Noiseworks

Rip It Up, Issue 171, 1 October 1991, Page 12

Noiseworks

Some of you will be too young to remember Jon Stevens first time round, way back in the seventies when he was having hits with 'Montego Bay' and 'Jezebel'. He was just 17 at the time. Now 12 years later he's a local lad made good as lead singer with Oz rockers Noiseworks. Gone are the tight white pants and shirts slashed to the waist — the Jon Stevens of today is surprisingly mellow and modest.

Having seen the video to Noiseworks' latest single 'Hot Chilli Woman' I was expecting a moronic macho rocker to match the song, but no, he's sweet and shy. He talks about the hardship of having such an early success, he was an innocent in

a shark infested industry. But these days, he's philosophical about what he does, having no burning ambition to make it big, just to keep making his living doing what he does best.

Noiseworks' latest album is called Love Versus Money which, Jon

explains, encapsulates the two sides of being a working musician. "I think it's easy these days for bands to get caught up in their business responsibilities — how much money they need, how much they're earning, a band is basically a business — so if you want some creative freedom you have to really struggle for it. This record is all about our need to try new things, to explore." Jon is back in his homeland to promote the album, but also to make a video for the next single, 'R.I.P. (Millie)', a tribute to his mother who died of cancer. Filming will take place in a marae near Wellington. One gets the impression that this material comes much closer to expressing the real Jon Stevens than the crass commerciality of the current single. .

DONNA YUZWALK