December 1977
CREEM CONTENTS
HALLELUJAH! I'm writing this letter to say Jimmy Page, I love you!! And I think it's about time everybody bent down and praised the Lord we have Led Zeppelin! Without them who would we turn to? Kiss? Alice Cooper? HELL NO! I'd like to say thanks for doing a damn good job, and to all the folks at CREEM who give us Led Zeppelin the right way, GOOD!
CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
KARLA BONOFF (Columbia):: I like this woman, who strikes me as sexy and Sensible and almost as wise as she wants to be. But there's something self-pitying and slightly sheeplike in her voice that turns me off. And even though I've been humming "I Can't Hold On" for three days and enjoying the rest of side one when it comes on (forget side two—Lady Wimp), I suspect I'll be going to Fleetwood Mac when I want that sort of buzz in the future.
ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS
Boys will be boys: Mick Jagger, confessing to People about some pre-pubescent pandering with his childhood chums: "When I was 13 all I desperately wanted to do was have sex." And how did he quench his raging lust? "With boys at school.
Supertramp: Living in a Perfect World
Rick Johnson
NEW YORK—"We're not popular because we're not sensational," Supertramp's co-founder Roger Hodgson is explaining between pina coladas. "We're boring old farts." Very true that this, bunch of voluntarily self-exiled Britishers isn't exactly swamped with salivating fans on the street—yet.
Creem Profiles
FRANK ZAPPA
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)
Letter From Britain
We’re Left, They’re Wrong, He”s Gone
Simon Frith
When I got back from Scotland, Elvis Presley was dead and Elvis Costello was riding high in the album charts.
GET BACK TO WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED
Susan Whitall
Linda, one of my co-editors here at Globotron—uh, CREEM—came back from lunch with Detroit disco producer extraordinaire Don Davis, waving an acetate of the new Robin Trower album.
Features
Catch A Wave? No,West Coast NEW WAVE!
Jack Basher
CREEM's Punk Guides Stagger On....
CREEM DREEM
ROBERT PLANT and ROD STEWART
Features
THE STARSHIP IN THE SEVENTIES
Howard Klein
Slick licks and skateboard tricks.
THE GRATEFUL DEAD Remenbrance Of Hippies Past
Jack Bashep
Huh? The Grateful Dead? Me? A think piece? I haven't thought about them since 1968.
So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star
Richard Robinson
Someone says, "I want to be a rock & roll star." I tell them, "Kid, be a doctor or a lawyer. You'll do better." They think I'm kidding. I'm not. Most rock stars end up pumping gas. In the rock & roll biz tight pants count more than talent, musical ability doesn't much matter, and as for job security, you're better off putting on a rubber nose and going to work for Ringling Brothers.
Chicago XI, New York 0
Robert Duncan
We were sitting in the Bells of Hell, sucking on our beers, having a nice, quiet summer dodging Son of Sam and the FALN (the Puerto Rican Liberation Army), when all of a sudden Mick Jagger makes this inane snorting sound and the Fabulous Fall Season is off and running.
Stars Cars
GENE SIMMONS
With A Little Help From Their Friends
Linda Barber
So you thought you'd heard the last of the Beatles, 'eh? Think again. In fact, you might want to dig out that dusty old Sgt. Pepper LP to brush up, because this spring it's all coming back. It's the film we've all been waiting for...maybe! The four mop-topped lads from Liverpool penned and set it to music, and now it's being brought to the screen via Robert Stigwood (RSO), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal.
DRIVE-IN SATURDAY
Edouard Dauphin
"The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of this film are the first 80."—newspaper ad for Suspiria. Don't believe it. The last 12 minutes of this flick features the crucifixion of a young woman and the brutal knife slashing of a very old woman that makes the shower scene in Psycho look like a commercial for personal sized Ivory.
Confessions of a FILM FOX
It was only a matter of time... The notorious Sex Pistols are busy starring in a film based on—what else?—their humble upbringing. The movie (yet untitled) will be in the can by Xmas, and released next spring. Ol'Warren Beatty just keeps comin' back for more...from Julie Christie, that is.
TOWNSHEND/LANE Sing The Almost Middle-Aged Blues
Billy Altman
That Peter Townshend should pick the quiet setting of an unassuming, one-shot collaborative album with Ronnie Lane in which to work out some highly personal and private thoughts about his own life is probably the most interesting thing about Rough Mix.
ROCK.A.RAMA
BOB TayloR
DR. FEELGOOD—Sneakin' Suspicion (Columbia)::Blues, blues, and more blues. Great stuff for us senile rock critics who were weaned on the Animals and Nashville Teens, this album has more echoes of The Rolling Stones Now! than dagger's old lady has jewels.
VOICE YOUR CHOICE!
It's that time of year again: it's your turn, readers, to suss out the yin and yang of 1977 and reward (or punish!) their tireless efforts to part a fool and his money! The rules are easy enough for a rock critic to understand: First, fill in the blanks at right.
Backstage
BACKSTAGE
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down