Page 11 Verities and balderdash sung at Painter's. Mill by Patrick Pannella As a single beam of light casts a such as "Cats In The Cradle ","Mr. Tanner", All my life's a circle. shimmering glow over the revolving stage, "Taxi", and "Sequel (To Taxi)", or Tom Sunrise and sun'down. Harry Chapin squints. He clenches his plain Chapin lending his high-pitched voice to The moon rose through the nighttime, wooden guitar in one hand, and he squints sj}ngs like. "Make a Wish", the Chapin Till the daybreak comes around. again. When his free hand ceases to ramble brothers move with the music. Like the All my life's a circle, through his wavy brown hair, he begins to crowd, they seem to be i7ll0 the songs. But I can't tell you why. sing. The near sellout crowd grows silent. The entertainers frequently encourage the The season's spinning around again, Like a trapped lion confronted with an open audience to sing along, especially in the song The years keep rolling by. cage, the words spring out; "30,000 Pounds of Bananas". This appears And the wind will whip your tousled hair.Y to be one song where meaning lacks a-peel, Answers are not important here. It's the The sun, the rain, the sweet despair, so to speak. It also proves to be a fun question" which are raised that have Great tales of love and strife. breather. for the two. The performance ends meaning. They are the questions which And somewhere on your path to glory, with a couple of verses from "Circle". With Harry and Tom Chapin appear to enjoy You will write your stary of a life. the audience clapping, they sing; asking. Their fans seem thankful. It is the first Sunday in May when the 38- year old Harry Chapin sits on a wooden stool in the Painters Mill Star Theatre and tells his story. Perhaps stories is a better The Pretenders dish word since each Chapin song reflects a definite message. (You can see this in his eyes; they sparkle, as if searching to unfold out a tasty little EP one of life's mysteries, with the sharp sound by Jay Grubb of every uttered word.) A single red carnation lays resting on the table behind Pretenders-Extended Play Sire him. Those of you Chrissie Hynde fanatics who Just beyond the table sits another are waiting for a new album will have to hold guitar-in-lLand singer, this time a on until J1.,lne. Now don't go butting ~our mustachioed entertainer appearing to be in head into the wall or pouring lello inside his late 20's or early 30's. Harry Chapin your pants (What?), here's a little five song identifies him as Tom Chapin, his younger EP to snack on in the interim. Taxi driver who moonlights as a pop star. Harry Chapin brother. This Chapin brother was the star of It's a pretty tasty treat too, with'''Message Make a Wish, the award-winning children's Of Love," a special remix of "Talk Of the television show of a few years back. There is Town," "Porcelain," a shaky ode that any Bergman's psychologizing on film was a no band for this performance; Harry Chapin serious drinker will appreciate, and "Cuban weak point, but here it works rather well in announces that tonight's show is a benefit Slide," an islands tune beefed up with a Bo making Peter's emotional suffocation for the World Hunger campaign. Diddley beat. The fifth cut is a live version 9f comprehensible. Together, the ' two guitarists strum to a the tough-mouthed "Precious," recorded at From the Life of the Marionettes 'i"s in cheering audience. Harry sings a song by New York City'S Central Park last August. German with English subtitles. It will be himself and then Tom sings solo, and This is the first live release from the band. shown tonight at the Charles Theatre at 7:30 frequenJly 'during the evening the brothers The other songs had been UK singles and B­ The Pretenden as part of the Baltimore International Film from Brooklyn harmonize. Whether it is , ,ides. Festival. Harry Chapin singing mellow revealing tunes If all that you've heard of the Pretenders is 'Brass In Pocket," don't cheat yourself. Hynde is one of the most innovative vocalists on the music scene. The way her vOice slides through "Talk Of The Town" or jerks.around on "Message Of Love" is pure magic. They promise that none of this material . will turn up on any new albums. Let's just hope they can keep up this kind of quality. Plastics-Self Titled Island Atlanta's gift to strangeness, the B-52s have two sides. One is witty, and playfully irresistible, but the other is like grinding glass together .. .inside of your head. Tokyo's new export, the Plastics, have got the B-52s' CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 n Russia with love minisces about R,ussian Revolution and living in America a Russian . woman. Less apparent is the hired. After the temporary inconvenience of Ukranian Separatists would soon be upon revolutionary factions passed before Olga superb storyteller within, enriched by years revising child-care, they managed to live them, and the message was urgently in favor left Russia for England with her English of travel and study. relatively comfortable lives until the of abandoning the place the Communist governess. In London, she was educated in Her father was an officer for a regiment of revolution. private boarding schools. Eventually, she the Czar's guard in Russia before the When the Bolsheviks too control of the moved to Spain and studied Greek, Latin, revolution. Her mother was of Spanish estate, Olga, her mother, and the Russian and Arabic, obtaining a Master's degree. nanny were moved to three large bedrooms penied a request to study in-Russia, Olga Don't kill .me! I'll do and an upstairs drawing room. A piano was moved to Paris where she attended the moved into their living quaters as well, after Sorbonne. There she learned Old Russian anything! I'll be faithful, her mother complained about not being able Church Slavanic and pursued her interests to use it. One day, some of the Communist in Russian Literature to earn a PhD. but please don't kill me! Party officials wanted to know why the In 1937 and '38, Olga spent a year at piano "hadn't been played. A curt answer Columbia University as a research assistant from Olga's mother, "because I haven't felt to the linguist, R. Menemdez Pidal. descent, but had lived in Russia since the age like it," prompted them to insist on some Returning to Europe after her first visit to of three. Olga was an only child. Though music while they listened. Grudgingly, the the United States, she then served as the frequently absent due to his military duties~ hot-tempered Spanish woman sat down at Spanish Government in Exile's "attache" for occassionally Olga's father would return to the piano and pounded out "God Save the Eastern European affairs. Concluding this their estate in Kiev. She recalls one of his Emporer." No one moved until.the piece was appointment, a trip to New York and homecomings after being separated from finished. Then the officials who'd been ' applications filed for teaching positions them for a long time. "He was very sitting quietly informed the lady-pianist she landed her at the University of Buffalo. disappointed .. .it was impossible for him to was condemned to death and that her Olga Ferrer Researching, writing, andd lecturing, she speak with his own daughter. I spoke only execution would 'be the following day. remained at the s,chool for eleven years. French and he knew only Russian." The The next morning, Olga's mother was officials now occupied. Mother was reunited Olga had become extremely homesick for dilemma was soon solved. however, when escorted to a carriage waiting in the with daughter, and upon the arrival of the her native country. The difficulties of the Swiss governess, advanced a salary and courtyard. As the passengers rolled towards Seperatist troups, property-ownership of adjusting to a foreign country had already presented with expensive gifts, was sent the iron gates, guards mounted on horses the estate shifted once again. home. In her place, a Russian nanny was came charging through the opening. Three y~ars of power-play among CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 .