ARTS
The Michigan Daily
You
Thursday, October 8, 1987
Page 7
gotta
'look
fine
an
By Brian Bonet
Rayon, lava lamps, and the
Hollywood mock metal band Redd
Kross. All bring back memories of
the glorious '70s, a time when
cotton was a fashion taboo and
Marcia Brady was every adolescenta
girl's idol. The decade of colossal,
collars was the period many of usM
were weaned on. Too young to
understand Vietnam, we spent our
time worrying about the color of ourt
mood rings and John Travolta's next
career move.{
Upon reflection, the trends of the
'70s seem a bit silly, but that was
the beauty of a generation which '
preferred disco over Descartes. It's
the same beauty that Redd Kross
carries into the uptight, conservativeN
'80s, a band that penned a song
about Linda Blair, calls Kiss one of_
their premier influences, and starred
in the touching rock e X - They're not the Partridge Family but Redd Kross are true pet rock collectors. Left to right: Jeffrey McDonald,
pose/saga/documentary video movie Steven McDonald, Robert Hecker, and Roy McDonald.
Local author celebrates irst novel
d be]
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and
the sequel Lovedoll Superstar.
After I woke him up from an
afternoon nap, lead guitarist Michael
Hecker talked about life on the road,
The Brady Bunch, and the practical
versus aesthetic reasons for wearing
spandex.
Daily: What's the reason for the
current tour? There's no new record
you're supporting.
Hecker: There's do real support.
The back of our shirts say Chaka
Con Holly which is the concept.
Anyway, our tour is in the namesake
of Chaka of Land of the Lost fame.
We've been on the road about five or
six months out of this year. It just
like second rounds before we go
away for a half year. We'll scam
Europe or whatever we can do.
D: I've seen both of the Lovedoll
movies. Is there anything a young,
aspiring rockstar should get out
them?
H: Yeah, sure! You gotta, like,
look fine and be pure!
pure'
- D: Do you think that rock 'n'
roll is too serious today?
H: No. I mean sometimes it's
too much pent on a self destructive
vein and then that's serious and
pathetic. I suppose it can be serious
like on a... I don't know, whoever is
serious, Neil Pert level or something
like that. But not everybody's
serious. You gotta figure the Beatles
aren't even serious. Kiss obviously
can't be serious if you know any of
their lyrics.
D : What about Bruce
Springsteen? In Lovedoll Superstar
you have Gene Simmons (of Kiss)
killing Bruce. Is there any statement
there?
H: Sure it was a statement. It
was a statement on... I don't know!
(laughs) '80s music or all music. I
won't say '80s music because that
rules, too. You know, whatever. Its
just a vein. Probably more an attack
at his listenership than himself.
See KROSS Page 8
By Keith Hersh
For one of the characters of
Charles Baxter's new novel First
Light, "Adulthood is a puzzle. Its
logic is unknown." The tools he
uses for building additions to his
house serve as puzzle pieces of his
own search for some way to "nail,
down" his life.
This character experiences a
theme that runs throughout most of
Baxter's work - the search for a
foundation, a starting point from
where one can begin or start over.
Many readers are thankful that Baxter
opens this search to spectators, for
they are struck by both the precise
construction and the humanity of his
writing.
Baxter, a well known short-story
writer, is spending this year as a
visiting professor at the University.
An Ann Arbor resident and professor
at Wayne State University, Baxter
has published two collections of
short stories, Harmony of the World
and Through the Safety Net, before
the recent publication of his first
novel, First Light.
Baxter's work is often difficult to
define and categorize. Many of the
stories inThrough the Safety Net
have a mysterious, mystical element
in them. "Gryphon" is a child's
story of an unusual substitute
teacher. She teaches the class many
ideas that intrigue the narrator, from
the "fact" that six times eleven is
sometimes sixty-eight to what is
underneath Venus' dense cloud cover
- "Angels. Angels live under those
clouds." Yet Baxter does not lose
himself in this mysticism. He lives
very definitely in the present, and the
combination of these two aspects
often leads to fascinating stories.
First Light is the story of a
brother, Hugh, and his sister Dorsey.
It explores their deep filial love for
each other and the distance that time,
aging .and different ambitions have
placed between them. Baxter,
however, chooses an unordinary and
intriguing technique to tell the
siblings' story - he tells it
chronologically backwards. Working
from a middle-aged Dorsey's return
to their hometown of Five Oaks,
Michigan, back to her childhood
with Hugh, the novel details the
events that changed the two and
isolated them from each other.
Readers have found this technique,
along with Baxter's subtle and pro-
vocative style of prose, to make for
a stunning, moving novel in First
Light.
Charles Baxter will read from
First Light this Saturday night at 8
p.m. at the Kerrytown Concert
House, 415 N. Fourth. Alan
Cheuse, known writer , will also
read. Tickets are $5 for students.
DON'T MISS THE
KICK-OFF!
GREAT DEALS * INCREDIBLE PRICES
* COMPUTERS *
* SUPPLIES *
SACCESSORIES*
COMPUTER KICK-OFF DAYS
October 9 & 10th, 1987
U of M Coliseum
at the Corner of Hill & 5th
ComputerLand - Learning Center Ltd. - Inacomp Computer Center
ME"
ILel
INTERESTED IN
SALES
or
BUSINESS EXPERIENCE?
Learn the "ins and outs" of newspaper operations and
advertising sales. As a Junior Account Executive, you'll
work 5 hours per week organizing, creating, and
processing ads for a student-run organization.
Deadline for applications is Friday, October 9. For more
information, call Anne Kubek or Karen Brown at 764-
0554.
DO IT NOW.
Your Future Depends On It.
420 Maynard
Thurs.-Sun.,
Oct. 8-11
Fri., Oct. 9
Sun., Oct.11
The University of Michigan
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum-
by Stephen Sondheim. Presented by Music Theatre
Program, Tim Millett, director.
Tickets $9, $6 and $4 (students). Call764-0450
Mendelssohn Theatre, 8:00 PM (Th.-Sat.), 2:00 PM (Sun.)
Concert Band/Chamber Winds
Donald Schleicher, conductor; Dennis Smith, trombone
soloist
Program includes Eklund, Concerto for Trombone and
Wind Orchestra
Hill Auditorium, 8:00 PM
Stearns Lecture, "The Early Clarinet and Its
Development"
McIntosh Theatre, 2:00 PM
Michigan Chamber Players: Andres Cardenes, violin;
Yishak Schotten, viola; Jerome Jelinek, cellojJeffrey.
Solow, cello; John Moher, clarinet; Harry Sargous,
oboe; Ellen Weckler, piano.
Program includes music of Beethoven Dorati, and
Dohnanyi
School of Music Recital Hall, 4:00 PM
OVERVOORDE
Opening a show of
wood-cuts and
"cloudscape" paintings
...
__ t
".- :, eLj
/ °
/.
'I i
J i ?
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9,7:30-9:00 p.m.
Lecture on the works at 8:00 p.m.
at
CAMPUS CHAPEL
1236 Washtenaw Ct. 668-7421
(one block south of Geddes and Washtenaw)
GOLD RING SALE.
Get the
experience
you need
for
the job
you deserve.
You're working hard
in your classes, but
good grades alone
won't get you a job
after graduation.
Get on-the-job
experience-with
We have openings for
two dedicated people
Jostens Gold Sale. For one week only. Order and save on the gold ring of your choice.