45 REVELATIONS

45 REVELATIONS

KEN BARNES

As black artists make greater inroads on pop, the music seems stronger than ever. For the first half of 1986, crossovers from the Black/Urban chart made up almost 30 percent of the Top 15 pop hits, a 12-year high mark. And when you add in the myriad white dancebeat-based hits, there’s no question about what’s pop radio’s dominant sound. As black music’s influence increases, so does its variety. Case in point: the two Singles of the Month.

The Jets’ “Crush On You” was a definitive bopper crossover, but I like “Private Number” even better. With its fairground organ, marshmallow harmonies, and tricky rhythm section, it represents the full flowering of the New Bubblegum— adorable kids’ music with enough complexity to entrance adults as well.

The other winner is miles removed from bopper territory. Randy Crawford’s “Can’t Stand The Pain” is a gorgeously mature, restrained performance, all slowbum intensity and something like a late-’60s Motown Gladys/Martha/Marvelettes record. I especially like the slightly astringent piano accents (in the Chic tradition—early Madonna producer Reggie Lucas can take some bows).

On “Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On But The Rent,” Gwen Guthrie obviously finds money’s too tight not to mention; it’s her sole preoccupation (“A fly girl like me needs security”) on this brilliantly sparse production (by Guthrie herself), highlighted by a snaky, jagged guitar riff worth its weight in gold.

Over the last few years, Deniece Williams has been productively exploring new paths. “Wiser And Weaker” continues the trend, being an environmental/political protest song encased in a light-but-tough funk setting powered by organ riffs out of the “Mustang Sally” era.

The Def Jam label’s output has ranged from intellectually interesting but unlistenable to just plain unlistenable, to my mind, but Oran “Juice” Jones’s “The Rain” is a perfectly lovely piece of midtempo melancholia (and I’m a sucker for bells).

I’ve been fascinated by the intricate baroque dance creations fashioned by Scritti Politti and Arif Mardin, but have been put off by Green Gartside’s wispy vocals. Now that the Scritti/Mardin dream team have collaborated on the characteristically complex “Love Of A Lifetime” for a real singer, Chaka Khan, I’m able to deliver an unqualified endorsement.

“Stop And Think” is an assertive dance number with wistful Regina-style bridge that comes in two simultaneous versions, Fire On Blonde’s boisterous, pop-styled treatment and Michelle Goulet’s edgier, subtler performance. Both are worth a shot. “Out Of Control” by Meshay is yet another in a seemingly unending series of gimmicky, melodically appealing dance records sung by females with one name (Princess, Regina, Shannon, back to Madonna and beyond).

The Four Tops’ “Hot Nights” is their best in some time, evocative in the “Nightshift” vein and also notable for its cowriter, a successful jingle composer named Joey Levine who in his salad days wrote “Yummy Yummy Yummy,” “Chewy Chewy,” and other classics of the first bubblegum era.

Britain’s contributing to the global dance scene, with the consistently fascinating Colourbox turning a great mid-’70s song by melodica (the Hooters’ signature instrument)/dub master Augustus Pablo into a crushing guitar/bass pop-dance-reggae artifact, sparked by Lorita Grahame’s vocals. (Title is “Baby I Love You So.”)

“Give This Heart” by Woyehyeh is an obscure but marvelous girl group pop dancer that makes me reappraise producer/cowriter Jon Moss (of Culture Club)’s talents upward by several magnitudes. Hope the group doesn’t disappear.

One U.K. group that’s in no danger of disappearing is longtime 45 Revs faves Bananarama, back after a couple of stiffs with a clever cover of “Venus.” At first I thought it was desecration, but frequent exposure has made me realize all the elements of the Shocking Blue classic are there, and it makes for energetic radioactive material.

I have no idea how Billy Bragg, armed only with an electric guitar and a very limited (to be charitable) voice, fashions such moving songs. “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” is a reflective testimony to the impact of music on the emotions, while “Think Again” (written by Dick Gaughan) is a less condescending variation on the theme of Sting’s “Russians,” addressing the peace issue directly without wasting time wondering if the Russians love their children too.

The Bible’s “Graceland” is a pleasant U.K. surprise, a tightly-constructed, yearning song vaguely along Lloyd Cole lines (Backs Records, St. Mary’s Works, St. Mary’s Plain, Norwich NR33AF, England). Pete Shelley’s dense, rock-edged “On Your Own” sounds like his best since Buzzcocks days, while Joe Jackson’s “Home Town” is unpretentiously tuneful.

Australia continues to churn out highorder rock raveups, with the Huxton Creepers’ “My Cherie Amour” (not, fortunately, the Stevie Wonder cabaret item) sounding every bit as transcendent as the best Hoodoo Gurus pop stuff. The Some Loves’ “it’s My Time” is a little bit more folk-rocky, but otherwise could have come out of the same sessions. And Adelaide’s Play Loud have those guitars ringing and harmonies shimmering on the poppy “Treat It Like Any Other Day.”

TURN TO PAGE 58

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Finally, what would a recent 45 Revelations column be without a Rosanne Cash plug? Her fourth single from Rhythm & Romance combines the sad-but-defiant ballad “Second To No One” and arguably the album’s best production rocker, “Never Alone”; both great. And Rosanne’s husband, the brilliant songwriter Rodney Crowell, rocks pretty well in a “Little Queenie” style on “Let Freedom Ring,” a taster for an album, “Street Language,” that is equally revolutionary in dragging country into the rock realm and contains some potential crossover killers. Extend an ear.