MUSIC WEEK DECEMBER 1 1984 B@®^S /A Feor in Music Makes Light Entertainment 1914: Fact Dffli Fiitii®! Edited by CHRIS WHITE TH
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MUSIC WEEK DECEMBER 1 1984 Edited by B@®^S CHRIS WHITE /A feor in music makes light entertainment EteDtm; tour bores THOSE FOR whom the album Those that have seen the video and the video aren't sufficient can will also realise that most of the now also get their parents to buy pictures are also posed to the nth 1914: fact dffli fiitii®! them the book of Duran Duran's degree — as the moving images 1983/4 world tour. on the video showmen far from THE ROCK Yearbook Volume Five what they are talking about. directory of industry contacts. Like its companion products the statuesque, hollow—cheeked is a highly entertaining and intel- Like all books of its kind The As with any book dealing with Sing Blue Silver,gives a glossy models of this book. ligent read for music fans as Rock Yearbook is for dipping into something as transient as pop- thorough account of the tour For the true Duran fan though, distinct from casual pop punters. rather than reading cover to ular music, odd facts are out of without offering any new ideas this will be absorbing stuff, with Compiled under the auspices cover. And for the multitude who date before publication (eg the on presentation or content. Thus, over 80 pages of photographs, of Melody Maker editor, Allan will doubtless be presented with brief feature on the demise of while this wholly photographic large and small, black and white, Jones, and enlisting contribu- it on Christmas morning, there is ABC with no mention of their record of the trek, which took in of these five very ordinary super- tions from eight other current/ a wealth of light entertainment new, well—received single. How the US, Canada, Australia and stars. former MW writers (as well as 19 features to hold the attention at To Be A Millionaire), but this and Japan, is technically faultless, the Duran Duran Sing Blue Silver, others), it not surprisingly has a least until the Boxing Day edition the fact that it runs from August reader isn't given any new Tritec Publications, £5.95 similar editorial tenor to that of TOTP comes on. 1983 to July 1984 rather that glimpses into their idols' lives. DVE paper. There is plenty of pretent- These include 54 pages of snip- January to December, (which ious waffling about the various pets from the year's LPs reviews, would obviously lose the Christ- "Acts Of The Year" (The Smiths, a colourful section on the best mas trade), are the only minor Eurythmics, Frankie, etc), but it is and worst LP sleeves, plenty of complaints about a book that suc- tempered with interesting sum- ridiculous popstar quotes and ceeds very well within the con- ©@1 igtesD thought maries of developments in book/video reviews. There is also fines of its brief. music's different forms (rock, a large section at the back giving The Rock Yearbook, Volume V, reggae, soul, electro, African, etc) over 52 weeks worth of Music Virgin Books, £6.95 SENSIBLY AVOIDING the published by Proteus Books, written by people who know Week/Billboard charts and a brief obsessive hyperbole of £1.99 JB standard heavy metal criti- DH cism Def Leppard, by Willy McGilly rationally traces the development of the band SM@s r©w5sit®d 1§t®ifiErO|f talent EF@g@|l3t3cis@d] from unfashionable no- THERE'S A lot of nostalgia for the bodies to worldwide succes- Sixties pop scene so Fab! The THE SERIES of contemporary composers' bio- Hall moves more or less chronologically through ses. Sound of the Sixties; a new graphics from Robson Books has already proved Birtwistle's creative career, occasionally side- Although the material will be paperback by Tony Jasper should itself with the volumes on Tippett, Maxwell Davies stepping to cast an analytical eye over the familiar to most fans — clearly prove popular among tnose who and Ligeti. composer's main influences, which range from the the only potential buyers — this love facts and figures about the They are scholarly works, not for the casual reader, intensely visual — such as Picasso Durer and Klee — slim 32-page volume provides pop music of