Rumours

Rip It Up, Issue 90, 1 January 1985, Page 20

Rumours

UK & USA Life in the fast lane: Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen is still seriously ill but improving after an unsuccessful attempt to reattach the his left arm after he lost it in a car smash ... still less fortunate was Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicolas 'Razzle' Dingley, who died when a car driven by the singer from Motley Crue crashed in Los Angeles recently... and ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill is improving after his gun went off and shot him in the stomach as his girlfriend was removing the boot in which he had it concealed. The band expects to begin work on a followup LP to Eliminator and after that various people who should know

have been promising a tour here in about May... mainman Michael Rose has left Black Uhuru and the group has apparently ceased to exist ... 70s cult figure Steve Harley is back again, playing live and recording. Weird part is he’s being produced by Midge Ure Midge is also producing Rush, while Steve’s doing the same for Gene Loves Jezebel. Busy, busy... another comeback is the first public venture for nine years for John Fogerty, his new LP Centrefield ... Frankie Goes To Hollywood took a break during their successful USA tour to perform 'Relax' for the new Brian De Palma film, Body Double. They reportedly found ifboring"... the Style Council have teamed up with a bunch of luminaries of the likes of Junior Giscombe, Jimmy Ruffin and Vaughan Toulouse to record 'Soul Deep’ as the Council Collective Profits go to help the families of striking miners. Producer is Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware ... will Nick Heyward really rejoin Haircut 100? ... and will Lemmy really appear in the ad for the new Tracey Ullman LP You Caught Me Out? Members of Duran Duran and Chic have teamed up with Robert Palmer and called themselves The Power Station and will release their first record on Capitol... Bob Geldof says legal action will be taken against the nasty Singaporean bootleggers

who issued illegal cassettes bearing the Bandaid single. More than 20,000 cassettes have been sold in Singapore alone ... raj Fleetwood i Mac album recorded 'in 1969 (with Green) has been found on a shelf at CBS and, natch, be issued soon ... and the Sex 1 Pistols' 1976 recording of 'Land Of Hope and Glory Flowers Of Romance' is to be released on Cherry Rpdß^yßH Albums: The Smiths Meat Is Murder, Associates Perhaps, Malcolm McLaren Fans, Paul Young The Secret Of Assasination, Leonard Cohen Various Positions, the Temptations Truly Ton You, the K ks | Word Of Mouth, the Saints A Little Madness To Be Free, Nick Lowe 16 All-Time I Lowes, Bob Dylan Real Live, Emmylou Harris The Ballad Of Sally Rose. Singles: Time Zone (featuring ’Afrika Bambaata and [John Lydon) 'World | Destruction; the Colourfield ‘Thinking Of You’, Malcolm Mclaren ‘Carmen’. ‘ North A sizeable contingent of ; NZ record people headed off to the MIDEM music trade fair, in Cannes this month. They were Roger Shepherd, (Flying Nun), Glynn Tucker (Mandrill, Reaction), Terence L O'Neill Joyce (Ode), Jim Moss (Jayrem), John Mark (Toast), Dalvanius prime Jane Ver-

coe (Kiwi Pacific)... Shepherd will be joined later by a couple more of the Nun team in London and their task of bring the gospel to Albion will no doubt be aided a little by mentions in the Jan 5 NME singles column for the Expendables, Tall Dwarfs, Chills, Doublehappys and (in a big plug for their LP) Sneaky Feelings. Still more of a namecheck than real reviews, however... also to travel is poet David Eggleton, who has received a government grant to tour punk venues in the UK, Holland, Belgium, West Berlin and Rome. Some of the gigs are arranged by Brit punk poet Attila the Stockbroker and Eggleton will perform with Attila, Seething Wells, Joolz, etc, at the Annual Festival of Ranting Verse. Freudian Slips are to record an EP at Mandrill Studios and will have a North Island Uni orientation tour too ... Jay Clarkson has been recording tracks for a solo record, aided by fellow Expendables and members of This Kind Of Punishment TKP's Chris Matthews will probably take on a double existence and also become the new Expendables drummer. Whether he can fit this in amidst TKP’s hectic touring schedule remains to be seen ...

