RECORDS

Rip It Up, Issue 37, 1 August 1980, Page 10

RECORDS

TOY LOVE DE LUXE When Todd Hunter last passed through Dunedin, heaving the rotting Dragon carcass behind him, he mentioned he'd really like to do something with Toy Love. They've got the songs, said Todd, and they're GOOD songs. Todd got his wish, and nothing on this debut album, produced by him in Sydney, villifies that belief. Above all this record is crushing confirmation that Toy Love have songs to burn. There are fifteen here, and even allowing for the fact that some date back to the 1977 Enemy embryo (and that band's bass player Mick Dawson) the writing range is still astonishing. Imagine a Billboard reviewer with his box of labels grappling with this one post-punk oower, pure pop, macabre melodrama, whoop an’ holler bizarro bop, sublime ice-cold beauty, three-chord thunder, chaotic psychedelia ... the bard could go on forever. And realise too there are a number of fine Toy Love songs not even ON this album Whew. So much for Toy Love (and Mick) as writers. As a record mirroring that ability, this is not quite in the same league not that anyone, fervent followers and doubting dissenters both, really expected the full sweep of the band to make it onto vinyl at this stage. That full sweep, after all, covers a lot of ground. There are times on this album when, technically, things do come together, usually on the slower, more dramatic and instrumentally spare material, but when the band are raging, all five, limitations are laid bare. During such moments we listen in vain for Dooley's drum anarchy, the bass drum especially, we strain to hear the keyboards, and we wish Johnny Ramone had been brought in just to produce Alex. It sounds almost as though someone panicked every

Back to the songs. Track placement must have furrowed a few brows, but a daunting task has been handled pretty well, though the album should really end with "Frogs", leaving the frantic "Fast Ostrich" in the studio can for bootleggers to creep in and steal at night. As mentioned, the slower more skin-crawly stuff has come up solidly, and it’s amazing that Chris Knox, who. incidentally, writes some damn fine lyrics, can still wring life out of such thousand-times-played chestnuts as "Cold Meat and "Green Walls". The same big plus goes to Knox and band for somehow getting a good cut down of "Shades". Not definitive, coz it's too late for that, but at white noise volume, this-is at least magnificent. This song could still bring the NZ singles chart to its knees. Which leads me on to the album's actual single "Bride Of Frankenstein". More evidence of that off-the-wall writing ability, sure, but querulous stuff for the 45 market nevertheless. The glorious pop visions of "Swimming Pool" and "Ain't It Nice" have battled with the sobriety of the studio and the still-developing instrumental skills of the band the result is a q raw and "The Crunch", a,song to open ANYTHING (a record side, a set, a day) is one of those ones Johnny Ramone should have been in on. "Don’t Catch Fire" has a great atmospheric opening, but when everyone climbs aboard to drive this anthemic rocker home, the amplifier has to be driven into clipping to get the required climax "Bedroom" I leave till last coz it's so good One of Knox' best vocals, the keyboards swirl beautifully, and the drums reveal subtlety and taste hithereto untried for. Melodically, it's the album's supreme achievement. I like the first Toy Love album a whole lot. Strengths and weaknesses have both been underlined, but if your criteria is songs, as mine ultimately always is, then you’ll find them here. Any overseas big-name big-dollar record producer who heard this one couldn't fail to realise Toy Love have the machinery to move mountains. Someone’s just gotta turn on the power. Roy Colbert

