ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

Your turn to curtsy, my turn to bow: Al Green was so pleased with Talking Heads' version of "Take Me To The River" that he's now scanning their repetoire for a song to cover on his next LP ... Likewise, Bruce Springsteen has contributed a brand new song called "Rendezvous" to Greg Kihn's next album after hearing Kihn's rendition of "For You."

Hair today: Frantic rumors are filtering across the ocean to the effect that Robert Plant has trimmed his luxurious locks in a reasonable facsimile of John Travolta's coif. Can a disco version of "Dazed And Confused" be far behind?

Missing Persons Report: Despite their much-publicized label switch from London to Warner Bros., ? Texas rockers ZZ Top are; reportedly missing. Rumors that lead singer Billy Gibbons was killed in a plane crash were greatly exaggerated, however; the truth erf the matter is that a crew member suffered a minor aircraft mishap and was not seriously injured. Nonetheless, the ZZ entourage will be forced above ground soon, as they owe Warners a n LP before the end of the year... Meanwhile, as theRolling Stones were busy recording their next LP in the sunny climes of Nassau , road manager Allan Dunn drifted off to sea in a private yacht and was reported missing for two days before finally being rescued.

No more blue light specials for this guy: Steve Martin's Grammywinning LP, A Wild And Crazy Guy , was recently pulled from K-Mart's record racks d ue torts "profanity. " Remarked Martin, "I'm never going to shop there again!" That's okay for you...J

Well, it had to happen: RCA has managed to come up with another installment in its continuing line of posthumous Elvis Presley recordings. This one captures the big boy as nature intended, —"stripped to the bone"— which means nohackground music to detract from the voice. Did The Colonel have Elvis's shower bugged, or what?.

Marvin Gaye's'latest LP, Here, My Dear, proved to be aptly titled since his ex-wife Anna (sister of Motown boss Berry Gordy) obtained a court order awarding her 80% of the album's royalties.

It'simposterable: While Rod Stewart was vacationing in Hawaii recently, another Rod Stewart turned up in Cave City, Kentucky,to hand out tour passes to residents of the town and be interviewed by a reporter from a nearby newspaper. The scribe became suspicious of the whole deal after noticing that "Stewart" spoke with no trace of a British accent, but the imposter explained that he had been taking lessons to get rid of his accent and become an American citizen. The whip came down, however, after the writer called Warner Bros, publicity director, Bob Merits, who suggested th at the reporter ask "Stewart" what nickname he had given to His assistant, Tony Toon. "Stewart" answered, "Fritz" but we aB know it's"Annabelie." Asked to comment on the imposter, the real Rod said "I'm very concerned about this. I certainly don't want anyone running around acting like me except me.-Nobody does it better, kiddo. 1

Speaking of the mysterious Far East, Tone Robinson ran head on into the language barrier on his recent tour of Japan. Realizing the yellow dogs in the audience had absolutely no idea what the song "Glad To Be Gay" was about, Tommy was reduced to shrieking, "Don't you understand? I'm homosexual" The enraptured fans responded with polite giggles (maybe they did understand). Later, Robinson invited a couple young Nip males back to his hotel room to help him overcome said language barrier, but insisted they phone their folks first so as not to worry them. All Hiroshima broke loose, however, when mum 'n dad realized their progeny were in die clutches of a gay rock star, so they quickly notified the hotel's staff who then burst into Tom's room to find... two young boys giving Robinson lessons in Japanese. (Well, what did you expect? This column is rated PG...)

The on again/off again Mick& Bianca Jagger divorce is now on again, and Bianca is confident she'll get her share of Mick's moolah despite their oft-mentioned pre-nuptual agreement. Bianca waived aB property rights in that document but believes the agreement won't hold up in court..

Yasgur's Farm Revisited? There's talk that the original site of the Woodstock Festival (celebrating its 10th anniversary) wifi play host to another festival this year, though some are doubtful of the entire idea, fearing it may turn out to be just another Gal Jam (well, the war is over)... And keep a look out for a book later this year entitled Festival by Bob Spitz, which promises to give the reader "an in-depth look at one of the 60's greatest phenomenons." Just what the world needs, we're sure...

In The Studio

Woodstock, N. Y. —Bearsville: Meat Loaf, Patti Smith (Todd Rundgren producing); L.A. —Jennifudy: j§ Carlene Carter (Nick Lowe S producing); L.A. — Cherokee: .Peter Frampton, JohnSebastian* Harry Nilsson (Stev^Cropper producing); Miami— Criteria: Ted Nugent, Pousette^Dart Band; London— Trident: Colin Blunstone (Rod Argent producing); L.A. —Elektra Sound Recorders: Martin Mull; L.A. — Westlake Audio: Charlie Daniels Band; Burbank—Kendun: ' Billy Preston .Johnny "Guitar" Watson; L.A. — SoundLabs: Dolly Pa rton; Nassau—Com pass Point: Rolling Stones, Robert Palmer; Sheffield, Ala.—Muscle Shoals: Bob Seger; Monserrat, West 'Indies—Air Studios: Climax Blues Band; Atlanta—Axis: Kansas; || Boulder, Colo. — Mountain Ears: Randy California; N. Y^Media.. Sound: GenyaPaven, Ronnie1 Spector; SanFrancisco— Filmways/Heider. Greg Kihn (Matthew Kaufman producing), Japan (Sandy Pearlmen producing); Coconut Grove, Fla. —Bayshore: The Eagles; Ann Arbor—A2Studios: The Mutants; Elsewhere: Frank Zappa, Neil Young, BobMariey& the Wallers, Michael Nesmith, NilsLofgren, Kenny PassareBi, Randy Newman, David Ruffin. •

In the Major Engine Repairs ' Department, looks like Jefferson Starship is preparing for another overhaul. Now that Aynoley Dunbar has replaced drummer John Barbata, Marty Balin '.may be taking a powder since he refuses to sign a contract with the band {so what else is new?). Jabs Roden is being considered as a replacement. Meanwhile, Grace Slick is trying to keep her nose clean by reading lots of Mfchener and Ram Dass and going to PTA meetings... Tom Petty is also in the marketfor a new Heartbreakerfollowing the departure of drummer Stan Lynch...

