ROCK 'n' ROLL NEWS

ROCK 'n' ROLL NEWS

Public puke on nukes! Madison Square Garden will play host to a super dooper anti-nuclear benefit September 18 and 19, featuring Jackson Browne, the Doobie Bros., James Taylor (who even looks like a victim of radioactive fallout!), Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, John Holland a cast of thousands. But even if you'vegot the moolah for a ticket ($18.50 and $19.50b.s.—before scalpers), you might as well stash it away for a mushroom-clouded day since both shows sold out within an hour of being announced. Meanwhile, tomorrow's highs for the nation will be85 in New York, 82 in L. A., 73 in Wichita Falls and 6029 at Three Mile Island.,)

Somebody turn off the bubble machine! After finishing a set with | Robert Gordon at L.A.'s Roxy, f Chris Spedding whizzed down the Strip to join John Cele for an encore at the Whiskey, which went on., .and on...and on until Gale finally pulled the plug on him. Give the guy a break, Chris—he's not getting any younger..,

Dovid Arnoff

Don't cream yer jeans over rumors that Led Zeppelin are in £1 Lay finishing off their new LP. Tain't so, Joe—they're still chasing the elusive final vinyl in merry of (when

Jimmy Page isn't dedicating new breakwalls in nearby fishing villages, that is).

Maybe home studios are a good investment: Mickftaatvxood :

-came home recently to find his humble lily pad badly burgled, to the tune of $7,000 worth of goodies,..

Loooue those fingernails: Fnmh^ Zappa's song, "Jewish Princess," is the target of an FCCcomplaint filed .by the Anti-Defamation League. /The Jewish organization first heard about the tuhe after it was aired on anL.A. radio station. A number of offended listeners then reported it to the League. Although the station hastily agreed never to play the song again, Zappa answered the complaint in a

"some-of-my-best*frierids" fashion by posing for photos with all the Jewish ladies in his record company's publicity department. Beware of strangers bearing gree n bagels, Frank... 1

Brad gttermon

Signed, sealed, delivered: Hungarian singing star Gone

Simmons and his goil Cher visited Bat Liz's lawyer recently to

take care of biz, namely, signinga "pre-livinsg agreement." Aboycari't

be too careful these days.

Good kick, but where'sthe bux? Former Allman sibling Chuck Loavoll is suing the recently reformed Allman Brothers Band for $55,000, which he claims Sfe still owed him in record sale royalties following the ABB * break-up a few years back. Chuck has further nixed tire idea of joining Gregg Allman's new fine-up, satisfied with the success of his own band, Sea Level (if he's so satisfied, whafs he doing in court???) In a similar action, the Beatleo(yup, off of'em) and Apple Records are suing Capitol and EMI for $5 million, charging that the patent record company tailed to pay

released between 1962 and 1976. (As if they realty need more money,

Praise the lord and pass the chicken

soup: Bob Dylan's upcoming LP is reportedly chockful of that oldtime religion (as well as Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler). Geez, didn't Guyana teach him anything?

Addendum to Clapton wedding new§ of last month: the celebration continued transcontinentally, with a concert at old E. C.'s manse involving George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Pant McCartney, & Slowhand hisself, in honor of his 'wedded bliss with Patti Boyd (George's ex, of course). No sight of John Lennon, who was either herding cows or holed up in the Dakota, where it's reported Yoko won't let anyone see him, including first wife Cynthia.

§\' gjCv.ijH ;.'A ,*I In other marital merry-makings, Lesley Thomas filially made an honest john out of boyfriend Dave Edmnnds recently. The bride wore white, but was definitely outdazzled by Davie, who turned up for the solemn occasion resplendent in leopard-print drapes. All present (including Elvis & Maxy

S. Newmon

Costello, and best man Jake Riviera) had a marvelous time munching down a wedding cake shaped like a double bed..

Nikki CotvotteA The Convertables, now known simply as Nikki&The Corvettes, have a new single in the can (which gives some of us a pain in a similar location) called "Honey Bop," an old Wanda Jackson toon. The rag tops are currently dizzy (uh, that's busy) working on an album.

Don't leave home without it: 20-year-o!d Ike Turner,: the son of that rare coupling of Ike & Tina, was arrested recently on suspicion of robbing a Bun 'n'Run eatery in Hollywood. Didn't they accept Master Charge?

In The Studio

L. A—Cherokee: Dwight Twilley, Frankie Valli; Gold Star: MinkDeVille, Yvonne Elliman, Ramones (Phil Spector producing); Sierra/Pacific: Delaney Bra mlett; Record Plant: Robin Williams; San Frartcisco—Filmway s/Heider: Nicolette Larson, Sammy Hagar,

Pink Lady; Nashville, TN—Jack Clement Recording: Willie Nelson; RY*RPM: J anislan ; West Side Studios: Bruce Springsteen;

Detroit—Ctoudbom: Mitch Ryder; Muscle Shoals: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Bob Dylan, Dr. Hook, Mary Travers (Peter Yarrow producing), Millie Jackson;

Hollywood—Pranaua: Rainbow; Miami—Criteria: The Eagles, Bob Seger & the,Silver Bullet Band; Elsewhere; Alice Cooper,

Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin,

John Lennon, Bette Midler, Pink Floyd, Mary Wilson, Warren Zevon.1

ROCK 'n' ROLL NEWS

Revenge of Satan's Playthings? Judas Priest leader Rob Halford has been opening U.$. 'concerts recently with a thrilling HarJey-Davidson ride onto the , stage. But the spirit of Evel Kowalski (you remember—the stuntman who tried to jump 100 motorcycles with a semi) got the best of Halford in St. Paul, Minnesota, when the chopped hog caught swine flu and went out of control, dragging a bewildered Rob along with it. Although Halford only I suffered minor cuts and bruises, the hog was remanded to Ranger Rick's Pork Paradise in Macomb, Illinois, for a complete overhaul.

