Culture Club

Rip It Up, Issue 62, 1 September 1982, Page 22

Culture Club

The Psychedelic Furs Love My Way* 12" (CBS) ■ After slimming down to a fourpiece, - the Furs resurface with a song teeming with compassion. A smooth, blissful record of textured synthesisers and tortured voices, instantly memorable and very saleable. Their best yet. Aeroplane' on the flip is more the Furs of old. Terse, temperamental guitar overdone. Monsoon Shakti (The Meaning Of Within) (Mercury) I was quite enthralled with Monsoon's meanwhile-in-down-town-Delhi theme, 'Ever So Lonely'. 'Shakti' attempts to retread the structure, but fails as it's totally forgettable. File under Indians in Islington. Bow Wow Wow I Want Candy, 12" (RCA) It's a shame this doesn't come in the original, sensuous UK picture sleeve. An old song that bears Richard Gottehrer's name and the riff from 'Willie and the Hand Jive'. Not one to write home

about. Turn it over for Cowboy', a thumping rocker not far removed from TOH's 'Westworld'. The Dabs Love The Army, 12" (Propeller) I haven't seen the Dabs live since early days, so this EP comes as a pleasant surprise. Snappy, mid60s pop played with lots of vigour ■and style. Best cut is obviously Love The Army', though 'Remember When', with its McGlashan cornet, is also worthy of attention. Pigbag Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag (Powderworks) If you worry about your credibility, you already have this. Coolest of the cool and former half of the Pop Group, Pigbag mix jungle rhythms with jazz/funk horns into a luscious, rich potpourri that's new and danceable. The backside is 'The Backside' - very ordinary. Culture Club I'm Afraid Of Me (Virgin) A four-piece featuring photographers' favourite Boy George

and others sporting this season's clothes. Tropical flavour ensues over-dub drums, melodic vocals and Rico-like trombone, all held together by a crisp, clear production. The other side is occupied by 'Murder Rap Trap', heavy reggae dub, best suited to the early morning hours. Romeo Void Never Say Never (Epic) A four-song EP, previously available on import. Coming out: of San Francisco, Romeo Void are a five-piece, solid, modern rock unit, featuring a strong Patti Smith-type vocalist in Debora Iyall. Produced by the Cars' Ric Ocasek and Roy Thomas Baker's engineer, lan Taylor. Quite good. Bauhaus Spirit (Beggars Banquet) Other than 'Telegram Sam', Bauhaus have so far - failed to impress me. This is a very average tune (yes, it does have one) that gives the ears nothing solid to latch on to, and consequently, appears to meander aimlessly. - The Clean Getting Older (Flying Nun) Live, this is one of my favourite Clean numbers. Unfortunately, they have chosen a mix that gives the impression of a hundred people playing in a garage, and not all playing the same song. Bound to be huge. Flip has two songs, 'Scrap Music' and .'Whatever I Do It's'. Pedestrians Looking Out My Window The Pedestrians (from Christchurch), using a similar line to Danse Macabre's 'Skyline', concoct a nifty little pop song that demands repeated playings. Two songs on the B-side, 'Boys and Girls' and 'The Pedestrian', quite good, but a bit of a shambles. Soft Cell Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Mini LP (Vertigo) Six tracks in all. Three previously unreleased in NZ, two from the album ( Chips On My Shoulder', 'Sex Dwarf') and the old Supremes' number 'Where Did Our Love Go'. Fortunately, everything has been drastically remixed, making for better value than it would initially seem. Definitely worth checking out for Soft Cell fans. Instigators Hope She's Alright (Ripper) I've never liked the Instigators' copybook ska, - but . this parting shot by them is very different.

