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Rip It Up, Issue 89, 1 December 1984, Page 44

UK & USA The soundtrack rights to the Michael Jackson movie debut (not counting The Wi2) have been picked up by American David Geffen Filming will begin as soon as the current Jacksons’ tour ends and the screenplay will probably be Streetdandy, by Flashdance author Tom Hadley and about a young New York street singer “discovering his talent". Of course what Michael sez goes and if he wants another screenplay he gets it... Echo and the Bunnymen are taking a yearlong break as a group and singer lan McCulloch already has his first solo single out. It’s Walter Houston’s 'September Song' b/w a version of the traditional 'Cockles and Mussels', and is reportedly markedly different from Bunnymen stuff ... Boy George has penned a tune for the new Beach Boys LP, which is being produced by Steve Levine ... the ROIR international punk compilation cassette, World Class Punk, which includes our own K 4 is getting excellent early reviews ... the Frankie news: it had to happen; a group called Bonzo Goes to Washington is filling some UK dance floors with its ‘Five Minutes' single on Sleeping Bag Records... new Captain Sensible single ‘One Christmas Catalogue’ contains a version of 'Relax' ... and back to the "real'' thing, David Frost recently collected 8000 pounds for appearing in the new FGTH video ... Nigerian musician-alternative politician Fela Kuti has been sentenced to five years’ jail on charges of allegedly illegally possessing 1500 pounds (that’s money, like) and trying to take it out of the country. The money was found on another member of the touring party who was at the airport on the way to a US tour but Fela took the rap. An appeal has been made but hopes are not too high . .. Phil Collins is set to venture down this end of the world early next year Barry Levinson (Dinei) is to make a Jerry Lee Lewis biopic starring Mickey Rourke ... major British indie distributor Pinnacle has gone into receivership creating problems for a host of labels, including 4AD, Cherry Red, Ace

and Crammed. 4AD has already switched distribution for the new Cocteau Twins LP, even though it is owed £50,000 ... the guitarplaying future of Tom Petty lies in the balance after he shattered bones in his hand when he slammed it against the wall in an "unthinking fit of pique’ while listening to a studio playback of his new LP Southern Accent... ÜB4O have scored a coup by signing Winston Reedy and Mikey Dread to their Dep International label. The recentlyreleased concept video for last year's Labour Of Love LP has been getting far better reviews than the album did ... Paul Weller was all set to produce the comeback Lulu single until he discovered she’d appeared at one of the big Tory party rallies in 1982 and then it was all off... reggae experimentalist Keith Hudson died in New York recently of cancer, aged 36 .. Paul Haig is currently mixing his new LP which features names like former Associate Alan Rankine. Part-time goodtime band the Honeydrippers (Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Nile Rodgers) doing well in the USA charts with the single ‘Sea Of Love’ and 5-track EP, The Honeydrippers, Vol 1. Production is by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun ... new label under EMI America is the New York-based Manhattan Records, which will feature jazz artists and New York street music... meanwhile, Grace Jones has left the Island label to join EMI ... Boy George is presumably most miffed at a plot by USA police which involved calling wanted criminals and enticing them out into the arms of the law by telling them they’d won a chauffeur-driven trip to a Culture Club concert and a chance to meet George and then driving them all the way to the lockup. Verrrry 10w... members of Culture Club, Wham, the Police, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, U2, Bananarama, Style Council, Kool and the Gang, He.aven 17, Status Quo and Paul Young got together recently to record a Christmas single to benefit the Daily Mirror Ethiopian famine appeal. The song was written by Bob Geldof

and Midge Ure, mixed for 12” by Trevor Horn and there reportedly wasn’t a single ego clash to be seen or heard. Albums: Japan Excorcising Ghosts(best of), Gang Of Four At the Palace, John Martyn Sapphire Gary Numan Berserker, Tracey Ullman You Caught Me Out Orange Juice The Orange Juice Kinks Word Of Mouth, Wah! The Way We Wah'(retrospective), Dali's Car The Waking Hour, Captain Beefheart The Legendary A&M Sessions (first recordings!), Richard Hell RlP( new stuff plus unreleased Heartbreakers and Voidoids, cassette only).