AndreCsillag

Mary Wilson, the only surviving member of Detroit's once-glorious Supreme* (if you don't count Diana Ross, that is—and most people don't}, has signed a sob -contract with her former company, Motown.

Speaking of solo flights, since the fate of the Dead Boys is still up in the air, Sthr Rotors decided to take matters into his own claws by signing a solo contract with Bomp Records. Stiv's new single, a pop dittie entitled "The Last Year" b/ w "it's Cold Outside," comes in a picture sleeve. But, as an added attraction, there's also a pic of Stiv's adorably cratered mug on die record label itself (though the hole in the middle makes it hard to teD if it's Ba'tors or Alfred E. Newman). Act now and you'll receive a beautiful set of six vasectomy scalpels asa special gift. But you must order now... Back to reality: Stiv also took the time whilein L.A. to join the Ramone* in a skinny-dipping soiree (do we hear strains of "Moon

Over Mia mi" in the background?) until someone alerted the cop shop. But when the Blue Knights arrived, only Dee Dee Ramone could be found, so he spent a few hours in the slammer crooning "I'm In The Nude For Love" 'til his compadres bailed him out. '

It's asking a lot, but can't we be civilized? Fans in Milwaukee (hold it—no further explanation needed. Well, if you feel you must...) were so upset when such luminaries as Mick dagger and Neil Young failed to turn up for the New Barbarian* show that it didn't take much to ignite an already jsmoldjgringlusg. Thespark flared when Ron Woodand friends refused to return for an encore, which enraged the local brewmeisters and led tothe destruction of the auditoriumand a large portion of western Canada (not really, but one can wish),

Whaddya mean, counterfeiting? They just wanna borrow id The Clash were turned down by die Bank of England after requesting permission to use a 20-pound note for their upcoming 1 Fought The Law EP. Back to the printing i press .. er, drawing board.

Robert Legon

And she who is not busy being bom: Olivia Newton-John is being awakened by demons in the night (caffeine will do it to you every time) telling her that she's headed for the last round-up. It seems she's been sinking deeper into a paranoid state (say, Utah) as her popularity grows, and now says "My fear comes from some inner guilt that everything is going so'weB that something hast©' go wrong." As they say, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch...

Melisso-Hill

Devo have (finally) completed their second LP, Duty Now For The Future, which should be in your favorite record shop as you read this and proves conclusively that not EVERY band Richard Riegei gfoms on goes down in flames...

You can') tell the players without a : scorecard dept.: Thin Lizzy «j drummer Brian Downey was ' beaten to the proverbial pulp recently in England when hotel security goon§ mistook him for a freeloading fan. No respect...

Well, well, well! is it time to be a S * T * A * R? Something certainly seems to be a-brewing in the heart and mind of one Nick Lowe, who not only abandoned production chores for girlfriend Carlene Carter's new album (which you already know if you read last month's feature), but has also revealed he MAY NOT produce Elvis Costello's next waxing, muttering something about the need

for change. Anyone possessing said change may send it to Nick c/ ©this office. Proposed Lowe/Cafter nuptials definitely off.

Jackson Leg Mishap: In the middle of a particularly frenzied show in Houston, Joltin' Joe Jackson leapt off his electric piano to find his legs just weren't working properly; he sprained the ankle of one of his lengthy limbs. Then in Chicago there was no stoolforthe poor lad to rest his injuryupon, so he was forced to stand up throughout his set. By Detroit, Joe was gamely pogoing, although still "feeling some, pain." Wotta trouper.

If you want to see Lad Zeppelin (remember—oh, nevermind) before the year's out, better take a ride with Freddie Laker and pack a stash of cash; the boys are scheduled to headline the sixth Knebworth Festival concert August 4th, and it looks like it's tire only concertthey'll do this year. The still-untitled Zep magnum opus will be released at tire same time.. '

Who are these people? At a recent Atlanta concert, B.B. King was ^

powerless to stop Eric Clapton, Diana Rpss(?), Ryan O'Neal (whaaa?), and K.C. & the Sunshine Band (aw, c'mon!) from joining him onstage. Kinda makes you wonder if poor B.B. ever gets a chance to finish a show by himself.

Looks like the managerial waltz between Blondie and manager Peter Leeds is finally kaput .)

Alcohol propellant being tested in Jefferson Starship? Nah, as a master of fact, it looks like Grace Slick is sufficiently dried out and ready to make another go of it. But don't Slide it into high gear yet, cuz master cylinder Marty Balin has now slipped away from the Starship, only to be replaced (temporarily or whatever) by Mickey Thomas. Nobody move for five minutes and maybe you'll find a producer...

On Tour

Dire Straits; Bob Welch; Cheap Trick; Kiss; Blondie; Nick Lowe & Rockpile; lan Dury; Steve Hackett;' Peter Frampton; Joni Mitchell; Graham Parker & The Rumour;

The Cars; Abba; Yes; The Clash; Village People; Marshall Tucker Band; J. Geils Band; America; Allman Bros.; Rachel Sweet; Stephen Stills; Beach Boys.

Roberto Bayley