SINGLES

Rip It Up, Issue 14, 1 August 1978, Page 19

SINGLES

Francis Stark

This month, premature Spring fever seems to have gripped the record moguls. Amongst the usual stack of releases are a disproportionate number of what could politely be termed, ‘funny’ records. Mushroom Records are obviously keen to show off the often-admired Australian sense of humour. Norman Gunston, a phenomenon a number of people have failed to describe to me, is top of the heap with “Delilah” and “Howzat?” a pair of little beauts, that, topped with the requisite Fosters, will probably be huge in Aust. Unfortunately, except for his truly wonderful harmonica playing, I can’t see Norman making much of a transtasman go of things. Skyhooks, despite their rather grander credibility rating, probably have about the same chance with “Meglomania”, which perhaps isn’t all that much of a pity. If they stopped making all these jokey ditties, they might find that they were still capable of caputring the pop feeling that made them a lot more money and friends a couple of years or more ago. "Bbbbbbbbbbboogie”, on the flip side sounds too much like the real thing to be a joke. Proving that New Zealanders are by no means behindhand in the humour situation are Simon and Jane Gomez, who have recorded “Reggie Reads the Gravestones”, a pretty standard country jokealong. It's a shame really, because “Got Nothing to Find”, the flip, is a rather more indigenous country weepalong, and I always did like a good cry.

If you really want a good laugh, though, you can’t go past the amazing noise made by the Stranglers as they attack Reggae with big steel hammers on “Nice ’n’ Sleazy”. The words are an amusing parody of Led Zeppelin’s "Immigrant Song" and the synthesizer solo is a real giggle. If I had ever seen one of the Stranglers smiling, I would think that they were in on the joke too. The essence of humour, I’ve heard, is surprise, the unexpected. That must be what got me laughing at Steve Hillage’s stabe at the

Beatles’ “Getting Better". When you put together a psychedelic classic with the world's greatest effects peddle customer, you know what to expect, all right. But, what do you get? Disco! Jimmy Buffet seems to have finally got off that porch in Margueritaville to knock out a song which will probably spend months on the radio. “Cheeseburger in Paradise” has none of the delicate tough of a Loudon Wainwright 111, but at least it doesn’t take itself too seriously. And by this stage of the

column that is starting to look more and more like a virtue. I’ve saved the best until last, though. You’ve all heard about some or most of the Sex Pistols going down to Rio to team up with Ronald Biggs? Well, despite predictions to the contrary, they actually did make a record “No One Is Innocent (A Punk Prayer by Ronald Biggs)”. And a very effective piece of “Anarchy in the UK" recycling it is too, with a nifty line in tongue-in-cheek punkisms but it pales into insignificance against the flip side. “My Way”, um, rendered by Sid Vicious has to be heard. It is without doubt the worst-sung three minutes ever put on vinyl, but done with such conviction that you can’t help but love it. Me, I’d like to be there when Frank Sinatra and a few of the boys get to hear it.