4 -- The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. -- Thursday, October 6, 1994 Lucia Pamela is out of her mind and out of this world MICHIGAN Continued from page 1 By HEATHER PHARES Lucia Pamela is one of America's great eccentrics. She has been in the hCond Ziegfeld Follies, played piano with Charles Kunkel, and has been hon- ored in "Ripley's Believe It or Not" formemorizing 10,000songs--more than anyone else in the world. She believes she is immortal, and that she went to the moon long before Armstrong made a great step for man- kind. But best of all, while she was on the moon she recorded an album that, forgive the pun, is truly stellar: "Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela," which was re-released in 1992 on Arf! Arf! Records. Originally intended as a children's album, "Into Outer Space" is kind of a loose concept album about going to the moon, the sort of people and animals on the moon, and generally all things lunar, as well as her ruminations on love and friendship both on Earth and on the moon. "Into Outer Space" uses some typi- cally cheesy "outer space" sound ef- fects, but (perhaps reflecting her vaudeville background) Pamela sounds most like a hallucinatory Ethel Merman backed by a big band, re- plete with clarinets, oboes, and Pamela's trademark piano stylings (she claims that her fingers melted together when she was two, and the doctor cut ten new fingers - no thumbs - which made her a "better piano player"). What really makes "Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela" a fantastic journey is Pamela's guilelessly bi- zarre mix of boogie-woogie music and naive lyrics. On "Walking On the Moon," Pamela intones, "As I was walking on the moon / I saw a little kitty-cat / And this is what she said to me / "Meow meow meow meow- wow-wow / Ba-da-da-bom-bom- bom-bom-bom!" And on "Flip Flop Fly" she yells, "No more taxes / No more bills / Just doin' the Flip Flop Fly / Whee!" And titles like "Moontown" and "In the Year 2,000!!!" show that Lucia Pamela (a former Miss St. Louis) is genuinely nuts. But nuts though she may be, she is definitely genuine. Pamela isn't try- ing to be crazy or uproariously funny, though she is both of those things; with "Into Outer Space" Pamela is writing songs that come from her heart and (what she believes to be) her experiences. Songs like "I've Got a Song" and "Hap-Hap-Happy Heart" showcase Pamela's sweet intentions, as do the spoken introductions to the songs. "Let's get ready to go to the moon! Fasten your seat belts! Here we go!!" she exclaims at the begin- ning of the album. "Ha ha ha ha! I'm so full of ideas, and here's a good one!" she chortles on "You And Your Big Ideas" (That phrase, by the way, is sampled on Stereolab's tribute to Pamela, "International Colouring Contest," on their new album "Mars Audiac Quintet"). "Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela" is one of the weirdest, warm- est and funniest albums you're likely to hear. Like schlock film director Ed Wood, Pamela's enthusiasm and sin- cerity about what she does elevates her work from the merely laughable oddity to something moving and noble, as well as charming and funny. The dedication evident in the 13 songs that make up "Into Outer Space" makes it at once hilarious, uplifting and very, very weird. As of '92, Lucia Pamela was living in a Los Angeles retirement community, still active and alert well into her 80s. As the liner notes from the original release of the album, Pamela and "Into Outer Space" are "a treat you will not forget, for she is truly one of the greatest entertain- ers that there ever was!" *PRXKG BREAK '95 fRoM $399 8 Days/7Nites Air, Hotel & More From Detroit FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: BIAriCM I fYCOREY OR BOB AT BIANCHI-ROSSI TOURS 1-800-8754525 PARTxi% EVERY wmTL! OPEN BAR FROM 10:30PM-3:OOAM Ar THE BEST QUS IN TE WORLD!!! TOURS Beaver, of the University's Depart- ment of Film and Video, "It's the one theater in town to provide a truly alternative cinema. It brings the kinds of films that you'd see at the New York Film Festival, films that often aren't even available on video, and it "presents them in a special place in the way that film is meant to be seen." Unlike in large film communities, such as New York or Chicago or San Francisco, the opportunity to see such interesting, avante-garde films comes few and far between. But with cutbacks in government- funded arts programs and a new gen- eration of U students who appear t be less interested in independent film, the going is sometimes rough. The Theater requires constant fund-rais- ing, donations, the support of its mem- bership and most importantly, the support of the students who tend to dominate the city. "The students are the most impor- tant audience," states Aldridge, "that's why it was built where it was an that's why it was called the Michiga . It's very much a part of the Univer- sity." Thanks to the Michigan Theater and the Department of Film and Video for assistance. 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