Page 6--Wednesday, July 12, 1978--The Michigan Daily 'America 2 Night' gets the ax By OWEN GLEIBERMAN The cancellation of late-night talk- show satire America 2 Night must be chalked up as a devastating blow to the seldom celebrated cause of mediocrity. Although 99 per cent of television is cer- tainly pure drivel, America 2 Night was the only show to revel in it; the program stood firm, looked garbage square in the eye, and said "I love it!" Like Andy Warhol, with his Campbell's soup cans and Brillo boxes, America 2 Night did its darndest to redeem the banality of American bad taste, and for- REC ORDS By MIKE TAYLOR I first fell in love with Bruce Springsteen three summers ago when I bought The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. I realized then I was listening to the most powerful, original rock and roll voice I had heard in a long time. No one else seemed capable of spinning such wild tales of life in urban America, let alone producing the spiritual fervor of songs like "Kitty's Back" and "Rosalita." I rushed out to buy Greetings From Asbury Park, his first record, and a week later, Born to Run came out. I remember playing that album for frien- ds, proudly proclaiming that Springsteen was indeed The Next Big Thing. AND HE WAS. At least for a while, as 'he made the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week, and gave those who crowded Hill Auditorium that fall a concert they'll never forget. Now, following an ugly and prolonged lawsuit that kept him from recording, Springsteen is back, and as far as I'm concerned he sounds better than ever. It's a new Springsteen, faster and more streamlined, but then after three years it's only natural that he sounds a little different. The music is catchy, hook-laden rock and roll; clearly Springsteen, like Elvis Costello, has learned that nothing beats a simple pop tune. Clarence Clemmons' sax appears on only three of the ten songs. In place of Clemmons is Springsteen, who now engages in incredible pyrotechnics on guitar, bur- ning breathtaking leads song after song. Now if you're a middle-to-upper class college student like most folks around here, you might find Springsteen's new lyrics a little offensive at fir- st. Or perhaps you'll hope he's only kidding. Darkness At the Edge of Townn Bruce Springsteen C.-b . ,53t/n8 YOU SEE, Darkness at the Edge of Town is a record about revolution. Not revolution in some abstract political science textbook sense, but revolution now, in the streets, in our hearts. Springsteen chronicles the despair of the working class in two listless, yet urgent songs, "Factory" and the title track. The sense of loss, loneliness, and hopelessness if horrifying until one realizes that something can be done, even though that might mean violence. As he points out at the end of "Fac- -tory," "somebody's gonna get hurt tonight." From despair comes action, revolution, as he explains in "Adam Raised A Cain," a pounding, haunting fury of a song: You inherit the sine, You inherit theflames, Aatam raiseda Cain. TWO TUNES, easily the record's most tightly constructed rock'n'roll ef- forts, "Badlands" and "The Promised Land," show wha revolution looks like to the young guy whorealizes for the first time that it's the only way out. With menace in every syllable, Springsteen spits out in "The Promised Land": Gonna be a twister to blow erernthing dwn That ain't got the faith to stand its ground Blot away the dreams that tear you apart Blow away the dreams that break your heart Blow away the lies that leare yeo ntothing but lost and brokenhearteel I beliee in a promisedland. .. Or take the feisty young man who screams at the end of "Badlands," "I wanna spit in the face of these badlands."Of course, one can escape from despair without revolution, but such escapes always come to an end, and then the world is just as soul-crunching at it ever was. You can escape by car, as Springsteen tries in "Something In The Night" and "Racing In the Streets," two eloquent ballads that capture well the en- nui of the road, but you'll just simply reach a dead end. In the first tune, Springsteen and his lover are left with nothing, "chasing something in the night." In the second, not only will you never get anywhere, but you may end up destroying the one you love. You can escape by falling in love, as Springsteen does rather successfully in "Candy's Room," a dark tale greatly influenced by the Velvet Un- derground, but even then, he confides, "To get to Candy's room, you gotta walk the darkness of Candy's hall." In "Prove It All Night," the lovers seem happy enough, but you can't help wondering if their desperate encounters ouldn't be a little more pleasant ina nicer world. Darkness At The Edge of Town is not a concept album. It is just one man's view of the world and what to d about it, but a highly perceptive view, I think. Go ahead, ignore the lyrcs, sitback and listen to the great music - that's easy enough to do. But 4yu 'e ding think abut the things { Springsteen is tl p4$ pbt;i$ mtg enP atshakee you rih dout of that, it deserves a merit badge. The show, as its die-hard cult is un- doubtedly well aware of by now, aired its final segment Monday night. Fans will probably find this fact all the more frustrating on discovering that the show