October 1984
Contents
I really wish, at this time, to openly publicize my feelings for a certain group, whom I worship with all my heart. This particular group has been my favorite for only a short—but wonderful— year and four months. I deeply regret never having previously enjoyed their music, which I now appreciate immensely.
Christgau Consumer Guide
ROBERT CHRISTGAU
DUKE BOOTEE "Bust Me Out" (Mercury) Yes indeed, the man can sing, though given that he made his name as a musician and writer I’m equally gratified he can rap. Competently in both cases. The difference comes in what he sings or raps. The songs are standard funk fare, the raps his most pointed and bent since “The Message.” And Doug Wimbish and crew sound like escape from Sugarhill equals freedom now.
Rock 'n' Roll News
Van Halen closed the Seattle Center Coliseum with a bang, not to mention a boom, a jump, a hoot, and a slightly-out-of-tune ka-bleemo! At least 22 people were injured and 45 ticketed in a riot celebrating the facility’s final show before scheduled renovation begins.
The Beat Goes On
J. Kordosh
ACCEPT: THE INEVITABLE DETROIT—I first heard of Accept by way of Rock-a-Rama— which is a page way in the back of CREEM, originally established to review records that might otherwise be overlooked, now existing to keep Richard Riegel out of debt to the Greater Cincinnati Power & Light Co.
Creem Profiles
R.E.M.
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)
ARE HITS LEGIT?
Cynthia Rose
This has been a fascinating—if dislocating—four weeks. Hie myself off to America for two weeks of MTV and a long day hearing other critics (American and British) publicly debate U.S.-U.K. relations in pop, rock and reality; then a further weekplus in the deep South, stunned by 24-hour religious TV but fascinated by what I learned from local music fans of all races.
DUETS FROM HELL!
Rick Johnson
It was another typical afternoon at CREEM's posh eddytorial digs in luverly downtown Birmingham. Einsturzende Neubauten tapes blare, almost drowning out Bill Ho'ship, who is alternately hollering "He'p!" and "Yoohoo!" out the window at pedestrians below.
THEIR COUNTRY, RATT OR WRONG
Steve Gett
While most of us tend to spend Monday mornings wearily attempting to face the drudgery of another working week, Ratt lead vocalist Stephen Pearcy appears totally oblivious to such routine as he ambles into Atlantic Records' midtown Manhattan headquarters.
Talking About The Music with Joan Jett
Jim Farber
Last year Joan Jett put out an album which went gold and was, by at least one account (mine), one of the most thrilling straight-ahead rock 'n' roll records since Exile On Main Street.
THE CLASH: THEY WANT TO SPOIL THE PARTY-SO THEY’LL STAY
Bill Holdship
CREEM contributor Mark Norton and I were talking several days before the Clash "invaded" Detroit, and we began discussing the concept of "armchair activism" and how the Clash probably fit into that category.
Eleganza
Sprucing Up The Boss
John Mendelssohn
Eleganza thinks Bruce Springsteen’s fab.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Calendar
Calendar
Creemedia
FIRST THE BAD NEWS
Richard C.Walls
I approached this book with some suspicion, the controversy still being hot.
DRIVEN-IN SATURDAY
Edouard Dauphin
In the 25 or so years The Dauphin has been slaving over a hot SmithCorona, hammering out this quasicritical column, many film genres have come under scrutiny but rarely have we touched upon the subject of ghosts. This is not surprising. When one's tastes run toward the gory, the sleazy, the trashy and anything involving a combination of latex and power drills, one isn't likely to devote much attention to something as wispy and potentially whimsical as cinematic ectoplasms.
MEDIA COOL
Frank Fox
Max Weinberg, no slouch in the drum department himself (he's the guy who sits behind Bruce Springsteen onstage), interviewed 14 of rock's greatest living drummers for this book, ranging from the legendary (Ringo, Charlie Watts) to some lesser-known names (Earl Palmer, Hal Blaine).
Video Video
WE SELL, THEREFORE WE ARE
Billy Altman
I tell you, this here rock video revolution is spreading by such leaps and bounds that even the most dedicated of us finger-on-thepulsebeat cultural observers have our digits full trying to keep up.