Singles: Alison Moyet 'lnvisible' (written specially by Lamont Dozier), Helen Terry 'Now You’re Mine'. Wall Of Voodoo 'Big City'.

South Netherworld Dancing Toys will record their debut album for Virgin in Auckland early next year, the timing depending on when preferred producer Don McGlashan is available. The plan from there is for an Orientation tour, concert tour for the album and then (hopefully) a venture to Japan ... David Kilgour has decided to take temporary leave from the Great Unwashed and is no longer playing or practising with the band. The new. three-piece Unwashed were scheduled to play in Wellington recently ... Dunedin’s Working With Walt have split up.

Who’s at what: YFC bassist Grant Horsnell is playing synth for Lions and Tigers ... American sharpie Kim Fowley has apparent* ly shown some interest in producing Art Union, who now have the services of former Auckland Walk and Roco Coca guitarist Damian Saunders ... former Smart Russian Amie Webb is playing guitar for Maiden China who are recording a 3-track 45 at Nightshift... former Hip Singles drummer Steve Ward has dragged out the sticks again and can be seen on the drum stool for Roco Coca (when he’s not cutting hair, that is). . Those country good time folk, the Connoisseurs, have been talking to Flying Nun about the possibility of an EP ... Scorched Earth Policy have finished their recording and are also looking at an EP with FN ... relief comes to us all, Southern Front haven’t split but will continue after the departure of singer Harry Hepworth, with drummer Mark Gibson taking over vocals. They promise a dirt cheap 10-track LP (recorded before Hepworth's departure) in Feb ... founder member of the Dance Exponents, Steve “Fingers” Cowan has left the Punch to further consummate his marriage (Eh? Ed.) and . has been replaced by 17-year-old Bryan Graham. New around ChCh are: the Minit Men (described as like a mediaeval Diehards) and Charles Bravo (not to be confused with Chalky Gent’s old outfit Charles Atlas)...

new in Dunedin: Phil ‘n’ the Details. Di and the Boy Wonders (featuring ex-Heavenly Bodies drummer Neil Dobier); and watch

for two new young bands The End and Government Life in the new year ... Crystal Zoom and Gamaunche have a new tape called Live At the Ego Club featuring a side of each captured live at the Empire. The future of Gamaunche looks uncertain , with the departure of Gareth Rees and Jan Breward next year... new Dunedin venues are Sounds, the renovated Hatchcover, and the Royal Albert Hotel, which is hosting solo acts on Wednesday nights. There will be more pool parties at Jellie Park following the success of recent Mockers gig there. Andrew Fagan was last seen heading for the hydroslide in an attempt to escape a mob of overzealous fans afterwards ... and lastly. Tan Zen Jungle hit Auckland late Dec, so watch out all you ligging groovers, yeah! AC & GK North The release of the EP by Phantom Forth and the Tall Dwarfs five-track Slugbucket Hairybreathmonsterhas finally cleared the backlog of unreleased material carried by Flying Nun over the past year or so ... upcoming releases would be assumed to be the recent Lab recordings by the Exploding Budgies and the second This Kind Of Punishment album, which was recently mixed in the heart of Grey Lynn... Fetus Productions will remain at home in NZ until about the end of Jan, before heading off to conquer Europe. ’-They, have a Japaneseproduced compilation tape. Per-fect-Product in small numbers and should have a Flying Nun single ‘Anthem’/’Classical’ out on Flying Nun when they get the thing mixed.

Radio Active has published MMMM (Multi-Media Music Magazine), available thru all Wellington record outlets. It contains reviews, articles on the UK scene, FM, imports, funk, rekids and thangs. Published for fun, it’s worthwhile and free ... Summer City this year features another series of inner city entertainments and concerts in the Dell

(see calendar). This year the entertainment lasts from Dec 17 to Jan 17. Yee-haa!... radio 2ZM will run two Scorching Bay rock concerts this year. No band details to hand but the dates are Jan 2 and Feb 3.

