JUKE BOX JURY

JUKE BOX JURY

BY GREW SHAW

Great Gunk On The Box This Month

Aug. 17

I just got my hands on a copy of the new Raspberries single, and you�d better believe I�m excited. �Tonight� (Capitol P-3610) is at least as good as their first two hits, and maybe their best yet. Guitars and drumming are as aggressive as the early Who, in fact this is a better record than �I Can�t Explain,� of which it reminds me somewhat. And guess what it�s about? Well you know honey, we�re both so young and innocent and tonight when we prove our love, it�s gonna be just beautiful, There�s a million ways to write songs on this theme, and the Raspberries are out to find every one of �em.

In other greatness, the Sutherland Bros. &

, Quiver have grown into a monster on my personal playlist with �You Got Me Anyway� (Island 1217), a slice of sheer brilliance. Elton John is right up there too, yes he�s one of the good guys now, having joined the Osmonds in the gallant struggle to sneak Slade onto American radio. I can�t quite picture �Saturday Night�s Alright For Fightin'g� (MCA 40105) being written by Bernie Taupin or recorded in a French chalet, but who cares? It�s great, and the other two songs on this maxi-single stand up as well, especially �Whenever You�re Ready (We�U Go Steady Again).� And'how about the Kinks, with their second straight winner since the last album. �Sweet Lady Genevieve� (RCA 5001) is more in the old Kinks style than �One of the Survivors� (RCA 0940), a beautifully melodic ballad. Don�t wait for these to turn up on an album!

Tom Fogerty�s �Joyful Resurrection� (Fantasy 702) is the much-anticipated �not a Creedence reunion� single; it�s actually more of a Blue Velvets reunion, with Tommy being joined by Stu and Doug for his best record yet, though still obviously derivative of his brother�s ideas; But not bad. �Hot Rails to Hell� is Blue Oyster Cult�s new single, (Columbia 4-45879) but at 414 minutes you�ll never hear it on the air. Worth picking up for the fine picture sleeve, however. Blue Ash has a new one too, �I Remember a Time� (Mercury 73413). That�s the one that sounds like the Byrds, and it could be the hit this group so abundantly deserves.

The new Raiders� release is an old Dylan outtake called �If I Had To Do It All Over Again, I�d Do It All Over You,� (Columbia 445898) and it�s terrible. Really hokey, like something Leon Russell or somebody like that would do. Shame, shame. Speaking of which, that old geezer Bob Dylan has a new one out himself, �Knocking on Heaven�s Door� (Columbia 445913), an appropriate title for this lifeless song. What a bore! Not to be outdone are the Allman Bros, with �Ramblin� Man� (Capricorn 0027), which sounds like a senile Jerry Garcia With the Old Riders. Snores galore in this one, Archies fans Louie & the Lovers are the source of further disappointment in �Caribbean� (Atlantic 2972), an ancient Mitchell Torok song that was a hit ages ago by somebody so square I can�t even remember his name. They must have made this one to please Van Dyke Parks, cause no one else will like it! Long way from Royal Oakie Farm, eh boys?

On the brighter side, Bob Seger�s �Need Ya� ' (Palladium/Reprise 1171) is a solid rocker right out of �It�s. All Over Now� with plenty of good piano and slide guitar. Not available on LP as yet, so grab it. Both Mungo Jerry�s �Alright, Alright, Alright� (Bell 45,383) and Gunhill Road�s �Ford Desoto Cadillac� (Kama Sutra 582) have their moments; the former another good-timey thing, and'the latter the story of an aging rocker (another of the survivors).

Quite a few surprises this time. Gferry Goffin, the guy who wrote the words to all those old Goffin-King classics, has resurfaced on Adelphi Records of Silver Spring, Md. with �It�s Not the Spotlight� (452). Sad to say, he seems to be written (or mellowed) out, but it�s good to see him back at any rate. L^rry Lurex (who??) may be an answer to Gary Glitter but sounds like a sequel to Dave Edmunds on �I Can Hear Music� (Anthem), an always-welcome tribute to the Ronettes. From England, of course. Latest from Canada is Flying Circus with �Jabber Jabber� (Capitol P-3694), produced by Jimmy �Raspberries� Ienner. Rather too much like Jo Jo Gunne, but it does rock. From L.A., Purlie gives us �Burgerette� (Capitol P-3681), the most ridiculous name for a girl since �RamaLama-Ding-Dong.� Decent record, promising group.

