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The Michigan Daily
Thursday, February 14, 1991
it really was all
Page 9
Theater Review
by Annette Petrusso
T he Replacements and those
damn Republicans, Reagan and
Bush, pretty much sum up the '80s.
The band made their live debut
on June 29, 1980 in a halfway
house for alcoholics. This first
show, played drunk, sans a broken-
aimed Tommy Stinson (young and
chrefree, like most of us who were
ohly about 10 or 11 at the time)
represents the rebellion against the
old man shot by the psycho, Ron-
nie Ray-gun. Little did we
innocent kiddies know what were
in for with this president.
Their first album, released in
1981, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out
the Trash, proves with its title that
we cool young-types hated and re-
Noise" all pointed out some of the
problems that the nation was
facing and how we regarded them.
Sucks to you, Mr. Reagan.
The Reagan years lasted too
long. '83's Hootenany brought the
'Mats more notoriety, as even
those dinosauric old-men rock crit-
ics liked the Replacements and
hated Reagan. The title evokes the
'60s, which those dildos can relate
too, don't you see? - protest and
all that. Same for their real "break-
through" LP, Let it Be, which was
released in '84.
By borrowing the moniker from
the Beatles, the band received
even more credibility from those
old critics who hated the "noise"
(preferring the sentimental slop
that Springsteen was putting out on
Reagan
Reagan continued for four more2
years, so something had to break.
It was guitarist Bob Stinson and
heroin - thank you, Mr. Reagan.C
By forcing these kids to live on the
edge and making your policies af-r
fect national life so much, every-
one wanted to take lots of drugs
and forget you ever happened. Or
drink a lot, as the Replacements'
notorious antics on stage and off
confirmed. Not that excessive any-t
thing is all that bad, but Ronnie1
sure made lots of people not wantl
to be like him.F
Anyway, Bob left the band afterl
Let It Be and was replaced byl
some dude named Slim Dunlap.1
His very name evokes thoughtsl
about cigarettes and Reagan'sl
Secretary of Education (and laterI
s fault
around the base like a bad tattoo
around the ankle.
Slim wasn't as bad as the
cigarettes; he just looked a little
straighter than Bob. But his very
name simultaneously conjures up
images of a more conventional
(dare I say Republican) life-style
and a slight undermining of the
same way of the life.
From '87's Pleased to Meet Me
to '89's Don't Tell a Soul to '91's
All Shook Down, the Replacements
have gotten progressively more
edge-less musically, just like the
United States has become more
boring now that those tedious Re-
publicans control the country and
people are fighting it less and less.
Maybe it has to do with the band's
move to a bigger, more major-like
label, Sire, from the very indepen-
dent Twin-Tone. Republican val-
ues of sales and more distribution
must come into play somehow.
Meet Me has a self-centered ti-
tle - "I simply can't think about
the world while my life sucks" -
but the cuts are uniformly fabulous.
It sports a homage to a Mr. Sub-
Culture, "Alex Chilton," and a
song about jumping off a "Ledge,"
just like young people wanted to
do to show older presidents the fu-
tility of life while they are around.
All in all, Meet Me still retains
that slightly subversive quality.
Don't Tell doesn't. Oh my god!
Main songwriter Paul Westerberg
has started to m-a-t-u-r-e. "I'll Be
You" is a silly song about wanting
to change his identity, something a
father would sing to his child.
Yikes! - fatherhood and young,
rebellious Replacements don't
mix. But it does fit right in with a
Republican ideal. I promise not to
tell if you don't that the Replace-
ments might be content with some
degree of conformity. It's just a
phase, right?
Well, wrong ...sort of. All Shook
Down barely features more than
Westerberg and one other 'Mat
playing on each track. But it is
life-weary, mature music. If I just
listened to it knowing nothing
about the Replacements, I would
think it was a fabulous debut LP
with a nice number of interesting
musical cameos. But they aren't
debuting, they are falling apart,
and Westerberg reflects nicely
(there's that word again).
See MATS, Page 10
A romantic play especially
for a sweet Valentine's Day
x='y
by Beth Colquitt
D ear Friend,
A bit of advice. If you
haven't come up with some-
thing to do for your sweetheart
today, "Tonight at Eight" take
her - or him - to see She
LovesMe atthe Ann Arbor
Civic Theatre. The show is like
the sourballs in Drake's Valen-
tine candy mix - sweet at first,
tart when you bite into it, but
leaving a very pleasant after-
taste.
She Loves Me is a sweet lit-
tle musical which doesn't try to
be anything other than a stan-
dard love story. Boy meets girl,
and they strike up an adversar-
ial relationship, which at the
end turns to deep affection.
Through some loans from the
University's Musical Theater
department, the Ann Arbor
Civic Theatre does it justice.
The two leads simply
sparkle. Their charm as they
quarrel and make up rivals that
of Gene Kelly and Debbie
Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain,
and the comparison does not
end there. As the slightly
pompous but soft-hearted Georg,
Patrick Beller's warm and in-
tense voice fills the small the-
ater with his romantic appre-
hensions. While singing "She
Loves Me," Georg's feelings-
run delightfully amok, as he"
dances about the stage in a
style reminiscent of Kelly's rain
dance in "Singin' in the Rain."
