ARTS
The Michigan Daily Friday, May 13, 1988 Pge 10
King Sunny Ade': Multi-marathon man
school and ran away from home to scorching Nigerian sun. All the bag just in case Ade' and the Beats
BY TODD SHANKER become a musician at the impres- while the bass player tears it up with decide to do an authentic all-night
KING Sunny Ade' and his massive sionable age of 17, in the early '60s tantalizing, fleshy sounds that actu- Nigerian dance-a-thon. And remem-
18 piece maelstrom of wiggling, And although Yoruban tribal music ally vibrate vertebrae. Whew, King ber, as you subsume yourself in
writhing African Beats have become has been around since the '20s, Ade' Sunny sure can mix it up! King Sunny Ade"s lush, global
world renowned for much more than was most influenced by contempo- Ade"s 1974 landmark Synchro dance-textures, don't over-do 'cuz no
their hypno-dance-trance Ju Ju music rary Ju Ju, which didn't take shape System LP again revolutionized the one wants to look like the
from Nigeria. King Sunny's infinite until the mid-50s when such masters state of Ju Ju by adding electronic "Grimace!"
party shows in Lagos normally gy- as Moses Olaiya, Tunde Nightengale, twists and grinds to whole sides of
rate all night long and in 1983, dur- and I.K. Dairo began to add the tin- pure, airy non-stop music. On KING SUNNY ADE' AND THE
ing his five-hour U.S. debut in New gling clarity of ebullient electric 1977's Festac LP, Ade' added syn- AFRICAN BEATS pound into the
York City, Ade' and the Beats guitars to their musical melting pot. thesizers which catalyzed a rich, at- Michigan Theatre tonight at 8 p.m.
cranked up the rhythmic throttle so But it was Ade' that mospheric effect when combined Tickets are $16.50.
high, for so long, that by the end of internationalized Ju Ju music by with the talking drums. And on his
the show audience-dancers had turned drawing freely from Western influ- U.S. debut LP, 1982's Ju Ju Music,
into a sea of wobbling, jelly-jigglers ences as diverse as the Grateful Dead, Ade' thumped out some rubbery reg-
that resembled a McDonald's Chuck Berry, James Brown, and Ste- gae-dub effects, boppish jazz vamps,
"Grimace" convention. vie Wonder, yet still staying true- and even accentuated the steel guitar's
Now that his shows are tamed blue to his Yorban roots by center- whizzing cascAde' of vibrato. Of Thunder Island
down to mere 3-hour World-rhythm ing the music around fast and feisty course the smoke-steam is always By James Howard Kunstler
revelations, Ade' has refined his Ju antiphonal call-and-response between A d e provided by Ade', whose brazen gui- Bantam New Fiction
Ju m u sic excursions into a the talking drums and the singers. a JuJu Grimace tar blowtorches swaths of melody $7.95/paperback
scintillating cynosure where Yoruban Ade''s witch-doctor experimenta- through the dense rhythm and whose In Thunder Island, the latest re-
tribal and music tradition melds with tion with Ju Ju has led him into a Hawaiian guitar glimmers that would Wham-O vocals soar and arc as they lease from the Bantam New Fiction
diverse and ingenious innovation. panorama of marvelous musical for- make Don Ho blush mix with mara- spin Yoruban tales with internation- line, James Howard Kunstler tries to
Ade', who was born a prince in one ays in which one can perceive a cas and shekeres that rattle and shake ally understood meanings. capitalize on the neo-60s revival
of Nigeria's royal families, left global-whirl of influence. Occasional like spastic bellydancers. The tradi- Tonight is a rare opportunity to that's currently all the rage. Unfortu-
tional talking drums often wail with catch King Sunny Ade', one of the nately allusions to "Lucy in the Sky
throaty, moody swoops and thuds world's greatest international music With Diamonds" and "Highway 99"
that mimic the human voice, while stars, in a very cozy atmosphere at don't save this staid story.
N N IN Western style trap drummers cook the historic Michigan Theatre. You The main character, Andy New-
N ! like the Galloping Gourmet under a might want to bring an overnight mark, a relatively "hip" guy, is
spending his first summer away from
home, and he hooks up with Tim
Flannery, a sarcastic swaggart. To-
gether the two drink, trip, and chase
4im N 1 14-year old girls.
The tried and true premise of a
Your Summer Job coming of age story isn't bad, but
Kunstler tries so hard to relate rele-
'Wkig w ith kids vant '60s experiences that the dia-
more than just employment... logue between the characters becomes
stilted and unbelievable. At one point
Positions For: Andy tells Tim of his acid-induced
hallucination: "I dropped [the beer
Nature Specialists cup] and it shattered into a million
Nurses pieces and flew back together again."
Unit Supervisors "It's still in your hand."
Tl 3 Small Craft Instructors " "
ROPES. Course Facilitators "You hallucinated it."
The Return of the Great Dime Ride I,1' Riding Instructor s Oh God.
Now is the time to take advantage of the Great Dime Ride and try the pueCpIeI "Besides it's plastic. It couldn't
AATA. You can ride anywhere on the AATA's 21 convenient routes for Computer Specialist shatter even if you dropped it from
only one dime during National Transportation Week. You will find why 1 Bus Drivers See Thunder, Page 12
AATA has been honored as the best mid-size transit system in y Foresters
America for its convenient, reliable service. Outpost and Travel Staff
Staff for Emotionally Impaired Kids
Win Valuable Prizes Family Camp Staff
DAILY PRIZES- Ten prizes donated by area merchants will be given
away each day to the "Riders of the Day." You will find entry blanks on
all buses and at the AATA offices.
GRAND PRIZE- In cooperation with Lovejoy-Tiffany and Associates, 0 INTERVIEWING:
Inc., AATA will award the "Rider of the Week" a Walt Disney World
Resort Vacation for two people including: round trip air fare, 3 nights LAST FULL PRIVILEGE
lodging, 3 day pas t the Magic Interview ADULT NAUTILUS
Kingdom and Epcot CenterTedyCU E B RHP
Winners will be announced each ATTEsEay7CLUB MEMBERSHIPS
morning at 8:15 a.m. on A at Hillel
" May 17 ~~~~~~JUST $25.00atHleWAMRdo1.' "
WAAM Radio 16. WEEKCall 663-3336 PER MONTH
l, 7 'ove oj-r
Ride TiffanY( RADIO 16 WAAM Tamarack is the Jewish Residence Camp Agency ANN ARBOR "Y"
Sponsored by the Fresh Air Society of Metropolitan Detroit, Since 1903 350 S. FIFTH AVE.
Call 996-0400 for routes and schedule information. (313) 661-0600 663-0536