Small stuff

Rip It Up, Issue 15, 1 September 1978, Page 2

Small stuff

The first anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death passed relatively quietly last month, despite the fact that Memphis, the rock 'n' roll singer’s burial place, was attempting to cope with the effects of a strike by police and firemen. Fewer fans than expected turned up at Presley's Gracelands mansion, but the commercial bonanza that began just over a year ago continues unabated. Since his death Presley associated products have grossed over SIOOO million and the flood goes on ... a new scheme is the merchandis- 1 ing of 2 acres of Elvis’ Circle G ranch, the idea being that for an outlay of $7 the lucky purchaser gets a square inch of land. Now if my calculations are correct that makes 6 million pieces at $7 a time, which makes lessee, uh . . . a hell of a lot of money . . . also Elvis' reputation can hardly have been bolstered in the eyes of many of his fans by the news that the big El had contacted J. Edgar Hoover with the idea of enlisting as an FBI informer. Seems Presley was disgusted at the effect the Beatles and other unkept rockers were ! having on American youth . . . meanwhile El’s namesake little Elvis Costello has been holidaying in Nashville with his wife and son and, reportedly, has recorded some duets with longtime country music stalwart, George Jones. Jones, it is known, has been working on an album of duets with such stars as Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, Waylon Jennings and Emmy-Lou Harris. Could the Costello tracks be connected with this, Rip It Up asks? . . . and to draw a further connection with the two Elvis’s, collectors of trivia will be pleased to know that the new Linda Ronstadt album, Living in the USA, besides featuring Linda’s latest single, Chuck Berry’s "Back in the USA", will also include a track from each of the two El’s Presley’s "Love Me Tender" and Costello’s "My Aim is True" . . . and while we’re on the West Coast of the States, we can report that the new Eagles LP, the first to feature their new bass player, Tim B. Schmit, will be a double album of material recorded in Miami which should hit the shops in time for

Christmas . . . and conflicting reports are filtering through about the new Fleetwood Mac platter. One set of reports has the album completed, while other sources note that the band has booked time in an LA studio for the next 10 months. You figure it out . . . exEagles bass player, Randy Meisner doesn’t seem to be exactly starving to death. The observant among you will have noted that Randy, on the cover of his first album, is

photographed with a ’sos Mercury auto. Seems this is one of 25 classic cars that Randy owns, he’s a specialist in Fords and owns a 1915 Model T, a '3l coupe and a ’3l pick-up among others . . . and diminutive Irv Azoff (he’s 5 foot three for the record), manager of the Eagles and Boz Scaggs among others, was approached by an RSO records executive to inquire about the possibility of having Scaggs’ "Lowdown" put on the soundtrack of a film they were putting together. Azoff was unimpressed with their offer and told the exec where to put his soundtrack. Of course, the film turned out to be Saturday Night Fever and Scagg’s would have made $1 million minimum from its inclusion in the film. Boz Scaggs’ reaction? “I’m disappointed obviously," he said, “but I was glad to have "Lowdown” in Looking for Mr Goodbar." . . . and what would Small Stuff be without some Sex Pistols’ news? John Lydon (once Johnny Rotten) has changed the name of his new band from the Carniverous Buttock Flies to acceptable title of Public Image. The band’s first single, also titled "Public Image", will be released in September and an album is due a couple of months thereafter. A tour of Britain is scheduled for November. According to a spokesman for Virgin Records, "Public

ROBERTSON QUITS LIZZY!

