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Bo Diddley's breakin'
through the B.S.
By Mark Swartz Through the B.S. in a couple of Wood, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and
Schembechler won't be the only weeks. ("Who Do You Love" author) Willie
Bo in town Saturday night. No, Ms. "We got old-time songs with old Dixon. "I love this country," he
Derek won't be available; what we feelings and new songs with new says. But he's concerned about one
got is much better. The Diddley feelings for the kids," he says, thing: "Drugs gonna bring us to our
Diddley Diddley Daddy is comin' to previewing Saturday's show. That knees. Drugs will destroy us," he
town, patented rectangular guitar is, expect a healthy portion of warns. So Bo's put together a two-
across his knee, battered fedora on Saturday's shows to be taken from step plan to "clean the son of a bitch
his head. the new album - Bo's been up."
F4
N .
One of the most venerated elder
statesmen of rock 'n' roll, Diddley's
recording career spans three decades
and shows no signs of slowing
down. "I'm just getting started. I'm
making better music than ever
before," he brags. His worldwide fan
club will get to see whether or not
he can indeed re-attain such heights
as "Who Do You Love," "Mona," or
any of the multitude of hits bearing
his name (You gotta be cool to
record tunes with names like
"Diddley Daddy," "Hey! Bo Diddley,"
or "I'm a Man/Bo Diddley,") when
Triple X records releases his Breakin'
refusing to play the old hits. The
Music Biz hasn't been kind to the
pioneer of that "hambone" rhythm
that still pops up on the radio when
U2 sings "Desire," or George
Michael sings "Faith."
"I figure I got ten million dollars
coming to me. Thieves ripped me
off." Too much of a gentleman to
name names, he promises, "They
know who they are. They know who
they are."
A gentleman and a patriot, too.
Bo played at the recent presidential
inauguration with an all star lineup
that included Joe Cocker, Ron
"We gotta put the pushers on a
rockpile. Then make 'em push a
wheelbarrow around for two years,"
he insists. "'Cause they can't buy
their way out of that."'
Bo's no novice when it comes to
law enforcement, either. He served as
Deputy Sheriff in Los Lunas, New
Mexico for two years in the '70s.
Although he never ran into any drug
pushers during those years, he did
"bring a couple hot-headed kids in
for shooting off their mouths.
Bo Diddley appears at the Blind
Pig, 208 S. First Street for two
shows, 8 pm and 11 pm. Tickets are
$12.50
lot,
01
.4:
The venerable Bo Diddley comes to Ann Arbor this Saturday.
How to
By Nabeel Zuberi
Dearest Beloved: To write "I love
you" doesn't seem to be enough. But
then again, my expressive needs
vacillate between this mild three
word statement which sums up a
huge situation and a great flood of
banalities that inevitably fail to
encompass my feelings for you. I
have so much to tell you but am too
weak to write. In part I hope that
this cassette will make up for my
verbal inadequacies. I'm sending you
The Go-Betweens' new album, 16
Lovers Lane. You remember: they're
the Australian group whom we saw
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
---- MainStreet Productions.
IA~im Presents-
With the Support of the
Michigan Council
for the Arts
W-1
The HouseY a
of Blue Leaves
A bizal a tale of love, jeaousy
&i otn the day aPope
cameto ew York.
By John Guare
Directed by
Anne Kolaczkowski Magee
At 8 pm
April 6, 7,a8
13, 14. 15. and
20, 21, 22, 1989
1035 S. Main Street
Slckets $5.00 * TwoFor-One on'Thumdaysj
For infonnation call 662-7282.
support Aztec Camera and who made
even Roddy Frame's bittersweet love
paeans seem merely ordinary. They
just stood there blankfaced,
oblivious to the audience and totally
immersed in their songs. It was
great! I'm seeing them again,
tonight in Detroit.
Every song on this tape is about
love; songwriters Grant McLennan
and Robert Forster are obsessed with
the setbacks, irritations and
vexations of amorous existence.
Their previous albums - Before.
Hollywood, Spring Hill Fair,
Tallulah - did contain sublime love
songs like "Part Company,"
"Apology Accepted" and "Right
Here" but there were always other
concerns too. On 16 Lovers Lane
they've stripped everything else
away; the album is like a smooth
envelope containing ten love letters.
The group's sound is gentler and
slower-moving: simply a series of
elegant, economic guitar figures of
rare beauty encasing lyrics of
anguish, desire and need.
Every song on this tape is like a
haiku answering the eternal question:
"I'm in love. I want to understand.
What is happening to me?" Grant
and Robert mull over images and
memory fragments and try and make
sense of it all. Like all lovers they
transform every trivial incident into
an important event. When they sing
"The Devil's Eye," the lines "I don't
wanna have to say goodbye/ don't
wanna wipe the tear from your eye/ I
took this chance to write a message/
It's just to say that I'll miss you,"
don't seem banal, but are truly
say "I love you"
heartbreaking.
It's so sad that modernity has
made kitsch a pejorative term.
Modern cynicism has made
sentimentality unfashionable. In this
climate, love's sentimentality is
really a powerful transgression; it's
no longer the sexual which is
considered indecent, it's the
sentimental. But The Go-Betweens
have not been afraid to address every
amorous episode in a clear,
straightforward way. And they never
avoid dealing with the pain that goes
along with love. "You can't say no
forever" and "Was there anything I
could do?" explore the hurt. As the
old Chinese proverb says, "The
darkest place is always underneath
the lamp."
I apologize for my incoherence. I
realize I probably sound 'ke a
gushing Werther one minute and a
tongue-tied mass of irritable
substance the next. I can't help it.
Love's the state I'm in. The Go-
Betweens should put out a thesaurus
of love music so that all our
amorous sentiments could be better
expressed. 16 Lovers Lane has been
whirring around in my head for the
last week. I just hope the concert is
as intimate as the record. Dearest,
you must witness them performing
when they come your way. You
shouldn't miss them. I must go
now. Hope you like the tape. I love
you.
The Go-Betweens will perforrm at
St. Andrews Hall, 431 E. Congress
in Detroit Saturday night. Things
get under way at 9 p.m., and tickets
are $1350.
The Return Of The
Colorful Scarab,
Scarab - symbol of good luck and great fortune
worn by the Egyptians as an omen of immortality.
The scarab beetle is carved on a variety of colored
stones. Stop In And See Our Selection
PAGE 4 WEEKEND/ APRIL .,1989
WEEKEND/ APRIL 7,1989