Records
} (ContinuedfromPage8) legs, and you've got heaven is a bit
longer 'n' better than the likes of befuddling. Remember, one does not
Prince or the paisley underground listen to Robyn Hitchcock and the
bands of the West Coast. Egyptians for explication. The am-
As a member of the Soft Boys in the biguosness is half the fun, and the 1
late '70s, who were doing Byrds other half is knowing that it's not
covers while everyone else was terribly contrived. Robyn's psychic l
nihilistically punking around, and as automatism seems quite genuine,
a solo performer, Hitchcock has at- since he persisted through periods
tracted a small but now growing fan- where it certainly wasn't the vogue.
dom as well as critical acclaim as a Just about the, things that
great talent and eccentric. His newest disappoint me about this record is
effort, Fegmania, with a reformed that the band had to cancel its U.S.
band composed of former Soft Boys tour due to illness and that it has no
Morris Windsor and Andy Metcalfe, comics. Robyn's solo records had his
should continue the critical acclaim mod-dada comics on the innersleeve,
and almost can't help but build up his whereas this one has only a few Egyp-
audience since it is his first American tian doodles on the cover and a chin-
release. Unlike his last album, the tzy plastic innersleeve. That, of cour-
brooding "acoustic" I Often Dream of se, is a paltry gripe. The new Soft
Trains, Fegmania: is at times bouncy Boys, which the Egyptians essentially
as Grandma the last time someone are, have every bit of the verve and
actually got away with putting Ben- potential (and then some) of the
zedrine in her Ovaltine. It does, originals. Doubtless, one of the
however, retain a distinctly mind- year's best records.
probing and -altering tack carried -Julie JurrJens
over from the likes of I Often Dream
of Trains', "Uncorrected Personality Rick James - Glow
Traits" and Soft Boys' stuff like Jae -Glw1'
"Where Are the Prawns?" Happily (Motown)
returning after the Soft Boy-less sab- The King of Punk-Funk is back,
batical are glistening harmonies and almost with a vengeance. Rick James
flawlessly articulated pop melodies. has been doing a lot of production
While there's no clue just exactly lately, and has made several records
what a feg is, nor a clue why it'd in- sound better than he himseld has in
spire a mania, this disc offers plenty recent efforts. He has done do by in-
to fix the attention span of almost vesting the bands, most notably The
anyone. "Egyptian Cream" is about a Mary Jane Girls, with his personal
handydandy do-it-yourself sex change brand of punk-funk, and making their
unguent. "Another Bubbie" is an en- efforts sound more-or-less like his
dearingly lightweight bit of pop pap, own.
on which the sound is exquisitely On Glow, Rick James manages to
crisp -a Byrdsy guitar with a lulling keep some of that magic for himself.
vocal repeating "Baby I know." On "Can't Stop," "Melody," and
Following is the nearly-Velvets-ish "Glow," James is in top form ex-
"I'm Only You," a wonderfully perimenting with a denser, lusher,
surreal and deceptively rich trip into but still funky sound. While this style
the pretty gnarled Hitchcock mental lacks James' near-characteristic Rick James makes his influence felt o
landscape. crispness, it is still bold and plucky Doo Rags and Q. T. Hush, but manage
Probably one of the most delightful enough to keep the songs gutty and magic to make his latest record, 'Gl
tracks is "My Wife and My Dead danceable. While Glow is by no means Songs.'
Wife," in which the character encoun- a great album, it is a hopeful sign
ters the ghost of his dead wife. from a performer with great untap- band's carefully constructed '80s doo-
Typical of Hitchcock's subtle wit, he ped potential. wop pose becomes nearly incom-
notes she is "still wearing flares" -John Logie rehensile.sThemus that ere
(you know, bell bottoms, the dead " doing just isn't that much different
aren't very hip .. .), and by the end of from typical funk, much less doo-
the track can't figure out who he loves \woppy.
