1
41
Clover
By ALAN RUBENFELD
POP MUSIC is not a closed musi
cal form that many people con-
sider it to be. In fact, some of the
best - but underplayed - mid-
dleweight pop is now available to the
inquisitive listener by checking out
Clover's new album, Love on the
Wire.
Clover is a six-piece band from the
Bay area of California. The group
has been around for nine years, but
it is only in the past year that they
have been recording for a major
label. Discovered by Graham
Parker and friends during Rumour's
1976 U.S. tour, the British group
brought Clover back to Britain
where the California band ecorded
their initial LP, Clover,.released in
early 1977.
The album displayed a group with
a versatile mixture of rock, jazz, and
country. Clearly, Clover touched
many bases but wisely avoided
bogging themselves down into any
regimented genre.
NOW, CLOVER has returned with
a new U.S. tour to coincide with their
new album, Love on the Wire. The
record shows that the group is
establishing a formulaic approach to
their rock/pop with a fairly suc-
cessful result.
Clover's sound centers around the
guitar of John McFee, a Bay area
session ace. He plays quite a com-
petent variety of lead, slide, and
pedal steel guitars. Although not
exactly a pioneer, his riffs avoid get-
ting stale and stuffy. Vocalist Alex
Call appreciates the inherent limits
in his style, but ntnetheless carries a
forceful rock 'n' roll tune. "Hearts
Under Fine," the opening cut,
cops PC(
presents the entire group kicking out
a full-tilt power sound laced with
grace.
"Southern Belles" and "Oh
Senorita," both bouncy guitar num-
bers, are fine listening tunes, and
would be even more infecting if the
lyrics did not come right out of
something like a Charlie's Angels
script: "Oh Senorita, tu eres muy
bonita". But the unit makes a nice
rebound on. "Still Alive," with Mc-
Fee earning his reputation as a
crack guitarist. His sinewy lead,
work plays off some tasty work by
harpist Huey Louis, a sort of "Atlan-
ta Rhythm Section meets London
p
beat
The Michigan Daily-Friday, February 24, 1978-Page 5
Fo hat's ans froliC
"Streets of London" conveyed this
melancholy spirit, but on Love On
the Wire, the group takes a happy
look back on their roots with
"California Kid." Although most
California bands unknowingly
bludgeon their states with shallow,
odes, Clover sounds as if their West
Coast connection grows stronger
with each passing hour they remain
in London. "California Kid" also is
the most commercial sounding cut
on Love on the Wire, and looks to be
a possible AM radio breakthrough
for the band.
"Easy Love" and "Ain't Nobody,"
while not landmarks in recorded
music, consistently deliver Clover
as a tight sounding group that can
execute pop rock with both power
and feeling, coupled with'their non-
reliance on any aimless gimmicks.
In fact, their lack of studio ornamen-
tation on their records give the
listener a simpler, fuller sound to
grasp.
"From Now On" adds to the
album's musical consistency, with
producer Robert John Lange (of
Graham Parker fame) blending the
group's rock and country bases by
playing Louis' harp against McFee's
resonant steel guitar with sur-
prisingly successful results.
One of Clover's inconsistencies
shows on the album's final cut,
"Travelin' Man." Since the band
relies on musicianship and not ador-
nment for their sound, Clover has to
open up their full power potential on
every cut. While "Travelin Man"
certainly does not suffer from iner-
tia, it could use a little more spark to
give it a brighter, catchier sound.
By TIM YAGLE.
IT WAS BILLED as an evening of
high energy, frenzied rock 'n' roll
with Foghat and Starz. It wasn't quite
that but I don't think anyone left dissat-
isfied.
Tyler and Jagger-look-alike lead
vocalist Michael Lee Smith along with
his band Starz opened the show with
some good hard rock from their three
albums, including the hit "Cherry
Baby". At the end of their set, Smith
threw about seven glasses to the crowd,
then crouching downstage, filled them
with what appeared to be champagne.
