THE HISTORY OF

A MONTHLY TRIP
THROUGH MUSIC'S
GOLDEN YEARSTHIS ISSUE:1984

k4U,

THE SMITHS"Real music by real people"
1

STARRING...

NICK CAVEPAUL WELLERGEORGE MICHAELBRUCE SPRINGSTEEN j,i•-11NA SIMONE111.
DEPECHE MODEJAMES BROWN

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11,r-

REM
U2

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PLUS!

PRINCE THE CURE COCTEAU TWINS HUSKER DO ZZ TOP1984

MONIHBIU NTH

Welcometo 1984

T

HE 20 YEARS so far covered by The History OfRock have seen
action and reaction, financial successes and grassroots
revolution. This year, rock remains as engaged as it needs
to be during the administration of Margaret Thatcher -with
its cold war, nuclear threat and high unemployment -but
the movement which takes place this year is actually notaggressive in character.
More than ever, artists put their money where their mouth is to change theworld for the better. In September, Paul Weller - continuing a recent
philanthropic streak- and Wham! play abenefit concert for striking miners,
while at the end of the year the pair join Band Aid. Acollective put together by
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure after viewing anews report on the Ethiopian famine,
their ad hoc group of pop stars rounds off the year at the top of the charts, raisingmillions for charity.
Musically, meanwhile, the aggressive commerciality signalled by the rise of
Duran Duran now meets its characterful reaction. The likes of REM, Lloyd Cole,
Prefab Sprout and our cover stars The Smiths celebrate arenewal of guitar
music. Under the radar, meanwhile, akinship develops between Black Flag,
Nick Cave and The Fall -whose work is seen as much as transgressive writing as
it is music. In the US, Prince and Michael Jackson engage with huge audiences indifferent but no less dramatic ways.
This is the world of The History Of Rock, amonthly magazine which follows
each turn of the rock revolution. Whether in sleazy dive or huge arena,passionate and stylish contemporary reporters were there to chronicle events.
This publication reaps the benefits of their understanding for the reader
decades later, one year at atime. Missed one? You can find out how to rectify
that on page 144.
In the pages of this 20th edition, dedicated to 1984, you will find verbatim
articles from frontline staffers, filed from the thick of the action, wherever it
may be.
In ahotel room with Morrissey. Hearing Dave Lee Roth explain why Van Halen
is like atampon. And finding out that the way to George Michael's heart isthrough an aggressive interview.
"We didn't want to talk to Melody Maker, because your hypocrisy makes
us sick," says George. "You use our name on the cover and then slag us off
inside. We're only talking to you because we fancied doing ajuicy interview
for achange."

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 l3

1984

mom sà1 INTH

Contents

News
10
6

Michael Jackson sustains aninjury. Frankie's "Relax" is banned,

and Neubaten destroy the ICA.
Crass fake aphone call. Compact
discs fail to sell. Introducing aband in ahurry... Hüsker Dü.

12Billy Bragg
An interviewwith the year'sbooming, political voice. Up for
discussion: army life, being funny

and the blues.

aJulian Copel

"I'm astar to me." Howhas not allowed commercial

agent, The Cappuccino Kid.

success to mellow her.

Astout defence mounted

24of the band's jazzy,Albumsad hoc mode

Adebut album from The

of operation.

Smiths! An offcuts album reveals
agood deal about The Gun Club.

26

42

The Police play

to an enthusiastic

The enduringly down-to-

crowd in Nottingham.

earth Mode keep their feet on

But how long can they

the ground, even when besieged

keep this up for?

by fans in Germany.

30

The Smiths
Separate meetings with

44 Prefab Sprout
Introducing

anew and thoughtful

Morrissey and Johnny Marr.
Both are confident in their

McAloon, and a

Includes sniping remarks about

mission to bring Smithdom toband charmingly

Ian McCullough, naturally.

the world on their own terms.

aware of their"Why should we support The"luxurious" nature.

IC made his confused way outof The Teardrop Explodes.

20 Nina Simone

Ameeting with alegend,

as she reclines in aUK hotel
bed. Now as large in person as
she is in reputation, Ms Simone

Police?" asks Johnny Marr.

36

The Style Council
Ameeting with Weller andhis special

songwriter, Paddy

48 News

The Smiths
collaborate with

Sandie Shaw. Roger
Waters debuts asolo

ONG HOT SUMMITTONY PARSONS AND X MOORE CHALLENGECHAIRMAN WELLER& DEPUTY MICK TALBOTAT THE STYLE COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING

show. Marvin Gayeis shot dead by
his father in LA.
Ameetingwith alegendary
singer, Etta James.

54

Marvin Gaye

Ian McCullough talks animatedly
about the Liverpool band's

Saluting therenewed vigour since the release

greatness and unique visionof the departed singer.

58

&The
Bunnymen
66 EchoAnew band from Athens,

Georgia, blow into town. The

of Ocean Rain. Of cabbages,
cucumbers and charisma.

