0 0 0 0 w RELEASES C i Pre-Fab Sprout-Two' Wheels Good (Epic) Affected intellectualization and un- derstatement are certainly chic these days. Led by the Windham Hill label and a throng of "new age" musicians whose work has been compared to aural wallpaper, this bland form of art has permeated the homes of yup- pies everywhere. It seems as though this trend is beginning to move into pop dimensions as well, spreading its simplistically natural good cheer as freely as an over-turned bottle of Perrier. And the Sprouts-well, they're organic too. Prefab Sprout brings their pop style into this field, latching onto the quest for intellectualism. A considerable improvement over last year's Swoon, producer Thomas Dolby has filled out the band's sparse sound (often with schlocky, tinkling noises) on Two Wheels Good and has canned much of the annoying harmonies, too. However, Wheels is a rather preten- tious attempt at sounding sophisticated-pretentious because it just tries too hard with under- statement. Songwriter Paddy McAloon feels the need to drop the names of such notables as Faron Young and George Gershwin (whom he affectionate dubs Georgie-we ar- tists stick together). Top this with lines like I'm turkey hungry,I'm chicken free which almost echoes the uptempo silliness of a Squeeze song, but sinks heavily when followed by I can't break-dance on your knee to a soft, ephemeral Aztec Camera melody. McAloon wants to be literature in pop music so badly that it hurts. Once in a while he gets atcatchy phrase in there, but usually drowns it with repetition. Some popsters who dig meaning might really get off this stuff, but not for me, I'll have a glass of sparkling water. -Beth Fertig to be a ABC-How Zillionaire (Polygram) We need a new category of popular music. We might call it "cartoon pop" because it would be flashy, trashy, and colorful. It would be the musical equivalent of a big shiny wind-up toy. We are not, however, in dire need of any perfect examples for our new category. They are all over the place. Look no further than your local record store. Specifically, peer into the bin with ABC's latest album,How to be a Zillionaire. From its cute cartoon album cover to its tinkling synthesizer line, this British group is all Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo. There's nothing wrong with that if it remains light, danceable, and clever. But the cuteness has already drained out of proper Englishmen aping Motown; it's repetitive and boring. The album is one tinkling, overblown, over-precious love song after another. How have they done it? ABC heart I still hope.. .I'm sorry to say, but I think if they don't get out before the summit, well, I don't know." In a telephone interview before the Geneva Summit talks, Tanya said, "Now is the time for action. Please do something, and ask people to do something. Tell therelevant people about Benjy's plight. It should really by stopped. You know one cannot be kept for 19 years without - you know what I mean." When asked if their was any way to help her, Tanya said she could not, "use the phone in a very direct way." She did say, however, that she feels hopeful because relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. "seem to be getting a little better." Steven Winnick, an LSA senior who visited three refusenik families last summer said, "Once they've become refuseniks, they've invested them- selves in our arms." In October, members of the student group collected 750 post cards to send to Secretary of State George Schultz and President Reagan on behalf of the refuseniks. The group will also help organize nationwide events for Inter- national Solidarity Day in February. At that time, students from all over the United States will converge in Washington to lobby for Soviet Jews. The life of most refuseniks is fraught with fear of KGB harassment. Pavel Abramovish, another of the refuseniks visited by Muchin and Roth, only joked while they were in his apartment. "He said nothing substantial," Roth said, "When we asked him what he thought of President Reagan, he joked and said, 'no comment.' It was so strange." But when Abramovich walked them out of the apartment he immediately stopped joking and told the pair that he was on a hunger strike in support of his friend, Joseph Begun, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence for teaching Hebrew. "His apartment must have been bugged, because he started talking as soon as he shut the door," Roth said. Muchin and Roth were warned about the possibility of electronic bugging before they went to Russia, and were instructed not to talk about refuseniks in their hotel room. As a result, the two wrote down potentially dangerous communications and then flushed them down the toilet. THE KGB IS omnipresent in the lives of the refuseniks. When one refusenik's children cautioned him not to speak with the Americans, he responded by saying, "the authorities know we're Jewish - if they want to find something against us, they will." When the authorities do find something, the consequences can be devastating, as in the case of Joseph Berenshtein, a refusenik whose family has been adopted by Ann Ar- bor Action for Soviet Jewry. Beren- shtein has applied for permission to leave the Soviety Union, as Sol Lach- man, vice-president of the Detroit chapter of the Soviet Jewry Education and Information Center said, "you are putting your head in the lion's mouth by applying to leave." Ann Arbor Action committee mem- ber Sergei Kan said that the official charge against Berenshtein is "physical resistance to represen- tatives of the authorities - tearing off a button from the uniform of one militiaman, and shaking down the cap of another.' Why he was arrested is unknown. Berenshtein is in danger of losing his eyesight owing to a beating he received at the hands of the inmates in a Soviet prison, according to Kan. In a report issued by the Committee of Concerned Scientists, Beren- shtein's wife Faina reported that the prison director said