45 REVELATIONS

45 REVELATIONS

Ken Barnes

After last month’s lambasting of critics who don’t cover or appreciate mainstream pop and rock sufficiently, I had a stray thought that I might be guilty of the same offense. It’d be quite a trick to top the obscurity quotient in this column. But as a singles reviewer, a nearly-vanished species, dealing with a configuration of music even more ephemeral than the LP, I’m obliged to call attention to worthy obscurities before they disappear entirely.

Nonetheless, I could be spending more time examining the hits, because they fascinate me, particularly the way their qualities appear to change with heavy airplay. Madonna, for instance— I’m her most avid fan (just short of dressing up to look like her), but “Like A Virgin” left me cold until about the dozenth time I heard it on the^ radio, whereupon it revealed itself as one of the most skillfully-wrought and relentlessly catchy pop tunes of the year.

Pat Benatar, too—again, I’m disposed to like her; she makes underrated, absorbing records (“Love Is A Battlefield,” when separated from that pernicious video, is a fascinating song). But when I got “We Belong” just in time for last month’s column deadline, I listened and tossed it aside— only to realize after a week or two of airplay that its lilting Latin and electronic touches had hooked me good (though 1 tend to punch it off when those angels-on-helium backing vocals materialize on the later choruses). My faves Bananarama trick me sometimes, too—they have their immediate delights (“Cruel Summer” or their new U.K. 45, the pulsing drug putdown “Hotline To Heaven”) and their delayed time-release explosives, “Robert De Niro’s Waiting” and the current, initially drab-sounding but subtly astringent “Wild Life.”

John Waite looks to be developing into a quality mainstreamer. “Tears” is a little harder than “Missing You,” a lesser song but still tuneful and sung, as usual, admirably. Johnny Rivers was mainstream in 1964 when it meant covering old rock ’n’ roll songs with a fake live crowd noise tape loop; 20 years later he still makes up-to-theminute pop records. “Heartbreak Love” has crisp drums, a slight touch of Police rhythms, a great tune, and plucked guitar notes that sound like synthesizers (nice reversal).

But the biggest mainstream revelation is Don Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer,” a masterfullyproduced mood piece of defiant melancholy which at times reminds me of my mainstream idol Tom Petty (maybe because Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell co-wrote and co-produced).

In country, Emmylou Harris is a reliable source of quality records, and Bob McDill is a writer to look for on good modern country numbers. The combination on “Someone Like You” actually comes out fairly traditional, and quite lovely. Over in the dance field, meanwhile, we may have our first postnuclear apocalyptic dancefloor disk in Deodato’s “SOS Fire In The Sky,” staccato morse code drums and stoic desperation' from singer Camille.

More good pop hiphop from Tina B (for Baker, as in Arthur)—“Nothing’s Gonna Come Easy” is vintage girl group melody with today’s production techniques—an ideal combination. Gianni Sirenne’s “Do Whatcha Wanna Do” is a bit tougher, adding busy electronics and fuzz guitar for a pleasant rock effect. Speaking of rock, it’s all over Billy Ocean’s follow-up to the admirable but wearying “Caribbean Queen”— “Loverboy,” written by Def Leppard/AC/DC mastermind Mutt Lange, is essentially a Foreigner song with a black vocal grafted on—an AOR natural if they re hip enough to play it. Xavion, the group whose “Eat Your Heart Out” was such a searing slice of rock funk, pulls a change of pace with “Get Me Hot,” a slowish, stately ballad that runs their score up to 2 for 2. Kool & The Gang mine their rockish “Tonight” vein again in “Misled,” clean and streamlined.

Britain’s top pop contender this month is a gorgeous soulful ballad from Floy Joy, “Until You Come Back To Me.” Don Was’s production is immaculate, and Carroll Thompson’s singing evokes spinal shivers. June Kingston’s “Say You” sounds vaguely familiar (I can’t have heard it by its author, reggae toaster U-Roy); in any case it’s sure pretty. Depeche Mode move from a subpar sadomasochism outing (“Master & Servant”) to an expose of God’s “sick sense of humor” in “Blasphemous Rumors,” with grisly electronics and, paradoxically effective, one of their more winsome melodies. (An uneven singles group, they win some and lose some.) Meanwhile, the Redskins capsulize the class struggle in the rousing “Keep On Keepin’ On.”

Guitar pop continues to thrive with Hurrah’s “Who’d Have Thought”/“Celtic,” especially the enthralling flip (only on the 12-inch). Lloyd Cole & The Commotions’ “Rattlesnakes” is a warm, radiant upbeat acoustic number with swelling ’60s strings (“Buy For Me The Rain” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band comes to mind), although his incessant celebrity namedropping (Eva Marie Saint this time) gets a little irksome. The Truth perversely relegate their catchiest Jam-style pop-rocker, “Come On,” to the C-side of a 12-inch, preceded by two fairly limp mod-soul tunes (A-side “Exception Of Love,” if you’re looking for it).

In a more ’60s-styled revivalist vein, Sweden’s Pyromaniacs take a modified 13th Floor Elevators chord sequence and add Nicky Hopkins-style piano and Creation-type feedback for one of the best genre recreations of the year (title: “How Does It Feel”; address: PolyGram Records, Box 3093, 171 03 Solna, Sweden). Australia’s Lighthouse Keepers, on the excellent “Gargoyle,” sound a bit like Stevie Nicks singing a lost Velvet Underground song (fan club address: P.O. Box 996, Darlinghurst 2010, Australia).

Ann Arbor’s Map Of The World have a bit of a Nicks sound on the brooding rocker “Disconnection”; the male-vocal A-side, “Monkey Paw,” is an interesting rock tune as well (Stigmata Records, 1101 Pomona, Ann Arbor, MI 48103). “You Confuse Me” by Richard Sullivan has a light Buddy Holly feel and a contrastingly gruff vocal (Real Gone Records, 2724 Sumner, Lincoln, NE 68502). My favorite indie single of the month is from American’s new pop mecca, the North Carolina-Georgia axis: Three Hits’ “Sharp Focus” is luminous folk-rock (c/o Mathews, 203 Woodburn Rd., Raleigh, NC 27605).

NOTE: I’ve been trying to include addresses for independent and some foreign releases, but it’s been brought up to me that it would be nice to supply sources for U.K. and U.S. (major label) releases, too. One place that’s willing to help with your U.K. import desires via mail order is Texas Records, 2204 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405; (213) 450-4290—nice folks. But I’m stumped for U.S. singles sources; aside from the hits, American 45s can be the toughest records to find, since most stores don’t bother to stock more than 40-50 releases and the non-hits go out of print in about three months. I’d suggest looking for those rare stores dealing in used or promotional singles, or bugging local radio stations for the stuff they don’t want. But if any reader knows a store that’s willing to accept mail orders on a wide range of U.S. singles, let me know.