June 1974
contents
It’s ta the point where my copy of RAW POWER is b’ginning to smell like raw snapper. Used it so many times, ya know. And each time, I’d look up after it wuz over, and the big spirit of L.Bangs in the sky would nod his approval. Gosh, rock and roll is the life, ya know.
BARNEY & MIKE
THE CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
Bachman-Tumer Overdrive: “BachmanTumer Overdrive II” (Mercury). This is what those of us. who once kihd of liked the Guess Who always hoped the Guess Who would become, and if that sounds dumb to the rest of you, you’re missing something. This is simple, even plodding, touched with Winnipeg hick, but Randy Bachman always had a way with the catchy riff, and Turner provides the overdrive.
ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS
According to one Japanese music magazine, the biggest draw concert attractions 10 visit the land of the rising sun in 1973 were (in order): Yes. Diana Ross, Santana, the Cecil Taylor Trio, Leon Rusell&Shelter People, the Miles Davis Septet, the Temptations, Humble Pie, the McCoy Tyner Quartet and the Quincey Jones Orchestra.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Steve Rosen
Well, not quite. But these touring limeys are such naughty boys they’ll throw everything but the mellotron into the pool whilst frolicking hotelside. What else have they got to do? Cruise K-Mart? Go to see Chariots of the Gods or Cinderella Liberty for the 533rd time?
DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL
I am not finding it any easier to listen to the radio. Having moved to Boston, ,1 find myself desperately longing for Wolfman Jack, who can make the most banal trash interesting, if only at the beginning and the end of the record. The most creative acts I’ve witnessed in Boston radio — at least musically:
Features
The Bryan Ferry Story: A HOLLYWOOD Production
Simon Frith
Big scruffy room. Cracks on the ceiling, grand piano, pop art, singles scattered on the floor.
Friendly Sex with Maria Muldaur
Michael Goodwin
“The amount of come you’ve inspired over the years!” says Bonnie Raitt. “It’s legendary.” “Yeah,” says Maria D’Amato Muldaur, “but none of it gets delivered directly.” “Actually, I’d kinda like to go easy on the sex,” I say. “Why?” says Maria.
Features
TRANSCENDENCE OF THE ORGASM
Lester Bangs
Field Tripping With Deep Purple
ANGIE: Life With David or When Will Those Clouds All Disappear?
Charles Shaar Murray
I’ll never forget the day Angie Bowie rang me up and asked for Nick Kent’s address.
Features
The Confessions Of Marianne Faithfull: As Years Go By
Andrew Tyler
Marianne Faithfull is no longer the beautiful child with Andrew Loog Oldham’s commercial face and empty eyes.
DAVID ESSEX: A Rock 'n' Roll Dropout Finds His Way Home
Richard Cromelin
It was called the Everons, David Essex says with a helpless laugh, speaking of the blues band he led in the early 60s.
Eleganza
Maggie Bell: Fine Hard Sell
Lisa Robinson
I’ve wanted to see a woman really rock and roll now for so long.
UTTER TRASH
Mike Baron
Bad news for all would-be cartoonists: Bet you didn’t know about the curse which went along with the job. That’s right, it’s called “Cartoonists’ Curse,” and it’s the 47th most dangerous occupational hazard in the U.S. according to a Dept. of Labor study, and it’s almost universal in the trade.
Letter From Britain
Of Revivals & Ronson
Batley Variety Club is situated slightly off at a tangent from Leeds, deep in the bowels of England’s roast beef and puppy-fat hinterlands.
Rewire Yourself
Hey Kid, Wanna Be A Big Wheel?
When you’re in a recording studio one of the first things you notice is the, size of the reels of tape.
PLAY IT LOUD
The last thing most musicians concern themselves with is microphone technique, although how you sing into a mike is as important as how you finger a chord or hold a pick. Part of the rock litany, “I can’t understand the words,” results from the improper use of the microphone as a musical instrument.
Creemedia
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT: Stab Your Way To Fortune
Jaan Uhelszki
“I don’t know if you’re familiar with CREEM at all,” I begin to tell film producer Sean Cunningham in his spacious office in a sleazy building off Times Square.
SHORT TAKES
Harvey Zuppke
BUSTING (United Artists):: You probably think that the hardest part about being a vice cop is getting your face busted in by junkies or some big time dealers trying to blow your brains out in a crowded supermarket. Well, it’s not. The hardest part of being a vice cop is filling your mouth with bubble gum and philosophy with a punky put-on attitude and not looking like an asshole.
Confession of a FILM FOX
Frankenstein is here to stay... for a while. Horror shows are making a comeback. Why shouldn’t someone else rake in some of the loot that is making The Exorcist’s money belt swell. Paul Morrissey, who has long made films for Andy Warhol (Flesh, Heat, Trash), is currently making horror films in Italy.
Suck, Baby, Suck Gimme Yer Head
Kathy Miller
After hobnobbing around with Parisian deco-mick Oscar Wilde, after sitting in on hundreds of medical mutilations, after being slavishly obsessed with actor Henry Irving, after gorging himself to the gills on slavic-teutonic superstitions, Bram Stoker spewed out Dracula, a masterwork of horror, erotica and psychic subterfuge. It’s a book that leads to obsession and yearnings after power, Nietzschian supermen overlords.
Records
Mott the Hoople: Theatre Like A Horse Stampede
Ben Edmonds
Right away I like this album.
ROCK-A-RAMA
JOHN DENVER - Greatest HRs (RCA):: Ah Johnny, you've done the country proud. Toe head boy with cheeks of tan. John’s beeming bespectacled face with spacious white gleemles covers the album like a smiling tushie. Meanwhile, besides being a collection of everything you’ve heard, it's an enjoyable album.
WEIRD ROMANCES
Denis Kitchen