ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK.A.RAMA

This month�s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Craig Zeller, Jon Young, Michael Davis, Bill Holdship, Richard Riegel, and Dave Segal.

RICK NELSON Greatest Hits (Rhino)

Excellent collection of all those golden yesteryear moments originally recorded for Imperial. That means none of the Decca stuff (little of which is golden with obvious exceptions like his transcendent reworkings of �Fools Rush In� and �The Very Thought Of You�) and 90 percent of his hits. UA�s Legendary Masters set is certainly more comprehensive, but this has the cream of the crop. Includes the eternal �Hello Mary Lou� and the ever-mobile �Travelin� Man�—along with a sublime trio of soundalike follow-ups! (They all sound great to me.) So long, Rick. C.Z.

FRANKIE MILLER Dancing In The Rain (Mercury)

Scotland�s big-voiced Frankie Miller has been cranking out fair to good platters for over a decade now, with little public response. The problem: no clearcut identity. He�s not an endearing spaz like Joe Cocker, a Rod Stewart-style sleazeball, or a bellowing Neanderthal like Paul Rodgers, just a real loud belter who�ll tackle any song that comes his way. The typically unfocused Dancing, his first outing in some time, accordingly ranges from delightful to dire. Drenched in obnoxious power guitars, �Do It Till We Drop� and �Game Of Love� epitomize bump-and-grind rock at its worst. At the other extreme, the poppy melodramas �I�d Lie To You For Your Love� and �How Many Tears Can You Hide� tug at the heart the way �Maggie May� usedta. A smart producer might be able to wring a consistently brilliant LP from Miller, but it hasn�t happened this time. J.Y.

MICRODISNEY

The Clock Comes Down The Stairs (Rough Trade import)

The name Microdisney implies grand joy or pleasure compacted to a small scale. A very ironic and fitting moniker, for Microdisney plumb the abyss of human anguish while making very pleasurable music. This is a great record with which to spend the night alone, just you and your dejection. Microdisney don�t write lyrics so much as minuscule stories with characters, plots, dialogue and all the rest of that good literary stuff. Each song subtly evokes a private sorrow coupled with doubt. Seems

these guys are unsuccessful with the opposite sex. The astute will notice that Microdisney share affinities with Prefab Sprout, but the former�s songs are less lavishly produced and have more lustrous melodies. And I prefer Cathal Coughlan�s rich, morose voice over that of the Sprout�s Paddy McAloon. D.S.

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI Luciano Sings The British Invasion (London)

A pleasant diversion here, as Italy�s answer to The Big Man attempts to gain some of the pop credibility Placido Domingo claimed with his last LP. This two-record set (the first in a series) features Pavarotti covering a wide assortment of mid-�60s British classics, including �I Feel Fine,� �Paint It Black,� �Glad All Over,� �A Well Respected Man,� �It�s My Life,� �Do Wah Diddy Diddy� and �Over Under Sideways Down,� among others. Some of this gets bogged down by the Pav�s emphasis on operatic precision, but when he really gets cooking— as he does on the Who�s �I�m A Boy,� Pink Floyd�s �See Emily Play,� the Pacemakers�

�I Like It,� Them�s �Gloria� and his stunning duets with Willie Nelson (on �The Sun Ain�t Gonna Shine Anymore�) and Pia Zadora (on �I Only Want To Be With You�)— this LP is a scorcher. And you ain�t heard nothin� until you hear Luce sing the line: �Superman and Green Lantern ain�t got nothin� on me.� Here�s hoping that MTV puts his �Do The Freddie� video into heavy rotation. (If you act fast, first pressings come with a Luciano Sings Early �60s American Rock EP, notable for his cover of the Newbeats� �Bread & Butter.� His delivery of the �She was eating chicken & dumplings with some other guy� line is classic—and you�ll undoubtedly feel goosebumps when he replaces the original �No, no, no� closing with an apparently spontaneous �I also like veal parmesan, lots of it, yeah!�) B.H.

