Letters

Rip It Up, Issue 81, 1 April 1984, Page 10

Letters

Dissent From A Loyal I've just finished reading your March issue. One lousy story on a New Zealand band. It you are now just a fanzine for overseas artists why don't you just change the name to Smash Hits! Sure, your Motown lowdown was good and the John Peel story essential but we are living in New Zealand and we still have a music industry that is struggling . to survive.-Your continued support is vital, and. by the way, of great » interest to your loyal readership.

What about more stories on newer bands there are still some working for bugger all. You could also put a Kiwi band on the cover occasionally (and yes 1 do remember the Dance Exponents and even the Newmatics). Here's to another six years. Peter Bennett Auckland Hair And Other Styles I see the same small group of critics repeating their own personal philosophies in Rip It Up every month. What about getting some more writers who are fascinated by music, not just in justifying Jordan Luck's hairstyle (just because Russell Brown met him and he's not as bad as he thought he'd be) or Martin Phillips' dreamlike qualities. It's time Rip It Up crawled out of its dull perspective. The Rumours column in particular is a pathetic excuse for informative journalism. The same crappy small-time coverage has never been extended. Local music is still treated as unimportant compared to the treatment given to overseas acts. For instance, where was the coverage of the Great Unwashed tour in your February issue? Irate Member of Reading Public South Island Speaking as the scribe who painstakingly constructed a suitably

salivatory piece on the Unwashed I can assure you that the ommission was purely accidental. It got lost ... RB Rough Logic It is most heartwarming to see that support for New Zealand music is still running high. Even My MYX's sad attack on Mark Bell (March RIU) failed to conceal his underlying admiration. His metaphors give him away: "Parasites ..." a parasite is an "interested hanger-on that uses its source for nutriment." Coconut Rough, on the evidence of their work are a particularly healthy parasite. "Aural deodorant ..." well that one's obvious. To deodorise is to "rid of smell." With all the "smell" on our airwaves at the moment the aural deodorant is a welcome thing indeed. My sympathy to Jenny. The Plot Thickens Auckland The Voice of Sweet Reason Who the fuck do these record reviewers think they are? I'm talking of course about the reviews given for the Cure's Japanese Whispers and Glove's Blue Sunshine. If you don't like' the sound of Robert Smith's voice don't listen to the fuckin' records. Irate Cure Fan Te Puke