If that wasn't enough, he also threw
about a dozen carnations to his fans.
The packed Cobo Arena was now ready
for their favorite British heavy rock-
blues band - Foghat.
The quartet walked out onto the white
stage (amps included) and launched in-
to "Fool For The City". The white floor
enhanced the effects of the multi-
colored spotlights, creating a more
mysterious image.
FOGHAT'IS known as a high volume
band but they were only loud at times
and not blasting enough occasionally
and this inconsistency made some of
their arsenal of songs sound under par.
"My Babe" followed and there was
too much of Craig MacCregor's bass in
this tune.
Much of the evening, probably unin-
tentionally, was spent showcasing lead
guitarist Rod Price ripping through his
screeching solos in a hunched-over
position. He is a superb guitarist but it
almost turned into the Rod Price Show.
ONE OF HIS solos came in the mid-
dle of the next tune, "Drivin' Wheel".
With different colored lights flashing on
the heavy beats and the white lights on
top of the stage flashing and
illuminating the crowd, Price
poured it out and the audience loved it.
A new, slow song called "It Hurts Me,
Too" ensued and hushed the Foghat
fans for a short time but the musically
high energy was restored as "Honey
Hush" came next.
Even though there was frenzied
music emanating from the stage, the
three guitarists weren't doing much be-
sides playing. A little more action,
corresponding to the intensity of the
music, would have made the evening
that much more enjoyable.
A SHORT Lonesome Dave Peverett
rhythm guitar solo preceded his "I
don't want you to be no slave" (from
Foghat Live), the famous introduction
during which you can feel the tension
mount into one of Foghat's early hits,
"I Just Wanna Make Love To You."
This brought the house down. In a
somewhat anticlimactic moment,
"Home In my Hand" followed rough in
spots and seemed slightly sub-par.
Then the other famous opening words
came, "Are you ready . . . to take' a
"Slooooow Ride". Unfortunately, parts
of the performance didn't quite match
the vivaciousness of the intro, and the
pounding drums weren't loud enough.
Perhaps the most noticeable blunder
of the evening occurred during "Slow
Ride," when only half of the Foghat
sign (the "Fog") mounted on the wall
behind the stage was illuminated.
The band left the stage after a
seemingly short stint but reappeared
for three encores, including a suc-
cessful call and response session with
the frenzied crowd and a spirited ren-
dition of the Chuck Berry classic
"Maybellene."
In a laboratory situation, a human
cell that is free from bodily influences
may divide up to 50 times before it dies.
If all the cells in a human body were to
divide that often, the organism would
weigh more than 80 trillion tons, accor-
ding to National Geographic.
Love on the Wire
Clover
Mercury SRM-1-3708
pub rock" mixture of funk and hard
playing. The first side closes with an
a capella version of the Lieber-
Stoller number, "Keep On Rolling,"
as it develops a rich harmonic tex-
ture for Call's lead tenor.
ONE OF CLOVER'S musical
themes deals with their lamenting of
their extended leave of their native
California. The first album's
MU1CLAII
YILAIL S
MENDELSSOHN THEATRE
SUNFEB26, 2 & 8pm
I
HAPPENINGS
For the week of
Feb. 24 thru March 2
=NOUN
AllWeek
COMMERCIAL CINEMA
Julia'(Campus) Jane Fonda and Van-
essa Redgrave give first-rate perform-
ances as Lillian Hellman and her friend
Julia, two women whose camraderie is
deepened by the underground struggle
to halt the evils of fascism in WWII
Europe. **1/2
The One and Only (State) This Carl
Reiner comedy follows Andy Schmidt
(Henry Winkler), an unmitigated show-
off whose thirst for fame leads him into
a career as a Gorgeous George char-
acter in big-time wrestling. **
High Anxiety (Michigan) Mel
Brooks' Hitchcock pastiche undeniably
has its moments, but unlike Young
Frankenstein, Brooks is totally inept
when it comes to capturing the look and
mood of the genre he's dealing with ***
The Other Side of the Mountain Pt. II
(Fifth Forum) On the sentimentality
scale, this molassas-drenched piece of
celluloid makes the ending of The Wiz-
ard of Oz look like so much Ingmar
Bergman. Give it a miss. *1/2
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(Fox Village) Steven Spielberg's won-
drous 'UFO epic has more than tech-
nical wizardry in the special effects de-
partment - the movie's ambience is
one of childhood innocence, and it cele-
brates the vastness of the film-medium
with grandeur and visual beauty. ****
Saturday Night Fever (Briarwood)
Although the hackneyed story is pure
Hollywood romanticism, Saturday
Night Fever captures (as few movies
have) the animalistic energy of con-
temporary popular music. ***1/2
The Turning Point (Briarwood) This
overly-long ballet movie has a story
straight out of the soaps, and some
rather poorly-filmed ballet sequences.
