Page 8 -The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 2, 1990 10,000 Maniacs haunt Ann Arbor by Philip Cohen t mst have been sometime in '86 or '87, before In My Tribe came out, that 10,000 Maniacs showed up at a really gruesome club called The Haunt in my Upstate New York hometown. The club's promoter John, a big, burly guy with a tiny white dog smaller than your fist, gave us the usual run-down. "These guys are great," he told us. "They're going to be the biggest act I get in here all year." "That's a funny name," I thought to myself. But my friend Kenny and I diligently packed a notebook and beat it on down the block to the Haunt.. A rags to riches history in the making, of course, but we had no idea. John was (and still is) the biggest crier of Wolf (or in this case, Star) for miles. The show was not especially crowded, though the band already had a small but dedicated local follow- ing. They hit the stage hard, as if they weren't in the middle of a grind- ing club tour from Jamestown east across the great wildernesses of New York - or as if they were just sea- soned, determined, and used to work- ing hard. We were caught off guard. There are dressed-up garage bands on the club circuit, there are pompous original bands whose "unique" sound deteriorates into headache music after a few tunes - and then there are those few bands who are working a new angle, play- ing off a regular feel, and pulling off a show with real self confidence and a deep-down body approach to their own sound. This was10,000 Mani- acs, and particular the woman who I must admit struck me as somewhat extra-planetary. The music was less-than brilliant in itself - somewhere within the realm of over-done minimalism which was pretty prevalent on col- lege radio at the time. But Natalie Merchant moved - or pulled - the band through the set with an amazingly unforced fluidity. They were and still are heavy dependents on the charismatic leader model of star development, which is why (for all the original skepticism) I was not surprised to hear when In My Tribe broke out into a platinum success. They had a leader with an ironic self-image and a mystical sex appeal. And this is what moves the apparently arbitrary star-making machine. No ill-will for that - they deserve it, as do lots of others who don't get it. She's carried the band since, her untrained sound and dynamic, passionate performances climbing beyond the still somewhat mundane instrumentation and arrangements which occupy the rest of the band. By no means blind to the world, Merchant has penned some lyrics to hold on to, not least among them the poetic rendition of the tragedy which underlay the Ollie North charades, "Please Forgive Us" on Blind Man's Zoo: "There'll be more trials like this in mercenary hey- REVOLUTION Continued from page 7 with music as a way of reaching people? G.S.: No, not as much as I be- came disassociated with Arista, which became a part of RCA. RCA has a different set of policies which didn't serve my purpose. F.G.: Were they trying to hold you back? Censor you? G.S.: Well, you talk to them about your own career. I'll say what I want to say about them. (Laughs.) F.G.: Is there any truth to the rumor that you are planning or recording a new album? G.S.: Yes. There are a lot of people who didn't buy the older ma- terial. We have a lot of material, like twenty albums out there altogether. So there's no shortage of material, unless you have all twenty. F.G.: Your records and the Last Poets' records... G.S.: Have nothing to do with each other. I play music. F.G.: Right. Well, what I was saying was that neither are really available, now. I mean, I gotta look in the used records bin... but, yeah, I don't see any similarity between you and them. G.S.: Well, I know them... I'm a piano player. That's the difference. I write poetry. That's another differ- ence. I write harmonies' and melodies, arrangements. They do po- etry on congas. F.G.: What made you decide to move from writing novels to writing lyrics? Was it that you could reach more people with music? G.S.: Writing novels? F.G.:Writing lyrics. G.S.: I wrote songs before I wrote anything else. I like to write novels. But the first things I wrote were poems and songs. F.G.: How do you feel about some of the rappers out here that are taking from your influences, musi- cally and lyrically? G.S.: I haven't heard any of them that take from my influence. They sound like the Last Poets. F.G.: Yeah. I agree. But someone might sample the bassline fron "Revolution," or someone might quote you.. G.S.: Well, I don't call it sam- pling. I call it stealing. A lot of: people who create get upset by pe6- ple who steal. I haven't heard any- thing to keep me, up all night. F.G.: Some newer groups like@ Public Enemy... G.S.: What about 'em? F.G.: They get into the whole revolutionary frame of mind. How: do you feel about that? G.S.: I like a revolutionary frame of mind. F.G.: You aren't jaded? G.S.: No, I'm Gil. I don't know where you're coming from... I think people who consider themselves part of that become jaded. I felt that it was imperative to ask Scott-Heron for his particular perspective on "The Revolution, but when Gil Scott-Heron is irked at you, you shut the hell up. At this point, I can only recall a particular verse: "The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised, will; not be televised; the revolution will be no rerun, brothers, the revolution, will be live." GIL SCOTT-HERON appears ae Alvin's, 5756 Cass Ave. in Detroit tonight for two shows, 8p.m. and 11 p.m. Tickets are available for: $12.50 plus an evil service charge from Ticketmaster. Natalie Merchant displays her best waif-like look. Perhaps she is wistfully dreaming of a prime venue for her band - Hill Auditorium, perhaps? days./When they're so apt to wrap themselves up in the stripes and stars/ and find that they are able to call themselves heroes/and to justify murder by their fighters for free- dom." And "Who caused my mother's tears/ was it Washington or the Viet Cong?" she has a Vietnam vet ask at the memorial in D.C., before leading him in the song "The Big Parade," "away from the black granite wall/ toward the other monuments so white and clean." What does stardom make of a hard-working touring band who paid their dues up and down the highways of New York through the Reagan years? "That's how the wealth's di- vided/ among the lambs and the king of beasts," Merchant answers in the song "The Lion's Share," "It's so one-sided./ Until the lamb is the king of beasts we live so one-sided." 10,000 MANIACS appear tonight at Hill Auditorioum at 8 p.m. JOE LOMBARDO opens. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster for $18.59 plus an evil $2 service charge. I0000 "The black vote and the female vote rightfully belong to Kurt. Probably no lawyer in Ann Arbor has done more for civil rights for minorities, including blacks and women. He's a real caring and sensitive person who has spent his life fighting injustice on behalf of the poor and less fortunate. Ann Arbor will be a better place with Kurt Berggren on the district court bench." Blondeen Munson "Kurt's no politician. He's too honest and straightforward. I met him four years ago on a trip to our sister city in Nicaragua. I have never met a lawyer with greater passion for justice and fairness. His ethics and sense of right and wrong are welcome assets in a profession often known for greed and lack of candor. As a person of intel- lectual largesse and total integrity, he is indeed worthy of our support." Ed Pierce Save the LP! . Daily Arts I DAILY CLASSIFIEDS .eA theFt Daily. _! ____________________________ U _______________________________________ THE TEST ANN ARBOR IN VYC)V Part-time Customer Service drivers needed. Starting pay - $6.00 per hour plus mileage reimbursement. Deliver newspapers in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area, possibly answer phones one day per week. Hours are Thursday and Friday, 2:30 - 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 -12 noon. Preferred candidates have insured car, good driving record, knowledge of area, excellent communication skills, and pleasant voice. Apply in person - Ann Arbor News, 340 E. Huron St., 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. EOE Kurt Berggren For Judge 15th District Court, Ann Arbor Paid for by Kurt Berggren for Judge Campaign Committee, 121 W. Washington, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 ~I1 Health Care Clinic of Ann Arbor 3012 Packard 971-1970 i 3012 ackad 97-197 ___ 0 CHASE The Chase Manhattan Bank I invites all University of Michigan Seniors to the following Receptions on: Monday, November 5,1990 for BBA Seniors 5:00- 7:00 P.M. The Michigan Room at the School of Business Administration for LSA and Others ': , l 7:00- 9:-00 P.M. The Michigan Union Kuenzel Room I Opportunities in the Following Areas Will Be Discussed: I