that era. but closely argued texts, analysing the life, attitude to "music as numbers". And his importance as a attractively presented colour and The book is basically listings with and work of their subjects. composer is clearly brought out in this admirable black and white photographs and some editorial, and it's compulsive In Harrison Birtwistle, author Michael Hall has study. does not avoid such important reading, covering records, the charts, chosen one of the most interesting subjects, for At least the book goes some way to correcting the questions as 'why did the band films and festivals, and radio and tele- despite his original involvement in the Pierrot unacceptable list of deletions (mainly Decca) which leave Britain for the US?" But vision. Anybody who was anybody Players which became the Fires of London, Birtwistle result in Birtwistles music being represented by only perhaps McGilly himself sums up gets a name—check — a lot of it is has little in common with the group of musicians one work in the catalogue — the opera Punch and the true worth of this book in his trivia, but fascinating trivia at that. who emerged from Manchester in the late fifties and Judy. closing words, "...in truth, their Fab' The Sound Of The Sixties by early sixties and is the least well known despite his story has only just begun ..." Tony Jasper, Published by Bland ford relative obscurity powerful musical imagination has Harrison Birtwistle, Robson Books, £8.95 Press. Retailing price: £2.95 produced some startling scores over the years. Def Leppard by Willy McGilly, CW MEZZOFORTE: Rising. Steinar Records STELP 06. Distribution: Pinnacle. Sixth album from the TOP 20 Icelandic jazz-funk band who are now based in the UK, although ELKIE BROOKS: Screen Gems. still extensively gigging in EMI SCREEN 1. Europe. Their previous LPs have always been well-received, as JEAN-MICHEL JARRE: Zoolook. have been their gigs at venues A* Dreyfus/Polydor POLH 15. like the Dominion and Ronnie Scott's. They deserve to have VARIOUS: Now That's What I success on record but, as Call Music 4. EMI NOW 4. excellent as this album is, the band are facing a lot of compe- BARRY MANILOW: 2.00AM — tition from other better-known Paradise Cafe. Arista 206496. pop and rock acts in the pre- Christmas album rush. General :h» JULIAN COPE: Fried. Mercury. WAH!; The Way We Wah! Eternal MERL 48. Producer: Stevan WX 11 240 532-1. A best-of pack- Lovell. The second solo LP from age including The Story Of The the former leader of The Blues hit and near hit Hope. This Teardrop Explodes sees him con- album neatly brings together the solidating his position as the history of Wah! in their various Eighties' Syd Barratt, while guises from JF Wah! to remaining eminently poppy. Shambeko! Say Wah! and Pete Nothing on Fried, however, is Wylie comes over as a maturing, going to put Cope back in the Top but always interesting performer. 20 singles chart. One for con- Should appeal to only the more firmed fans. recent fan as a sizable chunk of this album can be found on Nah JACKSON FIVE: Skywriter Poo: The Art Of Bluff, the debut Motown WL 72292, JACKSON release. FIVE; The Great Love Songs Of DALIS CAR; The Waking Hour. Motown WL 72290. MICHAEL Paradox Records. DOX LP1. Pro- JACKSON: Music And Me ducers: Artists/Steve Churchyard, Motown WL 7229L. MICHAEL A very mannered and contrived JACKSON: The Great Love sounding album dominated by oongs Of. Motown WL 72289. Mick Karn's (ex-Japan) technical four albums all released at mid- _.. bass work. Vocals are from Peter price, The Great Love Songs LPs Murphy formerly of Bauhaus, but are new compilations featuring ho has curbed his more energetic hits ike Got To Be There, One excesses, in favour of laborious Day In Your Life, I'll Be There and ONLY AVAILABLE ON undynamic "style". Plenty of Never Can Say Goodbye while Guild House, Peterborough PE2 9PZ esoteric influences pepper the Music And Me and Skywriter are PEPPERMINT VIDEO MUSIC affair, but no tunes to speak of , straightforward re-issues of Telephone: (0733) 63122 Will ride to chart success on the 1973 albums. fo back of their reputations. PAGE 10 CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 .