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ARTS
Thursday, December 2, 1982
The Michigan Daily
Page 7
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C...ruisin'
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All your favorite local
bands on one album
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By Ben Ticho
(Drum roll, please)
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AND NOW, direct from Joe's Star
Lounge in beautiful downtown Ann
Arbor, Michigan, what you've been
waiting breathlessly for, this town's fir-
st compilation album, a chance to hear
your fav local band live on record, a
chance for said local band to get heard
outside, maybe break out of this
musical wasteland into promise,
popularity, and prosperity. It's the Ann
Arbor Music Project Cruisin' Ann Ar-
bor show !
Yes, and a fine little Whitman sam-
pler it is, too. Such a diverse selection of
sweets, from country and blues to the
latest styles and fashions. Something
for everyone, as designed by AAMP
founders, who hope the album will
spark interest in local groups by larger,
perhaps national organizations. Two
thousand copies are set to hit the stores
today, in and around Ann Arbor,
Detroit, and all over the place.
The sound quality is, by and,-large,
quite good for a live recording. Master
mixer Tom Bray deserves high com-
mendation for overcoming crowd noise,
general commotion, and the Star
Lounge's (ahem) difficult acoustics
during the four-day fest this Septem-
ber. Here's a brief rundown on what
you'll get when you pick up your copy:
George Bedard and the Bon-
nevilles-"What a Shame"
A fine introduction to Ann Arbor's
country/rock tradition. While not
terribly adventurous, "What a Shame"
is solid, pointing up the absence on
Cruisin' of talented local R&B men
Steve Nardella and Dick Siegel.
The Blue Front Persuaders-"Up
Yer Nose"
Bray's best work: Steve Wethy's
playful piano leaps out into one of the
happiest drug songs I've heard. Charlie
Tysklind puts the sax in his mouth to
make "Up Yer Nose" a rip-snorting
earful indeed.
Urbations-"Surf Board Baby"
Beach music in Ann Arbor? The Urbs
take to the' Main Street waves with
multi-sax section wailing away. "Surf
Board Baby" is a new song with in-
fluences stretching way back before the
Wilson brothers.
Ragnar Kvaran-"Cookies for
Breakfast"
Not the most appropriate selection
from Ragnar Kvaran's ample and
diverse all-original selection.
"Cookies" is a short, minimalist vocal
solo by Kvaran which fails to capitalize
on the group's powerful guitar playing.
Steve Newhouse-"Mama Brought
Me Up";
Ann Arbor country! Aw, those steel
guitars and hittin' the bottle wailers
always get me in the . . . somewhere.
Newhouse milks "Mama" for all she's
worth, and the suction yields smooth
results. On the other hand, Newhouse
himself admits that "playing in these
dingy bars just might be my destiny."
Peter Madcat Ruth with Jason
Boekeloo-"Watchin the World Go
By"
Cruisin's most comfortable (and
longest) track is laid back work by a
very human and musically self-assured
Madcat. His kalimba background, with
Boekeloo's bass, bring an African taste
to typically masterful harmonica blues.
Non Fiction-"Walkie Talkie"
A very overlooked band, considering.
Vocalist Larry and bassist Ben Miller
are twins doubling your pleasure with
creative noise. "Walkie Talkie" is a
grating, fraternal dialogue.
VVT-"The Easy Way"
VVT was fortunate enough to get the
best performance from their show on
record, and it's my personal favorite on
Cruisin'. "The Easy Way" combines a
strong bass line with guitar harmonics
and cynical Talking Heads style lyrics.
SLK-"Window Dressing"
Art Brownell's vocals come out better
than most, but "Window" doesn't move
like Slic does normally. Also, not a ska
song, which has plusses and minuses
for a popular band whose greatest suc-
cesses herd 'em onto the dance floor.
Cult Heroes-'"'Lexington"
The sound fades in and out of this
punkish piece sung by Hiawatha Bailey
who wrote it in a federal prison ins
Lexington. Good instrumental work
It Play-"The Tunnel of Love"
I'm not going to tease them anymore
about Dr. Rhythm who really does .a
capable job on this very tight
anatomical trip to the tunnel.
Mike Gould and the Gene Pool
Band-"All Messed Up anrd
Nowhere to Go"
Therspace man has a potent sense of
humor. The vocals sound urgent but
brittle.
