Arts
Wednesday, July 28, 1982
The Michigan Daily
Page 7
Records.
Marshall Crenshaw - 'Mar-
shall Crenshaw' (Warner Bros.)
The rock music scene is in sad shape
these days. Our most talented rock
groups, especially the Clash, refuse to
play rock, and instead diddle about with
jazz, funk, and reggae. Experimen-
tation is fine, but their apparent disdain
of rock music annoys me.
That is why Marshall Crenshaw is so
refreshing. He is a man who obviously
delights in rock 'n' roll and is not at all
ashamed of it.
A Detroit-area native, Crenshaw
moved to L.A. to launch his career, and
eventually, wound up playing John Len-
non in a touring "Beatlemania" com-
pany. But after two years of mimicking
Lennon, Crenshaw decided that it was
time to try out his own talents.
The result is his self-titled first
album, a collection of twelve classic
songs that hark back to the golden era
of rock 'n' roll. Though one can hear
traces of many early artists in his
a
music, the Everly Brothers seem to be
Crenshaw's biggest influence, both in
his songwriting and in the general '50s
sound of his record.
The essence of Crenshaw's magic is
his simplicity. He relies on only the
most basic components of rock -
guitar, drums, and vocals - yet that is
all he needs. His music can stand on the
strength of his songwriting, the
Beatlesque harmonies, and'especially
his guitar work.
Crenshaw plays with a sort of under-
stated and simple rockabilly twang,
concentrating on getting exactly the
sound he wants instead of trying to im-
press his listeners with guitar-hero
histronics. The beautifully melodic
rhythm of songs like "There She Goes
Again" and "The Usual Thing" places
Crenshaw in the best tradition of early
rock guitarists like Les Paul.
But perhaps what I like most about
Marshall Crenshaw is not his music,
but the point he makes with it. As he
demonstrated, rock music is not a worn
out and futle genre.
Though Crenshaw sounds like an up-
dated version of the Everly Brothers or
Buddy Holly, his enthusiasm makes the
music sound fresh. Crenshaw proves
that there still is room for talent to ex-
press itself in rock 'n' roll. I think that is
an important and very enjoyable point.
-J. L. Komie
Patsy Cline and Jim
Reeves-'Remembering'
(MCA)
Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves, for
those unfamiliar, sang pop country
songs in the cultural wasteland of, oh,
about 20 years ago, just around the
debut of another pop country star,
Loretta Lynn.
Most people might not have too much
to "remember" of these two, but in
their day they were pretty big, and
some of the hits (like the duet "I Fall to
Pieces") still hit the radio air waves
occasionally.
Get your
ALONG HIGHWAY 15, Mexico (AP)
- This Pacific coastal route is rich in
scenic variety and the lore of drug
smugglers and highway bandits. But
life, like Mexico's Pemex gasoline, is
Murder has been part of its legend
since 16th century Spanish
conquistador Nino de Guzman plun-
dered the Patzcuaro region, through
which the road now passes, and burned
alive the Tarascan chief who refused to
tell where his tribe's gold was buried.
Today, what happened to three
American travelers - two died violen-
tly and one vanished - is worrying
Mexicans who want to keep tourist
dollars rolling in.
The U.S. Embassy is considering
asking the State Department to renew
the advisory issued against travel on
Highway 15 in 1976, when at least 13
Americans and other foreigners were
slain along its 1,432-mile stretch from
Nogales on the Arizona border to
Mexico City.
Boosters of Mexican tourism, seeking
to defend the country's second largest
exchange-earner behind oil, insist the
latest incidents are isolated and that
armed assaults on travelers are far less
frequent now.
"A tourist boycott was justified in '76
but not now," said Jose H. Rico, the cross the
mayor of Mazatlan, a Pacific resort on each day
the highway that drew 1.4 million From t
visitors last year, more than a third of Hermosi
them from the United States. Culiacan,
Although Federal Highway Police in- Tropic of
sist their patrols are adequate, and Tepi(
Mazatlan's hotel owners, mindful that Guadalaj
1976 and 1977 were their worst seasons Madres t
of the decade, have started a letter- City.
writing campaign to get the patrols in- Most o
creased. blacktop
Many Americans who take to the sun, full of pot
Urf, game hunting and fishing of often lacki
Mexico's Pacific coast arrive on and occas
wheels, taking advantage of low hard day
gasoline prices - the equivalent of 46 night driv
U.S. cents a gallon for regular, U.S. of- The hig
ficials say an average of 82 vehicles ways. "F
kicks on '15'
UNITED STATES
-x Danger On
Nogales Highway 15
" Hermosillo\
MEXICO
kCuiacan
J, \~San Ignacio
" Mazatlan
San Bias 15Guadalajara
Pacific Ocean Mexico
city
Of the two, I'd say Cline (who is, in-
cidentally, long dead) was the more
talented-and thedmore discriminating
in her choice of songs (including
"Walking After Mignight" and the
amusing "Back in Baby's Arms").
The Reeves selections (especially
"The Blizzard" and "Distant Drums")
often border on the ridiculous; so silly,
obvious, and demeaning that I'm sur-
rised even the poor lost AM souls of
yesteryear didn't revolt.
I would recommend this reissue only
to country music historians lasking the
cash or inclination to purchase the Pat-
sy Cline originals. Featured are songs
written by the likes of Hank Cochran,
Carl Perkins and Don Hecht. Also, this
tuff makes almost ideal elevator and
waiting room music; but don't pipe it
in, just sit back and inhale lightly.
-Ben Ticho
-42INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
5th Ave of i ber ty 761-9700
WE
WED--12:30, 2:40, 4:50
THUR-7:00 9:10 (R)
STARTS TODAY!
A local girl, a young aviator
and their desperate, raw
lustl
OFFICER
'ENT'LEM
Richard Gere
(American Gigolo)
Deb Wge
Debra Winger
Arizona border into Mexico
on Highway 15.
he naked desert hills around
llo, Ciudad Obregon and
the road winds across the
Cancer just north of Mazatlan
c. From there is turns east to
ara and across the Sierra
o Morelia, Toluca, and Mexico
f Highway 15 is a two-lane
road - undivided, unlighted,
tholes, crammed with trucks,
ing shoulders or a center line
isionally blocked by cattle. A
's drive may be40 miles;
ing is not advised.
hway takes tourist traffic both
aycua" - consumer goods
smuggled through customs - moves
mostly southbound. Heroin and
marijuana flow the other way, as do the
"alambristas," or fence cutters, who
slip through the chain link barrier at
Nogales to work illegally in the United
States.
Hector Arguelles, commander of the
Federal Highway Police detachment in
Mazatlan, said robberies on his 156-
mile stretch of highway 15 rose to a
peak average of six per week in 1980
before doubling of patrols on the entire
road brought them down.
Four patrol cars now cruise the stret-
ch at all hours and robberies are down
to an average of one a month, he said,
"most of them drivers who make the
mistake of sleeping on the roadside."
WED-12:40,3:00,5:20
7:40,9:55
THUR-7:40,9:55 (R)