Kevin Ayers doesn’t dress like a flashy English pop star, and his blond page-boy haircut probably could be styled a bit better. Nevertheless, when confronted with his astounding physical presence, even the most jaded reporter is struck dumb.

He stands six feet tall and possesses a stunning set of penetrating green eyes. No photo does him the proper justice. He has a reputation as a lady killer, and as an eccentric decadent who would rather lie around and drink white wine in the south of France than make records.

But he’s been involved with rock ‘n’ roll for the past ten years—first as a member of The Soft Machine in the late 1960’s—and has recorded seven solo albums (most of which were released only in England).

Widely regarded as one of rock’s more avant-garde, eclectic English musicians, Kevin’s work combines the very best of melody and drama. Because of personal problems, his career has been somewhat erratic— he’s performed only in Europe—but now, with the release of his new LP Yes We Have No Mananas on ABC Records in America, Kevin seems ready to let people see him here.

“I’ve been through very traumatic experiences,” Kevin revealed during a recent promotional trip to New York, “and I was questioning myself so much I just became very depressed and paralyzed. I drank too much to try and

numb my way out of it, and I questioned the whole validity of going on stage. It’s taken me ages to sort it out.

“After Sweet Deceiver, which was about coke and its deceptive qualities, I

PUNK COUTURE

Someone was bound to do it. British fashion designer, Zandra Rhodes, has created her version of the punk rock look and it's hilarious.

For $600 you can buy what Zandra terms "conceptual chic": ripped dresses adorned with beaded safety pins, bathtub plug chains and stud-like sequins.

Zandra told W that "Everything is getting too expensive for the kids. This is a new way of treating ordinary things." If you ask me, her punk rock clothes give new meaning to a word "Rip-off." (What's next? Maybe Tiffany's will sell "Safety Pins By The Yard".)

disappeared for a year. I was chasing some girl at the time and we went to Australia; it was the furthest neutral ground we could go to.

“In this business you can’t afford to take years off. But now I’m ready to be involved.

“I don’t think I’m crazy,” he laughs, “but everyone says that on their way to the asylum...

“I was in the absurd position of having to create problems in order to write. I sometimes feel myself slipping —everything will be going fine, andthen I think it’s about time I did something terrible, or something terrible happened to me. But it’s been about two years now since something terrible has happened.

“I try to" avoid writing about the depression I’ve been through, and try to write about the positive side instead. Even if there are some doomy or sad lyrics, I try to lift them at the end. I still have a darker side, I’ll always have a dark side, that won’t go. But it’s not a depressed darker side. I’d like to think that it’s powerful.

“My records have always been personal. I’ve never tried to create stuff that didn’t exist or things I hadn’t experienced. But it was all walled behind image, and this new record is an attempt to be much more open without being boring. Just being open without retaining a certain amount of poetry can be boring.

“I’ve laid myself more open this time than ever before. I decided that was what I had to do because I was too defensive about my records. This is definitely a step in the right direction.”