proceeds from the highly successful Tall Dwarfs gigs before Christmas went into the recording of a beast of a version of 'Nothing’s Gonna Happen’, with a cast of thousands (well ...) at Mascot Studios. Don’t expect to see it too soon, but you have been warned ... Otis Mace is recording a single at Progressive,

as is Steve Sharp (ex Silent Partners) ... Progressive also has albums on the go from Ross Mullins and Steve Garden with Ivan Zagni ... the studio will soon have an eight-track mobile recording unit together. Any inquiries can be phoned thru collect to 795-344 ... Lab studios got flooded out late last year and is in temporary premises, ph 605-740. If you had trouble getting light bulbs for your VW this month, blame the Dance Exponents Mandrill engineer Tim Field went out and bought the last remaining Auckland stock of the 6-volt bulbs for use as indicator lights in the studio monitors because the band keeps blowing ’em ...

Stringfellows is the new Auckland rock venue that Phil Warren has established in the Ace Of Clubs space above Cook St Market. Bookings are thru New Music Management and the first international name tossed up is Gerry and the Pacemakers highlights of Waituhi, the Maori opera penned by Witi Ihimaera and Ross Johnson, are being edited for LP release in March. There has been some consideration given to the original cast performing the opera in Paris. Neil Cartwright has been tirelessly working promoting NZ bands thru the international fanzine network in places as far spread as Italy, USA, Australia, and Yugoslavia. "Intelligent punk bands wanting overseas promotion should write to him at PO Box 8809, Auckland ... new local punk fanzine One World will be out any day now. It aims to cover local and international hardcore in an in-

telligent manner and will be sold worldwide ... Flesh D-Vice plan an EP to follow up their recentlyreleased debut LP.

The balance of the mighty oligarchy that is the Auckland nightclub scene has shifted again with the departure of young-men-on-the-move Mark Phillips and Peter Urlich from Zanzibar. The dubmix duo will be working the wheels of steel at Quays on Thursday nights until a new project takes shape ... the Jive Bombers bow out with their gigs at the Gluepot this month ... Massey University is running a Battle Of the Bands competition in March in an attempt to get more exposure for bands based away from the main centres. Prizes include recording time at Crescendo Studios in Wellington and musical equipment. Six bands get the chance to battle it out at the university, March 10. For an entry form write to Battle Of the Bands, cl- M.U.S.A., Massey University, Palmerston North. Former Marching Girl Brendan Perry (aka Ronnie Recent!) is doing very well with Dead Can Dance, who have a Top 20 album in half of Europe and a big publishing deal just signed ... Tyrophyle is Nick Brown, bass; Dave Gourley, drums (both ex-No Profile); Simon White, guitar; and Tony Gyde, vocals (both formerly of the Union). Keyboards are expected to be added soon. Next gig is Feb 11 Performance Cafe... Katango have got themselves a fan club, called, natch, Club Katango Send s.a.e. to Box 115, Whitford, Auckland.

Fab cassette news: Giovanni Intra’s long-awaited cassette mag The Um will be out very soon. Inquiries to Flat 3, 475 Onehunga Mall, Auckland 6 ... expatriate NZer David Patterson is now in Australia but he has a very organised tape trading system going on. His catalogue lists an awesome collection of over 300 NZ tapes of gigs, interviews and demos going back to 1978 and a healthy batch of overseas stuff, from Chuck Berry to Al Green to Pere Übu to the Fall. Note that these tapes are for trade, not for sale. He’s keen to extend his collection and can be reached at PO Box 989, Albury, New South Wales 2640, Australia. Russell Brown South Drummer Nick Neill and bassist

Eric Neuman have left Crystal Zoom and over the Christmas period they were temporarily replaced by the Idles' Barry Blackler and Robin Murphy. Crystal Zoom, who have also been recording with the Chills' Martin Phillipps, will be moving permanently to Auckland in February, where they will be looking for a new drummer and bassist. The band’s guitarist, Michael Weston, is compiling a four-band album of three tracks each from Gamaunche, Alpaca Brothers, Southland’s Choir Invisible and Crystal Zoom .. Dave Merritt, Flying Nun’s road manager, has moved to Dunedin and Mike Pierce is opening up an eight-track studio in Dunedin. Bassist Gareth Rees has left Gamaunche, but guitarist Richard Wallis is rumoured to have found a replacement ... The Southern Comfort Flying Nun Orientation Tour begins its nationwide trek in late Feb. GK