ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK • A • RAMA

RED ROCKERS — Good As Gold (415/Columbia):: The general tone of this, the second album by the politically-oriented Red Rockers of San Francisco (by the way of New Orleans), is aptly struck by the inscrutable jaun-" tiness of the delightful “China,” a song whose lilting sound can best be described as “implied' Byrds.” Meaning that, although there’s certainly an underlying consciousness in there somewhere, it’s neither the point nor the effect of the track overall. The softer, less obsessive cuts here are the ones that work best and help separate Good As Gold from the band’s correct-but-cold debut LP, cuts like the charged “Change The World Around,” and “Fanfare For Metropolis,” with its fine, melancholy-laced piano. Remember, guys, the medium is the message, and the next album should be even better than this promising one. B.A.

TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME—Once In A Lifetime (Verve):: Lifetime was there at the birth of fusion, when the music was a squalling infant, thrashing about wildly in search of new ways to organize sound, not the timeclockpunching sessionman most of it is today. Williams had been Miles Davis’ Hmesmasher for years; here, he proved himself as heavy as Bonham with twice the technique. Larry Young was the only organist to play with Hendrix on an equal footing and before he became stylized, guitarist John McLaughlin was a mother like no other. Since most of this album is improvised, there may be spots you’ll wanna skip over—like the ones where Tony opens his mouth—but at their many peaks, Lifetime paradoxically defined what fusion could be—and would never be again. M.D.

LOS ADMIRADORES—Bongos (Command):: Understanding one thing, bongos are rock’s true forgotten instrument. First it was the sax and the slap-bass, then the guitar, now it’s the synthesizer, but back when rock ’n’ roll was scudding across the floor in its paisley diapers, it was the bongo that punctuated the night air. Remember “Bongo Party” by the Arrows? How about all those nights we spent with Sharon Tate and Hugh Hefner on Playboy After Dark, eh!? How about Mission Impossible and Man From UNCLE? All were visually attuned to the beat of the bongo. The bongo, hell, the bongo was hot long before the third world took over the consciousness of the first world and told us that the conga was THE cool instrument. Anyway, this collection by Los Admiradores is kinda like bongo muzak, what with its charged-up versions of “Londonderry Air” (take that, Clash), and “Blue Moon” (eat worms, Elvis), and “Unchained Melody” (say hey, Bill Medley and Hall & Oates, this is pink-eyed soul), and “Sylvie” (only this fails to better the version done by Harry (Day-0 Man) Belafonte). If you think you’ve lived well, you haven’t until you’ve heard “Greensleeves” done bongo style... This review

This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Billy Altman, Mitchell Cohen, Michael Davis, Joe Fernbacher, Richard Riegel and Richard C. Walls.

will self-destruct in five seconds. J the f COLLIN WALCOTT/DON CHERRY/ NANA VASCONCELOS-Condone 3 (EMC):: These internationally-oriented sonic explorers are getting looser and less academic as time goes on. Oregonian Walcott avoids Indian scales whenever he picks up his sitar here, while Cherry keeps his trumpet statements pithy and melodic. Some of this stuff is pretty ethereal but there’s one track I keep coming back to and that’s Cherry’s “Clicky Clacky,” a Third World railroad blues performed on non-Westem instruments that works well despite its cultural audacity. M.D. TEXAS DANCE HALL FAVOURITES (Ace import):: Some unknown factors should remain so. Texas Dance Hall Favourites sprinkles over its 15 cuts no less than one-third by an outfit called Charles Christy and the Crystals, a cover band who in 1965 stumbled through a bizarre range of material: the Yardbirds (Christy has only sketchy knowledge of the lyrics of “For Your Love,” and the drummer slightly more familiarity with the beat thereof), Don & Dewey, Conway Twitty, Brian Wilson’s “In My Room.” As the notes point out, “Information about Charles Christy & the Crystals is limited.” So is their talent. To balance things out, there are a couple of tracks from Joe King Carrasco’s El Molino LP, the Ron-Dels’ irresistible medley of “Just A Gigolo” and “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” tunes by an early Del McClinton with the selfsame Ron-Dels, and Augie Meyer doing‘Tm A Fool To Care,” the archetypical “Mathilda” and two other recently-cut sides. AH lapses considered, a fun tour of the wide expanse of Tex-Mex territory over the past 20 years. If there are more tracks like “You Can’t Untell A Lie” lying around, a full-blown Ron-Dels and/or McClinton package’d be welcome. M.C.

BA1KIDA CARROLL-Shadows And Reflections (Soul Note/Polydor Special Im-

ports):: This one comes across as sort of an ’80s equivalent to a ’60s Blue Note: hot blowing by a handful of heavies over a powerful, post-bop rhythm section. The entire quintet deserves credit for making the album work so well but special mention must go to reedman Julius Hemphill and pianist Anthony Davis, two of the most original writers in the music, who set aside their compositional quirks for a sideman status that lets them relax, dig into Carroll’s tunes, and play their respective asses off. M.D

THE WORK—Live In Japan (Recommended import):: Buncha arterioschoolrosis types playing in the paper-house of the rising sun land to the East, not quite yer average Budokan blowout, but the Jap kids applaud politely at all .the right places so they seem to know what’s what. Good, they can tell me, the Work could be casually filed under “Pere Ubu Music” if you’re so inclined. Lots of theoreticaUy random (but actually very disciplined) heliumhead voke squeals, guitar strumdums, raunchy whitespace fragments. It all sounds better and better the less I consciously wanna “know” about it, a good nostril-honk suite as these trenchmouth trench ants go... R.R THE NIGHTHAWKS - Ten Years Live (Varrick):: D.C.’s Nighthawks have been regarded as one of the East Coast’s best blues bands for some time now and this live New Year’s Eve show should convince just about everybody everywhere else. From the moment they kick into “Guard Your Heart,” these guys get down with raw-edged guitar licks, juicy harp lines and a variety of vocal approaches. The Fab T-Birds haven’t cut an album this hot (yet) and-George Thorogood hasn’t done so recently; what more do you need to know? M.D.

ANDRE CYMONE—Livin’ In The New Wave (Columbia):: Prince’s megaman ascendancy of rock’s consciousness isn’t even halfrealized yet, and already he’s got splits from his Twin ^Cities Empire thwack troops. Andre Cymone used to hoist a mean bass for young Lavender Legs; now Cymone’s on his own in the Prince-of-princes route, and while the usual rhythm hunkerings are intact, Mr. C. just ain’t got his former employer’s flair with a purplehazed concept. Fact, in songs like “All I Need Is You,” Cymone comes dangerously close to the Commodores’ handkerchief-brained, crackerbarrel vision of “soul.” Prince was put on Earth to rescue us from just such bourgeois capitulations, so I’d advise sticking with Him (pantyhosed extremities and all) for the now. R.IL

MODERN ENGLISH—After The Snow (Sire):: Perhaps the most aptly-named band on the slopes, Modem English play Modernized U2 drums, Modernized Joy Division basses, Modernized Banshee guitars and other Modern styles for your pleasure. They combine ’em OK but, except for their dance hit, “I Melt With You,” their tunes don’t leave many footprints behind (if you catch my drift). M.D.