70 Nick Cave

Ameetingwith the former

Birthday Party man on his home

garrulous Peter Buck and rather

turf. "I've just joined the Elvis

more withdrawn Michael Stipe

Presley fan club," he confides.

tate their modest ambitions
with some passion.

62

The Blue Nile

Anew Scottish band
reluctantly address the many
handshakes now offered themafter their remarkable debut
album. "We've been so insular,"they confess.

76 Albums/Singles

Amomentous new workfrom Bruce Springsteen, Born
In The USA. The Cure's latest,
The Top, is reviewed too.

78 Art of NoiseZTT board member Paul

Morley explains TheArt Of Noise's
manifesto. Art project? Dance

Bitt CE
ING.STEF'N
BORN IN THE U.S.11.

band? Who knows...

82 ne Commotions
éom m
icl

l
e

"The new Mr Miserable" speaks

his mind. From his base in
Scotland, Lloyd is repurposingclassic Americana.

4re. The
Smiths,LUB MiTI POP+Red
Guitars

86 Van Halen

As ebullient offstage as on,

David Lee Roth explains why Van

Halen are like atampon. Guitarist
Eddie reveals why he worked forMichael Jackson for nothing,92

Cocteau Twins
The Cocteaus hate giving

reveal agood deal about
themselves. Their tattoos,

consternation in Manchester.

Rain, reviewed.

104 Wham!

Black
120 Flagas George Michael holds forth on

Henry Rollins and Greg Ginn shed

the "hypocrisy" of the MM.

light on their mission to shock.

108"I'm not into save-the-worldLivebands," says Rollins.

Wham! and The Style

124

Council unite to benefit the

however, remain amystery.

striking miners. The Jacksons

are sexist, Morrissey's sexual
orientation and more from theweeklies' mailbags.

110

fan demands for asessions comp.

James Brown

Pela Kuti is imprisoned.

The Godfather Of Soulbemuses NME's reporter, butultimately provides amazingNews

insights into fame and longevity.

Prince's Purple Rainmovie proves controversial. Afterasummer strike, NMEreturns to118

itims/Singles
Morrissey reviews the

Bob Geldof and Midge

record. The Smiths respond to

in New Jersey.

Why Roger Waters ads

News

Ure gather stars for acharity(with Michael!) play astadium

Letters100

singles! Prince's fifth
long-player, Purple

Andrew Ridgeley glowers

interviews. And yet, in so doing,99

newsstands. "Suffer Little
Children" by The Smiths causes

THE MAYFAIRNEWSATE ST NEWCASTLE
Wednesday
7ftà March 7•30

128

112
NME's man begins

to see that amessiah complex
maybe starting to corrupt a
once-excellent band. Can they
convince him otherwise?

A N'.'

L
2

0508

£3

134 he Fall

Mark ESmith andnew wife Brix explain The Fall's

recent poppy direction.

138 Albums/Singles

Anew one from Wham!

and the Band Aid single, reviewed.

140 ZZ Top

Astrange and surprising

meetingwith Billy Gibbons—

patron of the arts— and the otherguys in the huge-selling band.

145 Letters

NMEis back! Support

for John Peel and the miners—
and more from the mailbag.

«titTime Inc. (UK) Ltd, 3rd Floor, Blue Fin Building, no Southwark St, London SEI OSU IEDITOR John Mulvey, whose favourite song from1984 is Part Company The Go-Betweens DEPUTY EDITOR John Robinson How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths ART EDITOR Lora Findlay Jean's
Not Happening by The Pale Fountains PRODUCTION EDITOR Mike Johnson Behind The Mask by Greg Phillinganes ART DIRECTOR Marc
Jones That's Livin' Alright by Joe Fagin DESIGNERS Becky Redman Let's Go Crazy by Prince PICTURE EDITOR Phil King The Greatness
And Perfection Of Love by Julian Cope COVER PHOTO Chalkie Davies/Getty THANKS TO Helen Spivak, Johnny Sharp MARKETINGCharlotte Treadaway SUBSCRIPTIONS Rachel Wallace GENERAL MANAGER Jo Smalley GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR Paul Cheal
COVERS AND TEXT PRINTED BY Wyndeham Group I
WWW.UNCUT.CO.UK

Time Inc.

Subscript ion rates: One year (12 issues) including p&p: UK E119.88; Europe €179.40; USA and Canada $203.88; Rest of World £155.75. For
enquiries and orders please email help@magazinesdirect.com. Alternatively, from the UK call 0330 333 1113, or overseas +44 330 333 1113

°recycle(lines are open Monday-Friday GMT. 8.3oam-5.3opm ex. Bank Holidays). Back issues enquiries: Tel: 01733 688 964. www.mags-uk.com

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I5

DEPECHE MODE, JULIAN
COPE, PREFAB SPROUT,
THE SMITHS AND MORE•••
6 IHISTORY OF RO/K 1984

MichaelJackson:burntinafreak on-set
accident, but still
expectedtoappear
attheFebruary1984
Grammy Awards.

