r-. 4 #-4 *:.:~r -q - d Y 1 S. _ mrTr-m Mediocrity reigns n Turner' Pierce Turner The Sky and The Ground Beggars Banquet Records "Simply the best of the American music" said the Irish Echo; "a bit of inspired genius" said CMJ; "in a league most rock artists never ap- proach" said Variety; "poppycock!" this pop writer says. The Sky and The Ground will be hailed as a mas- terpiece by the kind of people who read Joyce's Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man and then bore you at parties with details of all their personal "epiphanies." Turner sounds like wonderful Marianne Faithful after another decade of self-abuse. He's the cliched singer-songwriter, the troubador with angst on his sleeve and a guitar Is latest slung over his shoulder. The album is all worthy, wordy stuff with strumming guitar and a few classical arrangements thrown in for good measure. The lyrics are a catholic mixture of Kate Bush's hippy-dippy musings, Van Morrison's mysti- cism, Suzanne Vega's SoHo solip- sism, and Kerouac on the road to nowhere in particular. So ok, maybe this is a little harsh; Pierce isn't that bad. He's probably a good bloke, a nice chap, a concerned young man, but he's also mediocre - mediocre the way decent, hardworking pop stars like Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds and Kate Bush are: honorable but boring. Turner just doesn't tease, cajole or move the listener. There's nothing See Turner, Page 13 INDEPENDENT POSTAL SERVICES 1756 Plymouth 747-7900 A Total Mail & Packaging Center And Complete Business Service Center " Mailbox Rentals w 24 Hr Access " Call in & Forwarding Service Available " Packaging Service & Supplies " Shipping (UPS, Emery, & others) " Computer Time Rental: IBM, Mac, Laser Printing * Copies, FAX, Telephone Answering, Notary Service " Western Union, Passport Photos, Keys Convenient Hours: M-F 8 am-7 pm Sat 9 am-3 pm Located Next to Video Watch and behind the Shell station on Plymouth Rd. Does Paul Weller have a fraternal twin? House of Freaks makes you think... Jam ripoff? No, but close House of Freaks Tantilla Rhino Paul Is Dead Rumor #2: In 1982, the Jam's Paul Weller was sitting in a British coffeehouse when he was accidently crushed to death by an espresso machine. The band's man- agers replaced him with an uncanny look-a-like who lacked any musical talent - leading to the band's breakup and the subsequent abysmal Style Council. But they saved Paul's brain. Enjoy the Spring Sipping Sangria on\ % Dominick's Spacious Outdoor Balcony! \" ''-'N - - !/r Ir It gaffi_\/ +,.! " \ J -' ' Ann Arbor's Original and- Oldest Sidewalk Cafe./- =;,.J;+7>/;, Serving as the Campus Gathering / - Place for Over 25 Years! - '- ,- - ~- , ~-\ !>ky; D MINI. KS,& 8 1r74' Moiiroe'r Monday;tu day 30A r0P Sunday-4 8PM - I flJ\l~r:11 \..\,\a J /mi") a\" {t .t _tl\r~l Il, r,"" a , ' J..\\4-JI ~\ Freeze-dried it, shipped it over the Atlantic, and in a diabolical experi- ment, transplanted it in the body of Richmond, Va. songwriter Bryan Harvey. Unaware of his new iden- tity, Paul lived on to form a new band. OK, House of Freaks don't sound that much like the Jam. But the duo of Harvey and drummer Johnny Hott come weirdly close on acerbic and beat-conscious songs like "Sun Gone Down" and "The Righteous Will Fall." Proving that a guitar player and percussionist can achieve musical complexity far surpassing Mojo and Skid, Tantilla uses the tight, spare structure to expose areas of the psyche we don't like to ex- pose. Case in point: "Kill the Mockingbird," where Harvey un- leashes the biting resentment of loneliness on everything happy in the world ("Shoot him from the boughs/ It's a sin to sing/ It's a sin to fly"), his bare electric guitar scraping across his impassioned howl like a nail file across the back of your knuckles. Tantilla is a chronicle of losers, forced to scratch out livings "under the summer sun/ with a knife and a gun" ("White Folk's Blood") or to seek small comfort in the face of life's ravages ("Broken Bones"). For all their bitter social commentary, however, the