P~ge 6, The Retriever, November 6. 1979 Reviews Kenny Loggins~ Elton John ~Keepthe .Fire~ burns steadily~ but John a

By Julie Thompson medium from which the rc~t of the album Kcnny Loggins is onc of the few artist~ would do well to copy. who has not f1oundcrt'd miscrably aftcr breaking away from a sunocssful rcc:ording But Loggins makes clear that this is not duo to form a solo act. Celebrate Me Home the c'ase as he presents "Junkanoo Holi­ and Nightwatch, his two platinum-plus day," a tune that is as ridiculous as its ti tie. albums, have cstablish('d him firmly in the An apparent attempt to combine Jamaican ranks of SUCH'SS. In addilion, he coo-wrote musk, jazz, and f()("k produces a near tune­ the' Doobi(' Broth('rs' rec:ent single "What a less undireCledKeep the Fire. Side who is responsible for the Allman Brothers two's "Who's Right, Who's Wrong" with Band, Rod Stewarl, and many otllt'rs. bacokground vocals of Michael Jackson, and Inh('I"('nl inlhis swilch is Loggins' desire' 10 "GiVt' it Half a Chance," a dual effort of ('[ealean album Ihal compromis('s belw('cn St('Phen Bishop and Loggins, arc twoof the pop jan and guhy hard rock lie is again markedly mediocr(' songs. Keeping in mind hov(,ling "boul the midpoinl --hf a Bishop's single "On and On," his continuum, so thaI th{' r{'sult quitl' natlIIally is not shocking. While Ihe lilk contribution not surprisingly gears the cut t'x('mplifit,s Loggins' learning toward rhylhm down. The result would be fin.e if ~t Iht, rock ('xll'(,lIIily, Ihe full force of a hard weren'l so ('xtreme; as it stands, "Give 11 rocking tunt' is lost. III its('If, "Ke('p Ihe Half a Chanco(," brings thc pace to such a FiH'" is a (OatdlY, bill unaslOunding tune slow plod that th(' presence of a tune is whose outU)I}l(', it seel1lS, stands as a mod('1 almost und('(('c·tahle. "Will it Last," con­ for the ('ntire alhum. tinues in this mellow vein, but fortunately! Iht' heat is revived 10 thed('gree necessary for a fruilful min~lin~ with the poetic lyrics. At first, Ill<" flaws are uot obvious as "I.{)v(' lias Come of Agt''' ht'ads tht, album in au optimislic direcliou. The upheat What's more, "Will it Last" is thought­ rhyt hill and pouuding vocals an' a po~iliv(' fully arranged as the terminating song so Kenny Loggins . . step for I.oggius, whose goal is to energiz(, that it s('cms to color the impression not been of a steadily declining quality. In 0 Victim of Love, to those who recogmze his reomlings so that tlwy mOJ"(' closely only of side two, but also of the album as a contrast with the previous Honkey the war raging between disco and rock, resembl(' his live perfO)'lllan("('s. "Mr. whole. oChateau, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, represents the "selling out" of an artist. It Nighl" omlinll('S in this tn'nd, bUI leavt's Thus,lhc.'albumlitt'rallyendsonagood and Caribou, Elton's latest album natur- could be, however, that John is simply tht· ddinit(, impn'ssion thaI, in the transla­ 11(Ite, apparenlly in hopes Ihat all of the ally takes a back seat. stretching his wings musically and trying a tion fwm stage to vinyl. somelhing is lost. clis("J"ep('ncies Ihrougholll can b(' ignored or new direction. In that case, all that can be Tht' boisterously loud v()("als and inslru­ forgollen. However, nobody is fooled. Keep said for him is that he does not believe in m('utals suggesl Ihal Loggins and his band til(' Fin', for all its mOcl('ralely ('ntcrtaining His newly-released Victin of Love might doing things half way. With songs such as .tn' invc.lving Ih('ms('lvt's with Iheir music and fairly suslaining tracoks, still has its just as well have been entitled Victim of "Street Boogie" and "SpOllight," the 10 tht, point of bt'ing carrit,tI away. This flaws. which unfortunalt'ly, are not ('asily Disco. Beginning with a Saturday-Night­ emphasis is on dance. "I've gotta make would im\t-t'd bt, illftTlious during a ~losS('d oV('J" by the mctiioCTc.' music sur­ Fever-version of "Johny B. Goode," (th~ them dance tonight," sings John, which is COll("ert. hut 011 all alhum, the effect teutls 10 rounding Ihclll. only bearable cut), a string of nonstop just about the only good thing that can be he one of a noisy rack('1 gel! ing out of han(t. disco ensues. The album cannot actually said of the album: it is easy to move to. Victim of LOlIf'IELtouJohnIMCA Records be said to contain songs, even though there After "MI. Nighl," tht' next nil, "This Is are indeed titles of such printed on the Additional cuts such as "Born Bad" and It," co-wril!en and sling hy Michael Elton John, the outlandish rock jacket. More aptly,oit bears a continuom - "Thunder in the Night" prove that Elton Mc Dona 1<1 of I he Doobie Brot hers, (um~ as supcrslar, who not long ago was line of disco-beat monotony. Occasionally, John is definitely not skirting the borders a wdum\(' changt'. Md)oua 1<1 and I .oggi ns impossible to ignore, seems to be joining the litle words of a "song" pop up in th(· of disco. He has plunged in headfirst, but prO\'(' to be a dYllamic duo, and tlwior the ranks of the vanishing artists. Little has lyrics; otherwise, there is no way of telling unfortunately has created no waves. (uml!int'd talt:nls prodllce one of the best b('cn heard from Elton lately, or so the how much of the album has played, or, "Street boogie's got a hold on me," he nils of the alhlllll. Neit her on'rJy-brash nor general list~'ning audience assumes, even more importantly, how much is left I sings, and for his sake, let's hope it lets overly-soft, "This Is It" slrikes a happy probably be'cause what has been heard has be suffered through. loose. Video artists discuss future of media