Scorched!
MM FEB 11

Aaei Jackson

SUSlaIIIS uurd-degree burns

while filming aTV commercial.

=Th DAY THE earth caught fire! Ortleast the day Michael Jackson's
hair caught fire, which amounts
to the same thing. You'll have heard
by now of how the svelte 25-year-old
incendiary device was filming aTV
advertisement for Pepsi-Cola, alongwith the rest of The Jackson Five,when suddenly abrace of special
effects canisters exploded.
Before you could say "Grammy!",Michael had been transformed into
ahideous human torch!
However, doctors examining thescorched megastar were able to calm
ahysterical world by announcing that
although Michael had sustained
second- and third-degree burns on his
scalp, he showed every sign of rapid
recovery and will be able to appear at
the GrammyAwards ceremony in Los
Angeles on February 28.
But how could such athing happen?
Jackson himself said later that hewanted to show the actual film of theincident from ignition to blast-off, so
his fans would know "the truth" about
what had happened to him.
Sure enough, footage of the spectacle
was aired on NBC-TVon February 1.
And since this story concerns
Americans, the whiff oflegal action
lingers in the air.
According to sources close to
the incident, the director of thecommercial actually told Jackson
to stand closer to the pyrotechnic
apparatus after several earlier takes
had been attempted.
Even more astoundingly, some berk
apparently told Mike to keep dancing
even after the chap had flames leaping
around his ears.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I7

1984
JANU

- In RCH

Bitterly
disappointed:
Frankie singer
Holly Johnson

International
controversy
MM FEB 4 icutuu ¡AK ui Iuctumuf
tun, il‘u b uil is traced back to Crass.

A

MM JAN 28 he chart-toppingF

RANKIE GOES TO Hollywood's
controversial hit, "Relax" (which last
week went to Nou in the MM Top 50),
has been unofficially banned by individual
BBC producers. They've decided not toplay it because of the sexually explicit
nature of the lyrics.
One noteworthy ban
has been by BBC TV's
Top Of The Pops show,
although they claim thatnew entries in the Top 40
gave them no space tofeature the record, while
Radio One DJ Mike Readstarted the ball rolling
two weeks ago when herefused to play the recordon his breakfast show.
Many Radio One and
BBC TV producers have
now followed suit,
but according toaTop Of The Pops
spokesperson, thetrack has not received
acomplete BBC ban.
"There's no one person

gets aî

at the BBC who can ban this record," said
the spokesperson. "Individual producers
make up their own minds. Top Of The Pops
featured the record as it came into thechart, but two weeks ago -when it was
at No 2-there was so much new material
in the Top 40 that
there wasn't space
to include it."
Whether the record
will be featured on Top
Of The Pops this week
is open to debate. "Until
we get the official Gallup
chart we can't say," said
the spokesperson. "We
don't predict things inthis business."
Frankie themselves are
bitterly disappointed thatthey did not appear on Top
Of The Pops last week.
The band were
unavailable forcomment as
we closed
for press.

DAVID REDFERN /GETTY"There was somuch new material
in the Top 40 that
there wasn't space
to include it"

S IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

ide at the BBC.

NARCHIST PUNK BAND Crass areat the centre of an international
controversy over afake telephone
conversation between Margaret Thatcher
and Ronald Reagan. The group made atapeof the "conversation" by piecing together
excerpts from various broadcast speeches
by Thatcher and Reagan, then sent copies of
the tape to anumber of European newspapers
and agencies.
Crass say that while the telephone
conversation was afake, its contents contained
certain truths that the group felt should be
investigated and publicised. InAmerica,
newspapers said the tape was probably
manufactured by the KGB for propaganda
purposes-an idea repeated here in The Sunday
Times this month.
Finally, The Observer traced the taperecording back to Crass. And the group spent
several days in London last week making live
broadcasts to American television, explaining
their reasons for making the recording.
The alleged conversation covers various
aspects of Falklands war strategy and nuclear
policy. man apparent discussion of the sinkingof the Belgrano, Mrs Thatcher is heard to say:"Argentina was the invader! Force has beenused. It's been used now, punishing them asquickly as possible."
To which Reagan ostensibly replies: "Oh,God, it's not right. You caused the Sheffield tohave been hit. Those missiles we followed onscreens. You must have too, and not let themknow. What do you hope to gain?"Mrs Thatcher: "What Isaid before-Andrew."
Crass say: "The Sheffield was used as adecoy
for the Exocet which was really going for the
Invincible-and that's because Prince Andrew
was on board."
Later in the tape, Reagan is heard to say: "Inconflict, we will launch missiles on allies for
effective limitation of the Soviet Union. If any
country of ours endangered the position, we
might bomb the problem area and correct theimbalance, it will convince the Soviets to listen.
We demonstrate our strength... the Soviets
have little incentive to launch an attack."
In astatement explaining their motives formaking the tape, Crass say: "In the wake of thetotal press censorship of the national papers
during the Falklands War, and the resulting
surge of rank nationalism cultivated andcarried through to the general election, Crass
felt that the ordinary people were being
hoodwinked about the Government's
behaviour before, during and after the war."

