Juke Box Jury

Juke Box Jury

BY

GREG SHAW

George Harrison... Better Than Sominex?

July 17

There's good rockin" this month, with five decent songs in the Top Ten as I write, and plenty of other good stuff around. We've got Stories, the Osmonds, Cody, Alice ("Billion Dollar Babies"), and even the Sweet are rising fast with "Blockbuster" (Bell 45-361) although you still hear "Little Willy" more often. There's so much good music on the air in fact that AM and sometimes even FM jocks are starting to program really tasty hard rock sets. And I can dig it!

At the same time, though, there's a disturbing proliferation of slush. Some lunatic seems to have been smuggling records out of Cocaine City, which is of course supposed to be quarantined. I first heard about Cocaine City from Mark Shipper; located somewhere near Mill Valley ("just over the hill"), it's the place where all the old has-been rock )>tars go to live out their dotage. Really, stricter security must be enforced or we're gonna have to keep listening to George Harrison, Jim Croce (who's now trying to sound like Freddy Cannon), Paul Simon, Seals & Crofts, Sly Stone,,Cat Stevens, Carole King and their ilk for the rest of our lives. For this, John Sinclair went to prison?

It's worth it, though, as each new month brings its load of hot stuff. Best record out now has got to be "Rubber Bullets" by 10 C.C. (U.K. 49015), mentioned here last time. This group includes two former Mindbenders, plus Graham Gouldman (prolific English writer who penned hits for the Yardbirds, Hermits, etc.) and they were formerly known as Hotlegs (remember "Neanderthal Man," and the album cover Alice copped School's Out from??) and this single is four minutes of stunning imagination. In content it lies somewhere between aJailhouse Rock" and "Attica State," and if anything holds it back in America (it's already been No. 1 in England for weeks) it will be the record's anti-police stance, moreso even than that of "George Jackson." Don't wait for the album, which may never come; get this one now.

John Denver would "Rather Be A Cowboy" (RCA 0955), as would the Eagles, Jerry Jeff Wqlker and several others currently moseying around the charts. He should find a nice home on the range waiting for him at Cocaine City, where one of the entrance requirements is that your lifelong dream must be to become either a cowboy or an outlaw (or the "lady" of same if you're of the fair sex). Somewhere on the same prairie you'll find Charlie Daniels, who in "Uneasy Rider" (Kama Sutra 576) recites a dumb hippiefantasy of redneck paranoia set in Jackson. Hell, I've been to Jackson twice and if you ask me there's more rednecks in Berkeley.

I seem to keep getting sidetracked by the crap. Can't help it, that's the way it is when you listen to the radio a lot. But there's still plerlty of heavy music so let's get to some right now. Status Quo have "Paper Plane" out (A&M 1445) from their Piledriver album, and it's one of those mindless two-chord surges that never grows'old. Speaking of which, "Search and Destroy" has been singled out from the Stooges album, and it sounds great on 7 inches. Mike Saunders says it's a better record than "My Generation," imagine that! Everybody's goin" kra-zeeer\Which brings us to Slade, presently No. 1 in England with "Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me." You can't get it here, tho, not now and maybe never, because Polydor has chosen to issue "Let the Good Times Roll/ Feel So Fine" (15080) from the Stayed? album. In direct competition, I might add, with Shirley & Lee's original, released commercially for the first time in ages (on UA 274) to capitalize On the current hit film of the same name. Which may be part of the, reason behind the Slade release, come to think of it.

Individually they didn't impress me but together, the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver have produced a fine record, "You Got Me Anyway" (Island 1217). Nice harmonies, good hard instrumental track, just the kind of record we never get enough of. Ever since Chicago's "Feelin" Stronger Every Day" (Col. 45880) it's been easier to admit to liking things I was sure I wouldn't, like Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" and "Gimme Your Money Please" by the Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Mercury 73383). Brave Belt sucked, but this is solid heavy metal stuff. Grand Funk's latest isn't quite heavy metal, but it's not all that bad. "We're An American Band" (Capitol 3660) is especially nice on the yellow plastic promo copy. And how about those ol" Osmonds? So many heads have been turned so fast at the sound of their new one ("Goin" Home", MGM 14562) that doctors have come up with a term for the condition: Osmond Neck. Somewhere in the bowels of MGM Records there lives a band that has Slade's sound down cold; maybe it's the Mob whose "Tear The House Down" (MGM 14519) was such a classic cop from "Gud'bye T" Jane." Well, if the only way the Sla!de sound can get on the air is through Osmond records, that's fine too.

