ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

More than a rumor! The Small Faces' comeback tour is underway in England, though they're playing without Ronnie Lane. According to manager Mel Bash: "It didn't work out— he wasn't compatible." So the '77 Small Faces are Steve Marriott, Kenny Jones, Ian MacLegan and Rick Wills. The album was completed six months agobut as the boys are still negotiating a record deal it won't be released until they've signed with somebody... look for a feature by our Simon Frith in the near future...

Fattl Smith's "Ask The Angels'' has been released in France b/wa live record ing of "Time IsOnM^*; \ -Side'', but there are no plans for Arista to do the same here. The eager beaver French have also re-pressed her pre-Arista single : "Piss Factory" b/w"Hey doe".'

Star's Car of the Future: Z JL. Top's Billy Gibbons found that his *55 Thunderbird was just not up to snuff when it came to tooling around a certain Island off theTexasGulfB Coast where the Z. Z.'s have bought a beach house—$000, he boughta '59 Caddy, complete with 747 tailftns, which he challenged custom car designer Dean, Jeffries to redesign for beach use. The Dune Caddy will have its mid-section cut out to shorten the passenger compartment, then wiB be welded onto a four-wheeldriveToyota chassis and be equipped with what bassist DfmiyKiiRcalls"gumbo monster tires". The finished product will be decorated with longhorns, guns and silver dollars. Says drummer frank Beard, "It's just your standard Texas dune buggy "

Grumblings heard from Ran Wood that of all the hired Stones 1 flunkies, someone should have been watching out for

. .another friend telkusfttai heads will roll in the Stonescamp. . . meanwhile the Stones re-signed y$th Atlantic...

Justin Hayward has written a musical, which he swears is for his own amusement,although he gets offers to score moviesall the timet It's always long after the film's In the can, which he thinks is wrong.

Patti Smith to Tad VKpgenA, backstage at toeGairden: ^Polyester pants cause sores on your prtck." |jj| Ted to Patti: "Don't worry, you won't get to find out!"

On the West Coast, Ted was spotted pouring beer diwn R unaway Jackie Fox's blouse after a 1 Rush/Nugent party.. .we're telling your mother, Yed. 1

After two years with no product, Van Morrison has released A ' Period of Transition, recorded both In California and England. B

After logy Pop s first hometown show in Detroit in March, he and I David Bowie repaired to a local rockerie, the Red Carpet, to see Mitch Ryder cronies toe-J

B. used to be in Mitch's band) ft was Standing room only* exceptfora 1 Pacific island where Bowie sat in virtual seclusion, surrounded by his dog-faced bodyguards. When Bowie wanted to leave, hfe r bodyguards leaned against the 1 club's door while he got into his car -so revelers in the dub couldn't dp** damage to him in the meantime!?) " ...Mitch Ryder told us the beget lime Ziggy's in town he's gjjgflRd| to throw a box Of Milk-bones down on the floor to distract hfe bodygu ards; while they're scrambling for them he'll present Ziggy with some diamond-backed razor blades, not necessarily where | the Zig would want them. .. I

dng of the Rockets (who slaying at the Red Carpet gig widlggy crashed) they've 1 with producer Don Dm jeer of Johnny Taylor's kjLad«. Besides "Johns laojekon drums, the gre 1 Ryder /, and Da Gilbert, former lead singer with Ted Kagent. The Rockets are currently cutting their debut album at United Bound in Detroit|ifH

Is Staple Wonder mixinga livejj i album in Louisiana?^!

F^etsrr IFr^fcmjst^sn has established Peter Brampton Music Endowment Fund at San Francisco BjitoDniversity, which scholarships for SF State students I showing exceptional taltetuH contemporary music.. .RlMRmtftt has regiStered for classes already . . "

Even though they pulled a fast one and changed their name to I (urrrghaa) The Dad, westiilike ThePanhe, (of Pontiac) who played the Ocean Club in NYC recently andjltopressed Denny Fields, and evehhiglpetoerfram I Detroit iggp Poo. ■ J

The Sex Pistols were dumped

• from A & M Records in England, just seconds aftertheylvere signed.. .rumors that RlUMteP Carpenterand Peter Framptoa didn't approve of the dirty {iiheys jyst not true.,.

Capitol is planning to release a live album of the Beatles '64-'65 Hollywood Bowl coi apparently with the Beatle? approval. L~n9-~rne•Beatles producer George Martin Is rentiy remixing tapes from those concerts... ■r :;

Why don't they leave him atone, dept! Poor LOB Heed was banned from appearing at London's Palladium because of his"p&nk image"... then they refused to believe that the Machine Man was himself down atthe Passport Office, so Lou had to have some friends come down to vouch for him...{?)

Noticed Paul Rodgers new short do?

When Bob Segerpla^i^^H Boston recently, he wasscanning the backstage list when he noticed friobottom.^Cyp -r nrir iMCf screamed, eyes bulging, ropwth foaming, /fWe catfteome here, man—he's my idoff Nonetheless, Spruce arrived, and the two took two hours after the show to express their mutual admiration and joy.

Bobo Rundgren is back with ^ Todd, also ires pregnant... (?)

The Mad Peck;reports that Bo DMdSey came to Providence,: Rhode Island for a one-week engagement at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, Which is not newsworthyin itself, if Bo hadn't decided to do a j prison :i correctional institution, out of the goodness of his heart. Out of the goodness pf their hearts, prison •] guards would not let Bo out of the (isn. convinced he was a con. It took seyemihemrf pf^x^atoing, tf*•.

With Capricorn Records..., to the

ie Winwood has anew solo without his Japanese I

Chock Berry, one of the original . rock 'n' rollers (the dude's 51), will soon be up for grabs when his contract with Chess Records runs out. ■Ip "

Southside Johnny will return:/■ | Bonnie Spector's favor and guest-sing on her new album., .he recentiy opened for Graham Parker in England, and said: "I'm sure my boys will get along with his boys. Of course, he better watch out. My band will take on his band anytime. Why, we even have matching three-piece suits in pink, brown and blue -.."

Ah, spring, and Ian Andereon contemplates the joys of tending his expected young whelp: "We're going to spend our summer at home... it will involve me sitting on the lawn playing with an infant child, which I've never done In my jife before. I've never actually even held a baby, I've never poked at one* in a pram and gone'goo goo goo'or anything. It's just totally beyond my experience. I'll have to learn torid|i|| that... " Fu nny guy Ian took time off in Denver duril^h^tiap«b^|pb^ tour to take some shooting practice at a rifle range. An innocent bystander noticed him plugging shots Into a turntable. Why,-.|a^^p|j "My comment on the record industry*" ' 1 ** .. |\.,

Fans in surburban Detroit worked . themselves into such an animalistic frenzy while waiting in line to buy cattle pen seats for Led Zeppelin at the local sports colossus that the ticket office had to close down for' half a day While everybody cooled down. The Zep boys could maybe learn something from Brother Keith Richard (see page 46).

More Studio Newz: Rod Stewart decided to start .his new album with Tom Dowd right away, as soon as his tour ended in late March, which forced Lynyrd Skynyrd to piut their recording with Dowd off for a few weeks... Randy Bachman performs on one cut on Burton Cummings' second album, due out imminently.^,

Keith Richard's latest word on his imminent death: "I can't help it if I've never looked healthy."