(loved) most. Side one is capped with But then the instruments disap-
"Goodnight I Say," a kind of lyrical pear, and Process and company belt
free association of people to' places out two a capella bathroom sing-a-
and situations dispersed between longs, "Daddy's Home," and "This
pounding choruses. Line Between Love and Hate." These
"The Man with the Lightbulb songs are classic doo-wop with just a
Head" is about what it says it is, but hint of late-'60s soul vocal. Both are
beyond that, there's little I can ex- terrific, and make one wonder why
plain aside from its being tremen- the band spent eight songs trying to
dously addictive. Robyn made a video Too Siar' be a funk band.
of it, but don't expect to see it on -John Logie
MTV; the closest you'll come is a still
on the cover. "Insect Mother" has
Robyn involved with buggy women e
again, after a long stint since the Soft Process and the Doo T Hush
Boys' "Queen of Eyes." "Strawberry Rags - Too Sharp Q.T. Hush - Q. .
Mind" is psychedelic polka which Columbia) (Epic) t
lyrically has everyone asking (Columbia)
everyone else what's in their cars, Most of Too Sharp is a retread of the tries her hand at production, and s
beds, hair, and heads. Rick James production formula, with manages to make Q.T. Hush soung as
Outstanding on side two is the snappy basslines, a hot horn section, Prince clone-ish as she often does S
crystalline "Glass," in which the and that basic bland funk feel James' these days Syncopated synth work y
band leaps effortlessly from the products develop when listened to in
whimsical to the moody. "The Fly" is anything more than one-song doses. has become a cliche o soul stations,
another bug song, propelled by bass The only thing that separates the first albut it won't . uh long if
and buzzing in a minimal mode, eight songs from anything else James auld Q. T. ush keep boating it
making the grandiose "Heaven," the ever produced is an occasional doo- to death. The monotony is broken up D
final track, seem even bigger. The wop vocal lick, but the sha-bops and by a few lazy ballads and "Turn it (
vocals alone are nealy enough to ooo-wahs are .haphazard and super- UP" which is a slight improvement,
knock you on the floor, even though fluous. .um
"Yout've got arms, and you've got After the first, eight songs, the -John Logie '
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, August 6, 1985 - Page 9
Tenderness," a song which Otis Red-
ding sang as well as it will ever be
sung. Even if the airy synth-dreck
musicianship was tolerable, Ed-
wards' gruff, strained baritone can
not stand up to what has gone before.
The rest of the album throws Edwards'
raspy vocals onto boring ballads and
thin funk which leaves the listener
unmoved.
-John Logie
Ready for the World-
Ready for the World
(MCA)
RFTW is a local product, recorded
in Flint, and mixed in Detroit, and it
might just reclaim some of
Michigan's lost status as a center for
black music. The band is surprisingly
agile with both ballads and straight-
ahead funk. While the music is
at times simply too derivative,
the band manages to add touches that
distinguish it from the sea of funk
products currently available. On
"Tonight" the lead invests enough
emotion into the repeated "Oh's" in
the chorus to draw the listener in. On
"Oh Shiela" the funk beat is punchy
and sharp, the vocals just cool-hot
enough. At it's worst, RFTW sounds
like mediocre DeBarge or good Jesse
Johnson's Revue, which isn't bad for
a self-produced debut album.
-John Logie
STEIE'
natbs of tk heVv
new releases by Process and the
s to save enough of his punk-funk
ow,' his best since 1981's 'Street
France Joli - Witch. of
Love (Epic)
Sheesh. France Joli dresses like an
xtra in a grade-Z science fiction
movie and sings like a breathier
.heena Easton with occasional nods
o Olivia Newton-John and Laura
Branigan. It wouldn't be so irritating if
he were presented in clothing
more in fashion with her vocal style.
he's this year's cutie-pie, not this
'ear's nasty girl.
-John Logie
Dennis Edwards - Coolin'
Dut (Gordy)
The album opens with an act of
susical sacrilege - the grafting of an
80s dance-beat onto "Try a Little
Maureen Steele - Nature
of the Beast (Motown)
The cover on France Joli's album is
ridiculous, but it doesn't hold a candle
to Maureen Steele posing on a bear-
skin rug on her album's front cover
and biting her finger on the back. The
record itself is ridiculously
derivative, with Steele sounding like
virtually every singer to crack the
Top 10 in the past three years. Teena
Marie, DeBarge, Madonna, Pat
Benatar, Survivor, and Sheen
Easton are all aped in rapid suc-
cession, making this record forget-
table unless you consider Steele's
chameleon-like ability to sound like a
generic Top-40 radio station artistry.
- gJQpn4gfe