After months which have witnessed the birth of a new trend every four weeks (faithfully recorded, and over-exposed, by the music press here)...suddenly anything goes. Nervous times. If my post reflects the current musical confusion then let me tell you what arrived on my doormat today: a single called “High Rise” by The Trainspotters which turns out to be pretty ordinary punk/pop about living in a tower block. Yawn— too late boys, far too late. A Nona Hendryx record that sounds like The Coasters’ “Little Egypt”; a pamphlet extolling the experimental virtues of one Geoff Leigh with an EF called “The Chemical Bank”. I quote: “Five jiving songs, from the neo-bubblegum catchiness of ‘shah of iran’ (well it made me laugh)” to the very English but snakily funky ‘starshooters’ ...plus ‘psychotropic ganglions’ described by Geoff as “a computerised tribal dance for the totally hypnotised modem man who has forgotten how to walk.” Mr. Leigh, it transpires, is a one-man electronic band, a sort of looney Mike Oldfield (one’s enough some may think).

Cliff Richard, who was Britain’s clean answer to Elvis irt the late 50’s, is number one in the charts here. If a name alone can make you feel in a time warp then Cliff’s does it every time. However, the record is brilliantly produced, cleverly written and he sings it as though he was a cool white Philly prtist. “I’d recognize Cliffs voice anywhere,” said a friend who then promptly proved herself wrong by failing to recognize him on this. Zeppelin’s new album came in on a wing and a prayer and a massive advance order despite a critical whacking for their last British concerts. Disco and pop nudge each other for places right through our Top 30 and only pne new group (new wave, new anything) that has managed to break that hold and reflect some of the things that are going on Out There Beyond is Secret Affair’s “Time for Action”. Secret Affair recently headed a huge Mod concert, were hailed as the best thing since The Specials (you read it here first) and the esoteric London, national newspaper The Guardian went over-, board for them, particularly lead singer Ian Page, who seemed to amaze the Guardian’s yrock critic by being articulate beyond the latter’s wildest hopes. In fact, “Time For Action” is interesting not because it’s the only reflection of the last trend to make inroads into the charts, but because it’s a blend of punk and Stax and so reflects the general shifting and regrouping that’s going on at the moment.