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The Red and Black
Thursday, Sept. 2*. I M3
New Baumann LP gives synthesizer soul
$
A review of "Stranger*
the Night,” by Peter
Baumann. Produced by
Robert Clifford and Peter
Baumann A CBS Records
release
By GEORGE OEM Aft
Hr* and Mark K.atrrtalnntml Editor
Peter Baumann is one of
the few high tech musicians
who can truly be more than
interesting
"Interesting" music, of
which there has been a lot
recently, usually has ab
solutely no purpose beyond
>ts ability to be interesting It
is not emotional It is not
soul-stirring It is not comic
It is just interesting
Baumann, though, is able
to take the rather sterile
sounds of synthesized and
computerized music and put
some real soul into it
Instead of focusing on how
interesting the sounds he
makes are. Baumann uses
them to point out the cold
ness and sterility of modern
society
As he says in the last
track, "Welcome to the city
life / To the modem
age / Welcome to the city
life /To the dreams
machine."
Baumann satirizes,
sometimes raves and
sometimes cries for the
human soul which is being
swallowed more and more
by modem technology and
mass civilization.
He knows the sounds
created by his Hewlett-
Packard computer are not
real, and he uses them to
point up what is Of course,
the computer is better than
humans in some ways, he
says, "It is always depen
dable—never drunk, never
late for work ’’
Baumann has been part of
electronic music since its
beginnings in the early 1970s
when he worked with the
German group Tangerine
Dream That group, which
most recently composed and
performed the haunting
underscoring for the movie
“Risky Business," is now
one (if the foremost elec
tronic groups in the world
Hauman: high-tech mysticism
Baumann, who left
Tangerine Dream in 1976,
still has a lot of that band
sound The music pulses in
and out of eerie melodies
which at first sound com
pletely inhuman, then turn
into primitive tribal
wallings It's a lot like Joni
Mitchell's “Jungle Line"
taken to an extreme
"Strangers in the Night" is
Baumann's first album since
"Repeat, Repeat" from 1981,
and is his first ever
collaborating with New York
singer and lyricist. Eli
Holland
Baumann decided to
collaborate with Holland to
get a more American tone in
his music. “Music is much
more a part of daily life here
than in Europe you grow up
‘Cruisers ’ one of best rock films
with music, hear it on the
radio 24 hours a day I
wanted someone with that
kind of background "
Americanization may be
the reason Baumann chose
the old standard, "Strangers
in the Night,” for his title
cut But unlike another high
tech musician, Taco, who
recently did a reverent but
rather ghost like rendition of
"Puttin' on the Ritz,"
Baumann completely
revised "Strangers in the
Night ” He sped it up and
changed the rhythms The
revision would have been all
right if the old lyrics could
have fit, but they couldn't
Baumann wanted to use the
song as a theme for the rest
of the album, linking it to the
loneliness of modern
existence, but in the end. the
cut just sounds forced and
artsy-fartsy
The second song. "Metro
Man," does much more to
put across that theme than
the title track Also, "King of
the Night,” with its slower
beat and more internal
lyrics, shows the theme of
isolation better "A shadow
goes by,” Baumann sings,
“There is no trace left
behind—to remind. "
But Baumann's rather
mystical, percussion-orien
ted music only does well with
songs that deal with the
vague feelings we all have
that were about to be
flattened by the steamroller
of the computer age
Love songs like “Be Mine"
and "Strangers in the Night”
are too earthily emotional
for Baumann's computers
So are political songs like
“Ground Zero" which needs
to be on a much more folk
level to be effective The
music is fine, it's just that it
doesn't suit the purpose of
the words
There is only one com
pletely ridiculous song on the
album—with both unin
teresting music and pushy
lyrics, “Cash. " This cut is so
blatantly unoriginal that it's
a wonder Baumann thought
it would be any good High
tech music, no matter how
danceable ias Baumann's
music definitely is) or
emotional, still needs an :
ephemeral quality to be 7
effective
The best songs on the ;
album are both on the second ~
side—"Taxi” and "Glass
House.” Both are very in-~
temal, very mental songs !
about people who are feeling
something, but they don’t ;
know what or why. “Taxi" t
deals with a man who's lost :
everything and is looking for 5
a change, any change ‘
"Glass House" is about the *
fears we all have of being J
stripped of our identity, our ;
individuality, because mass
culture has so forced itself ’
into our private lives.
It's the satiric »
"Welcome,” which fully :
underscored the meaning of -
the whole album and tries to •
give it a solid ending
An album this unified and
thematic is rare and •
welcome, and though it has a r
few flaws, “Strangers in the *
Night" is a generally in- J-
tellingent sample of the :
potentials of electronic j
music
A review of "Eddie and the
Cruisers," starring Michael
Pare and Tom Berenger
Directed by Martin
Davidson An Embassy
release Now playing al the
Beechwood Cinema
By Hll.l.OLIVER
Hrd -oil isle* h Slstl Wrllrr
Eddie Wilson
troducing the song called
"Wild Summer Nights "
"How many of you
remember that magical first
night?” he asks the
audience “Well, that was
the inspiration for this
song "
Though the Sixties setting
and the talk about "losing it"
do suggest “American
Graffiti II," "Eddie and the
Cruisers" actually deals
with more than adolescent
crises
The movie captures a
talented lock band in its two
most exciting moments:
back in the Sixties when they
first strike it big and in the
present when they strike it
big again
But this adaptation of the
novel by P.F Kluge tackles
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still more on its way to a
very satisfying ending And
when the last credit rolls by,
it is clear that this film
represents one of the most
dramatic, intriguing and
well-performed rock and roll
movies ever.
