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ARTS
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Saturday, September 10, 1983
The Michigan Daily
Musical fun with James Lee
By Jim Boyd
W HAT'S IN A name? Bobby Earle
James and Carter Randall Todd
are fictitious musicians but I'll bet that
you can tell me what kind of music they
play anyway. Innocuous, noncommital
type stuff. Their "comfortable" names
tip you off. You can mix 'em and match
I I
'em and you always get the same thing
- kind of like their music. Introducing
James Earle... er ... Bobby James
. . . They're hard to remember and
usually for good reason.
But James Lee Stanley, who is
playing at the Ark Sunday night, is
much more than another musician with
three first names. He is a sensitive, in-
sightful, witty performer of the first or-
der.
One would typify his music as maybe
folk - funk? I mean it's hard to say.
He's a little bit James Taylor and a lit-
tle bit B.B. King. His style has even
been described as being that of a
"mellowed Elton John." Elton never
exactly bit the heads off of pigeons but I
guess I know what they mean.
Stanley (or James) plays the guitar
like James Taylor and the piano like
Elton John and he sings better than
both of them. The instrumentation is
basic but the sound is very
sophisticated. He is adept at the con-
struction of intricate progressions and
it leaves his music with little trace of
cliche.
He does the rock 'n roll thing and he
does the love song thing but that's not
all! He's also very funny, spicing up his
act with jocular dialogue. His goal is to
put the audience perfectly at ease and
he achieves it with great style. He is a
I
ANN 1ARBORFJ7
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i
r
INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
5th Ave oft berty 761-9700
$2.00 WED, SAT, SUN SHOWS TIL 6pm
4th & FINAL WEEK
NO BOOZE!
NO SMOKING!
RODNEY
- DANGERFIEILD
EA$7
.......... M ONEY
(R)
MON-7:30, 9:40
SAT. SUN-1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:40
/2
OnCe
ant
Theatre
Studio
711 N. University, Ann Arbor MI 48104
relaxed professional who possesses a
very polished style and manner.
Okay, so he's not a big name, at least
not yet. The great thing though, is that
one gets the feeling that he's confident
enough to not really care about that.
It's no fun to be at a smallish concert
and feel as though the performer is only
doing this to pay his dues on the way to
Madison Square Garden. James Lee
Stanley doesn't let you think that for a
minute.
Another good thing about this concert
is that it's being held at the Ark. The
Ark is an experience in and of itself and
really shouldn't be missed. It might not
be for you but one should definitely not
pass up the chance to go. It is a relaxed
atmosphere and probably the ideal set-
ting in which to see this very able per-
former.
Attention.
Interested in testing your skills as a
thespian? The University Players will
hold auditions for Spell #7 by Ntozake
Shange Monday September 12, 6-10
p.m. Call backs are Tuesday, Septem-
ber 13, 6-10 p.m. All auditions and call
backs will be held in the New Trueblood
Arena in the Frieze Building.
Aspiring actors should prepare a two-
minute monologue either from the play
or from another dramatic or poetic
theater piece. . Sign-up sheets for
audition times are posted on the first
floor of the Frieze Building across from
the Arena. Performances are planned
for October 19-23 in the Power Center.
Scripts are available for study at the
Professional Theatre Program, 763-
5213.
DETROIT AREA 3RD
PHOTO FLEA MARKET
& TRADE SHOW
Live Model Photo Session
New-Used Photo Equipment
Buy-Sell-Trade - FREE APPRAISALS
" Sat., Sept. 10, 10 am-5 pm
50C Sun., Sept. 11, 10 am-4 pm
DEARBORN CIVIC CENTER
D his Ad Wih U (corner of GreenfielId)
........s 15801 MI Ave., Dearborn
313/884-2242
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4
James Lee Stanley will perform a little bit of musical fun Sunday night at the
Ark.
M'oustapha Akkad presents
Gerard Depardieu
Nathalie Baye
in
The Return Of
Marin
G uerre
For a current schedule oftthese and other classescal995-4242
Records -
The Rockats -'Make
That Move' (RCA)
The Rockats aren't rockabilly
newcomers. They've been around at
least as long as that other cat band, the
Stray Cats, and bassist Smutty Smiff's
tatoos have been around longer than the
S-Cats' (he's got more, too).
Like the Stray Cats, the Rockats
spent some time in England, where lead
singer Dibbs Preston comes from.
Unlike the Stray Cats, the Rockats have
changed since their original concep-
tion, mainly in the personnel depar-
tment, once upon a time being Levi and
the Rockats, and once upon another
time having ex-New York Doll Jerry
Nolan as a drummer. Also unlike the
Stray Cats, the Rockats have not gained
tremendous popularity:
So, not getting the fame and fortune
sought after, the Rockats have done a
little experimenting, straying from the
straight rockabilly style. As a con-
sequence, things have gotten a bit
thickly produced. Even more distur-
bingly, keyboards (and not good old
Jerry Lee rockin' pianos) have been
implemented.
The full disastrous results can be
heard on side one of the six-song "mini
LP," rendering exactly half the songs
useless. Smokey Robinson's "One More
Heartache" gets an interesting treat-
ment, but overall, side one sounds a lot
like MTV.
Side two rocks perfectly enough,
though. Things speed up, the drums
become more than just a dance beat,'
and the cats get enthusiastic with "Go
Cat Wild," Much much difference now
felt.
"Never So Clever," an original, is the
best of the record. A great Misfits-like
choral "oh oh oh uh-uh ohhh" is what
really makes it. The stand-up bass' line.
helps.
"Make That Move,"' another written
by band members, is all right, but they
aren't making that move quick enough
vocally. The sound is just too big to
keep up.
Make That Move seems to be a con-
fusing record for the Rockats. They're
still able to put out music as cool as
"Room to Rock," but it might be that
they don't want to.
- Joe Hoppe
MON-7:25, 9:30
SAT, SUN-
:10, 3:15, 5:20; 7:25, 9:30
:
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STARTS FRI 19/ 16
"PUBERTY BLUES" (R)
Bleak
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17
EPA tests
oftfi1ials say
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staffs need you!
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