-W w -W 'U U 7W Imp lq ................': ii'~>:2ii>"3t iu: : S:::: ::^i:L4?i>::"ii: : r.. .-f..: .....::rv w:rv:: "". ..... ....:...........: ":v:: r.".......... .x... .. .. .N :. .. r.. ..r.:....:::::r.v:.vy{.v.;."{:.i-.;:.:v:.v::::::::. : ::_: :" :y: :::; v.:ri:4r"; ..::... ....... rr... ... . . :......:......r ........-.... ....: ...,r ... .... .u .. r.... .... .... .. .... F-r :. -...... r.. r .. r. ... .... r:: r .....:v... v..:... r.... r... ......... r .. r. . r r v... .. .. F........ r. :. r}..... ..... ......l ........ ..... ..........:. :...... ..: .... :ir.... ..... .w rr .. r. r. ... ...... r.... :::-::: :w-:":::::: r.":": :".:... r:::x:::::::ry::::: :,::v:: ....; ...y..::.:.:.:., .. . ... .. ..,.. x.... .. ..... :... .. : ......,. ........ x. vi... r .f. r. .. ........... r.w..vn ...,,:..::->i>i: i>: .::::"::.v.::"::"::::.ipw::::::::: ..,. r.......:r........ .. . .. ......... r.... r ............:. ..... r .. r.. .:... r. . ...... Fr.:. r. : r..: r r. r.. .v .. . .. ... .. .... ... .. ..... r ............... ..... ... a .. ...::....... ................. r..............r...............r......k....:....r:.. :r ....:..... ...F.r..... .:..:..r..:.......................r...:..r....r.....................:r...... .:. .r: rr..r r.r.r........:::::::::--._:::::::,,"::r::::::":.:.....::":. ":::"". ::::::: ".vr::,ry;v4:rrrrfirrr...r..........:.....n ...........:. x....v. r............ ............. ........:......:......,F......r .:..r........xriF.'..r.f.......d$.Ff...S.......................r..r..................... v.......... r.............. .:: ......: ..+rF.r.:,:. ,Jr:.r.,..r},,..:n:{vF,":::.w::.v::.:........::................................., x...........,:.,...:., :,..: :::: :-:. .............,. Cllff hanger By Philip Lawes Special CBS JIMMY CLIFF is a special case. The surprising commercial success of the Jamaican feature film, The Harder They Come catapulted him into the in- ternational spotlight, making him the first reggae star of any real significan- ce outside the island. The tremendous advantage in visibility Cliff derived from the film seemed to guarantee him the dominant position in the emerging music, the Prime Minister of Reggae, if you will. Of course, Cliff never maintained this position for any meaningful length of time. After the success of the singles "The Harder They Come" and "Many Rivers To Cross," he was quickly sur- passed by The Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, Burning Spear, et al., on the Jamaican and international stages. Cliff's musical talents have never equalled his acting abilities. Con- sequently, he has failed to develop any unique voice or distinctive persona musically. Marley is the firebrand prophet. Tosh the rudeboy bon vivant. Burning Spear, didactic rootsman. Toots Hibbert, James Brownsian shaman. Jimmy Cliff has alwasy been undefinable, non-committal. Constan- tly wavering between styles, his albums have always been composed of whatever was happening in reggae at the time, from simple good-time songs to gloomy quasi-militant world views. In any case, his vocal and musical delivery are consistently unconvincing. Special, Cliff's latest album, is distressingly typical of previous effor- ts. The songs range from the banal to a couple of unsatisfying near-misses. In no case do they ever come close to being memorable or merely good. Here Cliff displays three problems which combine to keep this album, like the majority of his work, firmly imbed- ded in mediocrity. Firstly, it is difficult to find words which accurately describe his lyrics: childish, simple-minded, banal, come to mind. Most of the things he attempts to say here have been said before, and more articulately. This album's songs are characterized by simplistic, predic- table couplets, repeated ad nauseum. On the basis of the eight songs for which he is credited here, (out of a total of eleven), one is forced to conclude that Jimmy Cliff is not a songwriter. Secondly, Cliff is accompanied by a group of musicians of proven capabilities, but who on this record seem to be resting up between impor- tant recording dates. The rhythm sec- tion seems totally enervated, playing with an unaccustomed lethargy which probably indicates a significant lack of interest in what they were doing. Sticky Thompson's percussion and Ranchi McLean's bass have seldom ever been so muted. There is also a horn section which sounds sappy and flat. Simply no musicianship of any real merit (this in- cludes Sly Dunbar's sitting in on one cut) is displayed on this album. Thirdly, Cliff's straining, limited tenor leaves a great deal to be desired. This