GANG OF FOUR ENTERTAINMENT EMI When Bob Last launched the Fast label in Edinburgh a few years ago he had three main bands in the throes of forming their own highly specialised view the Mekons, Human League and potential world-beaters, the Gang of Four. From Leeds University, the Gang consisting of Andy Gill (guitar)- Jon King (vocals), Hugo Burnham (drums) and Dave Allen (bass) recorded one record on Fast, the oft-cited "Damaged Goods" EP which thrust forward three tracks lethal enough to pare flesh from bone. The title track was a counter-revolution against the cliched and sentimental notions of love ("Your kiss so sweet, your sweat so sour."), and the ground-breaking “Love Like Anthrax" opened with malevolent guitar feedback and slid into a double vocal with Jon King knocking love on one channel and Andy Gill (?) describing the recording process on the other. Both songs appear in a slightly re-mixed toned-down form on Entertainment. "Armalite Rifle" concluded the EP with similar concerned venom. A record deal with EMI followed last year and a single "At Home He's A Tourist", also on the album, proved that they were determined to continue their fight against complacency as the song tore at the foundations of ambition and pleasure and Andy Gill lacerated anything that moved with his famous guitar irregularities. Entertainment, the title itself being an ironic put-down and questioning of the methods we use or accept as "entertainment”, was therefore eagerly anticipated, and although it’s not the killer blow I hoped for, it still dictates its own terms and position in rock'n'roll. • The band's unwavering honesty remains intact but the savagery of their sound has been levelled out somewhat especially on the aforementioned classics "Damaged Goods" and "Anthrax", and songs such as the marital undercut of “Contract” and the mail-order blues analogy of “Return the Gift" pull their punches a little. But as bad news that’s as far as it goes and the rest produces smiles (hardly of humour) all round. "Ether” digs at the "dirt behind the daydream” until you’re no longerunder the anaesthetic; "Natural's Not In It" hacks at the exploitation of pleasure and "I Found That Essence Rare" and "Glass” strip away the "polarised glasses" view of things. But it’s the concluding trilogy of "Tourist", "5.45" and "Anthrax” that conclude the album with the most passionate frenzy, especially on the TV images of "5.45". For complete perfection the Gang of Four should have released this debut album on Fast where the small label enthusiasm could have matched the band's idealism. But as it stands, Entertainment, is a fierce and fanciful indictment of things we take for granted, and the flaws of occasional compromise are lost in the harsh new standards-set by the band. That's Entertainment? George Kay 808 DYLAN SAVED CBS Veteran R&B producer Jerry Wexler compares Bob Dylan’s new, and 23rd. album, Saved, which he and Barry Beckett produced at Muscle Shoals, with the great soul records. he cut in the 'sos and ’6os. “This one was like when Ray Charles used to call me up and say, 'Hey, pardner, I’m coming in in three weeks, let's do a record.' " High praise. ; Of Dylan's new-found Christianity (which some more ardent admirers see as tantamount to betrayal), Wexler says, “Whether you’re an agnostic or a leftist or whatever you can view him as a seminal artist who has reached a turning point in his life, as he has before.” ■ - On the first count, Wexler’s comparison is not the absurdity it might at first appear. At best, the gospel music of Saved is rousing, uplifting, and not far removed from the secular church-of Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin. This is the music of self discovery and self affirmation. Which pretty well takes care of the second point. The album opens with a gospel church reading of the old country song "A Satisfied Mind". In other hands it often sounds merely smug. Dylan, sounding possessed in