I've heard since the Love Society (RCA 74-0257) a few years back. It even starts with motorcycle sounds! Also reminiscent of that era is Kim Fowley's Dylan/Byrds influenced "Something New" (Capitol 3662), from his latest album. Another good new release is "Take It, Shake It, Break My Heart" by Vanity Fare(20th Century 2036), solid English moog-pop on a Daniel Boone kind of level. Vanity Fare has been around for years, one of the pioneer British bubble groups. And the 20th Century label by the way has really been happening since Russ Regan (formerly of Uni) took over. They've just signed Chubby Checker, I heard. The only other release I have is "Big Seven" by Judge Dread (2037). Dread is a Cockney who imitates reggae in an off-color vein and does quite well. This came between his English hits "Big Six" and "Big Eight," and needs little explanation.

Ian Whitcomb, a good friend of mine and a keen student of American pop music, recently went to Nashville to record a girl he found singing in a bar there. He wrote a song specially for her, and it appears headed for some kind of hit status. "Hands" by Debbie Dawn (WB 7721) is a marvelous C&W/pop song about the inner life of a massage parlor girl, in the great tradition of Tin Pan Alley's ability to make hay off whatever's in the news. Which brings us to Watergate, but the umpteen Watergate novelty records ate almost as boring as the scandal itself so I'll spare you.

Did you know that MCA has reissued the original Andrews Sisters version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (60040)? They have, and guess what? It's not as good as Bette Midler's version! The singing is bad and off-key, the band is listless, the whole thing sucks. I really dig Bette's, tho. It really cooks, the. way pop/boogie woogie was meant to, and I love those little touches,. like the way she says "companeh." Real "40s inflections, she's hip to temporal dialects, and how many can make that claim?

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Donovan's new single is "Maria Magenta" ■'"(Epic 11023) and it ain't bad. Gary Glitter's latest entry is "Happy Birthday" (Bell 45-375) and it may be his best yet. A discernable melody, even. Jo Jo Gunne's new one is "Take Me Down Easy" (Asylum 11020) and it oughta get pretty high in the charts. Loud and catchy, who' could ask for more? A Top Ten record in England, produced by Roger Glover, "Broken Down Angel" by Nazareth (A&M 1453) is more of the same, a good hard sound with adequate vocals, appealing hook, and an overall satisfying sound.

I am always pleased when unusual homemade records find their way to me through this column. A group called Humpback Whale has recorded, mixed and put together, all by themselves on a 4-track deck, a really nice record that I think Warner Bros, should seriously consider picking up. "Passing Tone" is a very well-produced pop-rock thing with harmonies, which fades into a raga-rock "Magical Mystery Tour" ending. The flip is a stirring rendition of the theme from "Also Sprach Zarathustra" performed on kazoo and garbage can lid. For your own copy, send a buck to Your Basic Fish Records, 3821 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, ILL 60612.

Are you an oldies fan? Doesn't matter, if you're any kind of rock & roll fan you know that the best music never becomes old. But it does, as we've said before, get more expensive. A number of dedicated fans are doing their best to brmg classic "50s obscurities to the present generation at reasonable prices. We've already discussed Bim Bam Boom Records (Box 301, Bronx, NY 10469), who have a superb selection of great doo-wop records available legally (there are of course countless bootlegs of rare oldies). On the West Coast, Art Turco of Record Exchanger Magazine has just issued 15 singles on his own label, Vintage. Obtained legally from bandleader A! Browne, they all feature littleknown vocal group sounds that nobody with a soft spot in his heart for the Five Keys should miss. For details, write to Box 2144, Anaheim, CA 92804.

Another fantastic buy is a '6-song EP containing all the recorded works of Kid Thomas, a Little Richard-inspired but much wilder singer whose "Rockin" This Joint Tonight" will scream you right up the wall. The original 45 fetches upwards of $50, so get this reissue while you can. Write for prices to Darryl Stolper, 950 Kagawa, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. He also has some Charlie Feathers and other choice "50s rarities available, as well as blues.

The real king of this stuff is a maniac named Ron Weisey, who has turned his house into a recording studio where forgotten rock artists of the "50s are now recording again and turning out some incredible stuff. Ron's specialty is rockabilly, that stuff Elvis and Jerry Lee did so well, but never as well as some of the cats who have appeared or will appear soon on Ron's Rollin" Rock label. He has nine releases plus an album out so far, including great rockers like "Yah! I'm Movin" " by Jimmy Patton, "Long Gone Daddy" by Pat Cupp & His Flying Saucers, "Ducktail" by Mac Curtis, "Let's All Go Wild" by Whitey Pulleh, and the classic, "I Dreamed I Was Elvis" by Sonny Cole & the Rhythm Roamers.

The best rock & roll of the mid fifties is not "Grease," it's not academic collectors" trivia either; in truth, it's much closer in spirit to the MC5's vision of rock & roll teen mania. They don't used words like "savage," "wild," "stomping" and "crazy" to describe this music for nothing, you know. Write to Ron at 10735 Bluffside Drive, N, Hollywood, CA 91604 and enclose a few stamps for some of his literature. You won't know the meaning of "underground rock" until you get into this stuff!

Excuse me now, while I go listen to the new George Harrison album; I've been suffering from insomnia lately, and it's the only thing that works...