**% 2.
The Goodbye Girl (Briarwood) Neil
Simon's most recent concoction man-
ages to rise above his past, non-com-
edic drivel. ***
The Betsy (Briarwood) Harold Rob-
bins' sleazy novel is transformed into a
static, equally sleazy film starring
Laurence Olivier (he must have owned
the director a favor). *
February 24
CINEMA
Farewell My Lovely (Old A&D, 7:00
and 9:05) This 1975 Raymond Chandler-
Philip Marlowe flick is a remake of
Murder, My Sweet, doesn't attempt to
do anything new with the genre. ***1/2
Witness For the Prosecution (Angell
Aud A, 7:00 and 9:00) This courtroom
drama, taken from a story by Agatha
Christie, is like a superior episode of
Owen Marshall. ***
Canadian Animation Festival and
Coonskin (MLB 4, Animation Fest at
7:00, Coonskin at 8:40 an 10:20) For
sheer technical virtuosity and visual
invention, many of these short films
can't be beat.
Three Days of the Condor (Nat Sci
Aud, 7:00 and 9:15) If you overlook.
what are by now cliches of the over-
worked CIA-conspiracy bit, this can be
enjoyed as a well-made and gripping
thriller. ***
Trailer Heaven (Room 100, Hutchins
Hall, 7:00 and 9:00) An evening of those
three minute "coming attractions"
shorts.
Events
Poetry Reading - Gary Snyder,
Rackham Auditorium, 8 p.m.
Hockey - U-M vs. Michigan Tech at
Yost Ice Arena, 7:30 p.m.
saturday
February 25
CINEMA
Adam's Rib (Old A&D, 7:00 and 9:05)
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
are married lawyers on opposite sides
of a case involving equal rights. ***%/ -
The Conversation (Angell Aud D, 7:00
and 9:00) Francis Ford Coppola's mas-
terful study of a wire-tapping wizard
See HAPPENINGS, Page 7
Guest Artist Series
,,,T eFeaturing.
JAMES H. HAWTHORNE
Guest Artist-in-Residence
Wed:-Sat..March1-4. 8pm
Sun.March S.2pm
Power Center
A Play by Howard Sackler
Pulitzer Prize Winner Tony Award Best Play
UY fDrm ri ,t,,,Aw,.rd
9
rg
E.
e
n
i
CINEMA II
Angel Hall Aud. A
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION ,
Director-BILLY WILDER (1958)
The screenplay of this tantalizing courtroom melodrama is adapted from an
Agatha Christie story and play. A first rate performance by Charles
Laughton in the role of defense attorney launches the audience into
rapidly built suspense. TYRONE POWER is the accused man, MARLENE
DIETRICH the vindictive wife. Also stars ELSA LANCHASTER.