the sense that the best bluesmen and the best rockers can be possessed, injects the banal lyric with a quality to make it live. "I'll leave this world with a satisfied mind.” This Dylanreminds of the guileless face of Self Portrait. That Dylan is "satisfied" does not,mean he has lost any of his skill with a song. Saved contains some of his finer ballads, and certainly several of his best rockers ("Saved", “Solid Rock" "Are You Ready") since "From a Buick 6”. Dylan's band this time contains some of the leading musicians in the areas of rock and soul Tim Drummond (bass), Jim Keltner (drums), Spooner Oldham (keyboards) and Fred Tackett (guitar) and, throughout, the playing is stunning. Listening to the exquisite textures of “Covenant Woman", a love song of the order of "Just Like a Woman”, it is,very easy to disregard the unsettling picture of Bob Dylan as Christian. What is intriguing is that as with earlier Dylan once the writing became denser, anyway one can still read into the songs as one likes. To expect Dylan to become uncharacteristically explicit is clearly a mistake. Draw from the songs as you will. To dismiss Saved unheard because of a man’s (even Bob Dylan's) personal belief is as misguided as those who won't see Life of Brian. To this infidel, it sounds like some ace rock and roll. Ken Williams 808 MARLEY & THE WAILERS UPRISING ISLAND Coming so hard on the heels of the angry, prophetic Survival, Uprising will inevitably be judged alongside it, and may be found wanting. It’s not a weak ajbum, but its best moments are offset by some undistinguished tunes and cliched lyrics. Chief culprits are "Work" and "Zion Train", neither of which is worthy of Marley. "Real Situation", meanwhile, wallows in depression and lacks focus: Well it seems like total destruction The only solution And there ain't no use, No one can stop them now... "Pimper's Paradise" is uncharacteristically vicious, attacking women who, in Marley’s view, are immoral: She love to party, have a good time. . She looks so hearty, feeling fine, She loves to smoke, sometime shifting coke, She ’ll be laughing when there ain't no joke. A pimper's paradise, that's all she was now... On the positive side, there’s "Coming In From The Cold", a song reminiscent of the Burnin’ period. The men in the band get to sing harmony, and again on "We And Them". Those nostalgic for the days of Tosh and Livingston will lap these up. "Could You Be Loved” is Marley's most uptempo song since those of Natty Dread and he seems to regain his optimism: Love would never leave us alone, In the darkness there must come out light... "Forever Loving Jah" is held together by the l-Threes’ chorus, and Marley is at his most poetic: Only a fool lean upon his own misunderstanding And what has been hidden from the wise and the prudent Been revealed to the babe and the suckling. But it's "Redemption Song" which makes Uprising more than just another Bob Marley album. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, he sings a song that could become a hymn for the black movement: Old pirates, yes they rob I, Sold I to the merchant ships, Minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit. But my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty, We forward in this generation triumphantly. All I ever had is songs of freedom... Its strength lies in its simplicity, and you can forgive the album's shortcomings. Uprising doesn't equal the heights of Survival, but its good parts are still proof of Marley’s preeminence. Duncan Campbell

