JUKE BOX JURY

JUKE BOX JURY

Greg Shaw

by

�Rebel Trouser� Roger Ruskjn Spear and his giant orchestral wardrobe (UA 35221)

J�m quite pleased to have this English single as it�s due to be released here soon, which means it might even still be in print by the time you read this. �Rebel Trouser� is actually'an EP (or �maxi-single� as they call them now) so you get four songs for your buck, or - whatever they charge. Spear of course is the ex-Bonzo and he is accompanied here by a whole crew of Ireaks including Thunderclap Newman, These cuts date from earlier this year when Spear had his Electric vVardro.be, a band of robots who played music by remote control The spirit of the Bonzos lived on more strongly in Spear than it did in Neil lnnes� Worid, Viv Stanshall�s biG GRunt, or Legs Larry�s Topo D. Bil, and these 4 songs are crammed with all the slick showbiz gimmicks we thrilled to the Bonzos� parodies of. �Trouser Press�, the new dance craze that hasn�t quite swept the country yet, reminds me of an earlier dance spoof, �The Crusher� by the Novas. It closes with a brilliant bit of diaiog. The singer, who�s fading out for several bars, says �we�re fading, you know�. Another voice says, �it�s quite all right, there�s plenty of room on the other side.� �Oh really?� �Yes, just pop over there. Mention my name and you�ll get a good seat.� �Release Me� and �Drop Out� are indescribable, at least in the amount of space I have. Spear is great on vocals, electro-musical Mattress and One-string Tailor�s Dummy, and of course the tenor Trouser Press, and Newman shines on Starting Pistol. Get your order in for this one right away.

�God Save Us�/�Do the Oz� The Elastic Oz band (Apple 1835)

It�s a bit beside the point to pass judgment on a record intended to raise funds to combat a great injustice, but as with George�s Pakistan-relief single it�s what�s in the grooves that�s gonna sell copies, and if you�ve been wondering if this rgcririd is worth your dollar, you can relax-.l-Ps good. �God Save Us� is a stirring anthem urging us to fight for what is right and invoking God to save us from the Heat. The Oz is no more likely to sweep the nation than the Trouser Press, but it affords Lennon, Spector & Co. ample opportunity to freak around with some unusual weirdisms. If that sounds vague you haven�t heard the song. This is one of those records destined to be remembered years from now, not so much for

what it is as for what it represents, and you�ll be glad you bought it someday when your grandchildren come around Wanting to know what you did in the Revolution, gramps.

�You�re No Good�/�I Don�t Understand� Rosie & the Originals (Wax World 3265) �Tapeworm of Love�/�King Of Fuh� Brute Force (Brute Force BFR FOB)

From the seedy environs pf east LA come these two strange records. The first is fairly good, a little heavy on the horns perhaps, but good. These aren�t the original Originals, but Rosie sounds just as unearthly as ever. The other is by Brute Force (the guy, not the group) of whom I have favorable impressions dating from a series of eccentric songs performed on the Clay Cole show last year. His record label is a photo of a bent forcep, and the first side, a �50s-style ballad, �tapeworm of love eating my heart out over you...� etc., is real good. The other side is... well, I was about • to roast it for being a maudlin ballad, which it sounds like, When I noticed the chorus, which goes, �There� Was a beautiful land called Fuh, and in this land was a King, and everybody called him the Fuh-King. All hail the mighty Fuhking!� And yes, it�s pronounced the way you think.. Outrageous, as they say. Produced, I might add, by The Tokens.

BRIEFLY NOTED: Tom Fogerty�s �Goodbye Media Man� (Fantasy 661) is a nice-sounding record, not at all Creedencelike. Its political stance is rather simplistic, but doesn�t get in the way of the music. :: Who fans take note that the B-side of �Won�t Get Fooled Again� is �I Don�t Even Know Myself�, a quiet, introspective song with metaphysical overtones that was not included on the album. :: �Get It On (Bang the Gong�/ �Raw Ramp� (Reprise 1032) continues T. Rex�s fascination with classic rock & roll. Both this and �Hot Love� topped the charts in England, never got off the ground here. That�s OK, the album�ll be out.soon, and we�ll catch up eventually. But if you�re already a fan, you won�t want to wait. It�s a terrific record, down to the last fey Chuck Berry caricature. :: �I Don�t Need No Doctor� (A&M 1282) is the best thing Humble Pie has done since �Wrist Job�. It�s all high-energy power chords, fans, and the forthcoming live album (from which it�s taken) promises more of the same. Rock & roll don�t need no doctor with stuff like this around. : : �Radio Phill� by the Congress of Wonders (Fantasy

F-2876) contains 10 minu tes worth of .short bits, mainly in the form of tongue-in-cheek radio commercials. Supposedly all from their album, but I don�t remember this much good stuff being on there: Get this for the highlights of what this comedy team does best - it�s also banded ind ideal for creative radio programming, for all you boss jocks in the audience. �Top Forty of the Lord� is the firs t good thing S han ana has done since abandoning oldies, getting a lot of FM airplay and could be a hit, but it�s not really that good. Since they stopped doing parody they�ve shown themselves to be a band with very little actual talent. What they should really do is start playing the cocktail lounge circuit, or better yet disband and do a parody of working in gas stations back in NeW Jersey. :: This column has made note of Jimmy Reed�s sad decline; fortunately, there seems to. be someone capable of taking up where he left off. G.L. Crockett�s �It�s a Man Down There� is a great stompin� Reedish blues, and

bet my collection of Nappy Brown records Lee Hildebrand won�t even mention it. The other side, �Every Hour, Every Day� sounds like some old Drifters song, but with backing vocals so far off key it�s eerie, and absolutely bizarre guitar work. It�s on the 4 Brothers label (445). Don�t ask me where to find it, but l hope you�ll try.

