HHUXIWTH Have Made a Ten-Best Hst* American Audience, As Was Seen with the Commercial Successes Give 'Em Enough Rope of Patti 3:Rith and Hivis Ccs- the Clash Tello
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IN THESE TIMES DEC. 27,1978-JAN. 2.1979 23 There were probably more i BECA USE OF THE HIGH ;ood to excellent rock alburns level of rock music this year, n 1978 than at any other time BruceDancis* the following honorable men- in this decade, even though the tion list is more than merely year was not filled with startling perfunctory. In most previous new developments. years during the '70s, almost For the first time New Wave any one of these albums could music began reaching a mass HHUXIWTH have made a Ten-Best Hst* American audience, as was seen with the commercial successes Give 'em Enough Rope of Patti 3:rith and HIvis Ccs- The Clash tello. And such ancients as the Epic Rolling Stones, ths Kinks, and the Who brought cut strong More Songs About albums, shewing that they Finally, I have had to invoke Buildings and Food were neither too old nor "in the Patti Smith Rule on occa- Talking Heads the way,;' £S had bssn charged sion. The rule applies to gener- Sire by some cf the ycung reck ally excellent albums, where it rebels. isn't simply a matter of just not Who Are You 1977's r?.ost popukr groups playing the record. The Smith The Who —Fleetwood Mac and the rule calls for severe penalties MCA Eagles—both abdicated, against an album if it featured Darkness on the Edge neither releasing a new album any song that was so excruciat- ingly awful that I had to get up of Town this year. IK their p<scs carr.e an Bruce Springsteen enterprising nrjlti-rxsdia mogul, to skip over the accursed track Robert Stigwood, who success- every time the record was play- Columbia fully packaged dubiousiy artistic ing. As a result, even "Because Q: Are We Not Men? sound-track asbusr.s cf popular the Night" on Patti Smith's Easter can't make up for "Bab- A: We Are Devo movies like Saturday Night Devo Fever, Greass, and Sergeant eiogue." Pepper, Warner Bros. In reggae music, the trend Bride Stripped was toward greater sophistica- Misfits tion in bet.;- production tech- The Kinks Bryan Ferry niques snd the addition cf musi- Arista Atlantic cal elements from rock, jazz, Wonderfully funny, challeng- I and soui. Rootsy reggae is still ing, and reflective music by one Stranger in Town j being played in Jamaica, but it of the all-time great bands. Ray Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet J isn't getting rs'sased in the "J.S. Savies has been a marvelously Band As a result, TV/G Sevens Clash iconoclastic thinker for well Capitol by Culture, perhaps the best reg- over a decade, and this has The Clash breaks Into the second team. gae album I've heard a!! year, is never been clearer than on "A available cr.!y as an import in Sock'n'Roll Fantasy." this country. band. The pace has been slowed Business vt'as worse than usu- down a bit, so it's a little more al from the consumer stand- accessible than previous albums, Bush point. At the end cvths year list j Tiis Year's but the Ramones never stray too prices for sonic records reached Model _______ far from a splendid minimalism. Doctor an outrageous §8.93, the second Peter Tosh $1.00 price; rise in about a year. Eivis Costello Bob Seger; close but no cigar. Fans were given the "opportun- Columbia Hearts Rolling Stones ity" to plunk down as much as The combination of Costello's In a major departure for this original Wailer, Tosh success- Heaven Tonight $!6.QG for colored records, fea- vengeful lyrics and a sparse in- of Stone Cheap Trick turing photographs or other art strumental backing with his fully fuses calypso, rock, and Southside Johnny and Motown sounds to standout Epic work instead of the ordinary punky Buddy Holly appearance the Asbury Jukes black vinyl. Journalistic inde- and pissed-off demeanor creat- reggae. His songwriting seems Wavelength pendence reached a new :ow ed its own sub-genre — outcast Epic more assured than previously, Van Morrison wljen Rolling Stone magazine rock. This is an angry album by Stunning melodies, the best and though his concerns are less Warner Bros. publisher Jann Wcmicr public- perhaps the most lyrical New most complementary horn sec- political than before. Superb ly chastised his own critics for Wave rocker. tion in rock since the Mar-Keys, accompaniment is provided by Lastly, here are a few awards telling the truth about a putrid and Southside Johnny Lyon's reggae rhythm stalwarts Sly for some of the worst albums of Bob Dylan album and. a medi- strong, clear voice make a near- Dunbar and Robbie the year. Obvious losers aren't ocre Rolling