4

ARTS_
Monday, October 17, 1988

Page 0'
Bragg says,

The Michigan Daily,

'roll

Shocked

k I

over, capitalism'
BY ROBERT FLAGGERT
"Capitalism is killing music"
-Billy Bragg,Workers Playtime
"We're sorry Mr. Flaggert, we have taken the Michigan Daily off of
our mailing list."
-Some publicist at Elektra, who told me our circulation was too
small to merit promotion material or records
Hey, yeah, well, Billy Bragg is coming to town. I start publicizing
and all I get is shit. I tack a poster for the show up on the bulletin
board above the Arts desks at the paper. "Billy Bragg," one of the music
writers exclaims, "who'd want to go see him. If I want to hear some
limey spewing political garbage at me for an hour and a half, I'll watch
video tapes of the BBC." His exact words, I swear to God. Sniveling
twit. The same guy who claims Led Zeppelin never did anything new
for music. Yeah, right.
Then Elektra Records, the company which releases Billy's records,
starts throwing me curves. "We're sorry Mr. Flaggert, we have taken
The Daily off of our mailing list." No promo-copy of the record, no
press info. News to me I say. Something or other about too small a
circulation. I threaten, in jest, not to run a preview for the show. She
hangs up on me. They didn't even have the common courtesy to send a
press pack or bio sheet.
My butt was in a sling, and, still would be if the people at Prism,
who are promoting on the show, weren't nice enough to rush me a
copy of the new release and photos. I thank them. So Mr. Music Writer
and Miss Elektra, hike up your shorts and plant your feet, 'cause the
ball's in my court now.
I'm apprehensive, as I think most people are, to label Billy's music.
He's a solo singer/songwriter/guitarist. He's political. He's very politi-
cal. He's British. He's not U2. I'd compare him to Dylan,
See Billy Bragg, Page 9

Revolution

(As i
, U

n 'Talkin' 'bout
Yo .o
'You say you

want

a...', etc.)

lLT f
- 4, O
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College of Literature, Science, & the Arts
Thirteenth Distinguished Senior Faculty
Lecture Series
Professor Carl Gans
in a three-part series, will discuss
The Usage of
Animal Mechanisms:
Unravelling Adaptive Patterns
October 17
All Animals Are Interesting!
Down in the Mud with Uropeltid Snakes
October 19
Resolving the Prophet's
Problem
The Way of a Snake on a Rock
October 24
From Lancelot to Giraffe
Patterns of Change
A reception in Rackham Assembly Hall
will follow the final lecture.
Rackham Amphitheatre-:O0 p.m.
All lectures are open to the public.

BILLY BRAGG (above), MICH-
ELLE SHOCKED (left), and MAN-
COTAL will perform at the Power
Center tonight starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $14.50.

Runaway
to roots
BY LISA MAGNINO
As a somewhat native Texan, I
face the inevitable jokes about oil
wells, boots, tumbleweeds, and
of course - country music. And I
put up with them because, deep
down inside, I'm proud of the fact
that I'm from Texas, and, deep down
inside, I'll admit that I miss it
sometimes, even if I pretend that I'm
glad to be away from it.
So imagine my delight when I
picked up Michelle Shocked's second
album, Short Sharp Shocked, and
heard the good ol' boy commentary
of "(Making the run to) Gladewater":
"Tuck your jeans in your
bootsThat's what you do/Slap your
gimme cap on/Turn the country
music radio station/Louder than you
ought to."
Even if you aren't one of the for-
tunate few "Small town Texas Sons
and Daughters" that she mentions,
you can still appreciate Michelle's
great Loretta-like vocals and coun-
tryfried flavor of Don Reed's fiddles.
Of course, you might not get the
nuances of the song, so let a Texan
fill you.in - they have to make the
run to Gladewater because their own
county is legally "dry" (you cant
buy any alcohol there) and have to
go to another "wet" county to get
anything. This is a true Texas touch,
and I love it.
Imagine the thrill I got from th
rolling landscape lyrics of
"Memories of East Texas"':
"Memories of East Texas and those
pine-green rolling hills/Covered in
the springtime with golden daf-
fodils/Rowing on Sandy Lake come
April/Harvesting hay in June/Sitting
by the road watching well-fires
bum/By an old October moon."
Imagine the suppressed memories
and rueful smile that crossed my face
with lyrics from the same sons:
"'What the hell'd you let 'em break
your spirit for?' Their lives ran i
circles so small/They thought they'l1
seen it all sofhey couldn't make
place for a girl who'd seen the
ocean." Yea, I'll swallow my Lone
Star love and admit it - just be-
cause Texas is bigger doesn't meah
it's better. If you want more proof Qf
that, take a look at the cover of
Short Sharp Shocked - thats
Michelle being arrested at the 194
Republican National Convention 1
Dallas.
So I can identify completely with
Michelle's decision to leave Texas
and its mindset to roam the Unitd
States and Europe. She becamea
'strolling minstrel for those wto
couldn't voice their complaints. Shie
was involved in the squatter s
movement, the politics of the
See Shocked, Page

4

4

1

Godoy canta nueva mdisica

BY V.J. BEAUCHAMP
AND MIKE MCKEE
Mancotal is one of the first tour-
ing groups to come out of the
Nicaraguan Revolution and into
North American attention. They are
ambassadors of the Nueva Cancion
("New Song") movement of Latin

America, and while groups like
Sukay are better known, Mancotal
are the real item.
Louis Enrique Mejia Godoy, lead
singer and songwriter for Mancotal,
was forced, after participating in
cultural activities protesting the
despotic Somoza regime in 1974, to
seek refuge as a political exile in
Costa Rica pending imprisonment
and death threats from the brutal die-

tatorship.
Following the Sandinista victory
in 1979, Godoy returned to become
the Director of the Artistic Creation
Department at the Ministry of Cul-
ture, organizing cultural brigades
that brought music, dance, poetry,
and theater to schools, neighbor-
hoods, factories, and the agricultural,
workers throughout the country,
reaching as diverse a cross-section of
the Nicaraguan people as was possi-
ble.
That he worked with a diverse
group of people is not surprising,
considering that he had worked as
Director of Cultural Activities at the
National University in Heredia,
Costa Rica, from 1973-79, where he
organized the Costa Rican New
Song Movement with musicians
from Chile, Argentina, and
Venezuela who were also political
exiles.
But despite his "new song" focus,
Godoy was no newcomer to the
Central American music movement.
He recorded several successful sin-
gles in 1968, while working full
time as Assistant to the Artistic Di-
rector of the Costa Rican subsidiary
of CBS records. Deciding to dedicate
his music to social change rather

4

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4

See Godoy, Page 10


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A

GRADUATE
SCHOOL DAY
Talk with representatives from top U.S.
Colleges & Universities.
Learn about application procedures,
necessary qualifications & program content.
NOVEMBER 2, 1988
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
MICHIGAN UNION

i

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