Say it ain't so, Joe: Mary "My Guy" Wells is rumored to be planning a comeback but should it happen, those smooth, sultry tones are going to be buried by the dreaded disco beat. Word has itthatshfe may become part of a new disco ; production deal with CBS. Somebody better have a talk with the lady before it's tqo late...

Nowhere to run: This month, Bdtf Ekland is drowning in a sea of love over Steve Harley (who?). How lowwillshego...

Everybody's gettin' into the act: Not only will the Ramones make their movie debut in the upcomign Rock And Roll High School, the '. soundtrack will feature AHce Cooper's "School's Out," Nick 1 jj Lowe's "So It Goes,'' plus material from Dee-troit's own MC5. But hold onto your knee caps, 'cause that's notaD: Paul McCartney's even added his two-cents' worth by Annmg a tune for the flick

A thinner and dryer version of Alice Cooper breezed into town recently fortwo demented shows. , At a press conference, the slimy one was asked to comment on Bob Dylan's statement that Alice is one of the great songwriters of all time. I "Yeah, thatwds nice," deadpanned Vince, '%bt ft meant nothing to me fa comparison to what Gtoucho Mar* once said—'Alice Cooper is the last remaining hope for vaudeville. Once he quits, vaudeville is deadNow that was an important statement/" When asked , if heplannedtpcorrtinue doing lovely songs like "Dead Babies" in concert, Cooper quipped, "Are you kidding? We'Ve got to do 'Dead Babies'. ^aTRADlTtONl'Tear and loathingin Anateyka, indeed..

PutaWay t^oserosaries, your prayers h^vebeen answered! San c Francisco-based punk bandTbie | Nuns have hspodedfa) been blessed = with the presence of Peter Frampton, who'll produce their ,® upcomingLP.

'While Anna McGarrigle was I busy giving birth to a girl, Illy ' Lanken, on January 26, Bob Dylan gave birth to his own record label, Accomplice. Word has it that ifieZim is scouring bars nationwide in search of talent to sign up. Too' bad he didn't snap up Sonthside Johnny & The Anbury Jakes, * who suddenly lefMhe Epic label after • the release of their latest Up* Hearts Of Stone, to re-sign with Mercury,

This month we have a fellow named £ Jim Morrison whodaimpto be J the reincarnation of the singer,who J> also happens to be running for c lieutenant governor of Louisana. jj Who sezpolitics are dull?

Keeping it inihe family: Mrs. Ann J Beverley had just returned to I England with the cremated remains of son Sid Vicious only to be arrested a week latex on drug charges... In other ex-Pistols news, Johnny (Rotten) Lydou went H a-courtin' recently to prevent former manager MalcolmMcLurun from using the name "Sex Pistole" on anything other than products released by the original members Johnny also sought a court prder Stibngthat his management contract with McLaren is invalid. Although the court ruled thatthese matters would have to sorted out privately, they did appoint someone to sort out the Pistols'financial snafus. Remember, Male, big boys don't cry... m

Hotrods to Hell: After driving through three red lights, Ringo Starr has been ordered to spend * twonights a week a) school learning aboutthe American Highway Code.

Too much soy sduce in the egg roll? Brian Wilson had to be bodily removed from Madame Wong's in L,A. after causing a disturbance in the eatery. (Hope dinner caused him as much Indigestion as the Bench Boys' new disco single caused us...) . ' .

The Best Of & The Rest Of , Spencer Davis, project coordinator and producer of Paul Korda's latest LP Dancing In The Aisles, has decided toget back in the swing of things himself. He's currently putting together a compilation anthology of his own Spencer Davis Group (since most of the original LPs are well past the cutout bin stage and have been melted down to produce cut-rate Dovo costumes) as well as trying to arrange a TV reunion of the original SDG/With Stevie Winwood, Muff Win wood and Peter York. It's not going to be all that easy thodgh since Muff is now head of CBS A&Rin the U.K. „ and 1 Stevie's working on a new LP.of his own . Nonetheless, Spence has come up with a brand new single to kick off the anthology package, "1 Would Like T© See You Agairl ,''on which ^tevie will play mandolin add BUI Wyman will play bass.

O n Tour

Rod Stewart; Thin Lizzy; Erifc ClaptonpBill Haley & the Comets; 999; Sad Cafe; Stevie Wonder, Graham Parker & the Rumour; PeterTosh; Martha Reeves; The Hollies; Elvis Costello; The Babys; Alice Cooper/The Rubinoos; Amazing Rhythm Aces; Temptations; Tom Robinson B4nd; Bob Welch; Sammy Hagar; McGuinn, Clark & Hillman; P-Funk; Brides of Funkenstein ; RoxyMusic; Dine Straits,; The v_ Ramones; Boston; Ted Nugent; Fabulous PoodlesjjAerosmith; Cheap Trick; The Outlaws; AC/DC; Eddie Money; Cheech & Chong; Toto; REO Speed wagon; Brownsville; George Thorogood& the Destroyers; Bad Company./J