Image are far more concerned with being a busy touring band than were the Sex Pistols” . . . meanwhile Lydon’s colleagues in the Pistols, guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook popped up on the final night of The Clash’s recent British tour to aid them through their encores . . . Jones and Cook also feature on Johnny Thunder’s first solo album, alongside Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, members of the Hot Rods and Steve Marriott. . . and various Thin Lizzy members, Jones and Cook, and assorted other rock 'n' roll celebrities turned up under the name of The Greedies at a recent London club date. First on were Thin Lizzy, who reared through typical numbers such as “The Boys Are Back in Town” and “Don’t Believe a Word”, as well as some songs you’d be unlikely to find in a more usual Lizzy set, such as Mink deVille’s ’’Spanish Stroll” and Stevie Wonder's “Jesus Children of America”. Then Jones and Cook joined the Lizzy line-up to

work out on a new Pistols number; second bassist, Jimmy Bain from Rainbow, was then added and the complete aggregation pumped out the last Pistols’s single. "NoOne is Innocent”. Enter ace guitarist, Chris Spedding who sang his “Motorbikin' ” and then the assembled congregation combined to churn out a little ditty entitled 'Pretty Greedy” (sung to the tune of "Pretty Vacant"), the chorus of which is: "We’re so greedy/Oh so greedy/We’re bastards" . . . and it should be noted about here that this gig marked the unofficial debut of guitarist Gary Moore as a permanent member of Thin Lizzy. Moore replaces Brian Robertson who sustained various injuries earlier this year (three broken ribs and a fractured cheekbone) which would have prevented him touring with the band. He therefore seized on this opportunity to reassess his future. Gary Moore, besides being a fulltime member of Thin Lizzy in 1974, stood in for Robertson on an American tour last year. .. and The Who’s new album, Who Are You, should see NZ release in the next couple of months. The album features three songs by John Entwistle, while the remainder are Pete Townshend compositions. The band are aided on the record by Andy Falrweather-Low on background vocals and Rod Argent on keyboards. But there is to be no Who tour to promote the album. It appears that while Moon, Daltry and Entwistle are keen to go out on the road, Townshend refuses to leave his wife and family . . . and while we’re talking about the big league, it’s about time for the latest gossip on the Rolling Stones. Firstly, the next pressings of the Some Girls album throughout the world will have the faces of Raquel Welch and Lucille Ball blacked out on the cover. This comes as a result of threatened legal action by the two ladies. The American cover will bear the legend: "Please accept our apologies, we are being reconstructed", in place of the two faces ... and the next Stones single is in doubt. Jagger wants it to be "Beast of Burden” but the record company are holding out for "Respectable" . . . the paternity suit filed in Los Angeles in mid-August which froze Mick Jagger’s share of the V2 million dollars earned from two LA concerts, has been settled out of court. The action was brought by actess-singer Marsha Hunt on behalf of her daughter, Karis, who allegedly is also Mick’s child. Mick was reportedly paying sl7 a week for the child's upkeep, but Hunt was claiming $2,300 a month. No details of the settlement were disclosed . . . Keith Richard has been putting down material for a possible solo LP. He's now stacked away nearly an album’s worth and is keen to put out his version of Chuck Berry’s uletide number "Run, Rudolph, Run” as a single . . . and Keef when asked why the Stones album is titled Some Girls replied: "Because we couldn’t remember their f**king names" .... and Keef, Ron Wood and Mick all make guest appearances on the new Peter Tosh LP which will be released on Rolling Stone Records ... as Dylan’s world-wide gigs draw to a close, I guess we can say goodbye to Dylan, the public figure, but over the last month he’s continued to be in the news. When asked by a Melody Maker reporter his reaction to Elvis Presley’s death, he replied: "I had a breakdown! I broke down . . . one of the very few times. I went over my whole life. I went over my whole childhood. I didn’t talk to anyone for a week after Elvis died. If it wasn’t for Elvis and Hank Williams, I couldn’t be doing what I do today.” . . . meanwhile the Zim has been tidying himself up. He bought $4,000 worth of leather jackets in London and reputedly rang up Willie deVille to get the name of his tailor. Seems Dylan was especially interested in purple polka-dot shirts and sharkskin suits ... as we reported last month Jefferson Starship had their fair share of problems on their European tour. The band are now back in the States and various American shows have had to be cancelled while Grace Slick recovers from "emotional strain" . . the other Starship vocalist, Marty Balin, who has consistently refused to commit himself to Starship on a permanent basis, is finishing up a rock-opera titled Rock Justice. The opera, a “business parody”, shows a rock musician put on trial for failing to produce a hit. Balin will play the role of the luckless musician . . . Peter Bardens long-time creative mainstay of British rock band, Camel, has quit the group on the completion of their new album Breathless. He now intends to work with Van Morrison, with whom he played in Them, and Bardens is also featured on Morrison’s forthcoming LP Wavelength ... but Morrison doesn’t maintain such good relations with all the musicians he's played with. Ray Parker, now guitarist and creator of the group Raydio, who once played with Morrison had this to say of him: "He's a total asshole. I was trying to play his music and he kept accusing me of deliberately messing up. He said I was a conspirator from the record company. I mean do I look like a Warner Brothers spy?” he told NME ... at Genesis’ recent New York concert ex-vocalist, Peter Gabriel, joined the band onstage for their encoure, "I Know

