Arts The Michigan Daily Tuesday, July 14, 1981 Page 7 Radio marathon of local music Psychedelic Furs WCBN (88.3 FM), the scourge of the airwaves and all-around enemy of the corporate mentality wherever it rears its ugly head, started a special radio marathon yesterday that will continue through this Friday. Their regular programming has been preempted for a special tribute to the music and musicians of. Ann Arbor. This festival will run each day from 10 a.m. until midnight, with each day separated into special shows focusing on different aspects of the local music scene. The first two hours of each day will be devoted to music recorded live by WC- BN's Reel Live Music recording project. Eric Glatz and Joel Mabus (Tuesday), Antares (Wednesday), Jango and the Friends Road Show (Wednesday), Dick Siegel (Thursday), the Silvertones (Thursday), and Bud- dies in the Saddle (Friday) will be among those heard in this 10 a.m. to noon slot. FROM NOON until 2 p.m. and from 4 until 5:30 p.m., the time will be con- sumed by features on some of the musicians from the Ann Arbor area. Included will be Scott Morgan (Tuesday 4 to 6) talking about his long history of involvement in Ann Arbor bands like the Rationals, Sonics Ren- dezvous Band, and his current vehicle, Brothers of the Road. Late Wednesday afternoon there will be a feature on the short-lived People's Ballroom, in- cluding the only recording made there-of the Rockets, incidentally. Also among the guests heard during these segments will be David Swain (II- V-I Orchestra, the Urbations) Brian Medwed (20th Century classical com- poser), Hiawatha (the Cult Heroes), and Gary Quackenbush (the SRC)- In that missing 2 to 4 p.m. space will be highlights of the 1972 and 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festivals. A dif- See WCBN, Page9 Psychedelic Furs-'Talk Talk Talk' (Columbia). Undoubtedly many will reject the Psychedelic Furs because of their name alone. This would be a real loss. Lyricist Tim Butler deftly attacks contemporary problems with the eter- nal vision of the malcontent. On their second album, Talk Talk Talk, much of the laughing disgust of the first LP has been replaced by a sad melancholia. The chorus of "Mr Jones," a pre- release single and now a standout album cut, expresses in a nutshell the brunt of the album's concerns: "Movie stars and ads and radio define romance. Don 'tturn it on, I don't want to dance." This viewpoint also manifests itself in one of the strangest love songs ever, "Into You Like a Train." MUSICALLY, guitar and sax weave in and over each other, all to the paten- ted heavy-beat drumming of Vince Ely. In the best punk tradition, effects are t al.l is preserved on V s.mm , B.mOUO frmSetmbr1976 The Michigan Daily 420 Maynard Street AND Graduate Library Nuevo Wavo from te King oTex-Mex By STEVE HOOK Daily Arts Writer Welcome aboard the New Wave Express, folks. Just hand me your ticket as you enter the train. It's becoming marketable now, so there's plenty of room for everyone. Hello, rockabilly stars. Nice to see you, Dave and Nick. And you reggae ar- tists, the Express welcomes you, especially those that dabble in ska and dub. Specials, you're right on time. English political rockers, take a seat in the club car. Australian and Japanese apolitical bands, you belong too. Oh, and you others, you unclassified combos. You genre makers. Greetings, B-52s. Hi Devo, Dickies, and XTC. Next! And your name, sir, you with the Parkay Margarine crown? Joe "King" Carrasco? And the Crowns? How do you describe your music, sir? I'm afraid even the New Wave Ex- press has some restrictions. Tex-Mex music, eh? Sounds wonderful welcome aboard. TRENDY ROCK came to Telegraph Road Friday night, in a bizarre, slightly overwhelming outer Detroit nightclub. renlete with laser lights, twisted purple neon tubes, a black ceiling crawling with pipes and ven- tilation gear, and a waxed dance floor. They call it Nitro's, and you can hear the distant echoes of the disco days long gone. Trendy rock it is, in that Joe Carrasco has been scaling table tops and in- terpreting Mexican fiesta rhythms for almost a decade, and-garbed in regal costume (for just the first moments of the show, before he disrobes and performs in t-shirt and clown pants)-he has suddenly found a market. We've had sock-hop-inspired Farfisa-driven Latin sounds before, when the Sir Douglas Quintet toured to less diversified audiences. Father Time simply appointed 1981 "The Year of the Oddball Combo," and Joe and the Crowns fit the bill. They are much like Split Enz-a pack of kooks from the Southern Hemisphere, who struggled with their plastic flutes and striped suits through the 70s, only to find themselves oddly in demand today. AT FIRST APPEARANCE-let's face it-Joe "King" Carrasco is repugnant-a flaming asshole with a 60-foot guitar cord screaming "Pah- tay! Paaaahhhh-taaaay!" into his microphone. Watching him arrive on- stage in his gaudy costume with a full-length dress draped over his front and shouting "For Lady Diiiiii-annnna," it all makes you a bit queasy, especially considering the locale. But, poof. Off goes the cape, away goes the crown, and the music begins. Fun music, happy music, dance music. Kris Cummings' dominant organ progressions-bouncy chops that make up the backbone of this band-weave between Carrasco's guitar riffs and a rock steady bass and percussion foun- dation executed by Brad Kizer and Mike Navarro, respectively. You hear traditional Mexican and Texan music, rhythm and blues, calypso, and rock elements, craftily-if at times pompously-intergrated. Nuevo Wavo. Music gone awry, slightly demented. One oar in the water, oddball rock. Ignoring conventions while desperately grasping for in- novations. Roaring into uncharted waters, for better or for worse. Their appearance at Nitro's, therefore, was an exhilarating thrill. kept to a minimum, yet authentically psychedelic sounds often emerge. "Pretty In Pink," with its Sweet Jane chording, continues," the saga of Caroline, Lou Reed's deathly Berlin- days creation. We may all be useless, stuck in a miserable world but at least we can look pretty. The commercial success of last year's first album on these shores came as a shockingly pleasant surprise. Hopefully, this album and tonight's show at Nitro's in Detroit will continue to bring their strong statement across to an American audience. -Jim Hallemann Thanks to Schoolkids Records for the use of some of the albums reviewed in our records columns. DISTINCTIVE HAIRSTYLING FOR MEN AND WOMEN Try a 1981 NEW LONG or SHORT STYLE THE DASCOLA STYLISTS Liberty off State .. 668-9329 East U. at So. U.... 662-0354 Arbor"and. 971-9975 Maple Village .... 761-2733 LONG NECK BEERS 2 forl GEORGE BEDARD and THE BONNEVILLES