ARTS
Thursday, March 19, 1980
The Michigan Doily
Page 5
,x
Hail1 to Prince:
By RJ SMITH
I've been reading some Carl Jung lately, and this is what
he says: "It is a favorite neurotic, misconception that a true
adaptation to the world can be found by giving full rein to
sexuality."
Kiss kiss, bang bang: "libido is dead, long live the new
celibacy" is the clarion call of the 80s. With Moral
Majorityniks setting the agenda for you and me, there's a
new battle being waged against carnality. It's touchier than
ever to even talk about s-e-x in certain circles-there's a war
on you know, and loose lips sink ships.
BUT NONE OF this fazes Prince. He's rewriting the book-
of love and, as his concert last Wedensday night at the Royal
Oak Theatre revealed, even in this tundra-like moral climate
people are anxious to revel in the flesh.
If you missed it, 'salright. He's going to be performing this
Friday at Eastern Michigan University's Bowen Field
House. I know, I know, it is Ypsilanti and Bowen Field House
is a bandbos (duck for the bats), but Prince is the Sex
Machine of the 1980s and if you don't to, you're gonna hate
yourself-maybe not now-but some time, in the middle of
the night, when no one will be around to let you forget..
We're talking about a major level of filth here. Prince per-
forms in black underwear, calf-high stockings and a side-
open shirt. The moment he stepped on stage at the Royal
Oak, the screams from the women in the audience set the
place trembling. When he performed "Head," he began
mid-song guitar solo by leaning closer and closer to the
damental dishonesty. The latter song, a
duet with ex-Poco member J.D.
Souther, is sufficiently listless and
bland as to guarantee that it be an MOR
hit single.
Throughout the album, Taylor's
vocals are in top form. The develop-
ment of a raw, guttural inflection gives
his voice even greater command and
versatility. Nowhere is his dynamic vir-
tuosity more spirited than in "I Will
Follow," the well-crafted crown piece
of the record.
Foregoing the obligatory saxophone
solo, "Summer's Here" and ",Stand and
Fight" feature the instrumentals of
blues-harpist Fingers Taylor.
Noeiceably absent are the familiar
harmonies of Carly Simon. Back-up,
singers David Lasley and Arnold Mc-
Culler add an awkward falsetto
funkiness to the elaborate choral
arrangements. The result sounds
something like J.T. and the Pips.
Limited by the narrow scope of his
song-writing abilities, Taylor relies on
strong vocal performance to transform
his generally mediocre material into a
more memorable and occasionally
uplifting expression.
--. ri Roth
N
1-11
Dire Straits
Dire Straits - Making Movies (War-
ner Brothers) - Dire Straits has
always been considered a very good
band, though at times this seemed to be
more an acknowledgement of their
potential than their actual output. Their
first two albums often seem very two-
dimensional; they have lots of excellent
guitar and a big beat, but not enough
real emotion. It wasn't that they didn't
try - as a matter of fact, it seemed like
Dire Straits tried too hard. The band
knew what they were looking for, but
for all their exertion, they couldn't get
to it. As a result, their albums often
have stiff, tense feeling to them.
On Making Movies, Dire Straits
finally relaxes, and suddenly that unob-
tainable magic is sitting in their laps.
Both musically and lyrically, this
album -is a real achievement - a
mature and confident record from a
very talented band.
RHYTHM GUITARIST David Knop-
fer quit the band before Movies, leaving
his brother Mark to cover both lead and
rhythm. And perhaps because Mark is
playing both parts, the guitar section as
a whole is more understated and con-
trolled. Knopfer is a great guitarist,
and he , proves it again here. The
rhythm section, particularly Pick
Wither's drumming, sounds stronger
than ever, and guest keyboardist Roy
Bittan adds an impressive elegance to
the band's sound. The overall effect is
one of strong balance; this is Dire
Straits the way they always should
sound.
