45s

Rip It Up, Issue 69, 1 April 1983, Page 22

45s

Russell Brown

The Birthday Party The Bad Seed (4AD) Love songs like you never heard. Four demon passion songs, bad seed songs. 'Fears of Gun', an insistent cackle at it all. Fingers down the throat of love. Magick time, confession time 'Deep in the Woods'. Tonight we-sleep in separate ditches. 'Sonny's Burning': (E)thereal passion, recognition. Evil Heat is namin' through me. Celebration of the Ig, stolen vocal mannerisms in 'Wild World'. It's a wild world / She's a wild girl. Love songs like you never heard! Russell Brown Rip It Up N 0.69 April 1983 Post all correspondence to RIU, PO Box 5689, Auckland 1. Editor Murray Cammick Assistant Editor Russell Brown Advertising Enquiries 790-653 Rip It Up is- typset by Artspec Typesetting Systems and printed by Lucas Print, Paraparaumu. Photoprints by Prints Graphic Art Service.

The Jam, Beat Surrender (Polydor) Paul Weller's new project, the Style Council, have a No.l single in Blighty, yet 'Beat Surrender', the Jam's swan song is still not released in NZ. A nifty five song, two 7" singles package. Record one: 'Beat Surrender', full of piano, horns and Beatle-ish melodies, is one of the strongest songs Weller has written since the Setting Sons period. Turn it over for 'Shopping', a sort of venomless 'Butterfly Collector'. Record two is an entirely different proposition three soul covers, all with a live feel. Best of the bunch. is Curtis Mayfield's classic 'Move On Up'. On the other side are 'Stoned Out of My Mind', an early 70s hit for the ChiLites and the Edwin Starr's AM smash 'War'. If you're a Jam fan, shell out the bucks for an import, it’s essential listening. David Bowie, Let's Dance (EMI) Having been a fan of Mr Jones since I was 12 I'm finding it very difficult to come to terms with his current recorded output.. Pro-

duced by David and Chic-ster Nile Rodgers, 'Let's Dance' is an extremely average disco number with a lacklustre vocal performance. The flip is a reworked 'Cat People', which rivals his horrorshow with the Queen as one of the worst things he has recorded. Oh well, I can look forward to his new movies. Falco, Der Kommissar (A&M) Falco are, I think, from Austria, which is probably why this record is in German. It's been on the TV and it's racing up the charts. This is the best dance record to come out of Europe since The Model' by Kraftwerk. Beware of a terrible English version by a bunch of waiters called After the Fire, it should be avoided. Echo and the Bunnymen The Cutter 12" (WEA) This version is exactly the same as the one on Porcupine so I won't waste space telling you how good it is. The B-side features a new song, 'Way Out and Up We Go', which should have been on the album. The Live version of 'Zimbo' featuring the Royal Burundi drummers is surprisingly disappointing. Wham! Wham Rap 12" (Inner Vision) "You got soul on the dole" an anthem for the unemployed youth

of Britain. This is the best English disco record since their last one! Actually Wham's debut single, it has been resurrected in the wake of 'Young Guns'. Fun, exciting and highly motivated, it features an impeccable set of lyrics that contain more astute social comment than most "political" bands could manage on an entire album. These boys must have a great future. Wah! The Story of the Blues Pts I & II 12" (WEA) Hands up if, like me, you thought Wah! would never have a hit single. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong. Pete Wylie knew what he was doing when he wrote this, those lush strings and dynamic harmonies. Unfortunately, Part II is a totally unnecessary Kevin Rowland type rave, about three or four minutes in duration. Flip is a very average live version of 'Seven Minutes to Midnight'. Buy the 7", the additional minutes are a waste of vinyl. MP Wondering what's coming up in the next few months? Here's a few notable platters worth keeping an eye out for. Firstly, 'Cattle and Cane', by the best band ever to come out of Australia, the GoBetweens. - It's taken from the forthcoming album Before Hollywood. Beautiful vocal harmony and imaginative acoustic guitar topped with a haunting lyric about growing up in Queensland. While 'on the subject of acoustic guitars, there's 'Oblivious' by Scottish popsters Aztec Camera: Meanwhile back on the dancefloor, nine-piece band Animal Nightlife have a hit with 'The Mighty Hands of Love'. A forceful bass / brass / percussion epic from Inner Vision, Whamf's label. Then • of course there's 'Boxerbeat' by the Joßoxers f'Jl save that one till next month. \ Mark Phillips \. Marching Girls 12" (RTC) 1 It's not .'First In Lihp', but why should it be? The new Marching Girls, complete with female singer, have made a very good record and that's what counts. And don't believe anyone who tells ypu. it's doomy, it's not. Maybe the best thing about this record is that the band have managed to work with rhythms without feeling the need to adopt the hallmarks of "funk". Some of the music is haunting,

some is twisted pop. I'm looking forward to seeing them live. Fetus Productions Fetalmania (Flying Nun) With perfect confidence, Fetus Productions have made a great record (it's just a pity they had to go to Sydney to do it). The medium is electronic but (with the exception of the bleak technological landscape of 'I Am A Criminal') the message is human. The whole foetus/shock tactic thing was beginning to wear a little thin for me but this record has my admiration. The Legionnaires Strange Faces At The Oasis (Polydor) It's smooth, it's cool, almost Bowie-ish, it's the Harry Lyon song You Bring Out The Worst In Me' on the A-side of this EP. The two songs on the flip 'Got To Work On My Dancing' and Don't You Feel; Like That' are OK, but they're not a patch on Harry's number. Familiar faces at the oasis, perhaps, but aside from the dumb picture on the front, it's alright.. The Bilders, Solomans Ball A reissue .of a Christchurch classic. Four bare little Direen tunes, including the beautiful 'America'. If you didn't get this in 1979, you have another chance. It hasn't dated. Miltown Stowaways Hired Togs (Propeller)v,.: This EP was recorded in October of last year 'and’.the . Miltowns have moved on since then. The four songs on this

record start out with good ideas but things don't quite come together. The vocals sometimes don't knit at all with the music, the songs don't sound cohesive. Still, in the songs; particularly 'Delight and Appeal' there is the spark of something genuinely uplifting. This isn't a bad record but I think the next one will be a lot better. The Neighbours The Only One You Need (Jayrem) The title track here is an absolute gem, so it's a bit much to expect the others to reach the same standard. This is still very good, distinctive, if traditional, fare. It flags a little as it goes on,'butfinishes strongly with 'Only Wanted Fun', the best next to the title song. MiSex, Down The Line (CBS) "Ah've no resistance/To long distance/Makin' lurrve on the telephone." That's the hook and Steve Gilpin delivers it like a male Pat Benatar. Electronics have been left behind and it's AOR all the way. Horrible. . DD Smash Outlook for Thursday (Mushroom) This is a puzzling choice for a single. The weather metaphor is a good one but the song is messy. It flips from one melody to another and doesn't hold the attention. The soulish flip 'ltinerary’ is much, better the horns sound like more than garnishing and Dave Dobbyn's. unique voice is shown off.