Belier's very Midwestern pri-
vate-school accent glares
somewhat in his pronunciation
of Sheldon Ham ick's Hungarian.'
names, but this barely shadows
his fine performance.
Beller is perfectly paired in
every attribute with his heroine,
Amalia Balash (Trace Plester).
With an impressive display of
versatility, Plester, who has,
shown a strong operatic voice in
past University productions, de-,-
livers a delicate and excruciat-
ingly sweet tone, admirably
suited for the small theater.
Plester and Beller work well to-
gether, bouncing a wide variety
of emotions off of one another,-
and the romantic tension is al-
most tangible.
Two other good perfor-
mances come from Bob Star-
ring, in the role of Mr.
Maraczek, crusty owner of the
parfumerie in which all the"
characters work, and James
Hekman, as the enthusiastic
and ambitious delivery boy,
Arpad. Starring and Hekman in-
See LOVE, Page 10
EI9I3 i4&NE i
I
I.,
Ph my god, the Replacements look like Republicans! Note Paul Westerberg's cardigan sweater and tie,
something Uncle Ronnie must have given him, and his neat hair-cut. Steve Folley, the new 19-year-old one with
the spiked and moussed haircut (another product of the Reagan years) and glasses (no real rock and rollers
wear glasses but some, gasp, Republicans do), and Tommy Stinson sport button-down Oxford-cloth shirts, an
Witimate symbol of preppy-ism. They even look sober.
February Guest Speaker:
Fr. Matthew Searfoorce
St. Andrew Orthodox Catholic Church
East Lansing, Michigan
Topic: "The Bible and Tradition:
The Sources of our Faith"
Where and When:
Michigan Union - Room 2209
.Thursday, February14th
7:00 - 8:00 pm
.,
4
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q
sented Ronnie for his age and his
obvious dislike of us. The Re-
placements apologized for us with
the title, but entertained us
younger-types with some excellent
hardcorish-fast stuff. A similar
theme and a similar sound racked
their '82 EP, Stink.
Obvious comments about Rea-
gan's body and policy odor aside,
Stink's song titles really represent
young dissatisfaction and hint at
possible drug use, or, as Reagan
* would put it, "drug abuse:" "Fuck
School," "God Damn Job," "Dope
Smokin'," "Moron," and "Gimme
Born in the U.S.A.) but liked the ti-
tle. These two albums were much
mellower than Sorry or Stink, but
then even girls liked them, and
you know how much girls hate
loud racket and how many records
girls buy.
"I Will Dare" on Let It Be
hinted at the Replacements' future
new direction, a relatively sober
one (which wasn't that sober at
first). The song is melodic and
nice; no really fast guitars and
fucked-up times here, but straight-
ahead rock 'n' roll. Not that nice is
bad, but nice is still, well, nice.
Bush's Drug Czar and now a
Republican has-been), William
Bennett, Mr. Anti-fun. Virginia
Slims are cigarettes for women
who are uncomfortable with the
thicker, shorter phalluses of other
cigarettes. They taste awful and
look stupid, with the flower motif
a-
e
The University of Michigan
Center for Afroamerican and African Studies,
Iv r Michigan Union Bookstore v 1
YYYYYYValentine's Day SpecialYVVIV1Y I
I
Buy $10.00
worth of merchandise (anything counts)
February 11-14, 1991
& Receive a coupon for
$1.00 off
any single rose
at Louise Flowers and Gifts
334 S. State Street
on Valentine's Day!!!
higan Union Booksto
530 S. State Street
Ground Floor of the Michigan Union
open 7 days a week
I
Mic
r
re
;;:A; EBurnham Associates
543 Church
761-1523
VALENTINE'S SPECIALS
Discounted Rates-1st Month's Rent
Contact the following people:
543 Church 515 Walnut 848 Tappan
761-1523 747-7317 761-6249
1001 S. Forest 1506 Geddes
665-5127 610 S. Forest 747-7317
769-1647
Leases signed between
2/14-2/28
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COMMUTER TRANSPORTATION OFFERS :
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CALL TOLL FREE- 1-800-351-5466
Black History Month Symposium
Black American Families: Challenges and Opportunities
Horace H. Rackham Building
The University of Michigan
February 15-16, 1991
Friday, February 15
Rackham Amphitheater
10:00 - Panel discussion with Fred McCuiston, President, Ann Arbor NAACP, and William
Rapcliff, Director, Saturday Academy for African American Students
- Children of Color: Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century
11:00 Black Families: A Status Report
1:30
3:15
9:00 am - Methods for Tracing Black Family Genealogy
- Afroamerican Men's Views of Male Family Roles
10:45
- Black, Single Parent Women: Future Directions
- Psychological Interventions with Minority Youth
All eventsare free and open to the public
For further informaton, please call 764-5513.
[Thurs ,- 14
.9
,SOUNDTAGE4
Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents
Families Coping with Stress
Saturday, February 16
Rackham 4th Floor, Workshops
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