LIP SERVICE CBS I can remember seeing Lip Service at the Cook a couple of years ago and my impressions then were that they were a band with everything but a plentiful supply of memorable songs. Now, even after numerous personnel changes; they still face the same problem. Their first album is an asset from many angles Graeme Mhyre’s full-bodied production, the unflagging punch of the band, the in-, telligent construction of the songs and the occasional perceptive lyric ensure that as a debut Lip Service has plenty going for it. But the lack of consistently strong material still plagues the band and this can’t be disguised by their instrumental prowess or animated song structures. The opening two tracks, “Eating Out" and "Mr. Right" establish the feel, brisk and dynamic, that characterizes most of the songs. "Playschool”, with its Members’ influenced social pressure/futility theme, veers too close to Mi-Sex mannerisms, as does the first track on the second side "Ventriloquist”. The appropriate bustle of “Rush Hour” makes amends, and "Situations” which has an effective menacing guitar line and "Elim N 8" which sports a neat recurring guitar piece that leads the band into their best tune, would be the album's best moments. Lip Service are groomed, stylish, full of contemporary slickness and compete favourably in the Mi-Sex race for streamlined form-over-content. Strip away these trappings and you’re left with a band and an album that are on the favourable edge of mediocrity, but as the man said maybe it’s early days yet and if they can improve their writing abilities they will be a force to be reckoned with on the local scene. George Kay ROXY MUSIC FLESH +BLOOD POLYDOB Rather bravely, Roxy kick off their new album with a re-run of Wilson Pickett's classic "In the Midnight Hour” that substitutes tor Pickett’s impassioned soul shriek the languor of Bryan Ferry, and succeeds. brilliantly. Ferry’s detached manner and limited voice ought to work against him, but I find Ferry’s occasional foray’s into soul music (for example, "Take Me to the River” on The Bride Stripped Bare) enormously, and unexpectedly, satisfying. The spacey sax of Andy Mac Kay deserves special mention on "Midnight Hour" (and throughout). As the innovations/image games of Ferry and Roxy Music have been overtaken, they have met the challenge by turning into one strong rock band. For proof, try "Oh Yeah", a song about the pleasures, pain and loneliness of the rock and roll radio. Phil Manzanera consolidates his guitar rep. on this one, and on "Same Old Scene", "My Only Love” and the Byrds’ old “Eight Miles High", which winds up to a closing so "psychedelic” in its echo effects it surely is tongue-in-cheek, As an example of that rare thing, genuine British funk, "Rain Rain-Rain" rivals "Ain’t That So" from Manifesto. ■ Ferry, Mac Kay and Manzanera remain the nucleus of Roxy Music. Drummer Paul Thompson has gone, but his place is more than adequately filled by session- drummers (mainly Allan Schwatzberg, who did overdubs on some of the posthumous Jimi Hendrix releases). ExGrease Banders Neil Hubbard and Alan Spenner handle guitar and bass duties on most tracks, while Gary Tibbs (bass) and Paul Carrack (keyboards) are back from Manifesto. To one who far prefers today’s Roxy Music to the early work, Flesh + Blood is a very entertaining, very musical album. Ken Williams GRAHAM PARKER AND THE RUMOUR THE UP ESCALATOR . '- C MERCURY It's difficult, if you’ve followed GP and the Rumour from their early instinctive beginnings, to be less than moved by. their unerring and total investment in rock’n’roll. With four mandatory albums behind them it’s not too surprising or disappointing that The Up Escalator is an understandable exercise in marking time. Not that it’s a bad album,’ in fact by most standards it is excellent, but there’s a little of the deja vu creeping into Parker’s music as many of the songs merely mimic their superior counterparts on earlier albums. Familiar Schwarz guitar lines ("No Holding Back”, "Stupefaction" and "Endless Night’ especially), those taut Parker sentiments ("Devil’s Sidewalk") and the tight, maybe" too controlled, arrangements have made a more indelible impression on Heat Treatment, Stick To Me and Squeezing Out Sparks. Parker is in danger of becoming too distinctive, a quality which can lead to straightjacketed music and eventually self-parody. Costello, has tried to side-step it and Springsteen isn’t prolific enough as yet to worry about it but on The Up Escalator GP, although still pouring his heart out ("Love Without Greed" and "Empty Lives”) is too close to being hamstrung by the characteristics that have made his music so essential in the past. George Kay

SYLVAIN SYLVAIN RCA Somewhat surprisingly, former New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain has couched his solo debut in teenage terms, deceptively simple and very welcome. Sylvain Sylvain is an album with a New York accent, reminiscent of the alley beat of Mink De Ville, but minus Willy De Ville’s posture of menace. The sound is very up, straight-ahead adolescent rocking, street corner harmonising, and greasy saxophone (good work by Jon Gerber). The opening, and best track, “Teenage News’’, has that rare surge of elation that distinguishes the best rock. The rest of the album almost equals this rush. Sylvain poses on the album cover like a sexually ambivalent Elvis, a manifestation of the dreams of millions of kids who clutched imaginary guitars as they stared down the mirrors behind their millions of locked bedroom doors. Fanciful perhaps, but it is an album to conjure up that kind of affectionate self-mockery. I like it very much and I find it remarkable in these times that Sylvain can make a record rooted In the past but, pulsing with a freshness that augurs well for the future. Teenage rock, yes, but pleasingly devoid of the self-conscious “dumbness’’ that makes one so mistrustful of such as the Knack. Ken Williams CURE BOYS DON’T CRY STUNN With the band on hand the time is conducive to back-track a little to ascertain the Cure's formative position in the scheme of things. Boys Don't Cry is the Australian-American release of their first album Three Imaginary Boys with a few track changes. Unfortunately out goes their version of Hendrix’s "Foxy Lady”, their “Sunny Afternoon" steal "Meat Hook" and the bitter, pugnacious “It’s Not

