ROCK-A-RAMA

ROCK-A-RAMA

This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Richard Riegel, Richard C. Walls, Michael Davis, Craig Zeller and Jon Young.

THE HONEYDRIPPERS Volume One (Es Peranza)

Anyone who savored Robert Plant’s great performance of Elvis Presley’s “Little Sister" on Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea will be delighted to know he’s released an EP of roots rock. Now for the bad news: most of it’s junk. Joined by Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers, and other uncredited helpers, Plant spoils the occasion because he treats most of the songs like throwaways. “Sea Of Love,” for example, drowns in its own preciousness, undertowed by dopey strings. And does anybody need yet another bland rerun of Ray Charles’s “I Got A Woman?” Is Plant incompetent? Far from it, as the inspired “Rockin’ At Midnight” shows. With pumping piano and honking horns nipping at his heels, Plant gives Roy Brown’s jump-blues classic the sexy, wildeyed reading it deserves—you can practically hear the cops threatening to break down the door and stop the party. Hope Volume Two can pick up where “Rockin’ At Midnight” leaves off. J.Y.

THE DADS (Estate Record Corp.)

Where were these guys in ’79, when powerpop (q.v.) still seeemed like the way rock was gonna go? Yeah, I know, they were playing skinny-tie barband dues in the Seaboarded-up heart of America. By now, the Dads’ union of a 4 Out Of 5 Doctors twitchy-but-scrubbed sensibility with Cheap Trick romantic harmonies sounds more odd than happening. Which maybe is what pop should go for anyway, the oddballs where you find ’em. Inspirational choice of an inspirational foureyes: The Dads’ “Man With Machinery” sounds a lot more like Marshall Crenshaw than the Thomas Dolby (you might expect). R.R.

BILL EVANS More From The Vanguard THELONIOUS MONK Blues Five Spot (both Milestone)

These two albums of previously unreleased material would be a glut on the market if they weren’t so good—the Evans in particular is essential, a June ’61 date at the Village Vanguard with Scott La Faro, bass and Paul Motian, drums which well displays the group’s low-keyed lyricism and phenomenal interaction. Try it, you’ll either love it or fall asleep during the first cut. The Monk record is more of a grab bag, over half of it coming from the famous Five Spot/Johnny Griffin gig of ’58 while the rest is interesting filler, including Monk’s first recording of “Coming On The Hudson” and an alternate take of “Played Twice” from the Five By Monk album. No surprises here, but solid stuff, the Evans a good introduction to the pianist, the Monk for people who already have the habit. R.C.W.

THE GIRLS Girl Talk (Columbia)

Once Prince’s thin black duke, the breakaway Andre Cymone gets his own ladies’ auxiliary group too, and the Twin Cities Empire beat goes on & on. Sweet squeals atop a hard beat re-shuffle the home dreams even if the Girls aren’t so purient as Prince’s Apollonia 6 video harem. Or are they? Inspirational verse: “Ain’t got time to play no games/lf I have to/l’ll play with myself.” R.R.

NEW EDITION (MCA)

Besides being one of 1983’s livelier debuts, New Edition’s Candy Girl was an amazing updated tribute to the Jackson 5. A good part of the credit goes to Maurice Starr, who served as producer, arranger, chief composer and allaround guiding light. Unfortunately, Starr and the group have since parted ways and New Edition suffers from his absence. No less than six producers mess about with the boys here; the results are mainly a muddled mix of MORpop and smoothed-over soul. The one true standout exception is the delightfully superfine “Cool It Now” which will in no way chill you out. (A little early for these kids to be entering their mellowed-out phase, isn’t it?) C.Z.

BLACK UHURU Anthem (Island)

After months of remixing, restructuring, resequencing and replacing, a pleasing, unassuming little reggae album has been transformed into a potent, persuasive followup to Black Uhuru’s classic, Chill Out. That doesn’t mean sell out—if anything, these dressed-up, dubbed-up arrangements may sound a bit bizarre to the uninitiated ear—but Michael Rose’s humanistic exhortations resonate stronger when surrounded by this steaming electronic stew. For a bonus, we get a successful reworking of Little Steven Van Zandt’s “Solidarity,” complete with accompanying video. Unfortunately, it takes the place of a killer cover of Sly Stone’s “Somebody’s Watching You,” which will hopefully surface in some Stateside form soon. M.D.

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