JIMMY BARNES (Geffen)

I tell ya, we Yanks have come to a pretty pass when our own record companies are importing Australians to pose as native American-Heartland generic shouters. And Jimmy Barnes isn�t even 100 percent Aussie at that, even if he was head honcho of the popular Cold Chisel down under. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, which I guess is why his vocals sound as hoarse and gargled as those of Nazareth�s Dan McCafferty. Barnes is dressed down as a hopefully proletarian rock man on this package, but the simultaneous presence of Hollywood kidney-shaped-fortune owners like Mick Fleetwood, Kim Carnes, and Jonathan Cain rather thoroughly destroys that idea. If Jimmy Barnes wants to make any mark at all on the Upper 48, he�s gotta get out of the clutches of these ancient hippie tycoons.R.R.

MARC RILEY & THE CREEPERS Warts �n� All (In Tape import)

Riley & Co. are that rarest of breeds—a funny, great, rock group that doesn�t have to resort to gimmicks and/or parodies. A few years ago, Riley split (with his guitar and wry observations on ludicrous British pop life) from the mighty Fall, and since then he�s released a slew of LPs, EPs and 45s. This live thing gives the uninitiated a generous sample of the group�s dandy career. These 14 songs are powered by warped, carnivalesque keys, Velvety guitars and a rugged rhythm section. And Riley proves he was definitely the poppy element in the Fall; clever hooks are ubiquitous on Warts. Big surprise: a respectful cover of Eno�s �Baby�s On Fire.� D.S.

HERBIE HANCOCK AND FODAY MUSA SUSO Village Life (Columbia)

I guess this is what they call �world music.� American keyboardist Hancock meets African kora (a 21-stringed Gambian

harp) player Suso, and they team up, eventually making their way to Tokyo where they cut this series of sensitive-yet-spirited duets, with Herbie on a brand new Yamaha DX-1 synthesizer that he detunes to match the kora. The results are gentle enough to delight your basic new age burnout, b.ut infused with enough life for the rest of us. Since this is essentially improvised in real time, complementary sparks fly constantly between the performers, particularly on the side-long �Kanatente.� A low-key, ethnotech triumph. M.D.

SQUIRREL BAIT (Homestead)

Like many crucial Amerindie bands at the moment, Kentucky�s Squirrel Bait fall into that strange netherworld between (nomakeup) metal and (post) punk. After one listen of this eight-song debut EP, I thought of Husker Du fronted by the Replacements� Paul Westerberg. Yep, it�s that good. With such scouring songs as �Hammering So Hard,� �Sun God� and �When I Fall,� Squirrel Bait recalls the most exhilarating cuts on the Huskers� Zen Arcade. I don�t even care that the words are a blur; when the army of guitars storms my senses, it�s white noise bliss. D.S.

MENTAL AS ANYTHING Fundamental (Columbia)

With a name like that, what kind of band are they? Sorry, bub, there�s no easy answer. Five zany lugs for Down Under, the Mentals play a sort of warped pop that trashcompacts bits of boogie, country, blues,

Tex-Mex and �50s rock into one delightful, wobbly whole. Four compose and all of �em wisely see life as a ridiculous mess, good only for a tear-strained laugh. Subject matter on this, their third U.S. release, includes mindless pleasure (�Surf & Mull & Sex & Fun�), unhealthy relationships (�You�re So Strong�), alcohol abuse (�Splashing�), and more alcohol abuse (�I Just Wanna Be Happy�). All amusing, all with a ring of truth, and all guaranteed to improve your mental health. J.Y.

BUTTHOLE SURFERS Cream Corn From The Socket Of Davis (Touch & Go)

OK, it looks like the Surfs are going for more than the one-shot gross-out. They�ve got some kinda control over even their most demented ravings and they display real roots, ranging from the Red Krayola to the Dead Kennedys. They ain�t exactly consistent in the songwriting department, but this four-tune EP sports one bona-fide classic, �Moving To Florida,� which sounds like Beefheart�s �China Pig� being subjected to various cross-cultural indignities. Once you hear it, you ain�t likely to forget it, no matter how hard you try. M.D.