By John Markus and Jo;'11 Rauh for Saturday and Sunday in the Finc Arts appreciated. "What we're looking at is something Considt'r for a mOIlH'l1I the illflllt'nH'the huilding. "Scil'ntific AmnicaTl and Science comparable to what happened to books. Illas~ lIH'di;t has had npoll your life. Now, Almosl as a prelude to Ihe confercnce, Magazine bolh devoted issues to the The advent of the personal computer is consid('1 what illf)IIt'IHt' tht, lIledia would Gcnt' Younghlood, media ni I ic and aul hoI' electronics revoution, in which in their really more revolutionary, because it h'IH' had it you owned )'our own video of f;.\"a11d('(i Ci71l'11Ul, visited 11MBC editorials these otherwise very conservative contains and becomes books," eqll i pmt'llt, and could I"t'ct'in' and transmil )"('centl)" to expound his ideas on the journals made some rather radical claims. Youngblood submitted. 011 a lim' connec(('d to othn people imminent and potentially coatadysmic Namely, that what we have here is an "First, in books, you had the hand­ similarly equipped. If the S(Tllario sounds signifkan("(' of Ihe "communications historically unprecedented revolution that wri.llen scroll done by .a slave for an interesting. omsitier thi~: the technologies revolulion". Tht' general thcmc of his should be taken seriously as comparable to aristocrat who alone possessed the book. m'("l'ssalY for such a nwdia system not ollly lecturt's h(')"(' and at Johns Hopkins the industrial revolution or even the Then you had time sharing of the book exist right now, hut will shortly. if nol lTni\'t'rsily was that 1l1('dia technologies scientifi(O revolutioll in ,its possible impact through libraries, only accessible to immediately, he feasible for individual han' leached Ihe stage \\'ht')(' futurist on our lives and the changing of aristocrats. After hundreds of. years you consu nHTS. predi(otions must yidd to prescriptions for civilizalion." observed Youngblood. finally had printing and the publishing of Throu~h an award from Ihe National social and political policy. Micro-electronics invert the more input books, and fina:lly the personal book. Entiowlllelll for Ihe Ans. Stan Van D('r The advenl of semi-conduclor for more output formula of industrial "Well, the same thing is happening in Se('k and Fn'd Slt'm of tht, Visual Arts "c'ompu(('r-On-a-dlip" technology is the proouction. The object of the integrated compulers in about 15 years. First there departmt'lIl will (unduc-t .Ul exlensin'lwo­ (Oatalysl for lilt' ("()fning re'vohllion. circuit is to do more with less energy in the was the origin;tl computers, 25 years ago, day confert'lKe examining Ihe new media Pn'st'ntly, an t'ight-indl dlip can supply same or smaUer space. An I.C. can be built by the military and used exclusively It'('llIlo logics. .. Ik\'t'loping Elc.'clron ic 64,000 bits of randonl' access informatioJl. interfaced, theoretically, with any by them, then a few years later the time Tcxhnologies: Appli('ations 10 Iht' Mc.'dia . American society is only beginning 10 mechanical device. shared com pUler, and now only a decade Arts" will ft',IIUH' discussions and ('xperienn' Ilw influt'nc'(' of integraled. As significalll as their broad applica­ later, the personal computer." dt'1ll011snations hy It'ading innovators in (OireOuil t'lt'nwnks, Youngblood f('('ls. and tion is the speed at which micro-electronic Applied to the media, micro-electronics

tht' new fidds. Tht, ("(mft'n'nn' is sdlt'dul('d its potential is only now beginning to be technology is being developed. ContinURd on page 0 7