Records

Rip It Up, Issue 103, 1 February 1986, Page 21

Records

Feargal Sharkey Virgin S Just over two years ago, Feargal Sharkey left the Undertones, the World's Greatest Band, to carve out his own immortality. Since then the one-off magical collaboration with Vince Clarke on ‘Never Never’ and a couple of other singles (Listen To Your Father’ and ‘Loving You’) were left to pay the bills while Sharkey planned his strategy for his first-fully-fledged solo album. And strategy it is. Recorded in London but mixed in in LA by Shelly Yakus (Petty’s engineer), it features songs by the new hyped-up female sensation, Maria McKee (the OK hit single ‘A Good Heart)), Benmont Tench’s pushy ‘“You Little Thief, a plodding gift from Chrissie Hynde, ‘Made To Measure, and another version of Womack's ‘lt's All Over Now. Get the (mid-Atlantic) drift? With the Undertones, Sharkey never put pen to paper, so producer, the Eurthymics' Dave Stewart, provides the music styles for four of Sharkey’s lyrics. ‘Love and Hate' tries the blues with a little bit of venom almost climbing above the production, but on the R&B of ‘Ghost Train’ and the disco swish of ‘Ashes and Diamonds’ Stewart betrays his true hand as only a competent stylist. Being charitable for a moment, it's gotta be said that Sharkey’s voice still cuts to the quick and whatever he does now is bound to look dim beside the genius of the Undertones at their best. But hiring a cast of thousands of radio priests can only ensure commercial, not critical favour. At the moment he can't have it both ways. George Kay

Newcleus e Space Is the Place : Sunnyview - : ; Space Is the Place is hardly the new frontier (even the name seems familiar); more a case of beaming down for a giggle. Newcleusss last album remained in my memory for its great sense of fun and this album possesses the same. ‘Let’s Jam' is the champion track by far, similar to the Funk Fusion Band in its busy, grinning bustle. ‘Why’ might hold your attention on a big club system but | doubt it; the goods remain undelivered until side two's ‘| Wanna Be a B-Boy’ and ‘Teknology: Kraftwerk are a huge influence and a few riffs from Computer World creep through, which is never a bad thing. What is a bad thing is bad rapping, and the remaining tracks are full of it. After hearing L.L. Cool J and Doctor Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, this stuff crawls; only on ‘Let’s Jam’ is the phantom MC saved. by slick musicianship. Pop may have taken 40 or so years to arrive at its present position of dull retrospect and indecision; Rap has done so in about two. Even a passing mention of ‘Sucker MCs' or Wavin’ your hands in Thuh air makes heads whirl in exasperation. To get away with rapping, you have to be damn good.

But despite their cliches and plagiarism, Newcleus have just the right slap-happy silliness to escape the galaxy unscathed. The world may. be swathed in hopelessness and struggle, but it moves to the beat of cheerful crooners like Luther Vandross, waiting for Muh bu-bu-bu-bu baaaybee or wondering whether or not to take home that someone they've been dancing with all night long. Irresponsible but true. Space Is the Place should keep you happy enough. Chad Taylor :

Joni Mitchell Dog Eat Dog : Getfen. . Over 13 LPs since 1968 Joni Mitchell has produced a truly remarkable body of work that ranges across folk, pop and rock, jazz and orchestral, and includes both risk-taking experiments and a. number of genuine masterpieces. Now, at 42, an age when many artists are content working their chosen seam rather than seeking new lodes, Joni Mitchell is ... doing both! » /

What's familiar includes her vocal delivery, the controversial verse style, the loose-limbed melodic lines which are all, if not yet mannered, at least comfortably familiar. What's new is found particularly on side one in the aggressive production and almost angry directness of some lyrics. The album’s co-producers include Thomas Dolby and it may be he who is responsible for thé treated ambient street sounds that pervade the music. ‘Smokin’, for example, moves to the rhythm of a cigarette dispenser. - As for the lyrics, Mitchell has long abandoned the coruscating density of her most tightly structured poetry. She always retained however the ability to express her feeling with subtlety and feliticious phrasing. It is hard to find much of either here. Mitchell almost harangues the listener on a track like ‘Tax Free, a diatribe against religious politico-fundamentalism that is in danger of taking on the coarseness of those she attacks.

It's probable that side one of Dog Eat Dog is aimed at a new audience for Mitchell, today’s teenagers brought up on video clips and super-tech production values. She may well find her target. But for those of us who've

been with Joni Mitchell for many years, who've measured out parts of our lives with her songs, it's side two welll be-playing. Not that the title track, ‘Shiny Toys' or ‘Ethiopia’ are necessarily among her best work, but they nonetheless make worthy additions to her catalogue and give us confidence to keep attuned to her muse. Peter Thomson ‘ - Rick James , Glow Motown The street is a dangerous place. Gooks, junkies, bag ladies and stick-up kids. Trouble's everywhere. Easy getting in and hard getting out. Rape, murder, gang war and' poverty. You can't blame a guy for wanting to get off the street. You can't blame Rick James for preferring to drive rather than walk. Rick’s got expensive jewellery and that leather rig he's wearing didn't come cheap either. When you're a starsomebody’s got to protect you from your fans who will stick you up for your wallet and then ask for your autograph.-

Rick knows the street. Grace Jones is scared stiff. Melle Mel gets on edge, Run/DMC have a hard time and even George Clinton, an urban guerilla himself, only goes out in a mob. George, who keeps mistakenly referring to Ick James on his album covers, would do well to take note of this new offering Glow. -

Like Clinton, Rick uses an invented mythology as a vehicle to develop a lucid modern metaphor. The glow, a power that can only be found in the Kingdom of Light, is a magical force which, in Rick's fable, a young boy seeks, finds and uses to combat the evil force of the Dark Wizard, King Luto. Very nice too. Suffice to say that Rick wore himself out writing that and

then made an album that makes the Miami Vice Theme look startlingly innovative.

