BRIEFS

Rip It Up, Issue 43, 1 February 1981, Page 13

BRIEFS

Various Artists, Dindisc 1980 (Dindisc)

An appetiser from Dindisc, letting you into their small stable at a friendly price. Side One has two from the Revillos’ pop-sodden Rev Up album, confirming the Honeycombs need never reform, and three from Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark the hard-to-get ‘Waiting For The Man’ (about time Bowie’s old version of this came out in some form or other) the 10in version of the fine Messages' and a re-dpne snappier 'Electricity' Side Two begins with the undistinctive Dedringer, and then come two from Monochrome Set’s Love Zombies (the single ‘Apocalypso’ is fun) and a track from each Martha & The Muffins album A deliberately accessible selection from each artist. RC Simple Minds, Empire and Dance (Zoom) Two years and three albums on, Scotland’s Simple Minds have come up with an atmospheric and substantial album that surpasses most in this often lacklustre genre. It mixes exuberant dance music with rather more sombre material a little reminiscent of Joy Division in their more austere moments. Their sometimes pretentious lyrics are well camouflaged by the album's rich texture. SG The Tremblers, Twice Nightly (Epic) In which Peter Noone, who was once the Hermits' Herman, goes all American with an album for Bruce Johnston's label that's a lot closer to contemporary Californian rock (20/20 etc) than to the partially-mourned Hermits. The pop sensibility is still there, but Herman's very English Englishness has all but disappeared, and the most common replacement is irritating Doug Fieger-like exaggeratrics. The songs, courting the ear with urgency only, are very average Costello's superb, 'Green Shirt' excepted. RC Chipmunk Punk (K-TEL) While this album should have remained a nasty rumour, the product does live up to expectations. Alvin, Simon and Theodore are competent musicians, cranking out fair facsimiles of the original hits, though the term 'punk' can hardly be applied to any of them. All three are superb vocalists, and give it everything they've got. Other tracks included here are ‘Good Girls DonT, ‘Frustrated’, ‘Let's Go', ‘How Do I Make You', 'Call Me’, 'You May Be Right' and 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love’. In some cases, they improve on the originals. Good value at a party, once everyone is sufficiently legless. DC Randy Meisner, One More Song (Epic) One classic song, the title track, which reworks a theme as old as sin with bitter sweet resignation. Reunited with Eagles' Glenn Frey and Don Henley, Meisner hits beautiful heights on the song that may still be four years too late for top 40 recognition. The rest of the album unfortunately slides away down the Californian fault line. PG

Boz Scaggs, Hits! (CBS) This album was so clearly aimed at the Christmas stocking market the best-selling tracks from Scaggs' last few albums plus a couple of nondescript ‘‘newies” wrapped up with an unambiguous, but misleading (how can unheard material be "hit”?) title. You cannot argue with the choice of material these were the biggies, baby but a considerably more interesting record might have been compiled if some attention had been paid to Scaggs’ earlier, non-hit albums. That’s

showbiz, baby. KW Willie Nelson, Always (CBS) Nelson must be one of the most compiled artists ever and he's not even dead. Always is another spin through the back catalogue,

this time seven of the 12 plucked from the Leon Russell Nelson album that followed Stardust, with the other five in the Stardust mood, but recorded before that middle of the road breakthrough. Nice music but wouldn’t Nelson fans already have most of it? PG The London Hitmen, Aim For The Feet (Epic) English, five, with miscellaneous help-out credits covering everyone from Nick Lowe and Costello to the Regulars and the Golenski Brothers. Sharp little songs, firmly entrenched in the Costello-led .return-to-sharp-little-songs movement, ; the • hooks delivered by : tack hammer rather than mallet. The singles 'O K.' and ‘She's All Mine' are both here, but ‘Kid Stuff' could be the best radio shot of them all. RC Bruce . Cock burn. Humans (RCA) A Canadian who writes Jesus songs sounds like my idea of hell. But Cockburn has several things going for him that might do Dylan some good as he churns out his lack lustre gospel. For a start Cockburn is subtle, for another. 1 he likes reggae and gets Leroy Sibbles of the Heptones. singing some background vocals. But most important of all, he writes good songs rather than tracts set to music. 'Rumours of Glory' and 'What About The Bond' are as impressive' as his surprise success of 1980, ’Wondering Where The Lions Are’. PG The Unobtainable jT.^Rex, T. Rex (EM!) I suppose it’s quite safe not to admit to owning those T Rex singles since the late Marc Bolan has been bestowed with: an artistic credibility that was mostly denied him l when he was alive. In many ways a hit forty-five in the early seventies was sudden death. Bolan was always aware of the Art of Crafting Singles even to the extent of making his B sides worthwhile and interesting songs and not merely fillers. This album is a collection of many of those B sides, 1972-1977. Many of them still sound good but you can't beat the forty-fives themselvesnHiflßHH MHHGK