You". A pity about those but “So What” is no loss and you gain their first three singles “Killing An Arab”, “Boys Don’t Cry" and “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” and i presume, two flip sides, “Plastic Passion" and "World War”, both, lyrically, sombre and dejected. The best of Three Imaginary Boys remains, namely “Accuracy", “Object", “Grinding Halt”, "Fire In Cairo” and the title track, the

latter two being signposts to the chilly sparseness of Seventeen Seconds. On balance Boys Don't Cry is a slightly superior proposition to the original Three Imaginary Boys, but if you have the Cure's Stunn EP (and you should) then you’ve covered the odds. George Kay THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS CBS Britain’s Psychedelic Furs have drawn attention in the last few months for their planned, enigmatic music which, they would like to think, places them in the same category as the real heavyweights like Joy Division and Gang of Four. But the Furs, who can trace their ancestry as far back as 1977, the year of their first line-up, are little more than charlatans playing with concepts that they haven't the skill to cope with. Butler Rep, vocalist and lyricist, is a man

with a penchant for lyrical 'subtleties’ and wordplays and as a vocalist he’s a by-product of the Reed/Bowie academy as evidenced on one of the album’s few successes, “Sister Europe". Another plus is “We Love You” their first ever single, a sneering cynical song, the sort of thing the Adverts used to do so well. Elsewhere the album’s dense obvious textures, especially on “Fall” and “Pulse” where Rep is barely audible (small blessings), smother any potential the songs may have possessed. The guitars of John Ashton and R. Morris and saxophonist Duncan Kilburn fail to establish anything other than a heavy handed empathy on most of the songs and this creates a barren atmosphere on the album. The message then is that the Furs will have to improve on the dodgy material on this their first album, and as a band they should aim to be more imaginative and sympathetic to the needs of the songs. George Kay

