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Thelonious Monster: Lame Parodies
Thelonious Monster
Next Saturday Afternoon
Relativity
There's probably a place for a
band like Thelonious Monster. I
suppose if you have a great sense of
humor and are not easily annoyed
by self-conscious parodies, then
you could really get into Next
Saturday Afternoon. Parts of it are
hard to resist. But in the end, this
LP tries so hard to be cute and hip
in an obnoxious kind of way, that
all it succeeds at being is
obnoxious.
Take all the '70s commercial
rock send-ups. Part boogie, part
hard rock, they're very good
musically but about as trite as the
band's overindulgent attempts to
show how mundane life is - blah,
blah, blah. "Michael Jordan" finds
vocalist Bob Forrest whining about
watching The Odd Couple and
basketball. On "Pop Star" our
heroes play scorching A.O.R. riffs
while an onlooker shouts "What
gives?"
They also do a near perfect Led
Zep take-off on, you guessed it,
"Swan Song" with their own Zep-
like guitar lines and lyrics to
match. Sure all this slop is worth a
good laugh - especially when the
playing is so good - but Next
Saturday Afternoon really plays
like a joke that's gone on way too
long.
It's kind of sad that Thelonious
Monster has become such a lame
musical types, the first side being
the more relaxing, and the second
carrying the hardcore and industrial
bands.
As for Viva Umkhon to!,
nothing terribly bad can be said, but
it just doesn't carry the bulk of
quality material that Soweto does.
Most of the bands from the States
carry the pleasurable music on this
record, but most of the foreign
bands are hurting. The only quality
foreign cut is "Frustrated" by SCA.
Their crunching guitars and
merciless vocals pair up for a gift
from heaven among their foreign
vinyl mates.
The best performance by far on
this album is a song called "Feel
Like That" by Scream. The clearest
way to compliment this melodic
masterpiece is to say that it is
typical Scream. With straight
forward lyrics backed by power
wielding guitar and drums, this
song is highly comparable to both
"This Side Up" and "A No Money
Down" of Scream's This Side Up
LP.
The fun doesn't stop with the
music, either. Both albums come
complete with magazines that
contain everything from political
satires about the police state of
South Africa to censored news
clippings from South African
newspapers.Whether or not these
compilations actually will benefit
the South African cause is up in the
air, but they are definitely worth
getting hold of for the music.
-Robert Flaggert
Continued from Page 8
craft. President Reagan didn't
almost destroy the world by trying
to nuke Khaddafi.
American gays are not re-settling
in Queensland, Australia. George
Bush has not kicked off his
Presidential. campaign by
announcing that he will be a
passenger on the next shuttle flight.
Bill Cosby, similarly has not
kicked off a presidential campaign
at all, nor has Frank Gifford staked
a claim on the Vice-Presidency, but
maybe if Bill throws his hat in the
ring...
Medical researchers have not
invented a treatment which zaps
paralysis and allows paraplegics to
walk again. Woody Allen has not
made Amy Carter the Mia Farrow
of the '80s. I wonder who's most
relieved. Mia? Amy? Woody? The
veiwing public?
Japanese businessmen have not
publicly offered to buy Ohio and
turn rusting old mill towns into
bustling centers of activity.
Personally, I'd be willing to pay
them to take the place off
America's hands, especially Toledo.
Top scientists have not used
gene-splicing techniques to create a
bizarre animal that sucks up raw
sewage and converts it to food for
humans, largely, I suspect, because
Wayne Newton has refused to
supply the needed tissue samples.
CBS did not dump Dan Rather for
iane Sawyer in June. An ederly
Arizona widow did not discover
- $250,000 worth of Spanish gold
coins dating from the 1600s.
The last one I'm not sure
about...a southern state may have
introduced a mandatory jail sentence
for first offenders, and started taking
their licences for a full year, but I
don't think so.
Even if Sophia was right on that
one, and we give her partial credit
on the Dan Rather thing, that
makes her right on only 1.4 of
thirty-three predictions. And she
was way off on most of these, not
even close.
And let's face it, that's too bad.
Once the Iran-Contra hearings ended
summer got pretty boring. Given
the option, I'd rather live in a world
with Bigfeet, the Ghost of Elvis,
and sewage-suckers. Better luck
next year, Countess.
INTERVIEW
Continued from Page 8
D: How long has it been that
you've played solo?
B: Well, I dabbled a bit in it ever
since I first started playing because
of the kind of music I play. I could
always play by myself but I wasn't
that good at it....It's really a hard
thing to learn you know. A lot of
good piano players you hear in blues
bands still can't play by themselves.
It's a hard thing to learn how to do
and to do well but that's the best
thing to happen to my
musicianship. I really learned how to
play when I had to out to gigs
where no one knew me and play for
three hours.
D: Is that when you started to go
by Mr. B.?
B: No, I was known as that from
Steve seven, eight years ago. He just
started calling me that on stage and
it just hung on me. At first it was
just.a ha-ha-ha but then people
started calling me that and when I
made my first record I had to decide,
and I decided to do it. A couple of
times after that I've had my doubts
and thought about just using my real
name but the further you get into it,
the harder it is to get out. It's what
people know me as, plus I find
people really enjoy that. So if they
think of it in a friendly way then I'm
happy with it.
