4B - The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazine - Thursday, March 27, 1997
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The Michigan Daily Weekend
[] A.out Town
Spring signals outdoor dining
despite unstable A2 weather
Gangsta rap speaks to teens
as rock spoke to baby boomers
By Kelly Xntaris
Daily TV/New Media Editor
Welcome to spring in Ann Arbor - a
time when all four seasons can pass
through town in one week. Recent weath-
er may have been cruelly unpredictable,
but Treetowners need not fear. Soon, the
sun will make its comeback, casting an
invigorating glow over this 'place. Some
people will dust off the old Rollerblades,
and some will turn the Diag into a cement
beach. Some will go for a long drive, and
some will frolic through the Arb.
Other signs of celebration will be much
less obvious. Some students will stop
huddling like mice in University cafete-
rias, and some will quit ordering deliv-
ered food. In fact, many will take their
revelry to the streets - and dine outside.
After years of witnessing this annual
spring fever, Ann Arbor restaurant and
cafe-owners are ready and willing to cater
to a sudden demand for outdoor seating.
Tony Bonino, general manager of
Good Time Charley's, has already taken
out the patio furniture. Last Friday, the
campus restaurant had tables outside
from 2 - 10:30 p.m. The sidewalk section,
complete with a white picket fence, is
slated to officially open April 13.
According to Bonino, the warmer
temperatures brings more business, and
a different, "much more relaxed"
crowd. Could the resort-like transfor-
mation of the place be the cause? "We
Good Time
Charley's
~ Where: 1140 S. University.
V When: Weekdays, 11 a.m.12
a.m.; weekends, 11 a.m.-1:30
a. M_
~ Phone: 668-8411.
just need a canal or a river nearby,"
Bonino joked.
Outdoor dining at Charley's began
back in 1979, when the drinking age
was 18. These days, sidewalk seating
allows 21-year-olds an intriguing privi-
lege. They can publicly drink alcohol
outdoors without breaking the law.
Ironically enough, the Department of
Public Safety is located nearby, right on
Church Street. When asked about deal-
ing with problem drinkers, Bonino said,
"We have our moments."
Charley's customers might also be
interested to learn the history behind
Count Sticks, a popular menu item. The
restaurant used to include an upper-level
pizza place called Count De Antipasto,
which is now Wherehouse Records.
Further down South University
Avenue past Church, The Brown Jug, a
virtual campus landmark, has been serv-
ing customers since 1938. Co-owner Jim
The Baltimore Sun relative to a very violent society, the
What is it about popular music that music of Biggie or Tupac or some of
lends itself so readily to a culture of vio- the other artists today has to rise above
lence? just ordinary violence to be extreme."
Parents have pondered that question For decades, young people have been
since the mid-'50s, when teens drawn to music that is harder
rioted to the strains of and louder, more aggres-
"Rock Around the sive and in-your-face
Clock." But this ques- than what their par-
tion has become ents (or even their.
especially pertinent older siblings) lis-
in recent months. tened to. For
In rap, fans instance, when
have been shaken Detroit'rock leg-
and critics dis- end the MCS
turbed by the was developing
drive-by shooting its sound in the
deaths of Tupac mid-'60s, its
Shakur and Biggie members wanted
Smalls, a.k.a. the to make music
Notorious B.I.G. In with such rhythmic
rock, parents have 4drive that the
been so upset by the Motown sound paled in
sexual content of Marilyn comparison.
Manson's act that there "The Motown stuff was
ROB GILMORE/ Uily
Dominick's has lots of outdoor seating - a balcony and a garden.
reflection of what is going on," he said.
"The barbaric violence that was
prevalent in 'Braveheart' still exists
today," said rapper Chuck D, from his
home in Atlanta. "Society is still run by
this concept of, 'If you can't get what
you want, kill 'til you get it.' And I think
it trickles down to kids, to what they
think is exciting, as opposed to what
they think is corny and boring and too
regular.
"In this society, violence gets project-
ed, whereas normal, day-to-day living
gets downplayed. When a murder hap-
pens, that's front-page news. When
something positive happens in the com-
munity, it's tucked on Page 38;' he said.
That's very much the case with cov-
erage of hip-hop. Gangsta rap gets
loads of attention from the mainstream
media - even though it represents just
a small portion of a billion-dollar busi-
ness - because the shootings of
Shakur and Small and the thuggery of
Death Row Records chief Suge Knight
make good copy.
These days, even those who never
listen to rap hear about the "war"
between East Coast and West Coast rap
contingents. But apart from a few rap-
oriented magazines, there's been
almost no coverage of those rappers
who have called for unity within the
community and an end to this sectarian
Paron said that the outside tables in the
spring are part of "a continuing attempt
to serve customers." The option first
became available back
the Ann Arbor Art Fair.
