Missed connections

Press, 10 December 1981, Page 18

Missed connections

MIDGE MARSDEN CONNECTION “Midge Marsden Connection” (Mandrill MAN 4). ' . . ’ - ' ‘ Anyone who saw the Midge Marsden Connection perform "Never In A Million Years” on “Radio With Pictures” last Sunday evening, would not rush out to buy this album. The song in question is on the album, and certainly it does not do justice to what else is recorded. Marsden has been busy touring New Zealand in the last two months. It was unfortunate that when he first visited Christchurch with the Connection the

album’s release, then titled “Slow Walk, Jive Talk,” did not connect with his arrival. These missed connections cannot do much for the bluesman, whose roots extend as far as Taranaki. But in spite of the indifferent quality of “Never,” songs such as “Slow Walk, Jive Talk,” “I Remember,” and the reggaeish, “No Complex” are much better. The television clip would have benefited album sales no end if “Texas Blues,” a live studio recording, had been used. Certainly it and “Caledonia,” another direct cut, are more lively. The

Alan Toussaint song, “Optimism Blues,” is another quality track, the piano haunting the tune. Although the Connection traverse many styles, it is doubtful whether the album will make any new friends. There seems to be a lack of depth and excitement associated with the blues. MI-SEX “Shanghaied” (CBS SBP 237701). The study of New Zealand artists in Australia in the “My Kind of Town” segment of “Radio With Pictures” on Sunday, revealed Mi-Sex to be playing macho men, the kind of quality it appears

Australian success requires. However, “Shanghaied” reveals none of the qualities of the live show in Australia, and indeed, few of redeeming features of the previous two albums. "Falling In And Out” seems to be the appropriate Mi-Sex stance, and closest to the style of “Space Race,” although there is none of the concept quality apparent on the second album. On the whole, the album is disappointing, and I would much rather play “Graffiti Crimes,” with all its bad points. Incidentally, Richard Hodgkinson has left the drum kit after about four years, and the newcomer for MiSex is Paul Dunningham, formerly o f Coup D’Etat. —Nevin Topp.