ARTS

The Michigan Daily

November 5, 1990

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Yeah, so?
by Forrest Green III
Living Colour are tokens of rock
'n' roll.
Living Colour are the best thing
*iat ever happened to rock music.
Well, somewhere between these
two extremes lies the truth about the
band that vocalist Corey Glover,
guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Muzz
Skillings and drummer William
Calhoun comprise. Lately, the band
has irked more than its share of the
rock audience. Songs like "Elvis Is
Dead" are a bit sadistic; extensive
;,ages that Glover fashions of a
zombie dressed in a white suit are a
good sampling of why many felt
that the band's new album, Time's
Up, should have been titled Livid.
The album is lined with preachy,
indignant tunes that seem to signal
the premature implosion of a good
band with previously decent lyrics.
Musically, the first single, "Type
(Everything is Possible)," is an in-
Seresting inversion of the distortion
cycle of "Cult of Personality." Its
particularly literate lyrics make refer-
ences to the frightening fantasy
world that American society has
fallen into, "We are the children of
concrete and steel/ this is the place
where the truth is revealed/ every-
thing is possible, but nothing is
real..."
So what's wrong with Living
Colour? Their new "last poets for
humanity" stance is nothing new in
this industry of commodified con-
science. Time's Up attempts to con-
front trains of hegemonic white rock
by machine-gunning more hybrid
blends of musical culturalism than
Fishbone's tasty gumbo into the
mix. And if this bastard approach to
pop progeny does not earn Living
Colour the classification of rock 'n'
roll, then nothing will. Sure, mod-

IM

,evie


Pip pin suffers
technical
difficulties
Life is not always pretty. In ev-
eryone's life there are moments
when there is no stardust and no ex-
citement, no lights and no costumes.
This was true of the meaning and the
reality of MUSKET's production of
Pippin this weekend.
There were several glittering per-
formances in Pippin, rising stars
who will surely be seen again in
bigger roles in future campus pro-
ductions. Tracy Plester, in the sup-
porting role of Pippin's grand-
mother, sang with power and gusto,
and with luck she will be cast in a
role next time which will give her
more space in which to exhibit her
strong, charismatic, and gutsy voice.
In other disciplines, Valerie
Miller and Robb McKindles did
wonders with Elizabeth Rossi's
choreography. Miller was a sultry
and smooth stepmother in a scarlet
dancer's skirt, playing up the sex and
the comedy in perfect proportion so
that neither was overdone. She
worked extremely well with
Jonathan Steiger, who was uproari-
ous as the all-brawn-and-no-brains

stepson Lewis. Robb McKindles,
though a little tense, was perfectly
cast in all black as the Leading
Player, bringing charisma, control
and a little demoniac seduction toan
otherwise rough production. The
costumes for McKindles and Miller
were the most well-planned of the
group. Miriam Shor was winning as
Catherine, an ever patient wife and
lover. Her voice and stage presence
were impressive, as was the lovely,
simple peach gown she wore. -
The meaning of the show, that
generation gaps are a result of life
experience, came through well. Pip-
pin begins his life certain that he is
destined for greatness and throws
himself full force into everything
that he does. His problem is that 'he
sets his ideals too high, and is there-
fore bound to fail. The finale was the
most moving scene in the show,
driving home the idea of a reality
which is lived mostly offstage by
the stripping away of costumes,
lights and set.
It is a shame that this interesting
device did not make much differehce
to this production. The entertain-
ment and enlightenment achieved in
Pippin was done with no help from
the technical crew, set designers or
See WEEKEND, Page?

The name of this band is Living Colour. Don't you forget it.

ern rock 'n' roll in itself has been an
anomaly in the past. The Clash cer-
tainly earned it in the '80s with their
collage of infectious reggae excur-
sions, straight rock and New Orleans
jazz. Would we extenuate The
Clash's relevance because they were
white musicians playing forms orig-
inally created by Black people?
Greatness is ultimately colorblind.
Great moments on Time's Up in-
clude "Undercover of Darkness,"
with the Native Tongues' Queen
Latifah. The timely delivery, about
the insidious workings of AIDS, be-
gins with a plaintive guitar intro and
bridges with a somber but confronta-
tional delivery by the Queen. "Elvis
is Dead" actually is a great moment
in rock history. Glover's indignant
delivery is condemning yet beatific,

while Maceo Parker's inspired per-
formance on saxophone wails the
plight of the uncontested godfather
of soul, James Brown. And Little
Richard's guest rap is loaded with
the charged venom of one killer mu-
sician that has been repeatedly and
utterly denied the credit he deserves.
Living Colour are Black musi-
cians being singled out for their
anomalous presence on the scene.
But their new record undoubtedly
hails them as great American rock
'n' roll, by four young brothers who
would attempt to change their world
by conquering it.
LIVING COLOUR jams at the Latin
Quarter in Detroit tonight. Doors
open at 7 p.m. Tickets are available
at Ticketmaster for $17.50 (plus
evil service charge).

Save the P!
. Daily Arts

THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO
BECOMING A NURSE IN THE ARMY.
And they're both repre-
sented by the insignia you wear
as a member of the Army Nurse
Corps. The caduceus on the left
means you're part of a health care
system in which educational and
career advancement are the rule,
not the exception. The gold bar
on the right means you command respect as an Army officer. If you're
earning a BSN, write: Army Nurse Opportunities, P.O. Box 7713,
Clifton, NJ 07015. Or call toll free 1-800-USA-ARMY
ARMY NURSE CORPS. BE ALLYOU CAN BE.
Err ii

The Cure
Mixed Up
.Elektra
I always thought that the whole
Classic Coke thing was a hoax.
They introduced the terrible New
Coke just to force everyone to
realize how much they missed the
original version. Thus, a panic en-
sued, as people tried to figure out
how they could import the original
stuff from Australia. Having planned
it all the while, the company then
pretendedto bow to public pressure
and brought back the original ver-
sion. The result? A huge increase in
sales and market share.
Maybe The Cure learned

something from this. Robert Smith
et al. are not idiots; they know how
large their audience has grown. So
they threaten to break up because
they've gotten "too popular." (The
predictable result is thousands of
black-clad waif-like teenage girls
succumb to a state of severe depres-
sion).
But the release of this filler
product only goes to show how hol-
low this rhetoric really was. If the
band is so concerned with their artis-
tic integrity and the threat of mass
success to it, then why this album
of remixes? I hate to scream "Sell
Out!" but I really have no choice.
The sighs of relief from all the fans

will all too easily turn into cash in
the band members' pocket.
If the comments of people
standing in line behind me to buy
this record at the stroke of midnight
Monday night are any indication, the
reaction of most Cure fans to finding
out this is merely a remix album
that contains only one new track
will be resentment. Maybe even
anger. And yet everyone that wor-
ships Robert Smith (and there are a
lot of people who fit this descrip-
tion) will feel a compulsion to buy
it anyway. Mission accomplished.
On the positive side, this 73-
minute disc has a few good remixes.
See RECORDS, Page 7


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0l~ I ~I

p/

AS

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1:00-4:00 p.m.
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Michigan Student Union
Pendleton Room/Ballroom
530 S. State Street

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