Rick James used to be a Funk Heavyweight. Up there with the big guys and the guys who are still, more or less, down there on the street. Berry Gordy may have plans for James to be a movie star like Prince. But Prince made people like his music, he didn't tailor his music to fit the Hollywood sound. Rick James has put out an album that sounds like every other West Coast/Miami Vice soundtrack this year. And take it from an old Rick James fan, he's blown it. Peter Grace - Lonnie Mack ‘ : Strike Like Lightning Alligator : Roy Buchanan 3 When A Guitar Plays The Blues : Alligator : : Chicago-based Alligator Records goes from strength to strength. These albums restore to prominence two guitar pickers worthy of the attention. - The music of Lonnie Mack is hard driving rock-blues with a gospel edge in his vocals. He was a big influence on Texan Stevie Ray Vaughan, who produced this high energy album, Mack's best since his seminal 1964 The Wham Of That Memphis Man (new reissued by Edsel). Mack’s direct roadhouse style melds perfectly with that of“pupil” Stevie Ray, who also contributes guitar (they do a hot remake of Mack’s already incendiary ‘Wham, his best-known tune after ‘Memphis)). This is an album of highwattage excitement. But once the amps are switched off, Lonnie, Stevie Ray and Mack’s brother Bill turn in what may be the best track,

‘Oreo Cookie Blues, a three-way acoustic guitar conversation. Buchanan's record is simply his best. Undoubted as an expressive guitarist with a penchant for screaming harmonics, Buchanan has remained a cultish but ultimately uninteresting hot player. His records either have featured routine bar bands with inadequate vocalists (Buchanan is even more inadequate) or have made a misguided bid for pop stardom.

At last Buchanan takes control of things, surrounds himself with solid Chicago blues musicians, good singers (Otis Clay and Gloria Hardiman) and seems to find a context (most of the time) for all that technique. Especially nice is the album closer, ‘Hawaiian Punch; which explores the Elmore James ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ theme, with Buchanan playing his Telecaster as if it were a lap steel. Footnote: The album is dedicated to the late Jimmy Nolen, who was with Johnny Otis (those great guitar licks on ‘Willie and the Hand Jive’ and others) and with James Brown from ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’ Ken Williams )i Morris Day : Color of Success Warner Bros . : Morris Day is a schmuck. It's a strong word, and perhaps youd never have thought of it outside of addressing your little brother, or in a moment bullying the office junior. But schmuck has got a whole lot of star-quality, and you're going to hear an awful lot more from schmucks in the near future.

~ Morris is going to be a real big star. He's not on the tall side, but he makes up for it by thinking big. On this, his first solo album, Morris starts by telling us how much better he is now he’s left his old

group, the Time. And that meant losing his bodyguard, so you know he's serious about this. : _ln the Purple Rain movie, which Morris saved almost singlehandedly from Prince’s gross stupidness, he spent a lot of time being dastardly and making indecent suggestions to Apollonia, Prince’s squeeze. He had a rather manic giggle, like youd imagine Vincent Price would after sniffing embalming fluid. | think Morris got sick of being nerdy, but when you've got schmuck that deeply ingrained it's hard to convince people you're a regular guy. So Morris spends a couple of songs on this album driving it home that it's just an im--age and he doesn't want us to think it’s the real him. Whether it's the real Morris Day or not, he has a keen ear for good, hoof-grinding funk. If you know the last Time album, expect less theatrics and more of that deadly groove. If you don't, think James Brown with the sweat and grime masked by Givenchy aftershave and shiny silk suits. ; Morris deserves your “undivided attention. Check it out. Peter Grace : : Olivia Newton-John : Soul Kiss Interfusion : Extracted from an interior dialogue. : the Tacky: Wow! get a load of Olivia's new image. The cover photos — they're by that kinky Helmut Newton — are a promise of seduction and discipline. And the songs! In ‘Culture Shock’ 'she’s proposing a threesome, and there’s another one called ‘You Were Great, How Was |?' — ‘Overnight Observation’ is about a different kind of medical examination, and then when you listen it becomes pretty obvi-

ous the title song’s really about fellat...

the Taste: ... Oh stop the slavering you jerk. Offensive soft-core like this is nothing more than a shoddy disguise for lack of talent. Beneath that make-up she’s just the same old Ollie. She still can't sing with genuine emotion; she still bleats on the high notes. Listen to the coatings they've given her voice fergrifsake! - the Tacky: So there's a lot of gloss, so what? | like gloss. And don’t wave that soulful schtick at me either. You're the sort of boring purist who wouldn’'t dance to an Abba record. Well | reckon there's a stack of songs here that Agnetha and Annafrida would've sold their Swedish smiles for. ‘Queen of the Publication’ for starters. In fact every track on the album’s catchy. Can't deny that can you? the Taste: OK, but then so is measles. Besides, John Farrar’s gone and produced everything to hell and back. | mean the gimmicks thrown in here are ridiculous: typewriters, revving cars, radio noise, Ollie's embarrassing monologue, the obvious Beach Boys approach to her duet with Carl Wilson, the damn synth that sounds programmed by some Wagner on acid. the Tacky: So we're ridiculing the musicians now are we? People like Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Tom Scott, Abe Laboriel, aren't the tops in their field for nothing — but then | suppose a snob like you would call them “studio hacks”. Carlos Vega's drumming alone is a thrill. the Taste: That walloping! What about finesse? : the Tacky: What about finesse?, (The dialogue continues unresolved.) : Peter Thomson o