was a ratings success. Unfor- tunately, it was an incredibly expensive proposition, airing five nights a week and utilizing the talents of a ten-man writing team. I SPOKE with Fred Willard, who por- trays Jerry Hubbard, the quintessential Ed McMahonish-dumb sidekick, and he admitted the cancellation came as no great surprise. Willard said, "I kind of had a bad feeling about it," explaining that the show's stars had feared its demise for several weeks. Although he couldn't picture doing the show for the rest of his life, Willard said he would have enjoyed another thirteen-week stint. "It was different every day. I par- ticularly liked Martin's monologue, which he wrote with one of the writers. Then I would say generally half the guests I really enjoyed." n er inerct Willard said he was consistently im- pressed with the proficiency of the largely unknown actors who appeared as guests, and rightly so. The guests, who ranged from an overbearing child singing "My Way" to a Salvation Army Band doing a fife and drum version of "Stayin' Alive," hit home to anyone who has ever faced a show like Let's Make a Deal, and watched contestants do literally anything to be on television. AS DELICIOUS as America 2 Night's premise was, it was undeniably a "one- idea" show, almost an extended Satur- day Night Live sketch. And most likely it would have run down after three segments had the show's regulars not clicked in their roles. As it was, Martin Mull's smooth comic delivery as Barth Gimble was the perfect ingredient to mix with Jerry Hubbard's mush- brained witticisms, and the two of them worked together splendidly. Willard claims, "I would have an idea and tell it to Martin, and he would listen kind of distracted. Then at the end of the show I would come out with the idea, and he would be right there with the line." If America 2 Night differed from other sit-coms in its incorporation of improvisation, it was even more unique in its attitude toward the rest of television, an outsider's stance it shared with Saturday Night Live. Willard feels that 'Saturday Night opened up a lot of things" for television's satirical possibilities. He said America 2 Night "cut through a lot of the phoniness and sham on TV. Probably just the people who should have been watching it weren't." WILLARD FINDS himself in the reverse predicament, in that he is smart enough to try and avoid loathsome TV sit-coms. The network has come up with some pilots, but he is wary of falling into a show that isn't worth its weight in television tubes. An added problem is the rigorous hours demanded of a weekly sit-com star. On America 2 Night, says Willard, "You come in at noon, you ad-lib, and it's just like being at a party." Still, it would seem that he's had enough exposure to generate some leeway in picking his roles. In par- ticular, his cuddly, buffoonish presence as Jerry Hubbard seemed to generate a wave of affection among the studio audience. Willard says of the final show, in which he portrayed both Hub- bard and himself, "I was sitting wat- ching, and I said, 'I like Jerry Hubbard more than myself.' " America 2 Night was one of the only shows of recent years that generally struck in new directions, and, like most such endeavors, it saw an early end. I only hope that Willard, Mull and com- pany find other means of lifting television out of the dirt. As Mull said on the last show, "it's goodnight, and not good-bye." Tisch backers failed to file required documents (Continued from Page i) organization has spent or received $200 or more, Thomas said. The financial statement must be filed by June 30. Tisch estimated he and his wife have given $3,000 in cash and other aid to promoting the tax cut plan. He said he has received $1,000 to $1,100 in con- tributions, but has not spent any of it. Thomas said Tisch is being sent the letter because state officials have reason to believe - based on newspaper accounts and other infor- mation - that statements should have been filed. BE SAID THE letter will "give him an opportunity to clarify his situation." Thomas also said his office is also looking into the question of whether a second group backing the Tisch proposal also ran afoul of the reporting law. The Tisch campaign could be fined $10 per day for'every day up to 0, days thatthey-arelatein filing the state'nmrt of organizattn Thomas saidL 'Afte'30 days, failur' to ' file 'becomes a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. THE SAME penalties apply to the annual statement except that failure to file after 30 days also carries a possible jail term of up to 90 days, Thomas said. The decision on whether to prosecute for the misdemeanor would be left in the hands of the local prosecuting at- torney, according to state officials. "Hell no, I don't think we're in violation," Tisch said. "This isn't anything political - it's constitutional. I defy anybody to tell me this is political." "I think this law is going to be used now to subvert the will of the people," he said. "If we're supposed to file we'll be filing when my attorneys say we should be filing," he added, however. Coach Chuck Knox has won Western Divisio-i titles in the National. Con- ferenceof the National Football League in'eech oft is-firstfveyearsi slkpper of theLas.Angeles Rams: .