criticism goes beyond merely liking or disliking the voice-Cliff sim- ply refuses to sing with any particular conviction or expressiveness. The case can be made that the quality of the vocals is limited by the material, but in almost every case, the singer is also the songwriter. The singer consistently misses the mark, though in unpredictable ways. On "Love Heights," a song about orgasmic passion, it is not unreasonable to expect an exuberant delivery. Evidently, Cliff disagrees. On "Originator" (which comes close to approximating the rootsy Rastafarian sound instrumentally) he employs a plaintive, somewhat effeminate tenor which is totally inappropriate for the song. Since lyrics, vocals and music are substandard on this record, the whole reason for releasing it is a rather elusive one to pinpoint. I have narrowed the possibilities down to these two: it Pizza p arlour By Diane Pawlowski Cottage Inn 512 E. William Hours: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Monday- Saturday, noon-1 a.m. Sunday T WENTY YEARS ago, George Pet- ropoulos delivered pizza to Univer- sity dorms. "Oh, I really remember West Quad. In those days we didn't wait at the front desk. We ran up and down those stairs and spent a lot of time wandering in those halls finding the correct room," Petropoulos says. Today, West and South Quad residen2 ts still buy pizza from Petropoulos, even though they don't realize it., Petropoulos together with Nick Mc- Michos and Sam Roumanis own the Cottage Inn. On a Saturday night, when a group of students wander out to cure a critical case of The Munchies, those who have been in Ann Arbor for more than one semester suggest the Inn. This repor- ter, returning from a study session, tags along. At the Inn, there is no wait for a table. However, after the order is placed, someone moans, "We'll have to wait a half hour for pizza." "If we do, it's worth it,", a second ad- ds. A third joins in, "Hey, look, there is only one place I know where you can get better pizza-Chicago." The pizza arrives sooner than anyone expected. Everyone is surprised at its size, the quality, and the amount of the cheese as well as the way in which the waitress remembers who requested which item on which half of what pizza. Everyone settles down, ingesting both the pizza and the easy, cheerful comfort of friends. There aren't many superlatives passed around. They aren't needed. The restaurant is evaluated quickly, with nods and smiles of approval. Before they leave, there is almost an understanding that everyone will return again-with the group or on their own. Lisa Grossman, Inn manager says, "We still get customers who have been here 20 years ago. They remember the Inn as a small campus hangout. When they are in town for football games or a homecoming weekend, they come to eat here. This is a regular, recognizable crowd. "There is a sense of continuity, also, between people who once were students and who now bring their kids, who are now students at the university, here to eat.Jtbecomes something of a school and family tradition," Grossman says. The Inn has come a long way from its modest, diner-like beginnings. Opened in the early fifties, the Inn is reputed to be Ann Arbor's first pizza place. Petropoulos worked here at the time as a busboy. The Inn changed hands in 1954 and in 1961, Petropoulos and his partners purchased the Inn. "It was just a one room restaurant then. There were 65 seats. Just a nor- mal pizza place," he recalls. Today, the Inn is composed of three .. .......... ......... ..... ...::. :.v.,w;::s":: :.. x.rw:r?%"N>: }i:":K"i ":4 ::}'rr:3:s\.4'nWiCv'i}:?+ {v:f7..... iSS}:.5ifffi.'{i 4: Cottage Iin: Cheezing it different rooms in addition to its basement annex, The Cellar. In ad- dition, a carry-out branch is located on Hill and Packard. The Inn also has three branches at locations on Washtenaw, Broadway, and Stadium. 'At the E. William location, a medium pizza is priced at $6.25. A luncheon special of homemade chowder or minestrone plus a salad and fruit costs $2.45. The menu lists a number of Italian dinners such as lasagne, ravioli, veal scallopini, linguini, or manicotti. Hamburgers, side dishes such as Greek meat balls, homemade garlic bread or cottage fries plus a number of san- dwiches and dinners such as chicken or shish kebab are offered. Petropoulos recommends Apple Mountain for dessert. For $1.33, the customer receives a hot, spiced apple mixture ladled over vanilla ice cream and cake, an cream. The d to hot apple pi no crust. Over the developed wh successful res best ways to 1 want is to spec he says. "I as What they tho