Mark Knopfler's songs are a perfect
match for the revamped sound. Melodic
and driving, pretty and tough, they cap-
ture you immediately, and they don't let
go. Knopfler is as good a songwriter as
he is a musician. With an ability to
blend words and music into rich,
detailed scenes, Dire Straits truly does
make movies. Side one offers three
movies/songs of love and dreams in the
Big City. ("Romeo and Juliet" is their
best song yet). The second side turns
inward for two love songs and a great
statement of purpose ("Solid Rock")
before closing on a very strange note
with "Les Boys," an uncomfortable
cabaret number about gays, or
fascism, or something.
MANN THEATRES
VILLAGE 4
375 N MAPLE
769-1300
Daily Discount Matinees
TUESDAY BUCK DAY
y9fz
Dire Straits has been following their,
own path from their inception, and they
have avoided falling into the traps of
either formula pop or seld-indulgent
experimentation. With Making Movies,
they have made an exhiliratingly
original record. "Solid Rock" describes
it best:
I'm sick of vanity now
I'm sticking to essential reality
now.
I wanna live on solid rock.
-David Seldin
playing. "Hard Luck Fever" definitely
deserves more playing time on local
radio.
The final track, "Nothin' But
Trouble," is a decent song, but is is also
pretty bland. Although the track is not
bad, it is not the type of song that will
launch Give Away on the road to star-
dom.
For a band that is only about 18 mon-
ths old, Give Away is doing pretty well.
The playing is energetic and generally
worth listening to. It would be nice to
hear a few more harmonies and a little
more originality, but'those things may
come with more experience. This group
is not too far from the big time.
-parid Ritter'
the ann arbor
film cooperative
TONIGHT TONIGHT
presents,
THRONE
OF BLOOD
7:00 AUD. A
ONIBABA
9:00 AUD. A
Both Films in
Japanese with
subtitles.
$2 single feature
$3 double feature
The School of Music presents:
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DANCE
COMPANY
POWER CENTER
MARCH 20-22
Fri.& Sat. 8pm, Sun. 3pm
PTP Ticket Office 764-0450
Student Discount Available With ID
J
ground, finally squeezing his guitar to his crotch and strum-
ming in an even more suggestive manner.
CARL JUNG may be right-Prince is a classic pop
neurotic. Here's a man who eats contradictions for break-
fast; he's a major league soul artist who rocks like a demon,
a Minneapolis boy part Italian and part Afro-American, a sly
songwriter with a knack for lusty songs that fudge over just
which gender he's hot for. Jung, of course, would cast the
worst of aspersions on a horny little dude like Prince. But
then are you going to trust everything written by a guy who
believed in flying saucers and the I Ching?
Prince's group is as lunatic as the B-52s. Each'of the five
members of the band looks like a kernel of some other outfit.
Doctor Fink's manic "I Robot" moves behind the keyboards
would be right at home in some DEVO-styled band. The Hen-
drixoid chops of guitarist Dez, along with his dyed hair and
spandex, make him a natural for P-Funk shenanigans.
Bassist Andre is your typical soul stud, and keyboard
player/backup vocalist Lisa and drummer Bobby Z are less
defined though promising'weirdos.
THE GROUP'S variety is a perfect foil for Prince's weir-
dness. On his albums the man does all the instrumental
tracks. Seeing the show live makes one wish he'd see he's
already done the child prodigy trip several times and put the
band on plastic.
"I DON'T WANT to die/I just want to have a good time" is
the key line to Prince's anti-draft and pro-party tune "Party
Up" and it makes a .pretty good opening volley, too. To hear
such a self-confident slamming of authority from a twenty-
one year old, especially a twenty-one year old soul singer
(soul having lost in the past few years the grip on current
events it once had) is positively revelatory. "Party Up" and
"Uptown" off Dirty Mind, the latest Prince album, are as
stirring as anything off London Calling or from Jamaica
within the past year.
