December 1976
Creem
Just looking through your September issue I found something that never fails to piss me off, no matter what magazine it's in. In the Mark Farner interview, he's quoted twice as saying "uh, uh" and twice "uh, huh." Now, what is that? "Yeah" and even "Nah," I can handle, but having to decipher answers like "uh, uh," "uh, huh," "huh, uh" or whatever, is too much.
CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
AEROSMITH: 'Rocks' (Columbia) ::This is the teen crossover of the year, but it ain't the Stones—the resemblance is strictly facial. You should have known. The great motherlode of hard rock in this world is Led Zeppelin, and this is the most convincing American version to date—more fluid and less melodramatic, limited but powerful.
ROCK N' ROLL NEWS
Patti Smith, never one to neglect her rock 'n' roll roots, brought Fred "Sonic" Smith (formerly of the MC5) onstage for her "My Generation" encore when she. played Detroit's Ford Auditorium last March. Sonic hasn't been idle since then—he's been gigging with new band Rendezvous, which boasts Sonic on lead guitar, Scott Morgan, formerly of the Rationale, on vocals; Gary Rasmussen of the UP on bass, and Scott "Rock Action" Asheton of the Stooges on drums.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Barry Dillon
HOLLYWOOD—At last it can be revealed—the Beatles DID plan reuniting to appear on the top NBC-TV comedy show, Saturday Night, but their "surprise" for millions of nationwide viewers went wrong, said Chevy Chase, one of the stars of the show.
CREEM DREEM
BLONDIE
Creem Profiles
PATTI SMITH
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)
Extension Chords
The ARP Omni: One Clean Machine
Allen Hester
Until recently, polyphonic synthesizers were confined to the private stock of inventors, engineers and a few well known players who function as advisors to the electronic keyboard industry.
Features
AEROSMITH: TRAIN KEPT A-ROLLIN’
Lisa Robinson
My 1975 summer was spent with the Rolling Stones. When I think of Summer 1976, I think mostly of Aerosmith.
Baby-sitting with the RAMONES: Will the kids be alright?
Pam Brown
My little brother is two years old and his favorite record is The Ramones.
KISS BLITZ FLO & EDDIE
When Kiss, the heroes of flaming youth and small house pets, met up with those everlovable, vet brutal blimns Flo & Eddie, at a recent tag-team concert in LA.
Elvin Bishop Grows Up (Finally)
Tom Dupree
"I'm the goose that laid the golden egg around here," says Elvin Bishop as he digs into his Macon, Georgia cafe meal. "I'm doin' real good." And although Top Forty Smash is an unusual role for Paul Butterfield's former Pigboy Crabshaw, it's here and you'd best deal with it.
Whatever Gets You Through The Night
Simon Frith
In the end, Eric Clapton's summer wasn't so hot. He played holiday camps where the heat rose off the bingo cards with the stench of stale greed and afterwards he fell asleep listening to his own album. He had drunk too much and slept uneasily. Bad dreams.
Rewire Yourself
Plug-In Paddle Ball
Richard Robinson
Just follow the bouncing ball. Ping Ping . . . Pong!
Oreos and Love Gone Wrong: A Heart To Heart with Linda Ronstadt
Carl Arrington
These days they cast Linda Ronstadt's anguish in gold.
Features
VISIONS OF OYSTER APOCALYPSE
Lester Bangs
Blue Oyster Cult is a band at the crossroads.
Creemedia
Bob Dylan vs. Don Kirshner: Can You Tell the Players Without a Scorecard?
Lester Bangs
The marriage of rock and TV has never been a comfortable one.
Stars Cars
BAY CITY ROLLERS
Confessions of a FILMFOX
People are always insisting that all rock idols are actually frustrated movie stars, clawing to get out from behind the mike stand and in front of the kleig lights—Peter Fonda, a show biz sibling, seems to agree. You should have heard him crowing at the irony that he, a "serious actor," debuts in a singing role in his Outlaw Blues pic.
(FOR ONCE) CREEM DRAWS A BLANK
Now you can get it all off your chest. Once again, it's time for the annual CREEM Reader's Poll for 1976. We want you to tell us and them who you love, who you hate, and who you feel ambivalent towards or whatever. The rules are as simple as ever. First, fill in the blanks at right. Second, stuff the ballot in an envelope and mail it to: CREEM Reader's Poll, P.O. Box P-1064, Birmingham, Mich.
ON BEING A MAN
Robert Duncan
You take your Kiss and shove it, little buddy. We've had enough of that jackass Ronald McDonald routine. And while you're at it, tell your pals, Aerosmith, to fly away back where they came from. Clear out all the clowns and sissies, Ted Nugent is back and we wouldn't want any of them to get hurt.
Records
LYNYRD SKYNYRD: Does Their Conscience Bother THEM?
Richard Riegel
Lynyrd Skynyrd continue to befuddle Yankee interviewers.
ROCK • A • RAMA
RAMONES (Sire)::I was at a baseball game with Allen Lanier—the Twins vs. the Rangers or some such shit, it was in Minneapolis anyway— and he kept trying to explain to me why baseball was good because it was boring, a line of reasoning also pursued unsuccessfully (at least to my understanding) by R. Meltzer in barroom conversations past.
Backstage
BACKSTAGE
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down