September 1985
Contents
Fresh from reading Bill Holdship’s article on Prince I am left with mixed emotions. I am a white, 18-year-old female and consider Prince to be a very sexy man and talented performer, despite the fact that “Prince doesn’t appear to be a very nice person,” “depicts women as sexual slaves” and steals his moves from James Brown.
Christgau Consumer Guide
ROBERT CHRISTGAU
Unless you count Amy Grant, pop doesn’t get more explicitly Christian—not only does the back cover thank “Jesus Christ” rather than the usual “God,” but the record invites us to convert. Granted, Arrington’s a Jesse Jackson type Christian—remembers that petroleum is still a finite resource, takes pains to acknowledge the right to choose in a song where the abortion isn’t done.
Rock 'n' Roll News
Scheduled for a fall release is Sting’s new film, which will have something to do with his new LP, The Dream Of The Blue Turtles. The movie will be filmed in Paris and document the development of ol’ Gordy’s new jazz band. A guest appearance by Flipper cannot be ruled out!
The Beat Goes On
NEW YORK—One of the things that makes things cool is obscurity: the fewer people that know about something, the cooler it is (and so are the fewer). We think, however, that singer/songwriter/instrumentalist/strange person Jules Shear will still be cool when he’s semi-famous, because there’s something about him that is permanently uncool.
Features
It’s Been A Sade Night
Barbara Pepe
And she’s been working like a dog.
Features
R.E.M.’S ROCK RECONSTRUCTION
Bill Holdship
Fables of years spent on the road.
FOCUS, RODDY IT'S AZTEC CAMERA
David Keeps
Roddy Frame must be wearing contact lenses. I mean, how could a guy who’s just old enough to drink in any state he wants to have achieved the same kind of critical admiration of a John Lennon, Elton John and Elvis Costello without being something of a spiritual four-eyes? Well, sir, the focus point of Glasgow’s Aztec Camera is offstage and sitting across from me—in a paisley shirt that does not match the floral sofa—and the only thing I can see in his eyes is a perverse little twinkle.
ROBERT PLANT MOOD’S AND MOMENTS
Billy Altman
Now a full five years removed from Led Zeppelin’s breakup following drummer John Bonham’s untimely death in 1980, Robert Plant, in 1985, is a singer feeling his oats.
ANOTHER LOOK AT GIUFFRIA!
J. Kordosh
Defending Giuffria is tricky business. If ever a group begged for critical disdain, there are the guys. For instance, their hair is long, long, long-much in the fashion of countless musicians/artists/outright bozos 'n' bores of the '70s.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Calendar
CALENDAR
Creem Profiles
CREEM'S PROFILES
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!’’)
ALISON MOYET: Yaz, Alf & Other Three-Letter Words
Sylvie Simmons
"Big Pop Star." Alison Moyet stares into her tonic water; the ice obliges by crack ing with emphasis. “It seems to have become quite an obses sion lately with everybody that’s interviewed me, my size. Things like, ‘Did you ever feel you might not be able to cope because you’re a Big Woman?’ —you know, that tends to get a bit aggravating.”
TEENA MARIE: Lovegirl! On Parade!
Laura Fissinger
For all the extremely pleasurable flesh pleasures in her music, Teena Marie is devoutly religious. Up until 1985, she probably drew a lot of comfort from the fact that the Lord tends to taketh away every time he giveth. He’d sho’nuff given her plenty: psychic powers; a gospel/ soul/jazz singing voice with more depth than the Grand Canyon; songwriting skills with incredible range; instrumental prowess on keyboards, bass, percussion and almost anything else she cared to try; a sense of groove that could move James Brown; and an eminently lovable personality to boot.
Eleganza
DRESS CODES DIPS & DAVE!
John Mendelssohn
Chatting with a freshman at a high school the other day, this column learned a lot of real interesting stuff about how the students there perceive themselves as belonging to different groups on the basis of their clothes.
Creemedia
Jon Young
Anyone familiar with vintage Kinks albums like Arthur, Preservation Acts I and II, and Soap Opera won’t be surprised that Ray Davies finally wrote and directed a film. The main Kink has been crossbreeding music and extended story lines since the late ’60s, when Arthur detailed the predicament of a working-class slob.
Prime Time
Richard C. Walls
CULTURE KICKS: After nine months of living with cable, after watching liberal doses of CNN, CSpan, the Atlantic and Chicago �superstations,� Lifetime, MTV, VH-1, The Nashville Network, The Movie Channel, Cinemax (wasn�t so foolish, though, as to purchase HBO or Showtime...yet), the USA Channel (well, maybe not the USA Channel—that�s a column in itself), The Christian Broadcasting Network and so on and so forth, one begins to sense the demographics here—a composite of the various target audiences emerges.
MEDIA COOL
The Grateful Dead have been unfashionable for a very long time. Hit records? Not yet. Videos? Not likely. Media Coverage? Not much. But then, being gloriously out of step with the music business has always been one of their most endearing qualities.
Video Video
TAKE UP MY NEHRU JACKET AND WALK
Billy Altman
You know, from time to time over the years, we here at Video Video headquarters find ourselves entertaining visiting rock dignitaries from all over this fair land of ours—especially Detroit.
Records
ATHENS REVISITED
Richard C. Walls
R.E.M., the only band that mutters.
45 REVELATIONS
Ken Barnes
It always fascinates me how songs start sounding, over a few months� airplay, drastically better or worse than they did at first hearing. Unfortunately, of course, most singles aren�t big enough hits to warrant that sort of airplay, which limits them to just half a proper evaluation, the dangerously fallible first impression.
CREEM SHOWCASE
Billy Cioffi
What was the first guitar you ever owned? I don�t know what brand it was exactly. It was an acoustic guitar my mother gave me for my birthday. I didn�t have too much interest in playing it, it was a piece of shit, not very good. Eventually I started putting pick-ups and stuff in it, messing around with it.
KISS & TELL
Jaan Uhelszki
Sweet Sole Music: I know you�ve already heard the one about U2 bringing budding young guitarists on stage to solo on �Knocking On Heaven�s Door,� but have you heard about what a particular audience in San Francisco did to show their approval to the celebrated Celts? The faithful at SF�s Cow Palace showered the stage with shoes.
Backstage
Backstage
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down