of Sergei's injury, "this is the first time in my life that I have seen someone cut his own eyes and face..." "I don't know what they did to him, but there is a 45 year old who looked completely healthy, and is now unrecognizeable," Faina responded. Berenshtein's story dates back to 1978, when he and his family applied to emigrate. He had tried to quit his engineering job, as did his wife Faina, also an engineer, and their daughter Yana. In 1980 Berenshtein was arrested twice, held for 15 days, and threatened with seven years im-1 prisonment for his involvement in1 Jewish studies, Kan said. Two KGB agents also told Yana that she would be raped and disfigured. On September 8, Kan spoke with Faina. "She said that she needs 'all kinds of help' because her life is 'very difficult in all respects,' Kan reported. "She asked for letters from the West." Letters from Westerners do not always get through to the refuseniks but "they serve as insurance against imprisonment and KGB harassment," said Yuri Gurevich, a Jewish Soviet expatriot and LSA computer science professor. "The government tells the Jews they don't want any noise from the West, but as long as we remind the Soviet government that we remember these poeple they will be careful. They are concerned with their public relations," said Kan, a Jewish emigre who left Russia in 1974, and is now a University anthropology professor. "Jews who apply to leave are con- sidered anti-Soviet, sadly mistaken. morally deranged, or are thought to be led by foreign agents," said Ziv Gitelman, a political science professor who has had a great deal of contact with refuseniks. "It is safest for an employer to fire anyone who applies to emigrate in or- der to be politically protected," Gitelman said. When Kan applied to emigrate, he had to leave the history department at Moscow University. "In public my friends pretended they didn't know me, although in private they were sympathetic," he said. "It is impossible to predict who will be allowed to leave - sometimes the most innocuous people are denied visas and the most active people are allowed to leave," Gitelman said. The inconsistencies exist to discourage people from applying, he added. Linda Opper, vice chairperson for the Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry, said, "Last year there was a cam- paign to silence middle-level activists to show the rest of the Jewish com- munity that no one is immune to punishment - they were hoping to break some of the people during trials so they would testify against other Jews." Opper tells a story of one young Jewish man who was gang-raped, starved, and drugged.At his trial, he plead guilty to creating anti-Soviet propagande. "He incriminated a lot of Jews," Opper said. 'A dini can lean Sov phot vide the 0 ABC: Supposedly taking a more cartoony approach to their music. has created a kiddie album for very hip toddlers. -Arona Pearlstein The Cult - "Love" (Sire) Freak me out dude. Love is all you need. In case you didn't know it's cool to be a hippie again in Britain. 'Cause love is all ya need. Love is in the trees. Love is where it's at, according to Neil look-a-like, lead singer Ian Astbury. The Cult dabble in love and all sorts of mystical shit and, oh yeah, I forgot, it's still cool in Britain to talk about and want to be an American Indian. For a while Adam Ant was giving In- dians a bad name. So now that you've got a real noble image, gotta have some music, right? How 'bout a big rock sound. A sound that recalls the Stones (not Fred and Barney) and Hendrix. Altogether it s r 3, IflK1LtA I x' I$ I Al :I;l 13 FMI LM5: at the Michigan Theater 8:00 MONDAY, DEC. 9 "DINER" (1982) Dir.-Barry Levinson A group of friends in the 1950's hang out at a Baltimore diner and discuss the problems of growing up. 8:00 TUESDAY, DEC. 10 "YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN" (1974) Dir. -Mel Brooks A finely tuned parody of old Frankenstein films. Young Fred- erick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder), a brain surgeon, goes back to Transylvania and pours over his grandfather's notebooks. 7:30 WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11 "THE GRADUATE" (1967) Dir.-Mike Nichols Post-graduate student Dustin Hoffman has affairs with both Katherine Ross and her seductive mother (Anne Bancroft), which leads to tremendous complications. Soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel. 9:30 "THE PAPER CHASE" (1973) Dir.-James Bridges A comedy-drama about pressures of freshman year at Har- vard Law School. A student's obsession with a tyrannical professor becomes complicated when the student iscovers his girlfriend is the professor's daughter. 8:00 THURSDAY, DEC. 12 "THE BIG CHILL" (1983) Dir.-Lawrence Kasdan Eight University of Michigan alumni are brought together at the funeral of a friend. The personal chemistry begins to re- activate as lives and loves, hopes and fears, are rought to a slow climax. 8:00 FRIDAY, DEC. 13 "THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO" (1985) Dir.-Woody Allen MiaFarrow, a klutzy waitress, goes to the movies to escape her husband and the Depression. Jeff Daniels portrays a movie character who walks off the screen and declares his love for her. See all these great films projected on the large screen in the historic Michigan Theater. Call 668-8397 for more information. Admission to films is $3.00 for a double bill or a single bill. Students and senior citizens $2.50. Tickets go on sale one-half hour before showtime. ' I .1 .-. 1 . ,t; . '.L " " y vr'ti' Rt "t 5 7 ti t H "jL ! rl - ql_ t 1r 4' t t f-I ARI 'V7" 1. "t iH ti h SAW a. TANYA BAGAMOLNY: Her year draining. " If you like Cookies n Cream You'll love our Mickey Sundae : Your Choice of ice cream plus : ~Oreo ears, nuts, hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry. r Corner of So. University & Church .W M W.9.9.Y .W. Take a break from your grueling study schedule Pick up an all natural snack at * air popped popcorn * buttered popcorn * caramel