ROCK · A · RAMA

ROCK · A · RAMA

TELEVISION—Marquee Moon (Elektra):: AH HAVE HEARD THE FUTURE OF ROCK AND ROLL AND ITS NAME IS TOM VERLAINE (that's not really true). The present will do nicely enough. There's more meat here than the tube'll feed ya in an entire season even though T.V. (get it?) does occasionally come on like Sancho Panza to Patti's Don Quixote or Gallahad to Lou's Lancelot or...oh, fuck the analogies. Fuck the hype. Buy the record. M.D.

FLEETWOOD MAC-Rumours (Warner Bros.)::How come nobody else has noticed that Fleetwood Mac are the Mamas and Papas of the 1970's, from the multisexual, multinational rushes of their vocal harmonies, to their incredibly fortuitous fusion of folkrock trappings with MOR sentiments? If you'll note, the Macs' snowballing success is even on an almost-exactly-tenyears-later timetable vis-a-vis that of the Dunhill stalwarts; it's 12:30, and young girls are cornin' to the canyons of the record racks. But hey, you gotta admit that "Go Your Own Way" is one of the nicer once and future folkie anthems of the * season, eh? California dreamin' survives & thrives. R.R.

TALKING HEADS"Love Goes to Building on Fire"/"New Feeling" (Sire Single) :df the Ramones are New York Rock's equivalent of the Beatles, can the parallel folk-rock synthesis be far behind? Talking Heads combines Velvets-patented pulserock rhythms with the clean, earnest vocals of mid-Sixties antecedents as esoteric as—dare we say it?—the Silkie. And the result is just as exquisitely compelling as such an odd melding derserves to be. Special award to David Byrne for the most original (& roundabout) phallic metaphor of the new pop season: "My love is a building on fire." (i.e. "building" equals "skyscraper" IF Manhattan's in your backyard.) R.R.

THE STEVE GIBBONS BAND-Rollin' On (MCA)::Yep, the title is a country-rock cliche, but it also happens to summarize this album rather neatly indeed. Steve Gibbons, a kind of English Bob Seger, rolls on as one of the most interesting vocalists to emerge from the U.K. since the Burdonian apocalypse. Gibbons' voice is at once so warm and so tough that it communicates the burning candor which once marked the British Invasion. And the band rolls on, most forcefully in the fat-guitar thrashout of the title track, one of the hottest cuts anyone's done this year. Let's make this group matter as much as their sound already does. R.R.

CITY BOY—Dinner at the Ritz (Mercury) :: Now that's efficiency. No sooner does lOcc split in two than Mercury comes up with another terminally clever English rock band to take their place. These guys aren't quite as distinctive as Creme, Gouldman, et a/.—sounds like they copped a crown jewel or two from Queen as well—but that also means they're not quite as obnoxious, either; if high-falutin' fol-de-rol is your cuppa tea, drink hearty, smarty. M.D.

ROXY MUSIC-Foolproof (Worlds) ;:The first quad bootleg I've come across, much livelier and better-recorded than Viva!, Foolproof rox from start to finish. No new tunes but most of your faves done up physical and fun; if Roxy's your drug, you gotta score this one. M.D.

FUNKADELIC—Hardcore Jollies (Warner Bros.)::Tired of catching up to Trower's "Crosstown Traffic" retreads and finding only technical blind alleys? Then try Hardcore Jollies, which alternates juicy Jimi jams with fractured funkies. Oughta titillate your lactation stations for many moonstocome. M.D.

NEIL DIAMOND-Love At the Greek (Columbia) ::Neil gives it to his fans right up the ass where they love it as he recycles his hits for the millionth time. Ideal for your mentally-retarded uncle on the seventh anniversary of his incarceration for child molestation and/or grand theft.

M.D.

QUINCY JONES-Roots (A&M);CLIFFORD THORNTON & THE JAZZ COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA-The Gardens of Harlem (JCOA)::Black people got roots? No shit; only the dummies need the tube to tell 'em so. And only the dummies are buying Quindy's album which crams together dialogue from the TV show, percussion cut ups and soundtrack broadsides with all the subtlety of a steamshovel. Undoubtedly as important a cultural artifact as Mickey Mouse ears and 'coon skin caps and about as musical. Which is kinda ironic 'cause a lot of heavier jazzmen have been incorporating African rhythms and melodies into their own music for decades.now. The Thornton LP is a real good recent example, with authentic source material and impressive contemporary improvisation .-Quincy may be taking care of business but JCOA is taking care of the music. M.D.

STARC ASTLE—Fountains of Light (Epic); KANSAS—Leftoverture (Kirshner)::Who'd a thunk that the 'next wave of British art-rock bands would come from the Midwest USA? Mebbe your boss's nephew from Peoria but not me. No matter; they're here, squonking and squiggling like mad. Starcastle are still Yes-men all the way, a progressive (?) copy band, no doubt in hot demand at pick-up bars where cosmic retreads waitfor the latest revelations. Kansas are a little more original, adding a fiddle to the proceedings, but they're heretics just the same, as they sing "Rockin' and Rollin', it's only how)in' at the moon," before tearing off down another Emersonian (Keith) blind alley. Sometimes the target's a little closer to home. Oo wooo! M.D.

OSIBISA—Oja h Awake (Island) Percussion heavy African rockers get their shit together just in time to cash in on the Roots revolution. Ideal for dancers who wouldn't be caught dead in discoland. M.D.

This month's Rock-a-ramas were written by Michael Davis and Richard Reigel.