A lot of people are doing the Penguin this month (in fact, there are more �do the Penguin� records than I have room to mention). Many of them are doing the Funky Penguin. Some of them do it in Hot Pants. Their most frequent remark is the enigmatic phrase �what you see is what you get� (Which I always thought would be a great slogan for Polaroid cameras). Last month they were doing the Funky Rooster, before that the Funky Chicken and the Funky Duck. These people are called �soul fans� or �soul brothers�. They don�t usually read this column; they read Gary Von Tersch�s column. But I�d just like to see ol� Gary Von Tersch do the Funky Penguin, with or without Hot Pants. Boy would I love to. Just once.

One dance sensation that is sweeping the nation is the Eagle Rock. The nation is Australia and the band is Daddy Cool, a Cat Mother/ Flamin Groovies type of revivalist rock group that is currently tops Down Under. They recently played the Whiskey and were signed on the spot by Reprise amid a shower of hype from Kim Fowlcy, whose own recent recordings will rock the music world if ever released. �Eagle Rock� (Reprise 1038) doesn�t contain any dance instructions, and as a rock & roll song it leaves a lot to be desired. :: A new group called Medicine Head has an excellent record in �Pictures In the Sky�/�Natural Sight� (Elektra 45741). Instrurrientally they sound like a slowed-down T. Rex, meaning every thing is precise, tasty and rather rock & roll oriented in a modern sort of way. Produced by ex-Yardbird Keith Relf (our younger readers will perhaps recall him better from Renaissance). Watch out for these guys. :: Johnny Rivers is accompanied on �Think His Name� (UA 50822) by the Guru Ram Das Ashram Singers, and if this is a taste of what his forthcoming Home Grown album is like, it�s one to steer clear of. I mean, 1 like Jesus as much as the next guy, but right now I could stand to hear a whole lot less about Him and a lot more rock & roll. Hmmm, wonder if they�ll put �Sea Cruise� on it... :: �Ride My Motorcycle� by Shrub (Paramount 118) is a nice rocking song, with motorcycle sound effects even, about riding down to Tennessee to get a rock&roll woman,

or some nonsensical thing like that. Vocals sound a bit like early Zappa, the band sounds like they�ve been listening to Crowbar. Another group to watch. :: Dave Edmunds� �Blue Monday� (MAM 3611) is a poor followup to �I Hear You Knockin�.� He doesn�t have enough in common with F'ats to make a career of this sort of thing; he oughta, in my humble opinion, have a crack at a few Gene Vincent songs. Can�t you just hear �Woman Love� or �Lotta Lovin�?� :: �Searchin� � by Hackamore Brick (Kama Sutra 521) is nothing tremendous, but then I�m not as enamored with this group as some of my New York friends seem to be. I do prefer their originals, though.

Ever wary of the �Wild Angels Syndrome�, as Greil Marcus so devastatingly referred to it, I must nonetheless fill you in on what I think are some valid revivals. Jimmy Briscoe & the Little Beavers ( not to be confused with the African Beavers on RCA) have a winner in �Why Do Fools Fall in Love� (Atlantic 2822), one of the best jobs of updating an old tune I�ve heard. The arrangement is modern soul, the singing is

j heartfelt Lymonesque R&B, and it swings. :: �One Night of Sin� by Tammi Lynn, which you probably remember from Elvis� whitewashed �One Night With You� version, is actually a 1955 Smiley Lewis song, and it�s good to have the original lyrics back in circulation. Produced by Jerry Wexler, this is a fine record even if you don�t recognize the song (Cotillion 44123). :: A group called the Messengers has revived Buddy Holly, or one of his mannerisms at least, on �That�s the Way to Treat a Woman�. Don�t have the record at hand, just heard it on the radio. Except for the resemblance to Buddy, it�s a piece of sexist trash, so don�t buy it. :: Also making a return, though it never really left except in terms of the charts, is the phenomenon known as the �answer record�. You know, �Will You Love Me Tomorrow� produced �Yes I�ll Love You Tomorrow�, �Oh Carol� resulted in �Oh Neil� (by Carole King, no less!) and the list goes on and on. Now a character calling himself Bobo Mr. Soul has cut �Answer to the Want Ads� (Atlantic 2823), based on the Honey Cone hit of a couple months ago. Not as good as the original record, but then they never are. Your columnist approves anyway.