So look-throw a slab of meat out at the dogs tonight, so
when you wake up tomorrow they're well-fed and ready to be
hitched to the sled to take you to the wasteland of EMU. For
god's sake, don't wait for our Major Events Office to bring in
a major black pop artist. Last I heard, they were still trying
to book the Inkspots.
James Taylor
James Taylor - 'Dad. Loves His
Work' (Columbia) 'Sweet Baby
James is growing old and going bald.
How dare he? As the cover of his latest
record implies, Dad Loves His Work
presents a slightly altered image of
James Taylor, the mellow man.
Lyrically, this is one of Taylor's
stronger achievements. "Hard Times,"
"I Will Follow," and "Believe It or
Not" assert a dependency and will to
persevere which Taylor has never
previously articulated. The pithy
opening lines of "London Town": "I do
believe/I must believe/I think I can
begin again,'' proclaim his re-vitalized
sense of stability.
HOWEVER, MUCH OF the album
contains Taylor's shop-worn "I'm going
back" phraseology. Like the
biographical-personal songs of his
previous album Flag, "Only for Me"
and "Her Town Too" are the ear-sores
of their record because of their fun-
Give A way
Give Away - 'Give Away' (Give
Away) - One of the better locally
recorded 10" records to home out this
year is Give Away. While the group still
has some rough spots, they do manage
to prove one thing on their first album
- they can rock.
The album opens with "Take It
Slow." Although it is a pretty good
number, it tends to drag in the middle.
Even so, the song features a good vocal
as well as competent and clean playing.
THE NEXT TRACK, "Hard to
Believe," is the worst song on the
album. It sounds quite a bit like a4Styx
ballad. But ultimately, "Hard to
Believe" is simply too wimpy..The
vocal is also a bit overdone and it
makes the whole song sound even cor-
nier than it is.
But "Hard Luck Fever" more than
makes up for "Hard to Believe." It is a
good song by any measure, moving well
and featuring some first class guitar
the ann arbor
film cooperative
TONIGHT presents TONIGHT
Dr. Strange/vve
2, 4, 7&9
MICHIGAN THEATRE
Admission: $2
T
' ! " 1
IZ INDUWIUAt, THEATRES
ENDS TO'4GHTI
"COALMINERS DAUGHTER" (PG)
AT--7:10, 9:30
STARTS TOMORROW
WALT DISNEY
PRODUCTIONS
(PG)
BILL ELLIOT
COSSY GOULD
FRI. 7:10, 9:00
SAT. SUN.-1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:10, 9;00
WITH THIS ENTIRE AD - i
one admission $2.00 any film o nI
raa Good Mon. thn,, Thurs. Eves. mI
valid thru 3i19'81 "M"
3rd & FINAL WEEK
ACADEMY
3 AWARD
NOMINATIONS
Melvin
(and mI3.OMd) R
I
Everyone's Invited To Ann Arbor's greatest
PURIM PARTY
TONIGHT at HILLEL
(1429 Hill St.)
A CBS Theot,'&,i Fims PNesenoIno"
A MARTIN RtTT RONALD SHEDL Produaron
SALLY FIELD TOMMY LEE JONES "BACK ROADS"
Aso MsoryDAVID KEITH W An by GARY DeVORG
Myy(, by HENRY MANCINI Lyrics by ALAN -d1 MARILYN BRGMAN
Dnrecioof Phosogroy JOHN A AONZO. A Sc
Pducediby RONALD SHEDLO D-e~d by MARTIN RITT
7:30 9:30
as the day it
was written.
TESS,
PICTURES RELEASE
1:15
4:30
8:00
THURS-7:25;9:15
FRI-7:40, 9;30
ANN ARBOR THEATER
CHEAP FLICKS!
every fri. and sat.
ALL SEATS $2.00
EMMANUELE
- _ c .. ,,.:11.,.4. D d. . i n n
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