December 1983
CONTENTS
How ignorant can a body become without trying? I am referring to the person (I use the term loosely) who threw a piece of wood onstage at Def Leppard's concert in Providence. The result of which was an injury to Joe Elliott. Lep was there to entertain,
Creem Profiles
DEF LEPPARD
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)
CHRISIGAU CONSUMES GUIDE
ROBERT CHRISTGAU
ATTITUDE: "Pump The Nation" (Atlantic):: Produced by the System, a/k/a Mic Murphy and David Frank, they got the juice—all three of these young people possess more mellifluous voices than Murphy, and more singing technique as well. But they don't have as much personality-
Rock 'n' Roll News
The Clash is comprised solely of Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon, now that Mick Jones has been given the boot for refusing to adhere to the band's "original principles" Refusing to get a Mohawk maybe? Jones says the claim is bunk, and he was given his pink slip due more to personality conflicts.
The Beat Goes On
John Neilson
LANSING, MI—Like most of you, my first exposure to the Call came through hearing their insidiously hooky single, "The Walls Came Down." When the local Dinosaur-Oriented-Radio station followed MTV's lead and began embracing New Music (sic),
ROBERT PALMER: PRIDE & PREJUDICE
Laura Flssinger
Them out of town, me out of luck.
LOVERBOY: BECAUSE THEY’RE THERE
Rick Johnson
What you mean "we," kemosabe?
GRILLING AT THE ROADSIDE WITH NRBQ
Mitchell Cohen
Think of NRBQ as a diner somewhere off the main highway, serving up Tex-Mex chili, Kansas City barbeque, Philadelphia cheese steaks, New England clam chowder, Chicago deep-dish pizza, Anchor Steam beer on draft. The gamut of American gastronomy.
OUT OF THE LITTER BOX & INTO THE FIRE!
Karen Sohlosberg
What happens when you try to domesticate the Stray Cats? Example: A very sincere young girl writes "I Love You Brian" endlessly in neat, Bound longhand across both sides of seven sheets of looseleaf paper, as meticulous and at heartfelt as a grueling homework assignment.
Some Of The Good Ones Are Still Kicking
Iman Lababedi
His management's offices exude prosperity and fake sophistication: the waiting area all leather couches and reprints of 19th Century French paintings, the open plan work habitat spotted with typists and gold discs, and the conference room so oddly planned that I can't use the large center table because there's no socket for my tape recorder's plug.
THE BLASTERS AIN’T NO CATS!
Perhaps taking a cue from the Book Of Rock Lists, I once considered compiling a list of the best rock records to listen to when going through the breakup of a love relationship.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Calendar
CALENDAR
SECOND WHICH EMOTION?
Cynthia Rose
A week after the fact, the capital's 17th Notting Hill Carnival seems like a shimmering heat mirage—a hot long weekend wherein the maas, steel pans and jump-up of the east Caribbean blended with the heaviest dread of reggae (and the earnest good intentions of all Ladbroke Grovebound liberals).
Creemedia
Saturday Night Flotsam
Keidre S. Laiken
By the time this reaches print, Sylvester Stallone's Staying Alive will be on display at the nabes for half the price that the chic and trendy and cinemaphilic paid to see it in midsummer, and you'll be tempted to take advantage of their lower ticket prices.
CAN YOU BEAT THAT?
Bill Paige
CHICAGO—Bonzo and Moon were there—in spirit, at least. The summit was billed as "the largest group of rock drummers ever assembled in one place" and you wouldn't have had to listen very hard to be convinced of the fact. Tap tap tap. BOOMBOOM.
THE UNHOLY SPAWN OF THE DUAL METALLICUS
Sylvie Simmons
Nothing (except the last Journey single) lasts forever. Six-and-a-half years they were together. 6⅛. Plenty of time to emerge as the Best Heavy Metal Band On The Face Of The Earth. Motorhead. The band that put the screw in screwdrivers; the band that put the wart in What Kind Of Band Do You Call This;
1983 CREEM ROCK 'N' ROLL READERS' POLL BALLOT
Yoo-hoo! Guess what time it is? No, no, not Howdy Doody time. Not time to greet the Merry Mouseketeers. And definitely not time for any more brain function than you're accustomed to when reading this magazine. It's time for you, the wooly electorate,
HYPERBOLE
Mitchell Cohen
Everything's an "anthem" these days* every song that asserts the simplest preference, celebrates any individual or social identity or activity (oh, "Flashdance...What A Feeling," or "The Safety Dance"). Maybe that's why the trend is toward no seats where rock is performed:
ROCK 'N' RAMA
WILLIE ALEXANDER & THE CONFESSIONS—A Girl Like You (New Rose import):: Willie Loco, lest you forget, was an early trailblazer in the indie 45 field ("Mass Ave" b/w "Kerouac") as well as a spearhead figure in the whole Bosstown new wave/punk upheaval of '76-77.
A CREEM GUIDE TO ELECTRIC GUITARS
J. Kordosh
Since the salad days, the electric guitar has gone from jazz to hillbilly music to rock, where it has certainly undergone its most exhaustive—you might even say ridiculous — refinement. Even as you read these very words, or have a big person read them to you,
Win A Pete Townshend Autographed Guitar!
Here's your oppportunity to win one of the most exciting guitars any player could ever own—a one of a kind, Pete Townshend-autographed A-15V electric guitar from Washburn Guitars! There won't be another opportunity to win an instrument like this,
KISS & TELL
Jaan Uhelszki
Iggy has imported his own Sony Walkwoman to our shores. Object: Matrimony. Mr. Pop, how-you-say, popped the question just three weeks after meeting his Japanese sweetie on his recent tour of Nippon. When's the big day? Just as soon as Iggy's little Ebi completes her course at Berlitz—in English!
Backstage
BACKSTAGE
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down