LINTON KWESI JOHNSON FORCES OF VICTORY HEPTONES PARTY TIME ISLAND The racial tension that frequently turns to violence is as threatening to Britain today as inflation and industrial unrest. The black communities of areas like Brixton, Bradford and Notting Hill have been the scenes of bloody battles between black people, racists and the police. Such scenes are painted with eloquence and fervour in the musical poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson. Johnson (28) was born in Jamaica and raised in Brixton. He holds an honours degree in sociology and earns a living as a freelance writer and broadcaster. But his passions are politics and verse. Johnson is a former member of the British Black Panthers and is steeped in the ideology of activists like Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, adapting their visions to the British climate. His two books of poetry, The Living And The Dead and Dread Beat And Blood, have been widely acclaimed, the latter forming the basis for his first album, as Poet and the Roots, which was released in 1978 on Virgin. Johnson says he always has a reggae bassline in his head when he’s writing, and the cadence of his verse fits perfectly into the musical setting. His new album, Forces of Victory (Island), is a significant progression. The music, provided by members of Matumbi and other friends, is more melodic and able to stand alone, rather than functioning simply as background rhythm. Tracks like "Want Fi Goh Rave" and "Sonny's Lettah” seethe with fury and frustration. Dennis Bovell enhances the starkness of Johnson’s work with some neat dub effects. Some say that the likes of Linton Kwesi Johnson only serve to aggravate racial strife. Those who saw the recent TV documentary on Blair Peach and the interview with Martin Webster of The National Front will think again. Forces Of Victory is a vital work. Space is running short, but I must give a pat on the back to Festival for releasing The Heptones’ second Island album, Party Time. Now sadly defunct, The Heptones' lovely vocal harmonies graced some classic rocksteady tracks on Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One label, and their later signing to Island enabled them to keep pace with the birth of reggae Produced by Scratch Perry, who leaves his unmistakable mark on everything he touches, Party Time is an essential companion to its predecessor, Night Food. Rude boy never gwan go down. Duncan Campbell THE HUMAN LEAGUE TRAVELOGUE VIRGIN The Human League really started all this latter day synthesiser dance stuff (Eno, Kraftwerk and co work on a parallel plane) but they have been unable to find the balance between eccentricity and satisfying music. Their debut Reproduction, just missed the mark that Orchestral Manoeuvres have recently bulls-eyed, and now Travelogue, which emphasises the League’s weakness for dressing up sociology lessons in ponderous electronics. The idea of the League is a good one. They’re humane, concerned, committed and even clever but their music fails to register as either accessible “avant garde" or as contrived synthesiser manipulations. In fact Numan, the villain of this whole genre, at least manages to concoct a keyboards tune that is difficult to shake off, something the League seem to think is beneath them on Travelogue. Even "Being Boiled", their pioneering single, loses its otherworldliness under a more highly-charged reworking, and only the novel "The Black Hit of Space", "Gordon’s Gin" and Ronson’s "Only After Dark" rise above the doldrums. The Human League should have achieved the popularity that has been bestowed on Numan’s shoulders but somewhere along the line they’ve had their wires crossed. George Kay GENESIS DUKE CHARISMA Having staunchly defended Genesis over the years, in these pages and elsewhere, it hurts when their new product only serves to confirm many prejudices expressed by non-believers. Duke is a mere shadow of past glories, old riffs re-hashed, and with a strong smell of depression, disillusionment and lack of ideas. I never thought I’d be writing this about a band which has given me so much pleasure. The album seems to have a loose linking concept of love lost and dreams shattered, which makes for depressing listening. Illustrated with the peculiar drawings of French cartoonist Lionel Koechlin, it gives little clear impression of its purpose. Lyrically, it is a portrayal of loneliness and despair. The old wit and wisdom is gone. Playing and production (David Hentschel) are immaculate as ever, with great bouts of keyboards from Tony Banks, firm and meaty bass from Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins’ ever-reliable drumming. But it’s all been heard before, and there's barely a decent tune to support it. Brightest moments in a very dreary set are the bluesy "Misunderstanding" and the serene pastoral atmosphere of "Heat Haze”. The rest passes by, making little impression. The lyrics from another track, "Duchess", could well describe the current dilemma of Genesis: But time went by It wasn't so easy now, all uphill, and not feeling so strong. Yes times are hard, Too much thinking 'bout the future and what people might want. Duke went to number one in Britain, first week of release. Why, I will never know. Duncan Campbell