PUNK BAND MAKE A
CRASS STATEMENTANARCHIST rink band ,apront ,druiron of thj,

Cresmay —hoShe ffie,,ldlaunch an

"Excited bydestruction"
NME JAN 14 Einstürzende Neubaten
gthe house down at the ICA.

THE ICA, LONDON'S longest running home
for performance extremists had its sympathies
for outré art severely tested last week when
aspecial presentation by members of Berlin's
Einstürzende Neubauten and London pop group The
Bic physically attacked the foundations of the building
and brought the audience to near riot.
The presentation, called Concerto For Machinery
And Voice, was aone-off arrangement for concrete
mixers, chainsaw, concrete pounders, cement breakers, pneumatic
drills and Fad Gadget's vocal. It crescendoed to anoisy climax whichfeatured various members attempting to drill or break their way
through the stage, the crowd throwing parts of the PA into the path ofdestruction and ICA staff trying to maintain order. When the latterbrought the concerto to apremature close, ahard-core of 30 or so
spectators refused to leave the hall. To persuade the "band" tocontinue they hurled debris at the back of the stage and staff clearing
the hall. Damage to bodies and the building was, surprisingly, minimal.
From the performers' point of view things started to go wrong whenapounding machine malfunctioned, throwing the arrangement out,says co-arranger and conductor Martin Scheiler, of The Bic.
"Once it started to go wrong, rationale went out of the window. Afterthe breakdown we decided to try and get down below stage. We'dheard that there were tunnels from [nearby] Whitehall and the Palacerunning underneath the stage and had half an aim of getting to them.
But the stage was reinforced. We decided to stop when it looked likesomeone might get hurt."

January3,1984:
Einstürzende
Neubaten'sshowat
the ICAinLondon

For their part, the ICA expected acertain amount of damage.
"Nothing really happened that we had not anticipated in booking abandlike this and providing them with the equipment that we did," says ICA
music programmer Michael Morris. "The noise and smoke in fact madethe amount of damage seem agreat deal worse. It was quite small."About the performance itself, he says: "Quite frankly, I
wasdisappointed; I
hoped it would be more structured. I
felt it lackedorganisation. It struck me as being demolition without commitment."
Did it ever look like things were getting out of hand?
"Well, I
think human nature tends to be excited by destruction... theaudience would have liked to see the whole thing go alot further. It left
the band in an awkward position as I
don't think they wanted to be seen
to back out of going the whole way. On the other hand they were liable
for any damage and I
think they were rather relieved to get off." The final
result; the band got paid, the ICA got the insurance and the Big Brotherweek carried onas announced.
Adraw? Chris Bohn

"Without Alexis, no Stones"S

INGER, BROADCASTERAND blues
authorityAlexis Korner, 55, died on New
Year's Day. He'd been suffering from lungcancer for some time, but had continued topresent his weekly Radio One show on
Sunday evenings until being admitted tohospital acouple of months ago.
Tributes to Korner- instantly identifiable byhis deep, growling voice- have flooded in,including one from Bill Wyman, who said that"without Alexis there would have been no
Rolling Stones". For Korner acted as catalyst for
many of the bands who came to prominence
during the R&B boom in the early '60s, among
them the Stones.
He gave Mick Jagger his
first job, paying him 30
shillings aweek to sing withhis band Blues Incorporated,agroup that also featured
Charlie Watts, Brian Jones
and Keith Richards. When
Jagger linked up with Brian
Jones to form the Rolling Stones, Korner gavethem abig break by giving them aspot at theMarquee where he had residency.
His influence on the Stones and other bands
like The Yardbirds, The Animals and Manfred

Mann (all indirectly inspired by Korner's
famous Ealing R'n'B Club) gainedAlexis his
reputation as "the father of British R'n'B".
Yet Korner himself, who readily
acknowledged his own limitations as asinger
and guitarist, never achieved hugecommercial success in his own right. At one
time he activelyshunned it, critical of the way
the music of people like Muddy Waters andSonny Boy Williamson was being watereddown for purely commercial purposes, though
he always remained abig supporter of theStones (he was widelytipped to join them when
Brian Jones and later MickTaylor left).
He was born in Paris of anAustrian father and aGreekTurkish mother and thefamily moved to London in
the mid-'30s. After school
he joined Chris Barber's
Jazz Band. It was Barber
who initially fuelled his
obsession with blues, andwith harmonica player Cyril Davies he formed
Blues Incorporated. His onlyreal commercial
success in his own right didn't occur until 1970,
however, following an unlikely alliance with
Mickey Most. Most persuaded him to front a