7 and 9 p.m. $m5 50
SATURDAY: Coppola's THE CONVERSATION
the ann arbor film cooperative
presents at MLB
Friday, February 24
CANADIAN ANIMATION FESTIVAL
(McLaren, Larkin et al.) 7 ONLY-MLB 4
Since the 1930's with John Grierson ("father of the documentary") as
director, the National Film Board of Canada has produced some of the most
socially-aware and technically dazzlirig animated films ever made. Award-
winning shorts from a studio internationally known for its support of contro-
versial, innovative directors. "The farthest reaches of an art form."-FILM
NEWS.
COONSKIN
(Ralph Bakshi, 1974) 8:40,10:15-MLB4
Three urban blacks plunge into the ghetto where nobody comes out a winner.
As in HEAVY TRAFFIC, Bakshi combines live-action footage with animated
collage. "COONSKIN is a film of brilliant devastation. Ingenious, inventive
and entertaining."-Gene Shalit. From the man who brought you FRITZ THE
CAT and WIZARDS. With BARRY WHITE and SCAT MAN CROTHERS.
Tomorrow: Rocky at 7 and 9:15
Magical Mystery Tour at 7 only
Festival of Jazz Shorts at 8:40 only
Chafed Elbows at 10:20 only
at MLB 3 and MLB 4
TONIGHTI
cROYEFMSpresents
TRAILER HEAVEN
If you've ever found the coming attractions more
entertaining than the feature, if you thrill to the joy
of flipping channels on late-night T.V., this show is your
cup of tea. Gargoyle films presents a feature-length collection of pre-
views from some of the finest movies of the past 30 years. See high-
lights from many classic movies; cheer your favorites, laugh at the
losers. A real treat for the dedicated, or otherwise disabled, moviegoer.
7:00 & 9&00 HUTCHINS HALL (Law Quad)\ $1.00
IJA T .T, *
DAILY EARLY BIRD MATINEES -- Adults $1.25
DISCOUNT IS FOR SHOWS STARTING BEFORE 1:30
MON. thou SAT. 10 A.M. til 1:3a P.M. SUN. & HOLS.12 Noon til 1:30 P.M.
EVENING ADMISSIONS AFTER 5:00,. $3.50 ADULTS
Monday-Saturday 1:30-5:00, Admission $2.50 Adult and Students
Sundays and Holidays 1:30 to Close, $3.50 Adults, $2.50 Students
Sunday-Thursday Evenings Student & Senior Citizen Discounts
Children 12 And Under, Admissions $1.25
TICKET SALES
1. Tickets sold no sooner than 30 minutes
prior to showtime.
2. No tickets sold later than 15 minutes
after showtime.
Raymond Chandler's
1975
. I
FAREWELL MY LOVELY
ROBERT MITCHUM runs into his share of tempting trouble to
revive the figure Bogart made famous-Philip Marlowe.
The sardgnic, elusive private eye is captured by sleepy-eyed
Mitchum who tries to stay ahead of the likes of CHARLOTTE
RAMPLING and JOHN IRELAND. Color.
A
A
hk
k
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT AT
7:00 & 4:05
OLD ARCH. AUD.
Admission $1 .50
I
The Office of
Major Events Presents .
IN CONCERT
BUFFETT
And I
TI,
MEDIATRICS
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
Starring ROBERT REDFORD and FAYE DUNAWAY.
Cool, super-bright CIA agent: Candor, is on the run
from a mass murder and wonders-is there another
CIA within "the" CIA?
10:40
HAROLDC)14
1:15
ROBBINS(400
LAURENCE OLIVIER KATHARINE ROSS 9:30
R m ROBERT DUVALL
The Mouse and Her Child112:00
"A DELIGHTFUL SHOW FOR CHILDREN" 1:415
STEVENFLYNN U.A.T.C. 4:15
-_6:30.
9:15
L..JnCatch
A_ - I in i
The CORAL REEFER BAND
FRIDAY, MARCH 24TH - 8:00 PM
HILL AUDITORIUM (Ann Arbor)
RESERVED TICKETS $7.50 - $6.50 & $5.50
February 24th
7 and 9:15
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I
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