Stones concert. Hailel perfect expression of pure rock Shakespeare. even considered—these are for Lastly, despite strong sales by and R&B. albums that aimed high and hit peripheral punks like E!vis Hymn bottom. Costello, timid American David Sophomore slump award— record companies continued to Bloody Return to Magenta, Mink De- be slow releasing albums and (Chapter 1 Ville (Capitol). Johansen Too much weed award— 45s by most British New Wave I Jah Man Tourists David Johansen bands. Kaya, Bob Marley and the Wail- Mango 10 CC ers (Island). A few words about the criti- An ironic mixture of very mod- Blue Sky cal criteria used for the follow- em, rock-influenced reggae with Polydor A dynamic, hard rock album Most unnecessary comeback award—Reunion, Peter, Paul ing 1978 Ten-Best list. These, in a fervent, all-consuming, reli- A British band so impeccably by the former lead singer of the no particular order, are ray fav- polished in its arrangements, New York Dolls. Johansen has & Mary (Warner Bros.). gious testament. I Jah Man's Garbage is garbage even if it orite rock and reggae alburns, daring debut features four harmonies, and production always been a gifted vocalist; he the ones I enjoy the most; they lengthy cuts, backed by some that it is often knocked as being now has consistently fine songs comes out of his can award— are not necessarily the most in- of Jamaica's finest musicians. "too commercial." What's and instrumental backing as Street Legal, Bob Dylan (Col- novative records, or the ones wrong with being commercial, well. umbia). featuring the greatest musicians. if you're good? Some excellent bands have yet Road to to capture the brilliance of their live performances on records— Some CULTURESHOCK and they don't show up in the Ruin ____ The Ramones top ten. Imports were exciuded, Girls Spanish film festival film firm producing as were live albums made up Sire So THERE The Rolling Stones Dusan Makavejev, two weeks ago that The Guyana Massa- largely of songs released in pre- The best album to date by Am- Yugoslavia is "100 cre assured reporters vious years. erica's foremost New Wave Rolling Stones whose native Yugo- As long as Mick Jagger is in the slavia has censored percent Marxist—50 last week, "You can Elvis Costello: his year to its pissed off and paid for it. band, the Stones will probably his quixotic films, percent Karl, 50 per- be sure of one thing... flirt with decadence and sexism. WR: Mysteries of the cent Groucho." we're not in it just for As long as Keith Richards is Organism and Sweet exploitation." around, they will more than like- Movie, reported at a UHHUH ly be a great rock band. Head of the Italian Dire So RELAX AND ENJOY IT Straits Dire Straits Warner Bros. Positive proof that blues-rock isn't solely in the hands of taste- less show-offs. Mark Knopfier's strong guitar work and brutally honest stories of urban life make this the year's finest debut Esquire titled its December cover feature, "The Year of the Lusty album. Woman: It's All Right to be a Sex Object Again." LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 24 IN THESE TIMES DEC. 27.1978-JAN. 2,1979 several centuries, children scampered out of bed to find their shoes full of sur- prise's and gifts from "the kings." For most of this century, Dia de los Reyes has been kicked off the day before by the president's wife. Standing on a plat- form in a polo field near the presidential residence, the first lady distributes cloth- ing along with small toys for children. I re- member how lines would encircle the field the night before—thousands of sarape- Santa Clous goes clad men waiting with their wives and children as campfires flickered to the slap of hand-made tortillas. Then on Kings' Day itself doorbells rang as poor children stood at the mas- south with his Visa card sive gates of elegant residences hoping to receive discarded toys that had been con- disc, doubled over in laughter, one arm veniently replaced in wealthy homes by raised in greeting. The time was early new ones from generous "kings." December of 1947, and as Santa turned Later that day, family and friends from side to side in the display window gathered to share a rosca, -which was a of Sears Roebuck in Mexico City, his re- large ring-shaped cake with a small por- corded laughter bellowed through loud- celain replica of the Christ child baked speakers, terrifying the few children who inside. The person whose slice contained -had congregated. But as the days passed, the crowd at the window grew larger. the replica was responsible for gathering Barefoot street vendors and uniformed the same group together later in the year nanas holding immaculate children, as for a party.