ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK.A.RAMA

This months Rock-a-ramas were written by Richard C. Walls, Tony Mastrianni, Richard Riegel, Michael Davis and Ed Ward.

CHARLES CHRISTOPHER PARKER, JR.—Bird/The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) (Savoy)::This two record collection isnt the “definitive" Bird album—he was so prolific and his genius is scattered over so many different records that no single album can define his music—but it is the best currently available. Any more verbiage about Bird would be superfluous so consider this a public notice rather than a review. R.C.W.

FRANK MARINO & MAHOGANY RUSH—World Anthem (Columbia): :Not that these decibel maniacs are gonna make kids forget about Deep Purple, but certainly they furnish enough protoplast to smoke the paint off of the faces of Angel, Starz and the countless other Kiss-offs. And we can forgive Frank Marino for playing the Star Spangled Banner with his teeth, even if it is blasphemous to Hendrix because this is the one Canadian band that can stand up and fight like a band. The perfect act for Ted Nugent to follow. T.M.

PIERCE ARROW (Columbia)::Emperors New Clothes of the Year Award: This is the same old. L.A. general-issue country rock, but its dressed up in new heights of hyperbole; per the preachy liner notes (sort of a bio for civilian consumption), Pierce Arrow represents “the real spirit of New York City." Well, well, well. Personally, l think Ill stick with those really spirited Ell Aay bands like Blondie and the Ramones. R.R.

MILES DAVIS—Pangaea (CBS—Japanese lmport)::Okay, Water Babies is real nice, but if you was salivatin waitin for a sequel to Aghartha, you gotta hit the Tokyo trail, Jack. Aghartha is just an appetizer to this bubbling brew that is the real bitch. Miles synthesizes the inspirations of Jimi, Sly, and Sun Ra with his. own habits to come up with this multifarious fare. Treat it as muzak and its edgy energy will have you wired in no time. Its funky but it could turn any disco into dislocation city. You dont suppose Columbia is afraid of releasing this music, do you? M.D.

KEVIN AYERS—Yes, We Have No Mananas (ABC)::Not everyone goes for this avant dilettante like I do, but you cant fault the man for the company he keeps. His lead guitarists have all been heavyweight obscuros: a teenaged Mike Oldfield, Steve Hillage and, lately, Ollie Halsall. Halsalls a hell of a player and he energizes Kevs usually soporific soliloquies into downright catchy tunes. Whaddya know, an album by complementary quirks that works. M.D.

JOHN MARTYN—So Far So Good (Island); ROY HARPER—One Of Those Days In England (Bullinamingvase—Chrysalis); KEVIN COYNE—In Living Black And White (Virgin)::All of these guys started out as wholesome folksingers, and now look whats happened to them. John Martyn even had an album (with his wife Beverly) on which members of The Band played, but he soon got into plugging his acoustic guitar through an array of electronic distortion devices, mumbling his lyrics, and creating altogether a spectacular, if eccentric, body of work. While hes off in Jamaica studying dub with Lee Perry, Island has released this sort of greatest hits, highly recommended. Then theres Roy Harper, Englands.post-psychedelic amphetamine bard. Whanging away at his guitar, spinning imagery into convoluted epics that have caught the ear of most of Englands greatest rockers (the Zep, Wings, Ronnie Lane and others) but havent spread to these shores. This latest is one of his most accessible, even the 20-minute title cut. And then, theres Kevin Coyne, whose weird band Siren made some noise some years ago, and who was once described as an “exCommunist, ex-alcoholic, ex-mental hospital worker." All of which makes him vicious, insightful, and out of control. Here, he does it in front of an audience. Still, its not at all hard to take, just a bit odd. For those who like their humor a tad black. E.W.

THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT—I Robot (Arista)::Synthetic avant-garde, if you want it, future discoshock meets disco futureshock concept LP, but the technological pretensions dissolve into the blandest of bland old rock much too soon on each side. Parsons may aim to recreate himself in a robot image, but in the end hes just another brain on the mixing-board floor. R.R.

NICK DRAKE—Bryter Layter (Antilles)" Nick Drake was a rare talent. His music can be adored even by those of us who hate BossaNova rhythms, dont like British folkies drenched in Fairport Convention styles, and cant stand classical guitar. Strangely, Drake was able to mix these elements and invent a gorgeously frightening sound which is seemingly timeless.

T.M.

LOVE AND KISSES (Casablanca)::About the only difference between this and Donna Summers disco-porn classic “Love To Love You Baby" is that here, the fake orgasms come in the middle instead of at the beginning and end. Fascinating. I wonder what these creative geniuses will come up with next. M.D.