BRIEFS

Rip It Up, Issue 47, 1 June 1981, Page 6

BRIEFS

Rory Gallagher Stage Struck (Chrysalis) Yes, Rory Gallagher is better on stage than in the studio. Yes, . this album of live versions - of songs from recent studio albums is probably as good as his earlier live albums (his best' work to date) and, no, it doesn't seem to mean anything any more. Gallagher seems eternally stuck in the flash-flash-flash guitar-trio groove, very fast, very noisy, very empty. As a songwriter he only has a couple of ideas and the songs are usually springboards for guitar soloing (at which he is ho slouch). While this is good of,its kind, Gallagher is a victim of changing times. One for the museum of hotlicks. KW Bill Haley 1927-1981 (K-tel) The question today is whether Haley, as represented by this intelligently compiled, 18 track, memorial album, ever had a true;rock-and roll heart. As a test.case, let us compare Little Richard and Elvis Presley’s versions of 'Rip It Up

with Haley. Richard 'and Elvis sang: I'm gonna rip it up/l'm gonna shake it up/I'm gonna ball it up/ I'm gonna rock it up/ And ball, tonight.'' Haley turned it to: "I'm gonna rip it up/l'm gonna shake it up/I'm gonna break it up/l'm gonna rock it up l At the ball tonight. The prosecution rests its case. PC Fawlty Towers Second Sitting Not The Nine O'Clock News (BBC RecordslgMHjMßH Comedy albums are a bit like candy floss, the pleasure may be great, but it's very fleeting. The Fawlty Towers album is worth listening to ! once, anyway, just to hear John Cleese as the lunatic Basil say.to his wife: "We should get you on Mastermind dear. And now, Sybil Fawlty from Torquay. Topic the bleedin' obvious." Not The 9 O'Clock News shows why it was never shown jon television here a little too strong. Sample joke: "Hi, I'm Ted Kennedy,' and I've got some good advice for all my fellow Americans. Never drive along a narrow bridge late at night when you're pissed out of your mind." As a true Kiwi philosopher, Fred Dagg, once said: "If it's fun in this country

they ban it, or make a law against it." InBIKO Wayne Roland Brown Fools and Pretenders (RCA) This type of music has to nag you into submission 'or it's failed. After half a dozen plays only the title track stays with me, and then not enough to be enjoyable (or annoying). So what we've got is a bunch of pop songs which, at best, bounce along agreeably ('Our Love Is On The Fault Line') and at worst veer close to the laboured posturing of Harry ; Chapin ('Fame's Got Its Price )I, A prissy, production doesn't help much either. The pity is that there are some dynamite musicians involved here. The back-up work on Burning Me Up' alone makes me wish they could have been let loose. PT Eric Burdon's Fire Dept Last Drive (Ariola) Embarrassing junk from an anonymous hard-rock band led by one-time Animal Eric Burdon. The title track is set a couple of years into the future when petrol is for military use only. Rebel "citizen drivers" join "outlaw motorcycle gangs" for one last big drive ... ... Lamebrained. KW