His 50th birthday
party inspired afamous jam session

new studio band, CCS, who enjoyed several
hits, most notably "Tap Turns On The Water".
He rarelyappeared live, though, and later his
distinctive growlwas used more as avoiceover
for TV commercials than singing the blues.
Gradually he emerged as ahighly respectedradio personality; his extraordinarily diversemusical tastes made his Radio One show anunpredictable and arare alternative to thestation's unrelenting devotion to chart fodder.
He remained alegend among his peers. His
50th birthday party held at Pinewood Studios
inspired afamous night and ajam session thatinvolved Eric Clapton, Paul Jones, Zoot Money,
Chris Farlowe, Ronnie Lane and John Surman.
His last major public appearance was at lastsummer's Cambridge Folk Festival, when hepresided at such acelebratory session of white
blues that he talked enthusiastically of doing
more live work. Sadly, what should have been
arebirth turned out to be aswansong.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I9

KIRSTIN RODGERS /GETTY, DUO HOFFMANN /REX FEATURES

MM JAN 14 nu-, ewes patruii dl iii ill'UdUI;d5lei iiieM5

"Not everybody isaDire Straits fan"
MM JAN 7 I
ith apoor rl
available, the public proves
reluctant to buy compact discs.

i\I

NME JAN 28 lina Simone proves too outspoken for her own good.

L

apublic apology within 48 hours on
AST FRIDAY WAS not agood day forMiss Nina Simone. Having arrived at
Channel 4or theywould be forced to sue
Ronnie Scott's to conclude her two-week
her and LWT for slander. They also invitedengagement there -astint that has proved
the songstress to inspect their books.
both intriguing and successful -she was
By Monday morning the dust had settled.
handed aletter from Charly Records
Prior to leaving for Paris, Miss Simone's
threatening to sue her for slander.
manager and brother issued the following
The trouble stemmed from her appearance
statement: "As far as Miss Simone andon last Tuesday's Black On Black on Channel
myself are concerned the matter is4, where during an interviewwith presenter
closed to the public and is being dealt
Pauline Black, Nina stated she had received
with in aprivate and affectionate mannerno royalties from thebetween ourselves
Charly Records recent
and Charly Records.
reissue of her 1957 classic"A letter of apology"My Baby Just Cares
has been sent andFor Me" and its
received cordially
accompanying album.
by Charly and weCharly responded withhave no intention of
adetailed three-pageembarrassing ourselves
letter explaining that theor Charly by making theroyalties owed her had
matter public."
been accounted toCharly for their part
International Jazz
were satisfied with the
Wina_ernone
Emporium, who are theletter they received and
My Baby Just Cares For Me
were currentlywaitingpresent owners of theBethlehem catalogue,
for Black On Black to
confirm the public
the company for whom
apology they were due
Nina had originallyrecorded the material.
to make.
Charly records have now
Offended bywhat
sold over 40,000 copies ofthey termed as Nina's"My Baby" and afurther"ill-chosen and
14,000 copies of theuninformed remarks",
corresponding LP.
Charly demanded"The matter isbeing dealt within aprivate andaffectionate
manner"10 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

INE MONTHS AFTER the introduction ofcompact discs to the UK, high street stores
have revealed that sales of the new system
are remarkably small. But the message fromthe shops is clear-the public will readily buy
CD if the prices of the discs and players are
reduced and if the availability and range of
titles are increased.
"Compared to normal records, the sales of CD
are quite insignificant," says Douglas Coates,
marketing manager of HMVRecords. "They're
only about one to three per cent of total record
sales. Until the players come down in price, thediscs themselves won't sell.""Availability is the worst problem," says Liz
Farrow, assistant manageress at Virgin's
Megastore in Oxford Street. We get people
coming in everyweek asking for MichaelJackson's Thriller on compact, and if I'd had it inconstantly since its release, Icould have soldmore copies of it than myhighest seller: Love
Over Goldby Dire Straits."
Both stores feel that the new system superior-quality five-inch encoded discs which
revolve at high speed and are tracked bylaserwill be adeveloping market in 1984, provided
the range is increased. "We need more rock andpop titles," says Liz Farrow. "Not everybody isaDire Straits or Fleetwood Mac fan."At the moment both stores report that 50 per
cent of their CD sales are classical, probably
because early buyers of the system are hi-fi
buffs who traditionallyleave pop for the
youngsters. "In the pop field it's theAOR pop
stuff that's selling," says Douglas Coates. "DireStraits, Roxy Music and Genesis. These artists
sell much better than young pop bands like
Culture Club." Both HMVand Virgin feel that
this could all change if the prices come down.
The limited availability of the discs and lackof titles is due to insufficient production by thepressing factories. "Manufacturing is solimited," says Tony Stratton-Smith, boss ofCharisma Records, who have top-selling CD
artists Genesis and Peter Gabriel. "If I
wantedtwo or three new titles on CD Iwould have to
wait six months for the factory time."
There's good news from Sony, however.
Production is being stepped up at all of theirfive Japanese pressing plants and two new
British firms have signed deals to manufacture
the discs. And there's awhole range of new titles
promised from various labels-A&M andArista
are to put out CDs byThe Police, Joe Jackson,
Styx and Supertramp, new EMI offerings
include Bowie's Let's Dance and Thomas
Dolby's The Golden Age OfWireless, and RCA
are about to release 60 Elvis Presleytracks on
aCD compilation.
"Compact disc is going to be very important,"
says Tony Stratton-Smith. "The real fan will use
CD first and cassettes second. The traditional
12-inch 33rpm LP is definitely on the way out."