D: Was is it a big influence on
you when you went to Chicago and
met those guys?
B: Absolutely. And not just
musically but in a real personal way
because some of the guys that I got
close to I found out were wonderful
guys and I just loved hanging out
with them and talking to them,
watching the way they carried
themselves. It was a great way to
learn directly. That has helped my
musicianship rise above a level that
it may have stayed at otherwise. To
go directly and learn how to play
things from these guys.
D: Who were some of the guys
you got real close to?
B: Little Brother Montgomery,
Blind John Davis, and Sunnyland
Slim were the main three guys.
D: Were they receptive to you?
B: Alwa At very first Little
Brother was a little distant. I looked
him up in the phone book and just
gave him a call. Of course he had
never heard of me but I said "Can I
please come over?" He was a little
reticent and then he finally said,
"Yeah, come on over." So I did and
we played and we were having such a
good time that he called up
Sunnyland Slim right then and said,
"Man you got to hear this guy
play," because I used to play quite a
lot in the style of Sunnyland Slim
back then. He came over and we sat
around for like three hours, the three
of us playing. I made a friendship
with those guys and would go back
frequently to see them. When they
saw that I was really sincere and
not...
They, I think, appreciated how
sincere I was, that I was trying to
learn. I didn't come off like I knew it
all. I was really anxious to ask them
to help me and when they could see I
was sincere about that, they were
really into helping me. Little
Brother helped me alot. He'd break
things right down. I'd stand over his
shoulder and say "Oh could you
show me this?" and he'd go right
through his tunes and show me.
Probably the greatest compliment
to me ever was this guy named Jim
Standefore...went to Chicago to
interview Little Brother and he was
playing my record in his house. He
told me that and I thought it was
really nice. Really nice.
&
Thelonious Monster: Their schtick wears thin this time around.
parody band. I really liked these
guys when they were a seven-piece,
four-guitar rock band that ripped off
the blues and sounded like they
were all completely insane. Maybe
they oughtta take back the two
guitarists they dumped for this
major-minor label release because
their debut LP Baby... You're
Bumming My Life Out in a
Supreme Fashion was a real find.
But nothing sums this record up
better than the band's own tune,
"Looking to the West." Forrest
drones on about how few good
bands there are these days, unlike
the Kiss and Led Zeppelin we were
all weaned on, and claims, "Music
used to mean so much to
me/doesn't mean that much to me
no more." Talk about shooting
yourself in the foot.
- Beth Fertig
Various Artists
Remember Soweto, 76-86,
Bullets Won't Stop Us
Now
Mordam Records
Two benefit compilations, 21
groups, and a seemingly unending
barrage of songs. Harsh? Boring?
Tiring? Suprisingly enough, both
of these comps are quite enjoyable,
each containing a number of
interesting songs and some very
talented artists.
Soweto is definitely the better
of the two, sporting music from
easy- listening jazz ditties such as
"Destroy Apartheid" by Deezo and
the Bananabeats and "Sobantu" by
Lebombo, to the likes of hard-
core/heavy metal crossover
Neuroot, to an industrial cut by
Z'ev. The album is split up by
S'
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512 k, S
20 MB
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Various Artists
Viva Umkhonto!
Hill Street Forum
Dennis Wolfberg
Comedian
Sunday
November 15
8pm
MainStreet Comedy Showcase
Celebration
David Broza
Folk Singer
Wednesday
January 20
8pm
Lydia Mendelsohn Theatre
Willy Schwarz & Miriam Sturm
Jewish Music Around the World
Saturday
February 13
8pm
Michigan League
I
MAC IN THE MORNING
...{.::-: .:'.. ::}.. 2}d:n.. i.v.......C; j . ".. .
;:: :;:: '}} - '...
MAC IN THE EVENING
MAC AROUND THE CLOCK
kinko's
OPEN 24 HOURS
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ANN ARBOR
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761-4539
T-- 1-1; .;--, --a- --A - a-.4.4
Dennis Wotfbergis one of the finest comic Top israeli singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Singing in seven languages,
talents performing today. He has appeared Winner of Israel's King David Award for best playing on twelve intriguing instruments, they
on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David male voaht and performance. Broza sings in offer audiences a musical odyssey ranging
letterman and at some of the top comedy Hebrew, English and Spanish. We have from the soulful doina. of Romania to the
lubs on both coasts.. It will be screamingly brought him back for all who want to enjoy shepherd's pipe of the Gobi desert, from the
cunnyevening oewshhumor his talents again, mystics of Safad to the Yiddish theatre
Order Form ' 'Celebration
Return to Hill Street Forum-Hillel, 339 E. Liberty, Please send me:
Ann Arbor, Mi 48104 '
Makechecks payable to Hill Street Forum.
' x $22',
NameI series tickets
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Ot- - I-- I- - - - I- --. .-- -
Sunday, October 4th
1:00-5:00 p.m.
Hosted by
Ann Artor
2900 Jackson Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI
Photography Slide Show
Meet the Wedding Professionals
1:30, 2:30, and 3:30
Display Booths " Door Prizes
Musical Entertainment
For information &
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Kathy Van Buren
662-6162
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4
PAGE 4 WEEKEND/SEPTEMBER 25, 1987
WEEKEND/SEPTEMBER 25, 1987
PAGE 9
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