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■ BEST BET
Walk your body down to the Georgia Theatre tonight and grab the
opportunity to hear Cordy Lon. These guys play a unique brand
of acoustic-ish, alternative folk-pop that is a beautiful thing to
behold. See them before MGB. Tickets are $3.
The Red and Black • Wednesday. October 3, 1990 • 5
A&E
Several Athenian bands to perform in Atlanta Showcase
By JEFF GREEN
Contributing Writer
The state of Georgia, partic
ularly Atlanta and Athens, has
rapidly become the new music
mecca of the southeastern United
States. At no other time has this
been more apparent than this
week, as an estimated 25,000 par
ticipants and 2,000 music industry
professionals descend upon At
lanta for the Newsouth Music
Showcase *90.
In an effort to gain exposure and
possibly even a record deal, an as
tounding total of 155 bands and
eight solo vocalists from nine dif
ferent states will perform nightly,
October 3 through October 7, at
twelve venues around Atlanta.
Representatives from every major
record label will be in attendance.
1989 was the inaugural year for
Newsouth, the national music in
dustry’s most comprehensive
southeastern showcase. Last year,
one out of every five bands that
performed has signed, or is pre
paring to sign, a recording con
tract.
After only one year of existence,
the showcase has nearly doubled in
both participants and in recogni
tion by the national music in
dustry.
The concept for the first News
outh Music Showcase was con
ceived and realized in only twelve
weeks by a small group of industry
professionals who were extremely
determined to see the idea through
m
Seven Simons: L-R Hugh Trotti, Bill Mull, Keith Joyner, and Nat Webb. Prepare to see them
perform for the Showcase at The Colorbox tonight.
Replacements dig into the heart
By NOEL MURRAY
Entertainment Writer
■ ALBUM REVIEW
The Replacements: “All Shook
Down” (Reprise)
We who have had a longstanding
love affair with the Replacements
never know what the hell to do
with them. We want them to do ex
actly what they did before, back
when the infatuation was fresh,
but we accept whatever they throw
at us.
Even last year, when they tried
our patience strongly with the in
trospective and slick “Don’t Tell a
Soul,” we smiled wanly and took
comfort that at least Paul Wester-
berg was still writing lines like,
‘The things you hold dearly / are
laughed at / and yearly / judged
once and then left behind / ’cause
they’re blind.”
So now it’s a new year and they
have a new record, “All Shook
Down”, and we worry anew. What
now? Are they going to kick it out
like they used to, or is it going to be
more hushed than ever? Will it be
smooth or raw? Does it even
matter? DO THE REPLACE
MENTS EVEN EXIST?
The answer is no, I don’t think
The Replacements really exist.
How can the same band come out
one night and passionately run
through a set of their songs and
then come out the next night in
drag, doing Thin Lizzy covers?
Maybe Sir Francis Bacon is really
The Replacements.
At any rate, a band going by the
name of The Replacements has just
put together one incredible record.
“All Shook Down” should brighten
the spirits of Replacements lovers
everywhere. It’s one of those works
that just... gets under the skin and
becomes as much a part of daily life
as showering and nose-picking. It
makes one fall in love again with a
sweaty, long-haired man named
Paul Westerberg.
Talk to me Paul:
"You like the frosting / You just
bought the cake / But your eyes
can’t fake / That you’re still in love
with Nobody / And I used to be No
body.”
Argh! Gorgeous! Perfect! Other
superlatives! No matter what di
rection The Replacements take,
you can always count on Wester
berg to dig into the poignant, ten
uous heart of the matter. His
characters are bitter, nervous and
yearning.
To answer some burning ques
tions: No, The Replacements do not
rock out on this record. In fact,
they’re more plaintive here than
ever. Fortunately they do not gloss
this one up like they did "Don’t Tell
a Soul.” Kudos to producer Scott
Litt (R.E.M., Indigo Girls) for
achieving just the right mix of crisp
instrumentation and light flourish.
A sax bubbles through “One Wink
at a Time.” A viola scrapes over
"Sadly Beautiful." A harmonica
hums politely to ‘Torture.” All this
and much, much more.
The melodic structure of the
songs is a bit repetitive, but thank
fully, due to Mr. Litt, this is not a
handicap. What emerges is an ur
gent, mature work that has uni
versal appeal. Given the inroads
into AOR radio that was made last
year by the song "I’ll Be You," per
haps The Replacements will finally
make it as big as they deserve. Cer
tainly no one out there is making
music this catchy and deep.
I would prefer, before I die, for
The Replacements to crank up the
amps like they did so effectively
once before. Tney used to corner
the mnrket on energy. Now, the
passion is muted, but it does per
sist. And until such time as they
see fit to humour me, 111 take
whatever I can get because I’m a
man in love.
The Replacements: Paul Westerberg (left) and Tommy
Stinson. Their new album doesn’t rock, but it rolls.
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Former Atheist
John Clayton
examines the
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Scientific Evidence
• Does God Exist?
