The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - Thursday, March 2, 1995 - 5



Foxx is 'Peep'ing around the corner

By Eugene Bowen
Daily Arts Writer
It was already pretty well-known
that comedian Eddie Murphy could
sing - a fact he established in his
"Delirious" comedy show. Neverthe-
less, when he came out with an LP, it
was quickly predicted that it would be
a grand flop. This prediction, with the
exception of the fairly successful
single "Put Your Mouth on Me," was
absolutely correct. The inability of
Murphy, obviously a reputable enter-
tainer, to cross the barrier between
comic entertainment and musical en-
tertainment sealed the fact, in many
people's eyes, that music and comedy
don't mix, and never would.
And then came 1994.
It was in this year that comedian
Jamie Foxx came out with "Peep This"
(Fox Records). Perhaps best-known
for his impersonation as Wanda, the
blonde-haired, big-bootied, "rock yo
world" cutie-pie (heh-heh) of Fox
television's "In Living Color," Foxx
shocked many with this musical re-
lease. Everyone expected another
Eddie Murphy-ish flop. Foxx then
shocked those people all over again.
"Peep This" actually turned out to be
good; funny-man Jamie had musical
skillz. He could even play the piano!
But, anyone familiar with Foxx's
life wouldn't have bashed an eyelash
when "Peep This" came out. They
would probably be surprised that he
didn't release sooner. Jamie, a native
of Terrell, Texas where "childhood
was cool," has always been a musi-
cian at heart. He studied music in a
small college in San Diego, but Jamie
admits that he attended college "for a

minute. Yeah, just a quick second."
Foxx was outie. He went to Los
Angeles seeking his dream of going
into professional music. So, just where
does "In Living Color" fit into all
this? Well, Jamie may have known
that he was a supurb musician, but the
bigwigs in the music biz weren't quite
as knowledgeable - especially since
Foxx had no studio and no demo tapes
due to a, shall we say, small cash-flow
problem. However, everyone knew
that he was funny. "So I started doing
stand-up, and later on, I got a spot on
'In Living Color.' I was waiting on
my chance to get into the music scene,
like a rookie."
But, even while doing comedy, Foxx
had music on his mind. "Many people
don't realize it, but most comedians are
musically inclined," he said. "It's be-
cause comedy is rhythmic."
While working on "Peep This,"
Foxx had "a vision to create an album
with a well-rounded concept." He still
feels that, although "Peep This" de-
buted at No. 12 on Billboard (almost
unheard of for any debut release), it
could have been better. "When I was
doing this album, I was working on "In
Living Color" at the same time. So,
some of the music was rushed. Now
(that "In Living Color" is off the air), I
want to get more into each song."
Nevertheless, "Peep This" is a good
piece of work. Cuts like "Summer-
time," "Light a Candle" and "If You
Love Me," exemplify Foxx's love for
the soft seductiveness of slower songs
and ballads. His title cut, which fea-
tures various unidentified people ask-
ing questions like "Why'd you sign
Jamie Foxx," "Is this a comedy al-

bum?" and "Ain't that Wanda?" hu
morously brings many listeners' initial
thoughts about his musical release out
into the open.
And don't think that Jamie Foxx's
knack at spreading the giggles has
dissipated; he is still the funny guy on
the block. He can make anything and
everything laughable. Talking to him,
you'd think that he was putting on a
comedy show just for you.
A competitive person, Foxx still
admits that "I can't compete like I
used to. I ain't young anymore."
(Jamie is******years old). "I can't
run down the basketball court no
more; gotta play half-court, three-
on-three." Even food poses a prob-
lem for our "elderly" comedian. "I
used to be able to eat anything. Now
everything gives me gas. I can't
even go down the dairy section at
the supermarket."
Even his musical taste is made fun
of by many of us in theyoungergenera-
tions. "I don't know what music is
good anymore. Back in the day it was
Whodini and Grand Master Flash. But
now, the little kids tell me I'm not hip
anymore. I say, well, fuck it."
As for his love life? "My love
life is ... healthy. I'm, uh ... The
thing about it is I work." Obviously,
Foxx also takes grasping for straws
to another level.
Foxx is still business-oriented
when the time comes. He's serious
about his music, and he's serious
about its purpose. "R&B, and music
in general, has a responsibility to
kick the real. I'm going to keep
kickin' it my way, and (have) a lot
of damn fun doing it."

Jamie Foxx is a studly guy. Just look at him. Now, didn't you swoon?



Like a group of wife-swappers, St. Januarious' Blood mix it up at coffeehouse

By Andy Dolan
Daily Music Editor
St. Januarious' Blood, despite
sounding like some nastier-than-thou
death metal act, is actually the name
of the free-form musical project envi-
sioned by Craig Badynee, vocalist
EVIEW
St Januarious' Blood
Zoot's Coffeehouse
February 28, 1995
and guitarist for Detroit's Asha Vida.
For their shows, Badynee assembles
some of the Detroit area's most tal-
ented musicians for one huge perfor-
mance of improvisational music and
noise.
The incarnations of St. Januarious'
Blood have featured musicians such
as Michael Segal from bliss-rockers

Majesty Crush, Erica from Godzuki
and several members of ethereal-
popsters Windy & Carl, as well as
some friends and members of Asha
Vida. According to Badynee, every-
one who has performed with St.
Januarious' Blood is united by a cer-
tain attitude about music. "Instead of
thinking of music as a certain for-
mula, everybody here thinks that
music is just whatever we define it as.
It's not some pre-defined formula
that's already been described,"
Badynee said.
Tuesday night was the band's sec-
ond show, and this time the band
featured the aural assault of four gui-
tars, a violin, drums and a Kraftwerk-
esque rhythm track that Badynee had
recorded before the show. Appropri-
ately enough, the show began with
Badynee looking at Segal and saying,
"I'm just gonna go, and you can just

do whatever," before launching into a
somber three-chord jangle. Soon af-
ter, he was followed by guitarist Eric
Pieti's dissonant chords, Segal's ef-
fect-pedal induced drones, Erica's
violin melodies, the supreme feed-
back-drenched noise provided by
Tony Cimoli and Jesse Rafferty's
dynamic percussion which would
build up into a frenzy and fade away
several times throughout the night.
A few minutes into the show, the
band took a break while Badynee
started up his off-kilter, nine-bar drum
loop, and the band was off again and
didn't stop until 75 minutes later.
During that time, the band roamed off
into ballads, Spacemen 3-style drone
pop, ear-splitting noise, and a few
undefinable styles of their own cre-
ation.
Like any jam session, the show
had its moments where everything

seemed to gel together, and as many
moments where everything fell apart.
But, as Badynee put it, "There's al-
ways good parts and bad parts, and
the good parts, you love and remem-
ber, and the bad parts you don't care
about, it's not a big deal. It's just good
to get together with these people and
just freak out."
The combined visions of the six

people led to some amusing moments,
such as a warped cover of "Wild
Thing," which eventually collapsed
gradually into a droning haze, and the
overall mistreatment of an accordion
at various times throughout the show.
At other times, the feedback levels
clearly surpassed the pain and annoy-
ance threshold of many of the Zoot's
Coffeehouse patrons.

A few things didn't go quite as
planned, such as Erica's unamplified
violin being almost completely
drowned out except during the quiet-
est moments, but, for a nearly 85
minute jam session, a surprisingly
high amount of coherent material re-
sulted. As the show progressed, a
See BLOOD, Page 10


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