What I Like in Your Wardrobe”. Gabriel shared a mike with Phil Collins and was seen to bang a tambourine, mostly in time according to all reports . . . after a meeting at a benefit concert at CBGB’s in New York, there were reports that Deborah Harry of Blondie and Robert Fripp had agreed to appear on each other’s albums. But, with both records now finished, Fripp appears on one track of

Blondie’s LP, Parallel Lines, and Debbie is totally absent from Fripp’s Last of the Great New York Heartthrobs. Apparently, some corporate executives heard of the intended collaboration and put a stop to it, claiming that Debbie Harry’s voice is so identifiable that it should be used for Blondie only . . . Frank Zappa has reportedly completed a new film, his first since 200 Motels. The film’s called Baby Snakes and, according to the man himself, there are, “a bunch of really famous people in it. You have these baby snakes, see, and you have the universe and they relate to each other.” Uh, yeah, I think I see . . . and on a less cosmic plane Frank reports that he has three albums ready for release. They are: Studio Tan, Hot Rats 3 and Orchestral Favourites . . . Aerosmith are often accused of being little better than Rolling Stones’ imitators, and the they’re copying their betters once again. This time they’re playing gigs under an assumed name in order to "get closer to their fans” and also to lay down material for their live album, Bootleg. The inconspicuous name that Aerosmith chose was Dr J. Jones and the In-

terns . . . The Rumour have recently completed a tour behind American singer Carlene Carter who' is Johnny Cash’s stepdaughter. Bob Andrews and Brinsley Schwarz produced Carlene’s album (titled Carlene Carter) which features tracks written by Carlene, Rodney Crowell and Graham Parker . . . The Rumour have now quit the Mercury label and will now record for Stiff Records . . . the new Joe Cocker album, A Luxury You Can Afford is produced by Allen Toussaint and features a "Whiter Shade of Pale”, together with Cocker’s version of Dylan’s "Watching the River Flow”. Among the musos on the session were Cornell Dupree, Dr John, Donnie Hathaway and Bernard Purdie . . . Olivia Newton-John who has been trying to get out of her MCA recording contract has encountered a setback, as the American courts have issued an injunction which prevents her from recording with any other company . . . and her Grease sequel to be titled Summer School . . . and news on some forthcoming albums . . . the next Steely Dan album will be a Best Of compilation from ABC Records ... the next

Ramones LP will be a live double. It’s produced by ex-Ramone Tommy (now Tommy Erdelyi) who reports that "It’s the whole show from beginning to end.” ... the new Chicago album is to be titled Hot Streets and will not have a roman numeral in the title. For a further change Phil Ramone has coproduced the album, providing, according to drummer Danny Seraphine, "a breath of fresh air” . . . Lol Creme and Kevin Godley’s second solo enterprise since splitting with 10cc is a single album titled L ... the next Cheap Trick LP after the shortly-to-be-released Heaven Tonight will be a live album . . . the three Nick Drake records which, since the singer’s death have become very rare, are to be repackaged in a boxed set, together with a fourth album comprised of unreleased material . .. Rick Danko of The Band is working on a second solo album . . . and finally Status Quo have had their hair cut! Have they become members of the Hare Krishna movement or are they just cashing in on the New wave? For the answers to this and other important questions of the day, tune in to Rip It Up next month ...