Hard-edge punk, strong guitar lines, vicious singing all make for their best effort ever. The flip is 'No Problems' and 'No Problems Dub' at 33rpm. No Tag Oi Oi Oi, 12" (Propeller) . This record needs no description, its title speaks for itself. Manic, full flight rock and roll for the anti-everything brigade. Three tracks, best of which is probably 'Mistaken Identity', with its thumping bass line. , Blue Zoo I'm Your Man, 12" (Magnet) After playing the seven-inch version a couple of times, it wore out its welcome. But the 12-inch is quite different. Repetitive, overproduced and derivative but it seduces and sedates likeable dross. 'Fate' on the flip is like the Fate cake at John's Diner, heavy and dated. The Waitresses I Know What Boys Like (Polydor) Hailing from New York, they're nearly all boys. This delves into the white funk trunk, dusts off a few fave riff-raps, but except for the horn break, it's dead boring. Flip 'lt's My Car' is turgid ska. Mark Phillips Captain Sensible, guitarist from the Damned, breaks forth into the solo field with the old Rogers & Hammerstein number Happy Talk', No. 1 hit in the UK. Painful ... Zaine Griff (once Human Instinct) returns with 'Figures', repetitive string-synth pomp-pop recorded in Europe ... 'Early In The Morning' by the Gap Band is in the groove, but not memorable enough to be the huge hit these guys will eventually have ... - Theatre of Hate's The Hop' is not in the same league as 'Westworld' but does have its moments ... Joe Jackson's Real Men' is a total bore, but 'Chinatown' on the flip uses drum machines and Chinese themes to good effect ... Private Lives' first single is 'Because You're Young', tough pop with funky bass, Rushent production and Gary Barnacle (Leisure Process) on sax ... Chas Jankel bursts forth with an edited version of 'Glad To Know You', from his Questionnaire outing, great stuff. The other side, 'Am i Honest With Myself Really?' is not on the album ...

If you're looking for something to spend your bucks on, watch out for a 12-inch by Leisure Process International. Brainchild of expositive Noise frontman Ross Middleton and one-time Rut Gary Barnacle, it features two songs, 'Love Cascade' and 'A Way You'll Never Be'. Both are superb examples of white synthesised dance music, pulsating, infectious, feet stomping ecstasy ... also strongly recommended is 'Waiting For The Seventh Man' by Middleton's old band, Positive Noise. It's an older song totally remixed for pure pleasure and is dressed for the occasion ... while we're on the subject of sleeves, 'Shy Boy', the new one for Bananarama, is gorgeous, and the record is pretty bloody good too. Mark Phillips

Tall Dwarfs Louie Likes His Daily Dip (Flying Nun) . Once Chris and Alec were pop stars, recording artists or whatever. But now Chris is a producer, doing more with four tracks than those with 20 more. Songs take a backseat to sounds. There's no lyric sheet but there's a 'how we did it' sheet. The guitar sound on 'Maybe and 'Pictures' is so live, if ya . didn't know they 1 were tall, you'd think they were in the speakers. My fave sounds? There are lots to choose from, well, ahh, the psychedelic guitar on 'Song of the Silents', umm, there's so many. It's like a funny radio show, there's talk too. 'Louie' is . rap. Chris knows you don't have to be black to waffle. Recommended. Renee Geyer Love So Sweet, 12" (Mushroom) Renee Geyer is a great singer like Ray Charles is a great singer and here Renee's found two good songs, both written by ex Crocodiles, 'Love So Sweet' by Tony Backhouse and Jonathon Zwartz wrote the flip. Ricky Fataar (So Lucky) produces again, the result is Renee at her best. Daggy & the Dickheads Brothers (WEA) A five track EP produced by lan Morris. Some great rockers, try 'Standing in the Corner', the obvious airplay tune. Their twin guitar sound is even better on stage. I am still thinking about the six minute number with the Bonanza guitar break. Neighbours . Watching Westerns (WEA) Don't be fooled by the cowboy trappings, this band's honky tonk is R&B based. Trudie sings a nifty, throwaway ditty about cowboy

politics. Production is none too flash , but horns are neat. Flip 'Hand In Hand', ideal for Mexican wedding No Clapping Pie And A Pint (Ode) A five track EP from four once Rank and Filers. No Clapping are a goodtime band, known to get pissed and have a goodtime while the audience suffers. However there are songs here. Full throttle (with trumpet) on Tie To You' is exciting but it's not much fun for the listener when the recording is rank. Fans onIyTSMHSHMan Tommy Adderley Gimme That Wine (Ripper) - Fronting an all-star band (with three horn players), Adderley delivers a fine vocal proving he's alive and well; Flip is a song about an ex-girlfriend, I hope. Narcs Over My Head (CBS) ” This band write catchy melodies, they're bound to have a hit one day. But there is little else about 'Over My Head' that I haven't heard too many times before. Lowest common denominator rock for radio. Few achieve anything aspiring to so little. Murray Cammick