Jade & Pepper hail from Singapore, where �Jig a Jube Jube� (Avalanche 185) was a No. 1 record, as it was in Belgium. It�s a surprisingly good bubblepop tune that could�ve come from the heart of Ohio. Another real treat is �Shady Lady� by Sheptone & Dibbens (Buddah 379), from England. It combines Dylan, Hollies, and bubblegum into an attractive pop ditty with a confusing story line (I think it�s about a female bill collector). Also from England is a pretty good cover of Alan Price�s �O Lucky Man� by D�Arcy Schanz (Capitol P-3701), altho the original is still the best.

It looks like the reissue craze that�s been racking England for a couple of years now is about to hit America. �Monster Mash� (Parrot 348) is in the Top Ten again, and will probably be back again in a few years. �Wipe Out� by the Surfaris is being played in some places, �Louie Louie� by the Kingsmen, �Sounds of Silence,� �Snoopy Versus the Red Baron� by the Royal Guardsmen (a reggae version of which is currently big in England), �Last Kiss� by J. Frank Wilson, �Witch Doctor� by David Seville, �Purple People Eater� by Sheb Wooley, and now "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha" by Napoleon XIV (WB 7726).

Radio is at a loss to understand what's happening. They understand why the novelty records are coming back, it's the "oldies" like "Sounds of Silence" and "She's Not There" by the Zombies (Parrot 9695), from the company that also gave us reissues of "Whiter Shade of Pale" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want," that don't seem to com pute. We all know, of course, that there's no such thing as an "oldie" where good music is concerned, and with each 3-year generation of AM listeners rising up from childhood, that makes millions of record buyers who never ever heard of "Monster Mash" or any of the others. How can a record be an oldie to someone who never heard it? So, we can look for more and more old classics beingreissued and promoted and, hopefully, played instead of the old novelty songs. There's a limit to how much anybody can take!

FANZINE~ FORUM: There are more rock fanzines coming out now than ever, and to make it easier for you to find them I'm gonna start mentioning a few of the better ones here each month. For starters, you've probably noticed the recent wave of interest in the Beatles. There are many Beatle fanzines going, the best of them being Five Bites of the Apple (Linda Woods, 25 Maple Dr., Great Neck, NY 11021), Strawberry Fields Forever (Joe Pope, 310 Franklin St., No. 117, Boston MA 02110) and especially The Apple Press (Linda Kretschmann, Box 21 2, Hawthorne, NY). Group-inspired fanzines have never been more in vogue since the days of Stones Monthly. We now have the Electric Warrior Press from Natalie McDonald (100 Prospect Aye, No. 2F, Haôkensack, NJ 07601) and, coming soon, a Slade fanzine as well. In Montreal there will soon be one dedicated to the Wackers, and hopefully it will cover other local talent like Pagliaro. Now how about somebody in Ohio starting one?

Breifly, here are some recent fanzines of interest: Yahoo (formerly Denim Delinquents, too bad they changed) with Seeds, I. Geils, and a Monty Python interview (Jlmn Paxret, 2996 Marcel St., Ottawa, Ontario KIV 8H7); New Haven Rock Press with Pink Floyd, Small Faces, Dolls and more (1735 Boulevard, New Haven CT 06511); Initial Shock with Rund gren, Alice Cooper, Judee Sill, Move (2412 E. Fourth St., Bloomington, IN 47401) and PunkMagazine (Billy Altman, 83 Sanford St., Buffalo, NY 14214) with all kinds of goodies. 35 cents should be enough to g~t you any of the above, but it'll take 75 cents to bring The Rock Marketplace your way. It's worth it, though. The best place to buy old/obscure records is still from me, but editor Alan Betrock offers a forum where others can buy, sell, and exchang~ rock items of interest, and the magazine ir~cludes articles and disco graphies on such as the Sweet, Andy Brown, Van Dyke Parks, and reviews of new British singles and other ephemera. Write to Bos 253, Elmhurst-A. NY l137~.

J..4~1II1UA I ii~ur~,. If you've got a fanzine you'd like re viewed, send It to me at Box 7112, Burbank, CA 91510, and send along $1 for the latest issue of Who Put the Bomp while you're at it. More about that next month, along with a review of the new David Crosby single, "Rock and Roll Will Sit." Don't miss it!