WILL THE REAL BOY GEORGE PLEASE STAND UP!
When CREEM announced the big Boy George Lookalike Contest in our June, 1984 issue, little did we know what we were getting into. Within hours—weeks even!—of the announcement, our office was besieged by so many tons of superb entries, they soon had to be airlifted in by emergency SOS helicopters under the drooling protection of vicious canine units.
POKE IT!
Laura Fissinger
Through a series of circumstances too bizarre to recount (even here!), CREEM has become the first national publication to locate and interview the lost Jackson brother, Buck. We found him in an Idaho record-store-and-leather-chaps emporium, dressed like an extra from Blazing Saddles and muttering at a cardboard stand-up of Michael (something about how cute noses don't matter to cows).
BENCH STRENGTH
Mitchell Cohen
It's been one Old Timers Day after another for Hall of Fame axe-handler Jeff Beck over the past year or so. First he turned up at the A.R.M.S. benefit, jamming with Jimmy Page and singing Hi Ho Silver Lining, and then he strolled into the studios where many of his former colleagues (not, fortunately, Jan Hammer or Donovan) were toiling over their reunion/comeback/reputation-resuscitating (pick one) attempts, the results of which are now in record stores everywhere.
THELONIOUS ASSAULT
Richard C. Walls
This is producer Hal Willner's second multi-artiste tribute to a recently deceased composer of renown, his first being the 1981 homage to film scorer and Fellini collaborator Nino Rota. This time the honoree is pianist Thelonious Monk, a jazz musician as celebrated for his distinctive composition as for his wonderfully eccentric style of improvising and, as before, Willner has assembled, along with some logical choices, musicians not generally associated with the music at hand.
ROCK • A • RAMA
These guys strike me as such an inevitable Next Big Thing (for better or worse) that I won't be surprised if their second album moves up to full-review status a la Quiet Riot. Somebody had the bright idea of combining the teens' current twin fascinations, metal and pretty, into one pop band.
Stars Cars
BILLY IDOL
45 REVELATIONS
Ken Barnes
My big problem as a practicing rock critic (not that it takes much practice) has been liking too much. Too many records, too many diverse styles. My tolerant tastes tend to put off readers and other writers, blessed as they are with the certitude of the narrowly righteous.
Christgau Consumer Guide
ROBERT CHRISTGAU
I guess there are still chronic flunkers and anarchists out there who object to the very idea of letter grades, but as I see it the CG's main credibility problem isn't that I'm too judgmental, but that I'm too lenient. Every month for years more than half the records reviewed here have received at least a B, which indicates something like 'listenable for aficionados.' This happens because I actively enjoy many different kinds of music, most of which deserve as much ink as they can get.
DRUM SCENE '84 WHAT'S NEW & WHY
Michael Shore
Pearl is making 'free-floating system' snare drums, a revolutionary 'lug-less' drum in which the shell is held fast between two rims by special sleeveless lugs. This means that no lug-sleeves are drilled into the shell, leaving it free to resonate more clearly, which greatly enhances dynamics, response and projection.
THE ICHIBAN DRUM GIVEAWAY!
Here's your rare opportunity to win today's hottest graphic drum kit...the Ichiban outfit in Pearl's newest graphic design...Sunrise! The lucky winner will receive a complete 5 pc. "DEEP-FORCE" Export Set (EX 22D-50) consisting of: one 16" x 22" Bass Drum, one 10" x 12" Tom Tom, one 11" x 13" Tom Tom, one 16" x 16" Floor Tom, one 61/2" x 14" Metal Snare Drum, one B-800 Cymbal Stand, one S-700 Snare Drum Stand, one H-700 Hi-Hat Stand and one P-750 Foot Pedal. Plus...a D-700 Drum Throne and five of Pearl's new CX-500 Series Cymbals to complete your set-up.
KISS & TELL
Jaan Uhelszki
Never Say Never: They swore from here to Blenheim they would never play together again as Led Zeppelin after John Bonham's untimely death, but a few miles on the outskirts of London in a tiny club, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page have been performing together.
Backstage
Backstage
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down