_ _ --N
- --
'Cruisin' Ann Arbor,' Ann Arbor's first compilation album, is available at
many local record stores.
Records
Yazoo- 'Upstairs At
Eric's' (Mute/Sire)
The name Yazoo is probably un-
familiar to most people in this country
at the moment, although the band enjoy
considerable popularity and critical
acclaim in Britain; their two successful
singles "Don't Go" and "Only You" are
both included on this debut album.
An unlikely looking and sounding
duo-Vince Clarke on keyboards and
Genevieve Alison (Alf) on vocals-at-
tempt to blend a stretching, historic
tradition of earthy R&B singing with
the new '80s electro-pop technology.
When this works; at its best on the
opening track "Don't Go" or the minor
U.S. hit "Situation" the result is a song
of immense energy and vitality,
together with a borad emotional and
expressive range that continues
throughout the album-from the bub-
bling danceability of "Situation" or
"Bad Connection," to the heartfelt
anger of "Goodbye Seventies"-"I'm
glad we don't hear you any more/I'm
tired of fighting in your fashion war."
There's also the sadly reflective
melancholy of a song like "Winter
Kills"-a beautifully sung vocal that
calls to mind Billie Holiday's "Lover
Man" or "Gloomy Sunday."
If there is a fault with this LP it would
have to be the (rare) instances that
suggest the two styles have not yet
combined as effectively as they could.
Vince Clarke's rambling electronic ex-
perimentation on "I Before E except af-
ter C" for instance falls headlong into
the same eclectic jumble as bands like
Cabaret Voltaire, or the early Human
League albums. Occasionally too
there's the criticism of the basic ryth-
mic patterns being overly sparse and
simplistic. "In My Room" on side one is
almost totally dominated by the
familiar metallic rap of an electronic
drum machine.
There is no doubt however, that
Clarke can write a good melody-"Only
You" and "Too Pieces" being the most
memorable amongst this collec-
tion-and looking at the album as a
whole there are many reasons to be op-
timists about the future of the duo, once
they have reconciled their basic dif-
ferences and idiosyncracies into a
common direction that can borrow
freely from the two influences-but
hopefully not fall back into the musical
or lyrical cliches of either.
Their commencial potential has
already been proved in Europe, but if
recently (surprisingly) successful ban-
ds like The Human League and Soft Call
can have chart records over here, then
there is no reason why Yazoo, with their
wonderfully unpredictable and original
talent should not do the same.
MICHIGAN ECONOMIC
SOCIETY
Wine and Cheese Party
and
Students and Faculty
Mass Meeting
Thurs., Dec. 2nd 4-6 pm
101 Lorch Hall
Transcripts reveal discrepancies
FOR YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING CONVENIENCE,
OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 9:00 P.M., SATURDAY 'TIL 6:00 P.M.
in 'Twilight Zone'
in
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A special ef-
fects expert says he warned a movie
director not to put explosives in a hut
during filming of a Vietnam War scene,
shortly before actor Vic Morrow and
two children were killed by a falling
helicopter.
But despite the warning, explosives
were detonated, flinging debris
that severed the rotor of the helicopter,
according to transcripts of an in-
vestigation of the crash.
Morrow, 53, My-a Dinh Le, 7, and
Renee Chen, 6, were killed in the July 23
accident during the filming of the
movie version of the old "Twilight
Zone" television series.
Special effects coordinator Paul St-
ewart sasy he warned director John
Landis that planting explosives in a
building "might blow something
away."~
But other film crew members told in-
vestigators from the National Tran-
sportation Safety Board they heard
Stewart ordering the charges placed in
the hut after Landis and Stewart
discussed the matter.
The interviews are contained in more
than 600 pages of NTSB transcripts
made available to the Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, which published ex-
cerpts Wednesday.
Landis told investigators, "When a
stunt man says to yu, 'This is too
dangerous,' or a pilot says 'I cannot do
this,' which happens a lot, you then say,
'OK, we've got to think of something
else.'
vestiga tion
Landis never specifically denies
telling Stewart to put explosives in the
hut, nor does he deny ordering the
helicopter to fly lower, as other wit-
nesses allege, although he says he does
not recall the helicopter order.
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