NME JAN 14

Human beings that have had
an effect on you
Andy Warhol, Irma Grese, Kubla Khan,
The Wooden Top Manipulators, Mum andDad, the scriptwriters of Trumpton
HüskerDü.(I-r)
Greg Norton,
GrantHartand
Bob Mould[he BkIntrodurinn frnm

HÜSKER DU,
SIGNED to Black
Flag's SST label,
are one of America's
mightiest hardcore trios.
From Minneapolis, aching
heart of the Midwest,
they've sent out somepowerful signals of distress.
There was asingle,"Statues/Amusement", in1980, described by someas "Fallish".There was acompletely crazed live
album (LandSpeed
Record) which could've
been The Who Live At
Leeds fed through an
Inquisition mangle, thenchainsawed into ablurred
blizzard of splinters andfilings. (Noise reprise, pt
10). There was "In aFree
Land", an interesting mid'82 EP that balanced fast 'n'slow, hard 'n' soft, and there was an album lastyear called Everything Falls Apart (title track asolid-gold classic).
But the best of their hundred or so songs
seem to have ended up on the current "Metal
Circus" EP, which is simultaneously torrential
and harmonic. Three-part hardcore? Mat
Snow has already determined that "Diane" isthe yea r's only true love song, and "RealWorld" reminds me alot of Stiff Little Fingers,
although Bob Mould and Greg Norton of thethree Dü's maintain the song is simply theirequivalent of "She Said, She Said". I
dunno,
these lumberjack-shirted punk types...
The title Meto! Circus would suggest
Duchamp or Glenn Branca or something, but
this is gleamingly hard stuff. Bob Mould's
guitar is like the best of Geordie and tracks
like "Out On ALimb" are metallic weldings ofKilling Joke and Sex Pistols.
But if Hüsker Dü -Swedish for "Do You
Remember?" and the name of afamous board

Those with souler of the fast lane".
Itigker flit

game-are the Blue
Cheer of the fast lane,
they don't plan on being
just another thrash in thepan. That said, they once
clocked up 360bpm for"Bricklayer" and could
justifiably have claimed
to be the fastest groupon Earth.
"Four-and-a-halfyears ago, that was the
stuff we were writing,"
explains Mr Mould.
"We toured two -anda-half months, and thelonger we played, thefaster it got. We justcouldn't have taken thatany further."
Today they see no harmin adding alittle mellow
melody: "If your lyrics
are important to you, youwant them to be heard.
Also, it's actually harder to play slow!"
Chimes in bassist Greg Norton: "I don't
tend to walk down the street whistling
hardcore."
Bob: "We wanna be able to reach anyone
that'll listen to us, as we feel we havesomething to say to anybody, though people
who are really into fashion might not like us."
Hüsker Dü's lyrics are droll: the band ispretty sceptical about rock'n'roll being aforce
for political change. "Movements aren't thesolution," says Mould; "no one's come up withanything that caught my attention or mademe want to do anything."
In his spare time, Bob gives guitar lessons.
April promises another Dü album, by thename of Zen Arcade, and they may besupporting Black Flag's forthcoming Euro jaunt. In the meantime you should checkthis wild and melodic music. Inside themetal circus, Hüsker Dü are iron tamers.

"The longer weplayed, the fasterit got. We justcouldn't have takenthat any further"

Barney Hosk yns

BBC1, NfrIE, Ian Levine

Stevie Wonder, George Clinton (FreeYour Mind, Your Ass Will Follow -The
Kingdom Of Heaven Is Within), Etta
James, Lionel Richie even, Enid Blyton,
Ken Livingstone, Peter Tatchell

Body products
Roger &Gallet jasmine soap rubbed on byanyone at hand with anatural sponge,
Crisco cooking oil, aselection of sexualdeviant toys -give 'em what they desire.

