ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, April 4, 1990 GreekI by Ami Mehta H ILL Auditorium is often synonymous with annual band concerts, annual perfor- mances by the University Symphony Orchestra, not to mention various annual convocations. But there is another yearly event that takes place inside those walls of classic tradition. Simply named the Sing and Variety show, this annual Greek Week event is to be performed by fraternities and sororities on campus in order to raise money for various charities. Marking the last event of Greek Week, the show is a m6lange of singing and danc- ing ability ranging from those who sing only in the shower and have two left feet to Week en those with funky rhythm and trained voices. With 20 choral and dance acts, the show will provide entertainment for all types with both traditional and popular songs as well as cool and groovy dance moves. As easy as it sounds for these students to appear on stage in front of 3000 people do- ing things they would never even try in the privacy of their own rooms, a lot of time has been spent rehearsing prior to the final performance tonight. LSA sophomore Rich Aste of Theta Chi fraternity reflects on Vari- ety: "It can be frustrating at times and there is a lot of pressure to be the best but the re- wards after Wednesday night will make up for the sweat and tears." A sense of team- ds with work has been built up within the participat- ing groups, and according to Aste this really With 20 choral and dance acts, the show will provide entertainment for all types with both traditional and popular songs as well as cool and groovy dance moves becomes clear when you realize the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. It's easy for the participants to get caught up in the swamp of competition to win this event, but LSA sophomore Bessie Lee of song and Page 5 dance Zeta Tau Alpha sorority reminds people, "The show is also a good chance to meet people with common interests in a different atmosphere other than a social situation such as a party." Still, she did not deny the com- petitive nature of the event. Behind the scenes, LSA seniors Jennifer Naiburg of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and Jonathan Reiss of Theta Chi fraternity are the heads of the steering committee, in charge of everything from making sure that Hill is actually available for the night to cre- ating publicity to avoiding technical difficul- ties. Reiss, who was involved with the event last year, remarks how different and interest- ing it is being on the other side. "It's a whole different ballgame. The best thing about it (Sing and Variety) is that 1000 peo- ple get the chance to perform on the stage of Hill Auditorium. It's an amazing thing." Having raised a large amount of money in past years, the Sing & Variety show hopes to do it again, donating the proceeds to charitable causes including the Alzheimer's Foundation, Perry Nursery School and Prospect Place (an emergency shelter for the homeless). Although there will only be one winner for each category in the show, all these philanthropies will win in the end. The SING AND VARIETY starts tonight at 5:30 at Hill Auditorium. Tickets are $4 and are available at the door. I I What goes on, FG III? In defense of the Velvet Underground by Peter Shapiro was originally going to write about Maurice Starr's brilliant post- Cosby Show reversal of Sam Phillip's legendary philosophy ("If I could find a white guy who sings like a Black guy, I could make a million bucks" to "If I could find a bunch of Fabian wannabes who play Black music and sound really white, I could make a million bucks"), but I felt it necessary to become the mouthpiece for the offended masses who are still reeling from F.G. III's pockmark on the honor of the Velvet Underground Hours could be spent and valu- able space wasted on picking apart the grammatical flaws and syntacti- cal errors that abounded in last week's ignominious affront to the good name of "criticism," but that would serve the same purpose as saying VU sucks because they influ- enced everything bad that ever hap- pened to rock 'n' roll. Of course, this quite simply isn't true. The Velvets did not play pretentiously weird music; Cream, Genesis and Yes did. The Velvets played music that was uncompromisingly realistic during an era in which everything else was awash in the groovy pipe dreams of white liberal crackpots. IGSA Wed., Mar. 28-Sat., April 7 1156 Broadway in the Broadway Kroger Plaza Open Mon. - Sat. 10a.m. - 8 p.m. w/ad Regular Items Only Except rice, soy sauce, sesame oil C14INA s GARDEN Restaurant SZECHUAN, HUNAN & PEKING CUISINE Good nutrition is our concern. COCKTAILS " CARRY-OUT & DELIVERY Sunday Buffet Mon.- Thurs. 11:30-10:00; Fri. 11:30-11:00; Sat. noon-11:00; Sun. noon-10:00 3035 Washtenaw, Ann Arbor 971-0970 5O0 Laser Prints Up to 20 quality Macintosh,,laser prints for ' just 50ยข each. Limit one coupon per custcmer. Not vald with any other offer. Pyia-e l1M There's absolutely nothing pre- tentious or weird about "Heroin," the single most devastating piece of mu- sic ever recorded. The guitar and vi- ola screamed like tearing flesh, while Mo pounded the heartbeat of delir- ium tremens. The song was more than just the most chillingly blunt portrayal of drug use that we have - it was the sheer brutality of human existence dangling naked from a fork for all to see. When groups like the Grateful Dead, Yes and other art rock mastur- bators exist, how can one possibly accuse the band that made "What Goes On" of spawning bombast in rock? The closing jam of "What Goes On" is an absolute mockery of the Jerry Garcia how-long-can-I-pos- sibly-play-this-scale-for guitar solo. The jam is but two chords, D and G