Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 18, 1989 A far, far better place to read i BY ANDREA GACKI A Tale of Two Cities: Paris and Cleveland. The City of Lights... and a city in Ohio. Thanks to the Cleveland Council for World Affairs, Charles Dickens (as metempsychosis-ed by Bert Hornback, professor of English and Dickens scholar) read from A Tale of Two Cities in Cleveland- this past summer. The date? None other than July 14 - the 200th Anniversary of the French Republic. While Parisians fled tourists and the parade in celebration of Bastille Day, Clevelanders encouraged Dick- ens to expand his repertoire. Although he's legendary for his A Christmas Carol readings at yuletide, lesser known performances have in- cluded a shortened Great Expecta- tions and a David Copperfield that "just didn't work." But now there's Madame Defarge to counterbalance Tiny Tim. Dickens began preparing A Tale of Two Cities last January, and the process involved much "cutting and trimming." Although the result is an abbreviated version of the novel, the reading is filled with excellent voice characterizations. A Tale of Two Ci- ties makes its Ann Arbor debut tonight. The Dickens Fellowship and The Antiquarian Book Society are sponsoring the event. CHARLES DICKENS, assisted by Bert Hornback, will read from A TALE OF TWO CITIES tonight at the Clements Library at 8 p.m. Ad- mission is free. Flesh For Lulu Plastic Fantastic Capitol Records I've had this tape for a few weeks now and it seems that whenever I'm playing it, whoever is in the room starts snapping their fingers or play- ing finger drums. Even if they don't know what they're listening to or have never heard of Flesh For Lulu. That's not an easy thing to accom- plish in these Def Leppard/Grateful Dead-infested days. Especially for a neo-punk/rockabilly band that as- sures us on the liner notes that they use "ozone-friendly hair products." Anyway, if you can handle the title, you're in for a treat with this one. A short history of the Flesh: they're English and they got their big break two years ago when "I Go Crazy" was featured in John Hughes' Some Kind of Wonderful. The songwriting has improved from even the first effort, Long Live the New Flesh, although the first single, "Decline and Fall," doesn't quite live up to that album's single "Postcards from Paradise." (But isn't it more important to have a strong album rather than a few catchy sin- gles and a bunch o' filler?) Although I'm sick of Europeans panning American culture (maybe I've been in my French class too long), ' "Decline and Fall" does hit the mark: "I'm the king of Beverly Hills/ and I don't feel no ills/ Perfect woman, perfect wife/ smiling under surgeon's knife." The arrangements are sparse but effective and the songs sound well- polished. The ballads (relax, there are only two) hold together better this time, and singer Nick Marsh pulls off some vocal feats that almost let you forgive him for thanking Vision Street Wear on the liner notes. Well, almost. There's less keyboards this time, although FFL has jumped on the sampling bandwagon. For the most part though, Rocco's guitar dominates as the band manages to do what not a lot of people seem ca- pable of lately: changing styles. 0 a The lyrics, on the other hand, are nothing to write home about. Would I scare anyone off if I revealed., that - God forbid - they actually say "life's a beach" somewhere on side two? I hope not, because if you're looking for some rock 'n' roll that leaves most of the crap you hear on the radio in the dust, then Flesh For Lulu is for you. If, that is, you don't mind a few corny lyrics and some ozone-friendly mousse. -Mike Molitor Loud Voices from a certain city Don't worry, GRP jazz outfit New York Voices are Bobby McFerrin times 5. This vocal jazz quintet harmonizes on a selection of standards and originals that runs the gamut from Ellington's "Caravan" to The Yellowjackets' "Top Secret." The Voices can pull off a wicked scat solo and a smooth doo-wop with equal prowess. Tune them in at the Bird of Paradise (207 S. Ashley) at the student show for only five bucks with an ID. The 10:30 p.m. show costs $10. Be happy. '96 TEARS' Continued from page 7 recorded it, and Suicide recorded a live version with synthesizers. The Cramps even mention it in their song "Human Fly" ("I've got 96 tears and 96 eyes") and so do X on their song "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline." The malevolent strain in "96 Tears" has continued to thrive in the work of Sonic Youth, Mudhoney ("Touch Me, I'm Sick") and The Je- sus & Mary Chain. For this writer, the song has be- come part of his very being. I'm one of those people who, fortunately or unfortunately, think nothing is more important in life than the art prod- ucts that move me. Basically, I'm made up of the traces of Tristan Tzara's Dada manifestos, Kafka's alienation, countless Hollywood movies, and loads of words and songs. I'm just another text -- a compilation album of citations from other texts. And I'm condemned to feel that "96 Tears" is one of the more important things that make up my personality. -Call for scripts for the second an- nual "Shorts" festival. Put your ten- minute act in Ari Roth's box, 1638 Haven Hall. Deadline is Oct. 24. Put name, address, and phone num- ber on cover. -Free dance class on Saturdays in 2528 Frieze, 9-11 a.m. Liz Rossi is the host. -Auditions for Basements Arts Pro- duction of Tennessee Williams' The Case of the Crushed Petunias, di- rected by Mike Garcia, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 7-11 p.m. Sign up for an audition time in the Green Room of the Frieze Building. Auditions and Opportunities runs Wednesdays in the Michigan Daily Arts page. If you have items for the column, call 763-0379. BETTER THAN THE BATHROOM WALLS! 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