Page 4-The Michigan Daily-Weekend etc. -March 19,1992 The extreme justifies the norm by Stephen Henderson T'd always dismissed most TV talk shows as pretty unimportant - silly programs that normal people didn't put much stock in and only watched occasionally for their cheap entertainment or shock value. For me, Geraldo, Oprah and Maury Povich were no different than the National Enquirer or The Globe. But recently, a good friend of mine pointed something out that changed my mind, and clued me in to the purpose talk shows may serve for the people who watch them. Her point was simple: Television talk shows are so popular because the extreme positions the guests always represent help regular people to put their own lives into perspective. She said Joe or Jane America can catch the Montel Williams Show between work and dinner every- day, see someone who's situation in life is worse than their own, and take comfort in that fact. It's sort of the same warped, but necessary, pleasure you get from seeing someone stub their toe or from watching the police pull somebody else over for speeding. That kind of stuff makes the day-to-day grind more bearable for us. And I suppose that given some of the topics you see on talk shows, that can be a fairly healthy and benign exercise. There's probably no harm in average Americans watching as Geraldo grills "teenagers who killed their parents" and thinking to them- selves: "Well, my kids aren't so bad, then. They might drink a little beer and smoke a little dope, but there's not much threat of them killing me." And it might even be a good thing for young people around the country to watch Oprah beat up on "adult children who ,epicture NEVER call their parents" and say to themselves: "I lust talked to my mom last week. Those kids are real jerks." But what about the more disturbing topics which periodically appear on talk shows? What happens when the KKK or other distaste- fully extreme groups show up on the tube? I can imagine this whole scenario becoming more counterproductive then, and I can see people's justifications turning a little scarier. I can just see someone sitting back watching Montel Williams throwing verbal punches at a few Klan members and saying: "Well, I'm not that bad. I don't hire Black people, and I don't want them living on my block, but I'm not burning crosses on their lawns or lynching them." In that case and many others, letting people take comfort in their distance from the extreme isn't so benign. By contrast, it encourages and grants tacit approval to many of the undesirable social norms that are so pervasive in our society. Maybe in an effort to curb that, TV talk shows could start showing us the norms rather than the extremes. It might be interesting to see what kind of reaction there would be to a show that featured the CEOs of corporations that have no Black employees besides the janitors, or families from neighborhoods that are notorious for excluding ethnic minorities. Perhaps even a show that exposed common negative feelings about people who carry the AIDS virus would be appropriate. I'd guess that shows with those themes wouldn't be so popular; people would probably see a little too much of themselves in those shows to be entertained or comforted by them.. But that in itself says more about us than anything else. As a trio, Crossed Wire (Ito r: Bud Burcar, Chris Moore and Cary Marsh) are way, way cooler than they were as a four piece. It's weird. Crossed Wire keeps up the fun by Michael John Wilson It's a dilemma. The band you've been in for six years just can't get your big break. No matter how many people say you're great, and how many scouts hear you play, you're rejected with excuses like, "Too so- phisticated." One major label dumps you after they offer you a contract. And then your lead guitarist leaves. But if you're Crossed Wire, you keep on going. Instead of folding, the band has tightened up into a power trio and become even better. It's just another chapter in the con- tinuing saga of Crossed Wire, the underdog from Detroit that won't quit. "It's cool to play live as a three piece. It's fun," says Chris Moore, the 26-year-old lead singer/song- writer/guitarist. "It's also weird be- cause people like it so much better. They think it's just so much more focused ... I think everything's sim- pler and better." "Fun" is one of the words that continually comes up when speaking about Crossed Wire. "Unpreten- tious" and "honest" are some others. "I think people relate to the honesty of it," Moore says. "I think that's hip. I don't think