Music
Vangelis, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison,
Gwen Guthrie, Edith Piaf, Joni Mitchell,
Grace -she's the place -Jones, Peech
Boys, Buddy Mate, Motiirhead, Yma
Sumac, TRex

Writers off the wall
HATE: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg
LOVE: 2,000 AD and The Mighty Tharg.
Frank Herbert -The Dune Trilogy (butit's ashame that Sting got stung first).
Jean Genet (of course), Salinger andBarbara Cartland

SmellsPolo, Grey Flannel, Opium (000ps Mum's), Nasher's socks

Plebs
Anyone who moans constantly

AdviceIf you think I
knowany
better than you -thenIsurely do.

Quotes"Life is for living"- Anon

Exit line
Break down that
inhibition -certain
your position is strong.
And flows along much
faster than the throngof voices trying tobring them down.
They're jokers andclowns, clowns.
Live life like a
diamond ring.

LISA HAUN /GETTY, KEITH HAMSHERE /GETTY

The fastest group
NME JAN 14
du
LII
on E

Users of subliminal advertising—beware1984"I try to bepositive"
Ajoker between songs, BILLY BRAG 's
urgent social realism is ariposte to the
victory of style over substance. "I thought,'Is no one going to play what I
want tohear? It's going to have to be me,' he says.
"I thought there'd be people all over thecountry saying this, but apparently not."ZBYSIU RODAIA- NME JANUARY 14 -FrER NEARLY TWO years of playing the relentlesstroubadour all around this curious, fragmented isle,
Billy Bragg and his guitar are starting to get noticed.
The first week of 1984 has underlined that, with his
showcase at the ICA Rock Week eliciting an enthusiastic
response, as has his David Jensen session, and the dailies
are starting to take an interest (led by the unlikely Daily Telegraph).
Perhaps this is partly due to the success of his mini album We's ARiot
With Spy Vs Spy in the end-of-year polls. Atrack thereof- "New England" reached No 7in Peel's Festive 50. But, as well as featuring in other musicpress polls, in the one that really matters, the one that has publicists andpress officers dishing out unthinkable gifts and bribes, he was up there with
Waits and Costello at No 3. Twenty-five minutes of stuttering firepower andcomic bathos; songs of love, longing and anger, roughshod soulpower andmanic intensity.
So, Mr Bragg, are you that important?
"No, I'm definitely not that important, and alot of those records were LPs that
Ireally admire as well. Spy Vs Spywas three afternoons' work, and the purpose I
wanted it to serve when it was recorded was to give me something to sell at gigs.
As long as I'm not expected to live up to that acclaim I'll be happy.
"My reputation as far as I'm concerned is based on what Ido live. So as long asIkeep playing Iwill know at any given time how good or how crap I
am- Idon't
need polls to tell me. The NMEpoll was avery long list and looking down it was
like looking down from the top of ablock of flats- fuckin' hell, y'know."
Spy Vs Spyprovided aglimpse of contemporary Britain, acollection of sepiatinted postcards from the declining suburbs of the early '80s. Afervent andearnest sort of white soul music.

Billy Bragg,t he
Bard Of BarKing,ref lects on the stateof rnid-SosBritain

BIG BEN VS LITTLE BILLY
But I
clor ttalk to Si,',' repoders"— wee

WE BRAGG ts &barrelol vatsabre.
Hetosso'rolt01 andanthtngIdle

1984JANUAR1

Bragg in thestudio:"I'mplayingmyguitar
percussively andrelyingonmyvocals
for thernelody""By the end or the three days 1was really exhausted. My fingers weresore, myvoice had gone and I
was physically drained. It was from midday
to 10 each day continually playing the songs as powerfully as Icould,
recording everything and picking out the best.
"Speed? No, I
never touch drugs, Iget off on adrenalin. That's the mostimportant thing to me. Iplay fast when I
get hyped up. Istill don't think'New England' is particularly good on the LP. I
can certainly play it better
now. It surprises me that people see so much in them actually, they're
only seven songs."

I

TIS THE day after Bragg's appearance with The Redskins at the
ICA and he and Iare seated at aBarratt table, in aBarratt bedsit,
which is part of aBarratt block in aBarratt estate in Acton.
Although not actually his own place, lifelong friend Wiggy (and he'll
show you pictures of them alongside each other in prams in Barking
municipal park circa 1961 -just to prove that they really are "lifelong"friends) allows him to use it when he's resting up between gigs.
Abit like Bragg's music, the place is sparse and functional- no TV orrecord player, just aWalkman wired up to two speakers and acollectionof tapes to play. There's afew books and letters from friendly, enquiring
fans to be answered, but most of his possessions are back in Barking at his
mum's place.
Steven William Braggwas born 26 years ago in Barking, East London.
Afreewheeling, eligible Sagittarian, in conversation he's sharp andto the point, modest to the point of self-deprecation, and when he getsparticularly animated jumps from one base to anotherwithout
prompting. From his distant youth he can remember acommunity
spirit in Barking, but it soon faded: "Those towns were anice idea when
they were built in 1900, but by the '60s they'd started putting up all thoseblocks of flats."
Bragg left school at 16 for asuccession of poxyjobs and -just like it saidin the song- time offwould be spent upstairs in the bedroom annoying
the neighbours with his punk rock electric guitar.
"At school I
used to knock around with the guys who had all the birds
and wonder about it, which is probablywhy, when they all went off andgot married, had kids and bought Cortinas, Iwent off to learn to play theguitar. I
was abit of ajoker at school -they'd put me on the coach to telljokes with the football team and if I
was lucky I'd get amatch.
"It definitely puts something into you; you end up thinking, 'Fuck you
lot, I've got something to prove.' It probably doesn't mean that muchnow, but if! think back to what made me want to do this in the first place.
That was the reason. 'Cos I've wanted to do this foryears, play gigs, do thisas aliving."
Avariety of groups followed, the most notable being Riff Raft born outof "the cleansing fire" of punk.