From the opening scene,
the tension of the film's
excellent plot captures the
viewer's curiosity Ellen
Barkin, who enjoys the very
appealing role of Maggy
Foley, a reporter for a fic
tional publication called
"Media Magazine," advises
her cohorts af a staff
meeting to pay attention to
what she has to say
"O K kiddies, you want to
sit bark and listen’’" she
say s
Harkins delivery of this
line suggests the confidence
bubbling over attitude of a
reporter who knows she has
a lead on an excellent story
This same attitude pervades
the film
Each part is played with
the confidence of actors who
know that they are involved
in a remarkable project And
confident actors and ac
tresses deliver fine per
for malices
She recounts the story of
the rise and fall of Eddie
Wilson and his band, the
Cruisers, who had hit the top
of the charts and were
recognized as premier
talents when Wilson
vanished in 1964
Wilson's car went off a
bridge, and his body was
never found Now Barkin
wants to investigate the
possibility that Wilson ac
tually staged his own death
and went into hiding
In this respect “Eddie and
the Cruisers" is very much
liketheJim Morrison story
But the fact that the band
emerged from Asbury Park,
New Jersey, in the summer
of 1962 leads to other
parallels These similarities
become unmistakable when
the first song of the film,
"The Dark Side, " begins
The vocals, the sax, fhe
words everything about
"The Cruisers", who are
actually a new band called
Beaver Brown, sounds
distinctly like the Boss,
Bruce Springsteen
U-d by singer guitarist
John Cafferty, who wrote all
hut two of the songs on the
"Eddie and the Cruisers"
soundtrack. Beaver Brown
benefits from fhe presence of
saxist Michael "Tunes"
Antunes and keyboards!
Robert Cotoia
With the help of musical
supervisor Kenny Vance,
Beaver Brown makes the
music equally as important
as the story line, which is
saying a lot in the case of
"Eddie and the Cruisers,"
because the story itself is
quite good
"Eddie and the Cruisers"
is a rare movie in that it
actually warrants a sound
track album Both the album
and the film are a joy to
experience
‘La Traviata ’ one of most
beautiful of recent films
A review of "La Traviata."
starring Placido Domingo.
Teresa Stratas and Cornell
MacNettl. Directed by
Franco Ze//ire!li A
University Pictures release
Now playing at Beechwood
Cinemas
By GEORGE I IK MAS
Krd md Mark I nlrtLlnm.nl Mm*
First, a warning If you
absolutely, positively, after
repeated attempts, can not
find if in yourself to like
opera. then this picture is not
for you, and you should go
read something else
But. if you are an opera
fan or just have never been
exposed to opera and would
like to see what it's like, then
let me tell you about this
movie
For one thing, it is a
classic story A fallen
woman, feeling death
closing in on her, is
redeemed by sacrifice and
love — just like "Camille "
For another, it has some of
the most beautiful music
ever written for the stage
Giuseppe Verdi's score is
lush and romantic, always
moving, always changing,
brilliantly accenting the
moods and themes of the
work
The artists are some of the
ties! stars of the modern
opera Placido Domingo.
Teresa Stratas and Cornell
MacNcill
Director Franco Zeffirelli,
though more famous for his
film works ("Romeo and
Juliet," "Endless Love”) is
also a world-renowned
director of the opera
The Metropolitan Opera
symphony and chorus, who
make up the supporting cast,
are the best in the United
States
The combination of all
these has made one of the
most visually and vocally
beautiful movies in years
Not even "Tess" matches
this movie's sheer physical
family and pity for the
woman he’s trying to protect
them from
Only Placido Domingo
gave me second thoughts To
put it bluntly, he was just
plain too old for the part
Alfredo, who falls in love
with Violetta and goes with
her to the country to live
without benefit of marriage,
thereby disgracing his
family, should be in his early
twenties, and no more
Domingo is in his 40's, and
though he looks younger, he
is still far too old to be as hot-
Stratas is absolutely riveting as
Violetta. Her voice is matched by
her surprising acting ability.
attractiveness
Stratas is absolutely
riveting as Violetta, the
fallen woman with only a
short time to live. Her voice
is matched only by her
surprising acting ability.
Grand opera, you would
think, would over-animate
the actors and make them
too unreal, but Stratas and
the rest of the cast keep
themselves under control
beautifully
Cornell MacNeill, as the
man who asks Violetta to
give up her last chance at
true love, is perfect as a man
torn between love for his
headed and romantic as the
movie would make us
believe Only his voice,
which is unmatchable. and
the soft light Zeffirelli uses
to hide his age keep
Domingo's mature looks
from being too much of a
problem
Looking al "La Traviata"
simply as a new movie and
not a century-old opera, you
still have to say it's a great
piece of entertainment
Beautiful sets, beautiful
costumes, singing, dancing,
romance, tragedy,
redemption - this flick has
everything
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