Just around the
corner on Church
Street, the
Backroom of the
Brown Jug doles
out that late-night
hot commodity,
pizza. Rumor has it
that inhaling a slice
in the wee hours,
during sub-zero
weather, is an
in 1960, during '
The Bro
~ Where: 1204S
V When: Monday
7:30 a.m.-2 a.m.
Saturday, 7:30 a
Sunday, 9:30 a.m
~ Phone: 761-33
"Spring" Break, boasts an outdoor
capacity of about 500. Customers can
choose from seating at its balcony,
"beer garden" and picnic area.
With all the outdoor dining possibili-
ties available, it's
no wonder that the
wn Jing weather definitely
affects business at
S. University. Dominick's.
-Thursday,. "Our business
; Friday- runs opposite to
.m.-3 a.m.; farmers and taxi
.-2 a.m. drivers," manager
55. Richard DeVarti
said. Last autumn,
the restaurant
opened for the home game against Ohio
State, which was during its post-
Thanksgiving off-season.
Venturing toward the downtown area,
down East Liberty Street, meal-seekers
See SIDEWALK, Page 16B
have been attempts in sev-
Rapper Chuck D.
unwritten graduation requirement. -
Yet another campus institution,
Dominick's, has been serving up home-
made Italian pasta dishes, sub sand-
wiches, and pizza for the last 38 years.
The restaurant, which re-opened after
I I
a little tame for me," MC5
eral states to stop the group
from performing - including a well-
publicized effort on the part of
Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating. Popular
music hasn't seemed this alarming in
eons.
Nor has that aura of danger been
detrimental to the artists' popularity.
Last year, Manson's million-selling
"Antichrist Superstar" entered the
charts at No. 3, while Shakur's posthu-
mous, double-platinum Makaveli
album, "The Don Killuminati, debuted
at No. 1. And industry insiders are
already certain that the Notorious
B.I.G.'s last album, "Life After Death,"
is guaranteed to top the charts after its
release next week.
All of which leaves many observers
wondering what on Earth is the appeal
of such violent, repellent music. But as
any teen-ager could tell them, the
edgy, anti-social aspects of these acts
is the attraction - and always has
been.
I don't know what it is within youths
that propels rebellion against their par-
ents;' said producer Bill Stephney, pres-
ident of the New York-based hip-hop
label StepSun Entertainment.
"Whatever it is psychologically that
produces that rebellion probably pushes
them toward rebellious music.
"But rebellion is relative to the larg-
er society," he added. "If even
'Dancing in the Streets' had a tone of
anarchy to it, relative to its day, then
guitarist Wayne Kramer
told author Fred Goodman in the book
"Mansion on the Hill." "We started
working on this concept of drive - the
music had forward power. I think it
came from the kind of adrenaline you
have when you're 16 or 17, when your
hormones are pumping so fast that
you're almost
insane," Kramer
said. SoCIe
Although
hormonal runabythi
changes remain
the same, of, 'If yo&
today's teens .y
have far differ- What you
ent social con- ,
cerns than til you 54
those of previ-
ous genera-
tions. "Part of
the problem is'
that this genera-
tion, across the board and irrespective
of race, doesn't have parents," said
Stephney. "It has the adults that bio-
logically produced them, who are
around somewhere, but the reason
some of these messages and images
are so extreme is because these kids
are growing up in a vacuum, in their
own moral environment, with their
own values - twisted and skewed, and
much of it because they're self-creat-
ed.
"If the music is violent, truly it is a
t3
ei
violence.
"I've been say-
V is Still ing for the
longest ,time
s c ncethere's no such
thing as an East
cantCL get Coast/West
Coast thing;"
Wan , kit, said Chuck D.
,,A?7 "You have a cou-
ple of artists
Chuck D from L.A., and a
couple of artists
Rapper from New York
- do you signify
a whole coast?
People have to be careful when attach-
ing a term to anything, and calling this
a conflict is concocting something out
of thin air.
Phife (left), a member of J
is not in place, anyone is
the fray," he said.
That has changed quit
the way the culture operat
music was still in its fore
MCs built their reputation
bal combat, belittling the
while showing off their
skills. Veteran rappers sh
such fights. "The MC ba
definitely dead now," sai
the rap group A Tribe Cz
few months ago.
"Because if a brother c
structive criticism, then
think he's going to take
battle? I'm not trying to
no rhyme. I'll be damne<
some hip hop, you know
ing?"
Let's Go
L ichugana '97
at Rick's
po0nsore d y:
"And when you
fantasy escalating,;
have this kind of a
and people's reality
A E Pi
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