singles

Rip It Up, Issue 168, 1 July 1991, Page 37

singles

CANDYMAN Nightgown (CBS) 12" - TERMINATOR X Homey Don't Play That (CBS) 12" Lust in the valley of the jeep beets, Terminator with that "50,000 watts of funkin' hip hop power" on display. Both sides are good, the female duo of Bonnie'n'Clyde on'Homey' and 'Juvenile Delinquents' in a Compton style. But not the strongest cuts from his Jeep Beet solo work, the best hip hop album of the year. Mr Candyman tells a nocturnal saga of 'Knockin Boots' like 'Donkey Kong', you might call this one risque 'interesting house' version but best in the funky instrumental. GARY CLAIL / ON-U SOUND SYSTEM Escape (Perfecto) 12" Second strong single from the Emotional Hooligan album, the mix from Paul Oakenfold just extends the beat implications of Adrian Sherwood's original production. More social questions raised by Mr Clail, a bit pessimistic perhaps in that he offers no way out of the problem. Also worth hearing fora new mix of 'Human Nature', possibly more interesting than the original, just in the drum sound alone. TWIN PEAKS The Remix (Disc Magic) 12" Excellent example of the detritus of popular culture, ever moving onwards to its own destruction. A very sleazy reading of Cruise/Badalamenti's 'Falling' in which diverse elements are introduced, like samples from Mikey : Dread's 'African Anthem' and the most over used sample of all time — 'Oh Yeah'. Also a terrible spoken bit about who the killer is, in a mock French accent. It is of course from Italy, current European champion of bizarre behaviour. SHABBA RANKS Trailer Load of Girls (Epic) 12" Sleely and Clevie high step with this poco rhythm over Shabba's concerns . for woman. The actual lyrics are not of importance here, just the combination of voice and rhythm, creating the groove. As dancehall goes, this is top of the heap. KENNY THOMAS Outstanding (Cootempo) 12" A modern slow jam treatment of the Gap Band's great soul ballad, nice languid groove that is warming on these cold nights. I first got the record in a plain sleeve, later on it appeared with a picture, with a young white guy on it. I just assumed he was black, now isn't racism a terrible thing. CRYSTAL WATERS Gypsy Woman (Mercury) 12" This year's biggest selling American dance single belongs to Ms Waters, a 27 year old computer science graduate who still works processing arrest warrants for the Washington DC cops. An intensely catchy house beat laid down by the hot shot Basement Boys with the vocals sung almost low key, the kick being the la-de-de chorus bit. Big in the clubs but will the radio play it? POP WILL EAT ITSELF 92 Degrees F (BMG) 12" According to the lyrics it's "hardcore dance floor", maybe to some people, fairly typical poppies stuff, but the flip side of'The Incredible PWEI/vs Dirty Harry' is pretty cool, using Lalo — Mission Impossible— Schifrin's music from Dirty Harry and. they don't sing on that one! In some strange marketing strategy a PWEI stencil is included for your use, whatever that is. VAN HALEN Poundcake (Warner Bros) Cassingle Great guitar intro and splashy cymbals kick this along in typical Van Halen style, talkin about 'My baby's poundcake' and other culinary delights. It's good but no hit single, it just lacks any definite hook. MOANAANDTHE MOAHUNTERS AEIOU (Akona Te Reo) (Southside) 12" Follow up to the mega 'Black Pearl' and a excellent one at that. Full power funk rhythm that is relentless with a rap that mixes sweetly. "Akona Te Reo" means learn the language, understand

your culture, and strength will follow. Three strong versions that suggest that a re-mix would be interesting, especially on the instrumental. Deserves all your attention. PRECIOUS METAL Mr Big Stuff (Chameleon) 12" Messy but cute pop metal cover of Jean Knight's soul classic, done in a rousing if not obvious style much beloved by the children of New Zealand. Lead singer had a hit with the band Promises in the early eighties, a very physical performer, as I remember. AARON NEVILLE Everybody Plays The Fool (A&M) CD Single Strange as it may seem Mr Neville's voice began to lose its charm on me, bad case of overkill at all these dinner parties. But I can't dismiss this sweet interpretation of the Main Ingredients soul hit (yes, another one), it's just got a nice feel about it, top ten at least. CATHY DENIS Touch Me (All Night Long) (Polydor) 12"/ CD Single Yet another soul cover! This time Ms Denis takes on Fonda Rae's all time raver and very good it is too. Keeps the catchy bits of the original and adds a bit of a beat to it. Three mixes by Shep Pettibone in his usual pop dance style, but interesting all the same. LATOUR People Are Still Having Sex (Polydor) 12'7CD Single 'Lust is still lurking, it's just not working' intones a voice of authority over a subdued techno beat. Big hit in American clubs, what with the Mo' Sleezymix full of heavy breathing and groans of a sexual nature. But unlike the activity it talks about this gets a tad boring. YOTHUS YINDI Treaty (Razor) 12" Australian house music with serious political intent, a grinding, if not a bit monotonous rhythm with a chant in Aboriginal. Sounds real intense and one of the better Australian production jobs in ages. BANANARAMA Long Train Running (London) 12" The grandes dames of British pop are back with a cover of the Doobie Brothers' seventies opus, a song I remember fondly as the background to my first car crash. Anyhow this is spiced up in the mix with lots of flamenco guitars, a la 'Gypsy Kings'. Strange, but it works. MUNKS OF FUNK Wonderful Thing (Slam Jam) 12" A sprightly jazz-funk-rap take on one of Kid Creole's Sambas of the early eighties, aided by the übiquitous MR CJ MacKintosh as the mix. He just adds a smooth danceable rhythm, very likeable groove indeed. KEITH WASHINGTON Kissing You (Q West) Cassingle Well, best for last. Mr Washington is the love machine, soul man numero uno who takes on every emotion under the sun as long as it ends up with a bunch of red roses and a bottle of Dorn Perignon. Excellent track this, super smooth and dripping, just dripping. A former number one on the American R&B charts, a slow jam par excellence. KERRY BUCHANAN HENRY ROLLINS & THE HARD ONS Let There Be Rock (Waterfront) Ah yes, I remember it well. Mid 'B6 at the Paddington town hall and the event was rock'n'roll wrestling. We had been thrashing every bit of skateable terrain we could find in Australia and felt it was time to let the Australians thrash us a bit. Five bands, four bouts sounded like the real deal. It wasn't. After four bands of trad

Ozgrungedirge things were looking ugly. Then the Hard-Ons appeared. Damn they were good, pure white-hot energy, tight, fast and damn noisy, they cooked. Anyway, all these years on they still cook (check out the album Yummy) and here they've chosen to demonstrate that with the aid of an AC/DC song and Henry Rollins. It's a killer combination. The Hard-Ons tear happily through AC/DC's riffs and a few others beside with an almost clean sounding fury, while Rollins intones and howls with all the vicousness only he can muster. This is the finest thing I've heard in a long, long while and it's only a single. Awesome. KIRK GEE