-makers have dealt so well or so subtly
with the American landscape. Not a single frame in the film is wasted. AN AMERI-
CAN POP EPIC!"
-Jay Cocks, TIME MAGAZINE
0 "A REAL MOVIE! REMARKABLY ENGAGING! VIVIDLY CATCHES THE TEM-
PO AND RHYTHM OF AMERICAN LIFE IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS GOOD
ROCK DOES."
-Vincent Canby, NEW YORK TIMES
0 ". . . EASY RIDER, with which Monte Hellman's film will inevitably be compared, came on more
portentously, its characters enlisting our sympathies as representatives of a whole generation of mis-
understood counterculturists, its tragic ending implying an indictment of the whole straight world for
it willful misunderstanding of its youth. BLACKTOP, in contrast, indicts nothing and doesn't make any
of the customary moves to enlist sympathy or understanding for its principals. It simply, coolly, quite
objectively shows us the lives they lead-the integrity of its silences unviolated by a single abstract
thought. As a result, it seems to me, in its stranqe and even disconcerting way, it is quite THE
MOST INTRIGUING AMERICAN FILM OF THE YEAR-AND MAYBE OF SEVERAL YEARS .. . The
result is a flat, deliberately inelegant film that, by its manner, reinforces its essential morality in
every frame. It suggests, of course, that the essentially middle - class ideal of happiness achieved
through the living of a balanced life is not attainable, that in a monomania akin to that of the
artist lies the hope of some spiritual satisfaction. It is the message of the counterculture at its most
serious that the art spirit can be thus democratized and applied to technology as well as to the
i
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