ours is a hip sound right now - I think it's more like ... harsh folk songs. But people like it, it's weird." That kind of self-depreciating, unselfconscious talk is just what has made Crossed Wire so endearing for years. The trio of Moore, Bud Burcar (drums) and Cary Marsh (bass) are not image-conscious rock 'n' roll stars. They're just some guys with guitars, guys who create a de- licious sound that is at once sweetly catchy and brutally energetic. One record company executive told Moore that they sound like "'Elvis Costello meets Nirvana."' It's just that unpretentiousness that has been Crossed Wire's undo- ing. They're nearly impossible to package, and they have little interest in self-promotion. Their appeal has always been the intimacy and sheer fun they convey live, an intimacy that's the antithesis to the major-la- bel, beer-sponsored megatours of the times. But as their age and wisdom grows, the band is learning to play the games of the record industry in their own way - without selling out. "We've only been a three-piece for eight months and yet we've got so much accomplished," Moore says. "We know how to do a lot more things - promoting ourselves, more business things that we always didn't care about. These days, it's everything. I guess it's from people telling us the music's only half the package. "The record company wants us to promote our new record by us going to record stores with acoustic gui- tars. The strength of our band has never been on image, it's always been on music. So that could be our thing. I don't know, what do you think of that idea? I think it's a real honest kind of (promotion) ... It's not just a big commercial." The new indie record, Caught in the Current, is their first since be- coming a trio, and not surprisingly, it's the best of their three releases. "I just think the musicianship, the quality of our playing is technically better," Moore says. "I think it's more consistent, it's got more inten- sity. And it's not so light." The grungier sound also helps the recording reflect the energy of their live show. "We've never matched how we sound live. That's been one of our criticisms: 'Man, you guys can never match your energy on record.' I think this record is the closest one." But apart from all the business worries and the technical concerns of the recording process, Crossed Wire has always been about good, catchy songs. For Moore, songwrit- ing has become a fact of daily life. "I just always write songs. I don't know, I just always do it," he says. "Stuff that I'm afraid to say to someone's face, I write it in songs ... It speaks my mind better than me talking. "It might be a business kind of problem selling us. I used to worry about that but now I just don't even care. It's better to just write good songs. I mean, try to write good songs." So until that day when Crossed Wire makes it big (and fame is com- ing), the band is ours to savor as they keep playing and keep improv- ing. "Obviously we don't want to work day jobs and go play for three nights a week forever ... it definitely takes its toll. Every once in a while, you wonder, 'Geez, when am I go- ing to draw the line?' But I just think that we're always getting better. I feel that people recognize that. As long as that's going on, I don't think I'll stop." CROSSED WIRE's record release party is tonight at the Blind Pig. Cover is $3, but bring extra money, Moore says: "Oh yeah, we'll have t- shirts. We'll have merchandise. Definitely. 4,7J~n" BOB WEIR (member of the Grateful Dead) March 22, 1992 8:00 pm Power Center, A2 Speaking on Environmental Issues of the Time more info call 215 S. State A2 (upstairs) 995-DEAD above Jason's Deli * I A NIGHT OF JOY AND LAUGHTER I IS S 1 Featuring Comedtenne SIMPLY MARVALOUS ppearedi ng Dirtyateda anCiaAc and UofM's BEST AMATEUR TALENT _ ... Sponsored by Viewpoint Lecture Programs RAN In Flight Friday. March 20. 1992 Michigan Business School . Hale Auditorium S8e in advanc f 10at do 0- L... - - r 1 i BBQ Rbs Beef Back Ribs, slow cooked with a spicy Red Sauce. Meat so tender, it just falls off the bone. All You Can Eat o4$5.75 served with Fries & Slaw 4 FRIDAYS 5:00 p.m.-Midnight Make Ashley's your spot on State! 338 South State (at William) Ann Arbor * 996-9191 01 CHINESE FOOD 2YEARS CHEF JAN EPERIENCE TOP GOLD MEDAL WINNER OF DETROIT COBO HALL NATIONAL CONTEST WINNER WASHINGTONIAN BLUE RIBBON BEST CHEF AWARD IN WASHINGTON, D.C. "BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT 1991"-Michigan Daily "BEST OVERALL RESTAURANT 1991"-Michigan Daily I - Im- -7 KU W'= n'