they thought w "Also, we t quality ingred only dairy pro a very good people who ha pizza. We war that is not disg "We want equivalent of That is our goa Jimmy Cliff: Nothing special was released as a challenging marketing exercise for Columbia executives, or it is intended to serve as a sort of musical McGuffey's Reader for new reggae initiates. The latter possibility is supported by the inclusion of the Roots Reggae imitation ("Originator"), the ersatz dance-party tune ("Rub a Dub Partner"), and the. approximation of a skank tune ("Love Heights") among the near-misses in this package. Possibly the record com- pany will prescribe listening to this for a few weeks before moving up to the real thing. Special may serve an initial introduc- tion to reggae for those countless suburbanites the record companies are always trying to reach, though it may turn off more ,people than it actually converts. However, for those who ex- pect real reggae from him, Jimmy Cliff, as he is wont to do, disappoints. A . M. ..m._ i rb m p ARTHENON GYROS pistudf Ann Arbor's Newest Korean Restaurant K ANA STUDENT 10% OFF SPECIAL STUDENTS ONLY Bul Ko Ki Bar-B-Q Sandwich 2.80 VI Gold dust, By Mike Belford Love Over Gold Dire Straits Warner Bros. L OVE OVER Gold-the fourth Dire Straits album, and one that sees them unswervingly pursuing the main- stream current of American Adult- Oriented-Rock that formed the basis of their last album Making Movies. The first LP, Dire Straits, and parts of the second had the sincereity that comes from bands struggling to climb onto the rock merry-go-round, but now that they're actually there the band don't appear to be willing to take risks any more, and seem content to merely 6 Weekend/November 5,.1982. relax and let the wheels carry them around. Love Over Gold opens with the four- teen minute long "Telegraph Road," a rambling mess of a song that all but tells the history of the world from beginning to (predicted) end, with the lyrics painting a dewey-eyed picture of the individual caught in the middle. In fact this familiar struggle and final disillusionment of the individual in a changing society seems to be the cen- tral theme of the album, but it's ddne in such a predictable and ham-fisted manner than only rarely do the songs manage to carry themselves off adequately. - Some of Bob Dylan's lyricisms must have rubbed off on Mark Knopfler during their recent musical collaboration, with "Industrial Disease" on side two being little more than a modern day reworking of "Sub- terranean Homesick Blues." Although the words are sometimes amusing, they generally fall back into the familiar cliches; and in any case I'd have hoped that Dire Straits, in their current finan- cial position were amongst the least well qualified to write about working industrial British society. What rescues the album from com- plete AOR mediocrity, of course, is the guitar playing of Mark Knopfler him- self. On either electric or acoustic guitar he's always original and in- novative once he manages to break out from the rest of the band's lumbering rock beat. "Private Investigations," one of the album's better tracks, features a delicate sprinkling of flanged guitar over slow melodic keyboards and restrained percussion. No coincidence that it's probably the track with the fewest lyrics. The title song is another highlight of guitar and piano combination, with John Ilselely switching to upright bass and drummer Pick Withers providing a steady unhurried backseat. This is probably the one song that comes closest to the smooth cruising elegance that Knopfler intended on the album; most of the others containing only snatches -of originality within a - - FINE GREEK FOOD GYROS & SHISH KABAB SANDWICHES CARRY OUT SERVICE " MON-SAT 1 1AM - 10PM SUN 12 NOON - 10PM EAT IN OR CARRY OUT--CONVENIENT TO HiL 1133 E. Huron Former location of Raja Ro R I 'I . Y + ' ' . 1 I I 1 ,,, , 24 hoursI Dire Straits: Solid Gold staid rock framework that's getting closer and more indistinguishable from the likes of Springsteen, Petty, or any one of a hundred others. Maybe now's the time for Mark Knopfler to pull out the rock race, disband Dire Straits, and finally start to record the great jazz guitar albums he's so obviously capable of doing. E MOUSAKA PASITISIO 9 DOLMADES * SPINACH PIE GREEK SALADS &PASTRIES COMBINATION PLATES CALL 94I012 226 S. MAIN at LIBERTY * ANN ARBOR 994-4846 *0 20% Disco with Student . D. * Meeting Facilities Available * All Night Study Area 2080 W. Stadium B1i olop --- I - - -- -- 7- - m I m . ~wr . w. mac " _ ili".."*!. _' ! " T .. E'_ " °_ ll Weeke -------------------