ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

Comic Relief

Now that all the worlds have blurred, this would be a fine time to check out Scout, a comic published by the high-quality Eclipse line. Lately the storyline has revolved around a burgeoning battle-of-the-blues-bands in a near-future Earth—a future in which the United States has degenerated, if you can believe it, into a third world country. A dreadful turn of events, to be sure.

Most newsworthy, to this Bureau’s mighty gaze, is issue #19—it features a complimentary blues flexi-disc of two tunes~ "Double Moon Stomp” and "Blues Crusade,” both composed by the comic’s creator, Timothy Truman, and both performed by a group of Pennsylvanians know collectively as the Dixie Pistols.

Says Eclipse Editor-In-Chief Cat Yronwode: “We want to be sure that people understand that this is not a ‘dramatization’ of the story. This is the actual soundtrack—music to be played while reading the comic book.”

We want to be sure people understand that, too—and hope that, by applauding Eclipse’s canny move, the long hoped-for Circle JerkslAquaman product will finally surface.

R.E.M. have been working on their next album at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studios with Scott Utt co-producing; a September release is planned... After months of trying our utmost to obfuscate things, we can now relate that the Church have signed with Arista.. .Inexplicably, this fine Bureau has heretofore failed to report that Robyn Hitchcock has also inked that American major deal, his with A&M. The cryptic Hitchcock told Rock ’n’ Roll News his album (tenatively called Tropical Flesh Mandala, at least by the Piscean One himself) should be out around September. When asked if it will be a Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians album, he forthrightly said it will be “something very like it.” OK.

Metalllca’s James Hatfield has kept his band’s string of misfortune going by breaking his arm—the same arm, in fact, that’s attatched to the wrist he broke some time ago when Metallica were touring with Ozzy Osbourne. "I guess it’s time to get out of skateboarding,” Hetfield sanguinely observed.

In ex-X news, Billy Zoom has joined the Blasters and Dave Alvin, ex-Blaster, has left X, keeping the mystical circle intact. Alvin is reportedly working on a sold album for CBS.

You recall that Doors video we were telling you about last month—Live At The Hollywood Bowl? Well, on the soundtrack going out for radio airplay, a grand total of 36 “fuck” ’s (courtesy of Jim Morrison) had to be edited out of “Light My Fire” alone. You’ll get a chance to count ’em on the unexpurgated home video, for kicks.

Pink. Floyd Finale?

Pink Floyd may be finis, but Roger Waters keeps on keepin’ on: in addition to his Radio K.A.O.S. LP, which should be out just about now, he plans to kick off a worldwide tour late this summer. Look for Waters’s tour to hit the States this fall.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Rog have issued the following statement, which we reprint here for the heck of it: “Pink Floyd recorded a number of highly successful albums between 1967 and 1983, including Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall. Roger Waters was the major songwriter and producer of the albums as well as the lead singer and creative force. The dispute with the other members of Pink Floyd is proceeding in the courts to resolve the question of rights to the name and assets of Pink Floyd, which include the many stage effects used in the past. This litigation will probably not be resolved until 1988 at the earliest. Despite press reports to the contrary, Waters has not dropped any of his claims. Waters will not again record or perform with Dave Gllmour and Hick Mason under the name of Pink Floyd or at all.” meanwhile, we hear that some version of Pink Floyd is recording in L.A. even as we go to press.

Hopefully, none of this will interfere with our plans to reprint the cover of Atom Heart Mother many, many more times.

In other vid news, Alan Baker—who produced the highly-successful CD-only Live At Winterland Hendrix thang—tells us that Hendrix’s entire performance at the Monterey Pop Festival was filmed, and will be seen on HBO soon as a 50-minute Jimi Plays Monterey show. The clip will include Hendrix’s set as well as him hanging out with Brian Jones and other mid-’60s luminaries. Baker is also putting together The Best Of The Jimi Hendrix Bootlegs, a double album (19 or 20 tracks) to be released by Warner’s. This one will come out on vinyl, CD and cassette, by the way.

The Litigations Desk reports that New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Dontzln has dismissed six of the nine causes of action in the Beatles lawsuit against Capitol and EMI Records. Among the stuff tossed out were claims of fraud and conversion, for which the Fabbers had sought punitive damages of $50 million.

Bad Rap!

The latest record store clerk to be arrested, at least to our knowledge, is 18-year-old Laura Ann Ragsdale of Calloway, Florida. In a Morrisonesque maneuver, Ms. Ragsdale sold a 14-yearold boy a copy of 2 Live Crew’s 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, and was subsequently busted under Florida’s good old state statute 847.012: “Prohibition of the sale of harmful material to persons under 18.”

Well, what’s so harmful about Crew’s rappin’ sound? It might’ve been “We Want Some Pussy,” a song that features these introductory lyrics: “I don’t care if you got three babies, you could work this dick in my Mercedes,” although we hate to be speculative. When we contacted Captain Chuck Robinson of the Bay County Sheriff’s Department, he told this Bureau that “The boy’s mother heard the tape her son had bought and found it pretty raunchy.” He added that, to his knowledge, it was the first invocation of the statute in their jurisdiction (the law dates from 1986). “People think we have a censor board down here,” Captain Robinson added. “It’s nothing like that.”

Under Floridian law, Ms. Ragsdale’s alleged crime—a third degree felony—carries a maximum sentence of five years in the pen. Happily, the state also has sentencing guidelines, which means the young lady—if convicted—will almost certainly be let off on probation, hopefully ending her lawless ways once and for all.

COME ALONG AND BE MY PARTY COW

Although this Bureau wasn’t invited—a tragic oversight, that!—this magazine recently threw a party to welcome itself to Los Angeles. Evidently, no one else was willing to do so.

In any case, the affair was quite successful according to our sources, whose word we’ll have to take since we weren’t invited. Guests were entertained by the Sons Of Mellencamp, an acoustic version of the legendary Angry Samoans, got to drink the legendary Boy Howdy brew, and even had their chance to meet world-famous cow Buttermilk, who’s been mutating towards human-ness of late.

Among the hundreds of extremely cool people in attendance that this Bureau’d surely like to meet someday were Little Richard, Ozzy Osbourne, producer Roy Thomas Baker, Marvel Comics’ creative legend Stan Lee, Kevin DuBrow, the inscrutable-yet-cheerful Japanese metal dudes Loudness, John Densmore, R. Meltzer, the inimitable Suicidal Tendencies, Carla Olson, Peter Zaremba, and the guys in Gluffffrla. John Cougar Mellencamp, while not in attendance, had his manager phone to extend John’s apologies for missing his "Sons” debut performance.

Oddly, reports of the ballyhooed handsomeness of this magazine’s editors have yet to reach this Bureau.