Latest Hit Singles release is the first from the current Brazier’s Legionnaires lineup, the single 'Nosferatu'. Suppose Graham promises love at first bite... label-

mates Peking Man have had a reshuffle with Jay F’Bula (ex Martial Law) coming in on percussion and existing member Bruce Nightingale replacing the recently departed Neville Hall on keyboards ... with Paul Agar currently creating some interest for himself and his songs in Melbourne, the remaining band members with Simon Alexander on vocals have called themselves after a Marginal Era single, This Heaven, but how long the new monniker will remain now they've been made cogniscent of the fact that This Is Heaven have been around for a year or so. On the heels of their recent Nl tour, Ivan Zagni and Peter Scholes have a new album Trouble Spots, recorded at Radio NZ with Steve Garden on percussion, out soon on Ode Records ... the Beat Diner in K Rd is now open for bookings Wed to Sat. Contact Eion Brown at Progressive, ph 761-801 ...Buckets Full will have a three-track EP out for summer on Bucket Records ... the Henchmen have made the fairly obvious move to Sydney. Their second LP, Excelsior Übermensch is still due out next year. Wellington hosted the AsiaPacific Festival from 1-8 December, involving over 100 foreign composers and scholars. From

Scratch, Limbs and the NZ Symphony Orchestra were among the local performing artists taking part. Other participants came from Japan, India, Samoa, Taiwan and Vietnam to name a few ... Pelicans EP Crazy Legsshould be in your local vinyl palace now.

A last-minute conference has resulted in the Venue carrying on and not closing its doors as reported in last month’s issue. The major change according to Russ Le Roq is that there will be live bands only when there are bands of sufficient quality available and, if not, music will be provided by the DJ ... the new Patea Maori Club single is a reworking of a traditional Maori ballad, 'Hei Konei Ra’, with Dalvanius on lead vocals and the Yandall Sisters singing backup. The club entourage leaves on an international tour on January 15, playing the MIDEM music fair in Cannes, in Paris, at London’s Royal Festival Hall and in New York (where they will be sponsored by the Violent Femmes, who befriended Dalvanius when they toured here). They also play at the Te Maori exhibition in St Louis and in Los Angeles.

We are assured that Infectious are still alive and kicking with Tarewai on bass, but guitarist Andrew Boak's new timeslot on

89FM is making playing and practising a little difficult... new about AK are the De Luxe Rubbermen, who own up to being a "post-natal free-form jazz/pop/funk group.” They profess to have their sights set firmly on international megastardom and you can get a copy of the rubbermen manual (full of poems, stories, doodles, etc.) from Garage Sale promotions, 88 Norfolk St, Ponsonby for a mere 24 cent stamp ... tying in neatly with the current Batman reruns, comes the Gotham City Express, a new big-name funkrock big-band. Lineup is Peter Morgan (vocals, percussion), Anne Crummer (vocals), Kim Willoughby (vocals), Gary Verberne (guitar), Max Towers (bass), Lyn Buchanan (drums, vocals), Michael Hoon (trumpet, vocals), Chris Daniel (trumpet, flugel), Chris Green (sax) and David Colven (sax). They make their first death-defying appearance on Jan 20 at Hobson Park ... the Audience. who disintegrated as a five-piece a few months after making the finals of the Auckland Battle of the Bands this year, have returned with original members Dave and Ed Cleaver being joined by Gordon Costello (ex Mockers keyboards) on vocals and drummer Mike Burnows.

New club Viz at 58 Fort Street will offer slightly different fare than current hip nitespots. The music is described as “everything from the Birthday Party to Buzzcocks to Omega Tribe to Bauhaus,” with lots of NZ Stuff and imports. There’s full bar and no cover charge or dress/hair restrictions. It will be open every Tuesday night from Dec 18 and also Boxing Day and New Years Eve ... Radio Active are recording a new single, ‘Evergreen’, at Harlequin, with Paul Streekstra.