JUDIE TZUKE WELCOME TO THE CRUISE ROCKET Even the most savagely, cynical would have to admit this lady’s got talent. There will always be a market for pretty songs sung.;by pretty people, and Judie Tzuke has- more resources minijmn ijniiiiijjiiji BHBMIWMHMI This' 24-year-old Englander is still largely an enigma, but those who’ve heard "Stay With Me Till Dawn” and felt the gooseflesh rising will already be fans. Tzuke has a rich, welling voice with a husky edge that makes it unique., She evokes memories of Sandy Denny, especially on the folky acappella of "For You". Tzuke and her beau, Mike Paxman, write songs that compliment her voice perfectly. She’s 'at home with her material, be it a lush ballad like "Stay With Me" or the sweetly funky "Southern Smiles". Welcome To The Cruise is an album for those quiet, private moments, but also tends to turn heads when it’s played. If you have an ounce of romance in you,. and like to let yourself drift occasionally, have a listen' to a rather beautiful albumMM|HilllHHßß| Duncan Campbell VARIOUS ARTISTS MAX'S KANSAS CITY VOL I & II (NEW YORK NEW WA VE) CBS This two album set (for the price of one), is already showing its age. Volume One, recorded in. 1976, features lewd Wayne (later Jayne) County and his BackStreet'Boys, contributing 1 three songs: "Max’s Kansas City 1976", "Flip Your wig" and the infamous "Cream In My Jeans”. Also notable are Suicide’s "Rocket USA", and cult heroes Pere Übu, who provide the best thing on either album with "Final Solution". Cherry Vanilla's "Shake Your Ashes” is borderline, as are the Fast with "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Wow, Pow, Bash, Crash". The John Collins Band and Harry Toledo are plain dispensible. Volume Two dates back to 1977 and is as relevant to that year as the Grateful Dead. Working on the theory of playing the best shot first, Side One opens with Phil Rambow’s “Night Out" a song later. covered by Ellen Foley. The remainder of the record features the forgettable Just Water, Grand Slam and the Brats. The even more forgettable Andrew Pearson and Lance get two and three tracks IrespectjffiyßiMrtWßßMMßßMßflK Although the first volume • has a certain shambolic charm, the second part of New York New Wave leaves you wondering. Did the Ramones, Talking Heads, Jonathon Richman and others really play in New York in ,1977? ■ Mark Phillips ' ' ' BAD MANNERS } I I - I SKA ‘AT B MAGNET The ska revival bangwagon rolls along, and hanging on at the back, like the Keystone Cops, are Bad Manners. HHM There are nine of them, they formed in North London about 18 months back, and they claim little musical experience, though they are known to rehearse relentlessly for several minutes a day. Actually, they are much more competent musically than they care to claim. They tread similar paths to Madness, with their sound dominated by loads of honking brass. Well and truly upfront is-. 17-stone • Douglas Trendle (alias Buster Blood-Vessel), with a build and voice like King Kong. His aim in life is to eat 30 hamburgers in one sitting, a feat he nearly achieved one night, 'consuming 27 until the band ran out of money. 7 mm Their roots are actually closer to the Coasters and Sam The Sham (they cover "Woolly Bully") than to Jamaica. Buster ( is right in his element singing "The Monster Mash", while their, version of "Caledonia" is note perfect and renderea with love. . Bad Manners are in it - strictly - for laughs. One to put any party. on its ear. Duncan CampbelllMlßH

DIANA ROSS VARIOUS ARTISTS DIANA 20/20 COMMODORES SMOKEY ROBINSON HEROES WARM THOUGHTS JERMAINE JACKSON LET’S GET SERIOUS MOTOWN It's been twenty years since Berry Gordy, a struggling Detroit songwriter, established Tamla Motown records. To mark the occasion comes 20/20 a collection of twenty number one hits from the label. But make no mistake, this is no historical overview. This double album is weighted heavily towards the seventies, a period when the company continued to produce great records but the magic moments were becoming rarer. On 20/20 you’ll find such classics as Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown”, the Temptations “Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" mixed in together with schmaltz like the Commodores’ "Three Times a Lady" and Diana Ross’ "Theme from Mahogany". It makes for variable listening. Smokey Robinson, once the label's prime songwriter and now vice-president of Motown, has had an erratic recording career since he left the Miracles in the early seventies. However, his recent hit "Cruising" has thrust him back into the spotlight and Warm Thoughts, his latest album, displays his continuing skill with smooth ballads. It's Smokey’s that enables him to transcend the limitations of even the most softcentred of his material. That’s not to say this is the best album of Smokey’s solo career but Side Two here hits the kind of mellow, romantic groove that was once considered perfect latenight seduction fare. Another old Motown stalwart, Diana Ross, links with Chic masterminds Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers for her latest album, Diana. The Chic boys give Diana typically bright and rhythmic backing but the songs are too often weak and the whole project lacks the kind of urgency and soul that made so many of her singles with the Supremes classic. The Commodores new LP Heroes provides few surprises. It continues their successful light funk-based style with little change except that this time round there seem to be fewer melodically interesting songs than their norm. Last on the Motown release heap is Berry Gordy's son-in-law, Jermaine Jackson. Jermaine lacks the distinctive vocal personality of his little brother Michael, so what individualism there is on Let's Get Serious is on three tracks produced and written by Stevie Wonder. Two of these are lovely, wistful ballads but the third, "Let's Get Serious", is a slice of aural madness it’s an overloaded, loud piece of disco mayhem and a pleasant relief from the undistinguished fare on the rest of the album. Alastair Dougal