songs aren't blindly angry, but rather tender and human. And pleasant to hear. "Sun Gone Down" and "I Want Answers," are musical Vitamin C tablets, sharp with criticisms of a world that "made me believe in a malevolent God" but still brightly marching to their up- dated Merseybeat atop Hott's cow- bell-laced percussion and Harvey's See House, Page 13 Cover Story Continued from Page 10 by congress. On the state level, only 13 states still fund Medicaid abor- tions; the passage of Proposal A last November stopped Medicaid funded abortions in Michigan. However, statistics published in Against the Current, a progressive magazine, indicate that approxi- mately 95 percent of poor women seeking abortions still manage to obtain them. Since funds were cut, it is esti- mated that 15,000 poor women are annually forced into compulsory motherhood, because they were unableto secure their legal right to abort. Many women, particu- larly women of color, are forced to turn to illegal methods because they are economically unable to afford an abortion. Most often these methods are hazardous to the health of the women who are faced with no other alternatives. According to a study published in the February-March issue of the National NOW Times, 49 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in New York were caused by illegal abor- tions. Of these deaths, 50 percent were Black women, and 44 percent were Puerto Rican women. The campaign against legalized abortion has taken shape outside the courts as well. Since last summer, "Operation Rescue," anti-abortion activists have brought their campaign, challeng- ing a woman's right to an abor- tion, to the clinic doors. "'Operation Rescue' tries to close clinics with civil disobedience" said K.T. Remen, a member of Voice for Choice, a street theater group. "'Operation Rescue' verbally assaults women going to clinics, by calling them 'baby-killers', or by screaming at them 'I'll take your baby' or 'murderer,"' said Remen. Pro-choice advocates, like Voice for Choice, have taken up the role of "defenders" of the women who are trying to enter clinics hit by Operation Rescue forces. Remen described Operation Rescue workers and their tactics as "counter-productive." "They are trying to freak women out, to stop them. Many of these women are seeking health-care, like gyn check-ups, and they are being stopped." said Remen. Al Kresta, pastor of Shalom Ministry in Taylor, Michigan and participant in many Michigan "Operation Rescue" mobilizations, questions the pro-choice move- ment' s focus on women who seek abortions. "Its tragic for women to seek out back-alley butchers,Abut life is full of inequities. And abortion on demand doesn't get us to the root of the problem." Kresta refuted allegations that Operation Rescue workers verbally assaulted women going into clin- ics. "Our people are instructed to G_ r Z1 L co Sul m, en Tr tui TM oc 3 da Tc srn 4Sci g ne 4- not - r-- not even make verbal appeals to women. I know of only one woman who made a plea of 'don't kill your baby', and she was rep- rimanded for that." A second major legal assault on the Roe v. Wade decision has been waged against teenage women having abortions. Twenty-five states have some form of parental consent requirement, although about half are enjoined against en- forcement. Pro-choice advocates, however, believe that any law re- quiring teenage women to obtain permission before they have an abortion causes needless trauma. On the other hand, anti-abortion advocates "don't believe that abor- tion is the answer" said Kresta. "Many teens, even after being taught, don't practice birth con- trol....They then use abortion," he said, "it's dealing with the prob- lem much too late." I- For Exam Preparation Choose to EXCEL! !L Learn to Anticipate the Exam - Improve Your Test-Taking Skills - Use Your Study Time More Effectively " Achieve Your Maximum Potential Score 4 outside of clinics which perform abortions. Test Preparation 996-1500 1100 South University I i I PAGE 8 WEEKEND/ APRIL 7,1989 WEEKEND/ APRIL 7,1989