Records

Rip It Up, Issue 109, 1 August 1986, Page 30

Records

Labyrinth David Bowie/Trevor Jones (EMI) The latest Muppet movie has given big kid Dazbo the adventure of his year. Lost in a ridiculous wig, he fights the orchestral score of Trevor Jones in order to escape the soundtrack album with a smattering of g,ospel and good humour. Aiding him are the cunning dwarves Arif Mardin and Scritti Politti keyboardist Robbie Buchanan. On his way through the golden gates of ‘Underground’, the mystic figures of Luther Vandross and Chaka Khan join Dazbo’s Magic Choir. “Curses!” exclaim the EMI financial wizards, "The mighty Dazbo has escaped our contractual obligation clutches once more, yet keeping his credibility in-

tact! Fume!” This has been a true story. CT Uriah Heep Equator (CBS)

Their seventeenth album and the same line-up that toured here in 1984, Uriah Heep keep rollin’ on Plenty of vocal harmonies and keyboards but Mick Box shines through on tracks like ‘Poor Little Rich Giri: Not exactly the best from Heep, but not too bad all the same.

Blue Oyster Cult GD Club Ninja (CBS) Veteran heavy metal band Blue Oyster Cult, with a host of albums behind them, have never recaptured on their studio albums the punch that distinguished the popular Agents of Fortune featuring ‘Don't Fear the Reaper! There is no song on the present set in that class, but ‘White Flags' and ‘Perfect Water’ are the best of an uneven set, muddled in conceptu-

al confusion. The grand design of Club Ninja fails, but there is enough here to satisfy the addict. Katrina and the Waves DP Waves (Capitol) Although this band writes their own material, most of it depends on other people’s well worn formulas. Nonetheless their first album did contain a few tracks where infectious exuberance overcame the cliches. ‘Walking on Sunshine’ deserved its hit status (though it took the Bangles to make ‘Going Down to Liverpool’ sound original). This time out nothing really rises above the competent. 'ls That It?’ shows Katrina’s been listening to soul music but, despite some punchy brass, the song remains simplistic. The ballad ‘Sleep on my Pillow’ is at best pleasant. As boogies go 'Money Chain’ is okay ... ho hum. PT Makin’ Time Rhythm and Soul (Stiff) A four-piece from the Midlands (Britain that is), Makin’ Time are out to resurrect the sound of mid-60s British R&B and soul. At best it’s finger-snappin’ Motown as in ‘Here is My Number’ or Zombies’ melancholy like ‘Honey’ or the Kinks, whose ‘I Gotta Move' they've had the good taste to update. At worst (the rest) it’s rubber soul rebounding off pub walls.GK Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

Criminal Tango (Virgin) Whether we’re considering all the 60s hit singles or the 70s cult albums, Mr Mann’s chief success as a bandleader has always been in re-interpreting other writers’ material. Dylan and Randy Newman have been particularly rich sources in the past. Here, in the band’s first album for yonks, half a dozen more writers get the treatment of big synths, medium tempi and a heavy rhythm section.

Purists will undoubtedly object but I Paul Weller’s ‘Going Underground’ comes off rather well. Here the melody is highlighted, whereas in the Jam version it seemed secondary to the attack. Joni Mitchell’s ‘Banquet’ receives a tougher arrangement as if to emphasize the lyric (though why they’ve weakly rewritten one of its most hardhitting lines is beyond me). Little is added to the Garland Jeffreys number and the Beatles’, already minor-league, ‘Bulldog’ is further diminished. In fact the whole of side two is a waste. Expatriate New Zealander Chris. Thompson receives featured billing as the band’s vocalist. PT Various Artists Dave Clark’s Time (EMI) Hey, here’s an idea. Let’s write a musical concept piece about the earth being tried by the High Court of the Universe to determine whether the planet should be entitled to continue to exist. (Heavy stuff!!) Representing the Earth we have “The Rock Star”. We’ll get in some big names such as Cliff Richard, Freddie Mercury, Julian Lennon. et a 1... Sound like a good idea? DaVe Clark (of the DC 5) has done it, on a double album too (it took him five years to organise). Does it work, though? Maybe it would if we could see it as a stage production; still, the music is, shall we say, pleasant. SGE Ted Nugent Little Miss Dangerous (WEA) The motor city madman is out again with trademark wild guitaring and pussy tales. Ted formed Amboy Dukes in the 60s and still shows no sign of letting up. He’s even been given a couple of movie roles since his acting debut seen on Miami Vice recently. ’Little Miss Dangerous’ captures the Nuge perfectly. GD