for musicologists, played with the same violent intensity that drives the blues and the archetypal I-IV-V rock 'n' roll ditty. Lou and Sterling trade these rhythm licks for about four minutes on the live version, proving that two chords have more power than any 45-minute-long "Dark Star" into "St. Stephen" or Rick Wake- man Bach arpeggio jerk off. If one can rag on a band because of what subsequent bands took from it, then one might as well say that Led Zeppelin is the worst band ever because they gave birth to heavy metal and that insufferably boring SubPop crap. When, in fact, Led Zep is the worst band ever for de- stroying the blues by taking music that gave oppressed people a vehicle for expression that is both personal This man is wanted for commiting heinous crimes against the Velvet Underground. and communal and changing it to a music of no-talent milquetoasts wav- ing their genitalia around. Then they had the chutzpah to fuse this blues travesty with some pseudo-mystical vision of British medieval folklore. But, even if we could accept this line of reasoning, it is an absurd ar- gument. Sure, The Cure and Morris- sey can claim a spot in the post- Velvets family tree, but not because of any direct inheritance. Rather, they are related through some vague and amorphous set of connections with bands that actually understood what VU was all about. Ann Arbor's own MC5 and The Stooges were the Velvets' first off- spring. The MC5 played high-energy music that sought to liberate dope- smoking hipsters from the tyranny of boredom of a backward and hypo- critical culture, while The Stooges released the sexual frustrations of a man who had his cock in his pocket and was headed down the old high- way. The second generation included bands like The Ramones, Sex Pis- tols, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and The Clash who raged with con- fusion and bitterness. Six or seven generations later come whiny wimps like Robert Smith and Morrissey who are not "post-punk," but, rather, the record industry's way to deal with the masses of confused teenagers on the fringe - '80s ver- sions of Pat Boone, except that they exist to please the kids, not to pacify the parents. Finally, if you think that Phil Collins could have done a better job than Lou. did on New York, then you might as well ordain the Trumps and worship at the feet of the Statue of Bigotry. Hey, F.G. III, did you hear "Another Day in Paradise?" Marianne remains Faithfull by Nabeel Zuberi LET Sindad cry her big, dripping, dropping tears and Tanita tick us all off with her yuppie angst. They can't touch the more painful places quite like Marianne Faithfull. Listening to Faithfull's songs is like being pinched sharply by a loved one: enjoyable at first but then really painful. Faithfull's songs are written with blood and drenched in acid. Her 1979 album Broken English is as brutally honest and confessionally cathartic as anything on John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band record. The beautiful blond singer of such mid-'60s melodramatic pop gems as "As Tears Go By" went through a whole series of sordid incidents involving boyfriend Mick Jagger, drug addiction and a heroin overdose. Faithfull's voice is cracked and has the Rdge of a rusty razor blade. She sings with a brutal honesty and without unnecessary affect. "Sister Morphine" is the kind of unsentimental, non-proselytizing drug song that should be heard in these times of anti-drug McCarthyism. But the killer song on Broken English is "Why D'ya Do It," possibly the greatest, most obscene song of jealousy committed to vinyl. Faithfull rasps, hurling vocal barbed wire at her rival and the scumbag she's in love with. "Why d'ya spit on my snatch?.... Why d'ya let her suck your cock/ Why d'ya put me in the dock," she spits with venom. It's a wonderfully purgative song. Her more recent material is torchier and suffused with loss. Blazing Away features live versions of old songs as well as "Prisons of Roi," an Edith Piaf song. Tonight she'll only be accompanied by guitarist Barry Reynolds, so we'll be able to hear only the power of that incredible voice. MARIANNE FAITHFULL performs tonight at 7:30 and 10 p.m. at the Ark, 637 1/2 S. Main. Tickets are $17. SO and are available at Schoolkids, Herb David and Ticketmaster. Save the LP! . Daily Arts I The "First Lady" brings the White of the Media House to Campus.... 1 4 Helen Thomas United Press International White House Bureau Chief " Kennedy through Bush -- she's handled the challenging assignments . White House press conferences begin with her questions - Elected first woman officer of the National Press Club " Watergate...Iran Contra - she deals firsthand with the issues " Authored "Dateline: Washington" Residence Hall Competition Arts 'n' Crafts Battle of the Bands Casino Carnival Jazz Cafe Tues-Friday: Th, Fri, Sat: Wed, Th, Sat: Saturday: Saturday: Friday: 6pm-10 10am-6 8-Mid 7-Mid 7-Mid 8-Mid For info 763-1107 Monday, April 16 5:00 p.m. Pendleton Room, Michigan Union All interested faculty, students and staff welcome Career Planning Plac lent jdAI2 YEARS OF- M '"PDUC SERVICEz MRDIGRAS COMES TO ANN ARBOR. ALL EVENTS IN THE UNION April 6 8-10:00 P.M. Tickets $3.00 Union Ballroom starou Campus wide talent competition Another quality activity by UAC The University of Michigan Premiere of by Dr. Stephen Rush composer in residence of University of Michigan Dance Department and member of Campus Chapel for choir, soprano and baritone soloists, harp, organ, handbells and congregation. SUNDAY, April 8,10:00 a.m, Work commissioned by Campus ChaDel i Men's Glee Club G, ,C cJerry Blackstone, Director L 46 L{ E U fwit with the a afs apps so ilvl Fr riars 09 T T RT(ICiE'flfl !Tr.V~fc MBAT EV IITTD """