45 REVELATIONS

SINGLES GOING STURDY

45 REVELATIONS

(CREEM takes great pride in presenting 45 Revelations, a new singles column by Ken Barnes, one of the best music critics in the country —which he probably wouldn�t tell you, but we will. Look for this column every month in CREEM until instructed to do otherwise. Thank you.

— The Editors)

Ken Barnes

by

You might have run across this column, formerly titled �Stranger In Town,� in New York Rocker, where it appeared for six years, took a year off when the magazine did, and returned for two ephemeral issues early this year. If you�re in the large majority which hasn�t seen it, a brief explanation is in order. As the new title suggests, this is a column about singles, which I consider tbe essential medium for the compressed impact of the best pop and rock �n� roll—that single song, heard on the radio or in a record store or at home, that stops you in your tracks, sends shivers down your backbone, and reminds you once again of the sheer power music can have.

I�ll be covering mainstream American pop and rock; imports from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere; homegrown obscurities; a lot of black music; and maybe a little country. It�s great to have the column in CREEM, one of the few remaining popular rock magazines with any intelligence and the only one with a sense of humor. I�ll assume the same qualities exist in its readers (despite curious customs like your voting the Rolling Stones #1 R&B group for the last 35 years in a row).

My current obsessive single is Cyndi Lauper�s �Time After Time,� a dramatic change of pace from the relentlessly giddy �Girls Just Want To Have Fun�—touching sentiments and a gorgeous melancholy-tinged melody and vocal performance. Best thing on the radio. Otherwise, I�m captivated by New Zealander Sonya Waters�s �Feel Secure,� a �60s psychedelic/punk-flavored political rant, taut with extraordinary tension. Also extraordinary is �Fell From The Sun� by Clay Allison (refugees from L A.�s Dream Syndicate and Rain Parade), mournful midtempo ballad textures wracked by tortured guitar straight out of Neil Young�s Aztec-feverish fantasies.

I�m also enraptured with a raft of nouveau guitar bands. The best is R.E.M., whose shimmering �S. Central Rain� U.K. single is a representative sample of a stunning second LP (�Pretty Persuasion� is the ace). Next would be the Smiths, whose three British singles (especially �Hand In Glove�) and one U.S. LP provide a wealth of enigmatic lyrics for those who care about enigmatic lyrics and rich chiming guitars for those who care about more important things, like how a record sounds (catch �60s pop idol Sandie Shaw�s version of �Hand In Glove� too).

Also hot in this general vein: Wire Train�s pounding �I�ll Do You� (with fine non-LP flip), Irish band Big Selfs mesmerizing �Ghost Shirt�—a must for U2 fans, Big Country's �Wonderland� (best yet), the Sound�s U.K. double-sider �Counting The Days�/�Dreams Then Plans,� Echo & The Bunnymen�s �Silver� (neat strings), and closer to home, .38 Special�s solid �Back Where You Belong.� And look out for the passionate guitar attack of Scotland�s James King & The Lone Wolves, who suggest Big Country, Love and Television all on the same 5-song EP, Texas Lullaby.

Related to the above guitar glories are four singles from a new British label, Creation Records, specializing in capturing every spacy detail of late �60s flower-pop psychedelic. The Revolving Paint Dream�s �Flowers In The Sky�/�In The Afternoon� is my favorite,, but the Pastels� Seeds-ish �Something Going On,� Biff Bang Pow�s �Fifth Years Of Fun�/�Then When I Scream,� and the Jasmine Mink�s �Think� are worth checking out. The Barracudas, U.K. pioneers in this genre, have a new cruncher, �The Way We�ve Changed�/�Laugh At You.� And the grandmaster himself, former Teardrop Explodes leader Julian Cope, is represented by a relatively straight pop number, �The Greatness And Perfection Of Love� (enigmatically sung as �the greatest imperfection is love�), somewhat atypical of his bizarre World Shut Your Mouth LP.

One of Julian Cope�s great enthusiasms, along with the Electric Prunes and the Chocolate Watchband, is the music of Scott Walker. Walker, the American expatriate who sang great �60s pop hits like �The Sun Ain�t Gonna Shine Anymore,� contributed four bleakly atmospheric songs to a late �70s Walker Bros, reunion LP, and six years later invades the same sphere with the ominous drone of �Track Three� and a profoundly chilling album. Meanwhile, his earlier style is effectively emulated and updated by Scottish band Bourgie Bourgie on �Breaking Point�/�Apres-Ski.�

Spector is haunting Britain again, with the Reflections� �Searching� massing acoustic guitars, pounding drums, and pyramiding backing vocals for a pastoral yet powerful Phil-pastiche. Fiction Factory�s �(Feels Like) Heaven� U.K. hit adds synthesizers and skips the harmonies but is otherwise similarly enjoyable. Also mining this territory are Stranglers Dave Greenfield and J.J. Bumel with guest vocalist Maggie Reilly on �Rain & Dole & Tea,� the Alan Parsons Project�s �Don�t Answer Me,� Minor Detail�s �Take It Again,� and even the Thompson Twins hit �Hold Me Now.�

Many good black records from female singers around, including the third in a row by the SOS Band, �For Your Love,� more upbeat than the great �Just Be Good To Me� and a real mover and shaker. Starpoint�s �It�s All Yours� is a midtempo midperiod-Shalamar pleasantry, while Skyy slides in a stunner of a chorus to lift the curiously stiff (commercially) �Married Man� into the top echelon. Jenny Burton�s �Remember What You Like� is one of the best hiphop electro/ melodic pop-R&B fusions yet (Shannon�s �Give Me Tonight� is also a good one). My leftfield favorite, however, is �Sweet Remedy� by Monalisa Young, which reminds me of �Love _ Hangover� with a strong melody.

^2 On tougher turf, veteran Benny Latimore punches out the nastiest blues-rocker in some S time, �Hell Fire Lovin�.� Kool & The Gang take _§ Ray Parker Jr.�s rock explorations a step further Q with a terrific �Tonight,� with only the rhythm guitar betraying its black origins. System�s �I Wanna Make You Feel Good� weds their effective jittery style to a tune (at. last) for sparkling results.

Odds and ends worth noting include pop band Broken Edge�s insidious �Time For A Change�; an affecting rock ballad, �Fire In The Wire,� from Memphis�s Breaks and Jacqui Brookes�s catchy �Lost Without Your Love.� Eurythmics� �Here Comes The Rain Again� is a dreamy masterpiece, their best yet. �Head Over Heels� by the Go-Go�s is irresistible (great piano; great album, too). Christine McVie�s �Love Will Show Us How� is a fast-paced tuneful rocker, while Mick Fleetwood�s Zoo covers a great over-looked performance by the late Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, the heart-rending �Angel Come Home.� New U.K.�popsters Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones have U.S. hits of sorts with �Wouldn�t It Be Good� and �What Is Love� respectively, both characterized by killer choruses.

Finally, I was amazed when they did it once, but two good ones in a row from Yes thoroughly boggles me. �Leave It� could be an outtake from the Beach Boys� �Heroes And Villains� period, a daring, go-for-baroque vocal extravaganza that�s won me over once again. Producer Trevor Horn is in a class by himself these days.