SMALL STUFF

Rip It Up, Issue 33, 1 April 1980, Page 2

SMALL STUFF

Filming is nearly completed on the Neil Young flick Human Highway, starring Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell. Busy Neil has also written the soundtrack for Where The Buffalo Roam a film about the experiences of Rolling Stone raver extraordinaire, Hunter S. Thompson. The recording features a 111-piece orchestra ... Pink Floyd are touring the USA with a cast of 420 polystyrene bricks. During their 2Va hour show a wall is built 31 feet high and 160 feet across. The wall is used as a screen for three 35mm projectors ... the Clash cancelled six UK shows because drummer Topper Headon tore a ligament in his hand. The band is not happy with Rude Boy, a film about a Clash roadie. Management claim the film is "virtually a pirate. The band got a token amount" and "they do not want to be seen publicising it.” After dates in Paris and USA Clash is off the road for six weeks while Paul Simenon acts in a film in Vancouver. UK release of a 45 with new tunes has been halted. The songs were "Bank Robber Song” and a B side with guest vocalist Mickey Dread entitled

“Rockers Galore UK Tour” ... superstars with hassles include Cheap Trickster Rick Nielsen whose house was partially destroyed by fire (250,000 bucks of damage) and the Supertramp lads on their communal farm, were among the 4,000 inhabitants of Topanga Canyon, Southern California, marooned by serious flooding ... David Bowie is in a New York studio with regulars Davis, Muir and Alomar plus tinklers Roy Bittan (Springsteen band) and Jimmy Destri (Blondie) and guitarists Chuck Hammer of Lou Reed fame and Tom Verlaine. Bowie is co-producing with Tony Visconti ... Boomtown Rat Peter Briquette has

married Virgin Records artist Jane Aire in Dublin. Cars guitarist Elliot Easton has married. Next Cars album will include concert fav, Brenton Wood’s "Gimme A Little Sign” ... Graham Parker and Rumour are recording in Bahamas with Jimmy lovine producing. In April Talking Heads depart for the Bahamas to record. It appears that Eno’s sessions with David Byrne will not produce a Byrne solo. A joint album is expected ... Robert Fripp newie has a title and cover for each side of the record. Side One Under Heavy Manners is Discotronics and Side Two is Frippertronics (recorded during his 79 ‘anti-tour’) and is entitled God Save The Queen ... new RCA release is a Daryl Hall solo album, Sacred Songs, recorded with Robert Fripp in 1977 shortly after H & Oates completed Beauty On The Backstreet ... Eric Clapton is mixing a live album. He guests with Genesis' Phil Collins on the new John Martyn album ... expect the Steely Dan follow-up to Aja late May ... the death of AC/DC vocalist/lyricist Bon Scott was due to acute alcohol poisoning. The 34 year old Scotsman joined the band in 1974 ... UK hitsters the Tourists have left for North America, to tour and record an album for Epic. In their absence, lawyers will take the band's legal battle to quit Logo Records to the House Of Lords ... Jimmy Pursey is working with both the ex-Gen X guitarist and the drummer on his solo album Bronco Bullfrog (named after a skinhead film) and Jimmy’s bought a luxury home with a pool ... ex-Damned bassist Algie Wood has formed a three-piece HM band called Tank ... Heavy Metal Returns! Black Sabbath and Humble Pie have both reformed to record and tour the States. Metal men Judas Priest had to pay SIOO,OOO to retrieve the master tapes of their next album British Steel. The tapes were stolen from a New York studio. One container was damaged, so Priest are back in the studio. Back in Britain, what’s left of Ritchie Blackmore’s ears didn’t think the cry for an encore was loud enough. But irrate Rainbow fans did. They did $20,000 of damage to the Wembley Arena ... Pauline Murray is signed to CBS and is making demos with the exPenetration bassist, a Drone and a Cowboy International. A Murray/Only Ones single is iminent ... both the Motors and Bram Tchaiskov-

Billy Joel sky have new albums. Motors’ is Tenement Steps and Bram’s is The Russians Are Coming. In the USA the latter will be known as Pressure Peter Green has completed a second new album, Little Dreamer. He is in the studio working on his third ... at the last minute producer Martin Rushent couldn’t make it, so the Sinceros are producing their new album themselves ... Blondie has a USA hit with disco-rock track “Call Me” from the American Gigolo soundtrack ... likely producer of Joe Ely Live in England is Dave Edmunds Rockpile will play on next Carlene Carter... Rick Nielsen and George Martin are mixing new Cheap Trick at Air Studios, London ... veteran soulster Lee Dorsey is going down a storm on the USA Clash tour. Dorsey is in the studio soon with Allen Toussaint ... the "Cruisin’ ” man, Smokey Robinson likes a little UK ska. He liked the Beat’s version of his classic “Tears Of A Clown” so much, he sent them a telegram. The Beat now have a second single in the UK Top Ten ... Al Green can't decide whether to release a gospel album or a Live In Japan double. Both are completed ... support act for Eagles West coast gigs is Roy Orbison ... Blondie’s first producer, Richard Gottenhrer is doing sessions with Joan Armatrading. The singer has an EP out in the States with four new songs ... Crusaders lyricist Will Jennings is working in the UK with Stevie Winwood ... exStarshipper, Grace Slick has an album soon entitled Dreams ... Miami Steve Van Zandt of Springsteen and Southside Johnny fame is doing the arrangements for next Iron City Houserockers .i. questions were asked at Virgin Records London after Richard Jobson of the Skids met Jah Wobble of PIL in a secondhand store trading new promo copies of the Skids’ Days In Europa ... to celebrate their signing, a Santa Cruz band the Humans did an ‘anticlubs’ UNDER 21 gig. Older rockers were excluded ... new compilation from Cherry Red Records (the Business Unusual people), Hybrid Kids makes the Flying Lizards look a mite conventional. Solid golds, "McArthur Park" and "Wuthering Heights” get mutated by the likes of the US Nurds, the Burtons and one R.W. Atom a New Zealand poet who lives in Dingwalls ... Patti Smith has married guitarist Fred 'Sonic' Smith ... ex-New York Dolls/Johansen Band guitarist, Syl Sylvain has sole album Sylvain Sylvain due out late May in NZ ... new albums coming include Squeeze Argybargy, Billy Joel Glasshouses. Mr Partridge Takeaway (rock dub by Andy Partridge and producer John Leckie ... has Bob Dylan purchased a $25,000 engagement ring?