Oct. f, 7:50 p.m.
Tat* Center Auditorium
• What is God?
Oct. 6, 71JO p.m.
404 E. Biology Bldg.
-Q G A follow each session-
FREE ADMISSION
Allgood Music Co.: L-R Mike Sain, Charlie Pruet, Corky
Jones, Clay Fuller, and John Carter.
until its completion.
Mark Johnson, executive di
rector of the Newsouth Board of Di
rectors, said, ‘Tor years we’ve all
been talking about the South’s
need for greater visibility in the
music industry."
‘The region has long been con
sidered a birthplace for all forms of
original American music, but no
one had taken the initiative to
draw attention to the new music
being created here,” Johnson said.
Showcase ’90 represents a pre
miere opportunity for many bur
geoning young artists to gain
exposure. The showcase highlights
several diverse types of music, in
cluding rock, alternative, pop,
rhythm and blues, folk and a newly
added urban showcase.
In addition to the recognition the
performers will receive from the
thousands of industry profes
sionals and Atlanta area music
fans, there is also the chance to
gain national television exposure
on MTV.
Dave Kendall, host of MTV’s al
ternative video showcase, “120
Minutes," will be on hand doing in
terviews and taping an entire pro
gram at the various venues. The
show is tentatively scheduled to air
the week afterward.
The performers will also receive
several fringe benefits for partici
pating in this year’s showcase,
such as seminars from industry
big-names on topics such as “How
To Get A Record Deni” and "How
To Get Your Music On The Air.”
There will also be workshops, ex
hibits, receptions and industry so
cial events.
No southeastern new music
event would be complete without
its share of influence from Athens.
This year seven promising Athens
bands will perform in the show
case.
Both White Buffalo and Allgood
will perform Thursday evening at
the Chameleon Club. Seven Si
mons plays tonight at Atlanta’s
Colorbox. Five-Eight is slated for
Thursday at The Wreck Room.
Magister Ludi performs Sat
urday at the Chameleon Club,
while Hillbilly Frankenstein is at
The Point. Body Electric’s date and
location is not yet available.
Of the 1,200 entries received,
more than one thousand were re
jected. This number was further
reduced to 163 by a stringent selec
tion process. All entries were re
quired to send a demo tape, a band
photograph and a band bio.
Mnny familiar names performed
at the initial showcase and have
since signed record deals. Some of
last year’s successes include The
Jody Grind (DB Records), Lava
Love (Sky), and Follow For Now
(Chrysalis and Warner/Chappell).
Many others , such ns Johnny
Quest and Face of Concern, "have
received record offers.
"We’ve dubbed Atlanta the New
Music Capitol of the South and
we’ve taken the initiative to build
excitement,” Johnson explained.
‘The sheer number of quality acts
that spring from our region de
mands that serious professionals
come listen.”
“We’ve created the third leg in
the new music triple crown: South
By Southwest in the Spring, the
New Music Seminar in the
Summer and Newsouth in the
Fall.”
Groups perform at College Square
By MAURA CORRIGAN
Contributing Writer
If you happen to be downtown
today at luncntime and are in the
mood to hear some live tunes,
then head on down to College
Square.
The first session of the Athens
Blue Sky Concert series will he
going on today from 12 to 1 p.m.
The event is co-sponsored by
the Athens Downtown Council
and Trust Company bank.
"This is a concert series that
runs every Wednesday in Oc
tober and every Wednesday in
May,” said Carol Brown, promo
tions director for the Athens
Downtown Council.
The Blue Sky Concert series
has been held downtown for quite
a few years.
It is "basically a series to give
people some music to enjoy at
lunchtime and for people to enjoy
the blue sky of October,” Brown
said.
The Derbies pep band will kick
The Concert is
basically a series to
give people some
music to enjoy at
lunchtime and for
people to enjoy the
blue sky of October.
-Carol Brown,
promotions director
off the October series today at
mx>n and will lx* conducted by
Band Captain David Owens.
The Derbies are "a hand
picked pop band which reresents
the larger Redcoat Band when
they cannot attend," Owens said.
“We have about 45 members
nnd well be playing traditional
Georgia tunes and traditional
Derby tunes, which are old show-
tunes arranged for the Derbies.
This is our first gig of the year
and it would be great to see a
good crowd there,” Owens said.
According to Brown, the con
cert series usually goes rather
well.“It is a very popular concert
series with the performers. They
look forward to doing it each
year.”
The Athens Downtown Council
is designed to help represent the
interests of downtown busi
nesses.
“We plan festivals and events
and do joint advertising with
downtown merchant stores,”
Brown said.
Each Wednesday for the rest of
the month a different group will
perform.
The schedule is: Oct. 10 —To
Be Announced, Oct. 17 —the
classic city band, Oct. 24 —the
University trombone choir, and
Oct. 31 — the Burney-Harris
middle school chorus, orchestra
and band. The concerts will lx
cancelled in the event of rain.
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