MEDIA COOL

THE BIG BEAT

Conversations with Rock's

Great Drummers

by Max Weinberg with Robert Santelli

(Contemoporary Books)

Max Weinberg, no slouch in the drum department himself (he's the guy who sits behind Bruce Springsteen onstage), interviewed 14 of rock's greatest living drummers for this book, ranging from the legendary (Ringo, Charlie Watts) to some lesser-known names (Earl Palmer, Hal Blaine). Fortunately for us nonpercussionists, the book is short on technical detail, but full of fascinating history and trivia (i.e., D.J. Fontana reveals that Elvis recorded the bass part on '[You're So Square] Baby, 1 Don't Care'; Johnny Bee [the Detroit Wheels] describes life on the road with a mid-'60s Dick Clark 'Caravan of Stars' tour; Hal Blaine describes a typical Phil Spector recording session; 'Pretty' Purdie explains his tempestuous relationship with James Brown, etc.), as well as some interesting misinformation (the arrogant Purdie claims he played on 21 Beatle tracks—a claim Ringo later denies). The Big Beat is a pretty amazing book—where else can you find first-hand accounts of some of rock's greatest moments, ranging from 'Hound Dog' and 'Lucille' to 'Be My Baby' to Aretha's 'Respect' to 'Jumpin' Jack Flash,' The Basement Tapes and Abbey Road? Essential (not to mention extremely entertaining) for any rock history aficionado. B.H.

Media Cool

This Month's Media Cool was written by Frank Fox, Bill Holdship, Keith Gordon and Richard C. Walls

MINOR CHARACTERS

by Joyce Johnson

(Washington Square Press)

If you can get past the most misleading cover since Sophie's Choice (which was sullied by romance novel graphics—here, we get a pitch to the Redbook crowd and a quote from People magazine) you'll discover an unsentimental but moving remembrance of the '50s New York beat scene. Johnson and Kerouac were friends and lovers and he and Ginsberg and Burroughs and the Orlovsky brothers roam thru the book as gifted, infuriatingly naive, well-meaning slobs of the Eisenhower years (one reacts ambivalently) . But her best portraitures are of herself and the other women who even the enlightened beat scene offered a severely limited set of alternatives—suicidal implosion, perpetual old-ladyism, muse-object status. An essential slice of recent American cultural history, effectively de-romaticized. R.C.W

HOLLYWOOD FILMS OF THE SEVENTIES

by Seth Cagin and Phillip Dray

(Harper & Row/Colophon Books)

Disproving the old adage that 'you can't tell a book by its cover,' Hollywood Films Of The Seventies features the book's title cleverly hidden in-between searching spotlights, which in turn shine upon such innocent articles as a handgun, an assortment of pills and a copy of the Kinks' Low Budget LP, overimposed with the subtitle (written larger than the book's actual title, no less!): 'Sex, Drugs, Violence, Rock 'N Roll And Politics.' Guess what this book is about, kiddies! An intellectual discourse on the social significance of the past 25 years in motion pictures in 300 pages or less, the book primarily covers 62 movies and mentions dozens more, effectively providing an average of less than four pages per movie (including a grand total of 65 photos, or a hair over one photo per movie!). Although the authors trudge through their impressions on such immortal and diverse flicks as Easy Rider, Patton and Kramer Vs. Kramer, they barely mention, or even acknowledge the importance of such '70s classics as Star Wars or even Rocky Horror. In their feeble attempt to present themselves as knowledgable hip film critics, Cagin and Dray have instead produced a flaccid compendium of motion picture facts and criticisms that true movie buffs knew (and forgot) years ago. K.G.

THE KARATE KID

(Columbia)

I was feeling kinda low and had seen every other film in town—so 1 went to this, expecting little more than a Kung Fu/Bruce Lee spin-off with some new teenybop idol I'd seen in 16 magazine. Well, I cheered, laughed, applauded and held onto the edge of my seat (along with the rest of the audience), and left the theater feeling GREAT! Sort of a cross between Rocky (director John Avildsen also supervised the original Stallone epic) and My Bodyguard, it concerns a new kid at school (Ralph Macchio), who's the victim of repeated attacks by a gang of 'rich kid'/karate expert bullies, especially after the head bully's ex-girlfriend takes a fancy to Macchio. The bullies get their karate training from a sadistic former Green Beret. Macchio gets his from a lovable Japanese apartment superintendent (Pat Morita in an Oscar-deserving performance), who teaches him spiritual and philosophical values as well as selfdefense. Of course, it all culminates in a spectacular karate tournament. Forget human barbecues, missing Vulcans and little monsters in microwaves. This is the 'feel good' hit of the summer. Leave your cynicism at the door, and it'll make you feel GREAT! B.H.

THE WELL-BUILT ELEPHANT

by J.J.C. Andrews

(Cogdon & Weed, Inc.)

Today it's hard to buy a hamburger inside a giant sad-eyed puppydog. The blue whale car wash is almost extinct: But these and other pieces of oddball architecture will at least live on in this book. The text and many photos preserve an America vanishing along the old highways. It's a land of restaurants built to look like fat coffee pots and juicy hot dogs, a barbecue stand in a little piggy, and an owl-shaped ice cream store. These places give bad taste a good name. Some are so hideous, you wish they'd build one next door. But probably not a joint called the 'Booby Trap' which resembles ...well, even a building can be sexist. F.F.