45s Bauhavs

Rip It Up, Issue 65, 1 December 1982, Page 26

45s Bauhavs

t-yfr The Chills Rolling Moon (Flying Nun) There aren't too many really good things about the NZ music scene at the moment and one of them is Martin Phillips' songs. These three tunes outstrip the rest of this month's releases with ease. Rolling Moon' has a keyboard refrain that just has to be whistled with and some silly C. S. Lewistype lyrics. 'Bite' is the neat-neat-neatest trash I've heard in ages. It's dedicated to Chris Knox, which is just as well, because it sounds like something the Enemy could have

written. Flamethrower' was recorded livs at Mainstreet. 1 have played this single many times and have yet to tire of it. But both studio tracks suffer horribly from a flat, scratchy recording. The only song which asserts itself is the live track, which has presence to burn. Surely it's wrong to consign songs like these to substandard production? The Terraces A Place Like This (Atom) This lot can be stupefyingly boring live, but this single isn't that bad. Passable enough, both sides suffer from the fact that they sound like instrumentals with

words tacked on. Dance Exponents Airway Spies (Mushroom) • Oh dear. Horns in the studio don't save these songs from wimpiness bordering on oblivion. This band needs someone who can reproduce the punch of their live sound on record. It's not a bad single, just not very good. "Your Best Friend Loves Me Too' was to be the A-side, I'm told, but somewhere in the recording a stomping shouter became a Jordan Luck warble. 'Poland', also, is only a shadow of the live version. Things would sound better if the band forgot about the horns and

violins and concentrated on the. bass and drums. Herbs Jah's Son (Warrior) Another fine single from this: band. 'Jah's Son' features the usual great vocal harmonies and the flip Durham Lane' is an instrumentaldub where the players take turns doing the talking. Herbs have established a real sense of Pacific identity that puts them far beyond the realms of mere JA copyists. When do we get an album? Hammond Gamble Till the Morning Comes (Festival) The song for the Pacific Peace Festival, recorded by Gamble and a host of notables. I can just. see a massed band doing an extended version at the end of the Festival, the crowd joining in, gently swaying together ... yeah. The cause is admirable, the song a little schmaltzy. Shane Starting Out All Over Again (EMI) A curiosity this one. Behind the colossal drum sound lurks a distinctly oldist song of the kind you used to hear on New Faces. Still, I suppose if everyone who ever saw Shane play in a pub bought a copy, it would go platinum. Midge Marsden Band One Wheel in the Sand (Peak) Midge. Midge is the king of all the highway between R 'n' Blues and Rhythm 'n' B. More of a lifestyle than a performer. This sounds too much like the bloody Eagles to me, though. The flip 'Let Go Maggie,' Let Go' is much more like it. Monte Video Shoop Shoop Diddy Wop Cumma Cumma Wang Dang (Mushroom) My copy of this record came -with a press sheet detailing the character that former Underdog Murray Grindlay has created for himself. Monte Video is a shady wheeler-dealer with a past as long as War and Peace. In the sixties, we are told, Monte helped "get the Stones Rolling" and "released the Animals". It's a pity the record itself isn't as entertaining. The Aside is a "Nice Legs, Shame About the Face" type of story and the flip is much the same. It would have to be a lot funnier to be a success. Russell Brown

The Human League Mirror Man 12" (Virgin) A long silence has followed the American success of Dare. In this era, . people forget easily. As to whether Human League can regain their popularity with the lacklustre 'Mirror Man', I cannot predict. Of more interest is 'You Remind Me Of Gold', produced to its full capacity in two forms on the flip. Jo Jo Zep Taxi Mary (Mushroom) Zep pulls out ze roots on a rap/disco/salsa collage that is enigmatic yet infectious. Perhaps because of its original awkwardness it needs a few listens to bite. B-side is This Is Our Time', reggae based, it bears a slightly closer resemblance to the old Zep, Jo Jo that is, not Led. Grace Jones Nipple to the Bottle (Island 7", 12") Grace keeps up her association with Sly and Robbie on this smooth and tasty piece. Written by Grace and Sly, it maintains a basic reggae beat textured into disco perfection to become an infectious foot tapper. I look forward to the album. Ultravox Reap The Wild Wind (Chrysalis) Midge and the boys borrow the Beatles' old producer, George Martin, for this one. Bland, boring and melancholy, without their name on it, it would probably sink without trace. I don't look forward to their album. Bow Wow Wow Baby Oh No (RCA) Here's a band who've had trouble keeping face of late, especially with a new album made up almost entirely of old material. The good news, for them is that this is one of their best efforts ever. Shadows guitar, a superb thumping bass line, Booker T keyboard and a great screeching vocal performance combine to produce a record that leaps out of the speakers. The Jam The Bitterest Pill (Polydor) A passing farewell from one of the great bands of the last five years. Sixties' feel in orchestration and tempo, it winds into a lush, creamy ballad, .with Weller, as always, in superb form both lyric-

ally and vocally. The flip has two songs, a bold, brassy piece, 'Pity' Poor Alfie', which runs into the Peggy Lee classic 'Fever'. So when do we get the Paul Weller solo album? Marvin Gaye, Sexual Healing (CBS) Slick is the only word to describe this, a masterful slice of smooth funk from Mr Gaye. Drum machines, a pounding bass line and a marvellous chorus, all come together for a potential number one summer record. King Trigger The River (Chrysalis) A new band with lots of chanting and percussion, perfect for Steve Lillywhite's full and raucous production. A lively song that teases you into singing along, despite repetitive nowhere lyrics. Play it at your next social gathering and watch the feet. Bauhaus Ziggy Stardust (Beggars Banquet 12") We all know that Bauhaus did a great rendition of 'Telegram Sam', but let's face it, a third form college band could have dreamed up a more original arrangement of 'Ziggy'. So close to the original, it can't fail. to be a hit. Also on this record is one of their songs, called 'Party of the First Party’, the old Eno piece Third Uncle' and an absolutely abysmal live version of Waiting for the Man' with Nico on vocals. Simple Minds Someone Somewhere (Virgin) In the past three months Simple Minds have achieved unprecedented praise and popularity. It is with singles of this calibre that they have earned this respect. Probably the best track on New Gold Dream, this swirls around your head, making it impossible not to like it. B-side is a track called 'King is White and In The Crowd'. Spandau Ballet Lifeline (Chrysalis) A slight change of style going on here, a mellow approach to disco soul. In its way not unpleasant, but very white and insipid and not likely to win them any new fans. And do they really have to dress that badly?

Mark Phillips