45 REVELATIONS

45 REVELATIONS

DEPARTMENTS

KEN BARNES

Who’s that singing that nasty song? Janet Jackson?! And who’s produced that nasty vocal? Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, hottest production team in the land. I was a bit concerned about this much-praised (here and elsewhere) duo—not from a commercial standpoint, not after they snagged three of the Black/Urban chart’s top four one week, but artistically.

“Saturday Love’’ by Cherrelle was inescapably catchy but quickly cloying, Patti Austin’s “The Heat is Heat” was lukewarm, and even “The Finest” by the mighty SOS Band sounded like “Saturday Love” sideways.

And Janet Jackson’s first Jam/Lewis single, “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” also disappointed me; despite its obvious hook-city hit qualities, it seemed strangely devoid of melody and served mainly to irritate me...until the follow-up emerged. Now “Lately” sounds just fine as a blueprint for the masterwork, “Nasty.”

The production is awe-inspiring. When Janet requests a nasty groove, she gets a clanking lurching monolith descended from the Who’s “Disguises” and those apocalyptic industrial noisemakers like Test Department and Einsturz«nde Neubaten, a riff that could demolish Cleveland (rock ’n’ roll hall of fame and all). Yet buried in all that clangor is this little clicking track that sounds for all the world like popping gum the perfect complement to the casual too-hip-for-the-room drawl Janet affects to put those nasty boys in their place.

Her vocal is a revelation, assured offhand asides and cool disdain, with enough ambivalence to cast grave doubts on her pronouncement that “nasty boys don’t mean a thing.” And when she steps up the intensity, she displays a gritty tone I didn’t know she had in her, one that makes you realize Michael holds no monopoly on the family talents—watch out for Miss Jackson if she’s nasty.

I could go on for pages (haven’t even brought up the “no my first name isn’t Baby” scenario or the song’s inexplicable obsession with “nasty food”), but suffice it to say that Janet Jackson emerges as a true star, Jam & Lewis reclaim their production wizard laurels, and “Nasty” is Single of the Month.

Want another writer/producer to look out for? Pat Leonard is the co-producer/co-writer of Madonna’s gorgeous “Live To Tell” and is no slouch in the dance-pop arena either, as demonstrated on Evelyn King’s edgy, rockribbed “Better Deal” (check the carnival organ). Another past Madonna collaborator, Steve Bray, whose E.G. Daily record “Say It Say It” is probably the best Madonna derivation, has another good tune in the same vein with “Baby Love” by Regina (who made a neat little pop-rock LP a few years ago as Regina Richards).

(Why all this concentration on producers? Get ready for some sweeping generalizations. Black/urban/dance/supply-your-own-hyphenate music is principally a producer’s medium, with the producer putting more of a distinctive stamp on a record than, in marv cases, the artist. Similarly, country is a writer’s medium.

So if you’re expanding horizons and looking for good R&B/dance records, you have a good shot at finding it if you look for production credits like Jam/ Lewis, Nile Rodgers, James Mtume, etc. In country look for writer credits like Rodney Crowell, Bob McDill, Paul Kennerley, or [lately] Dave Loggins.

It’s a reasonably safe way to experiment. Pop-rock, by the way, leans toward the producer, but is more artistdriven than either black or country, and thus more of a risk when you're buying records sound unheard.)

Resuming our regular programming, Teena Marie (another superb producer) continues to impress. “Lips To Find You” is mostly a supercharged Rick Jamesian fast-funk excursion with melodic touches and passionate vocals reminiscent of her own great “Lovergirl.” Nice appropriation of “crystal blue persuasion,” too.

Even more than Jam/Lewis’s SOS Band classics, Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit” is the standard of excellence in the highly influential sensual midtempo roove genre. It’s cheering, therefore to report nat the new “Breathless” is a transcendent self-imitation of the most flatteringly sincere type. Yarbrough & Peoples sound somewhat like their better past records and a bit like Rene & Angela as well on the entrancing “I Wouldn’t Lie.”

The more I hear “I Can’t Wait” by Nu Shooz, the more I’m convinced it’s the “Good Times” of the mid-’80s—purported joy undermined by wistful melancholy, plus a monster bass on the hook. A tense, stunning record, and now it’s received the same Lind of tribute the Sugarhill Gang awarded the Chic tune on "Rapper's Delight”—rapper Spyder-D has employed the Nu Shooz groove as the bed for his “I Can’t Wait (To Rock. The Mike),” which is, sadly, notable more for the gesture than for any intrinsic value of its own.

Quicker takes: that John Cougar Mellon* camp version of the Left Banke’s “Pretty Ballerina” I was anticipating last column is an intricate and quite faithful live version. After the Stones’ arthritic first single (which sounded more like “Harlem Shuffleboard”), it's encouraging to hear the power-charged “One Hit (To The Body)” rocking out—nasty intro. The Bangles’ “If She Knew What She Wants” is a glorious rendition of one of Jules Shear’s finest songs, a more-than-worthy follow-up.

Jackson Browne’s “In The Shape Of A Heart” is the prettiest song he’s released in a while, not to mention an affecting deployment of the song’s central image. You don’t expect a big-production bells-and-whistles pop extravaganza from the Ramonas’ uncompromising hardcore enthusiast, Dee Dee, but “Something

To Believe In” is all-out pop, as well as the second straight stellar single from the band, following “Bonzo Goes To Bitburg.” Philadelphia newcomer John Eddie’s "Jungle Boy” is a fascinatingly blatant mixture of Gary Glitter and “Gimme Some Lovin’.”

Bold country move of the month is Waylon Jennings releasing his cover of Los Lobos’ “Will The Wolf Survive”—a solid treatment of a modern classic (not quite sure about those mandolins, though). Bold country stance of the month is the Bo Diddley/garage rock riffing (with soul band horns) on Marty Stuart’s “Honky Tonker”—the title is about the only thing country on this Steve Forbert stormer.

Overseas, the Mighty Lemon Drops rev up an imposing guitar noisewall on “Like An Angel” and the slightly Eddie Cochranish “Now She’s Gone.” “Something Must’ve Nailed Us Together” by the Lon Bright Combo marks the return of Wreckless Eric, always a subtle songwriter, along with great grungy Who/Creation riffs and, on the flip, the murkiest version of “Mona” ever recorded.

Felt moves to England’s ultrahip Creation label and, produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, takes a surprising right turn from insubstantial ethereality to pure Lloyd Cole territory (Dylanesque subdivision) on “Ballad Of The Band.” Freight Train’s “Man’s Laughter” is a swirling confection of folk-rock and art-pop, and one wonders if the “Joss Cope” on organ is any relation to his royally eccentric psychedelic majesty Julian Cope. (Bam-Caruso Records, 9 Ridgmont Rd., St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.) And finally the Church have their first U.S. single since 1982’s marvelous “Unguarded Moment,” and it’s a gem entitled “Columbus,” something like what the Zombies might have sounded like with guitars, instead of keyboards, dominating.