14 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"The spirit of '77 is abit of acliche, but
it's not just the spirit of'77, it's '84 and'85, it's '82 and '83 as well -you don't justgo through it and forget it. Seeing The
Clash at the Rainbowwas like- click!mywhole idea about rock'n'roll and the
Rolling Stones changed overnight. I
haven't seen anything since to make me, go the otherway. Imayablind fool, but
Istill believe all that."
Riff Raff reached an impasse,
disintegrated and Braggwas left at aloose end. Unable to muster the bottle
to start playing solo, he did astrange
thing-he joined the army. Now Iknow
that, aside from the usual boneheadcontingent, there are guys in "theprofessionals" who are there out of sheer
desperation, but surely someone who'dbeen involved with the headstrong
individualism and anti-militarism ofpunk should have known better?
"It was astrange thing to do-Armed
Forces has even got 'Don't Join' on the
cover, and! loved that record. Ithink! feltthat all that had failed me, so fuck it, let's
see what the other side has to offer, take itto the other extreme. It was certainly theother extreme; going to Catterick was the other extreme to anything I'dever lived like. Imore or less did the whole thingjust looking at it. You get
90 days to make up your mind. Iknew in the back of my mind I'd never beasoldier, but I
wanted to find out more about it, find out what makes
people want to do it."
Sure enough, there was the bonehead contingent.
"The guys you go down with on the train are normal geezers, but aweek
lateryou realise that there's something different to this guy than anew
haircut, something else has happened to them. You talk to them at dinnerand (rapsforehead) you wonder if there's anybody in there. By the time
the riots came they were straining at the leash, going spare, just dying to
get to Brixton and bust afew skulls.
"The whole thing is based on everything you hate most about rugby
clubs. There's so many people above you and they all tell you you're shit,
and you believe them. At the end of it Icame back and knewwhat Iwanted
to do, it cleared my head. Before, I
was just passing through time."
While readily admitting that 90 days' training doesn't give him theright to pen an LP full of soldier songs, it is an experience that helped inpenning the present standout in his set, the corrosive, anguished "Island
Of No Return".

1"That came mostly from the stuff! got from newspapers about the
Falklands. Some of it, like digging in, well Iknowwhat it's like to sit in afoxhole all night, and it must be terrible to do it with people trying to killyou, because it gets scary enough on exercise.
"The lines 'I can take the killing, Ican take the slaughter I
But Idon't talk to
Sun reporters" -well to have gone out there and been involved in the
sharp end of it all and come home to find The Sun trivialising it to'Gotcha'... Iknow for afact it makes alot of the soldiers angry."Back from the army, Bragg got ajob in afriend's second-hand record
shop. Hearing music, starkly, dynamically played and presented, herealised that perhaps the songs he'd been writingweren't lost for good.
"There are limitations on every musical instrument, but they are thelimitations of the people that play them, not the instrument. Like two
guitar, bass and drums can't only 'go so far', it's just acase of rethinking it."So, disillusioned by the predictability of punk, Bragg drew on other,
fundamental sources.
"If you listen to the old blues stuff, they're just whacking out purerhythm on the guitar. Idon't want to give the impression that I
justlistened to heavy-duty blues all day; Icollected anything andconsequently I've got loads of Beethoven albums, Lowell George anything I
could get my hands on.
"But there was something about early Muddy Waters and John Lee
Hooker; it was incredibly powerful stuff, it was certainly influential. Not
that I'm in any way ablues singer, but you hear that sort of thing and you
know that there must be something in doing it solo. These guys have alot

BILLY BRAGG

more hold overyour emotions-you feel you have to listen, it's just there
whacking you on the back of the head. You're compelled to listen.
"You must draw on the musical past, you can't just spring out of
nowhere unless you're Einstürzende Neubaten. Having said that,probably by the time this is printed someone will have appeared on themusic scene who wipes everything in the last 30 years away."L

IVE, BRAGG IS abarrel of wit and satire. He's not the future of
rock'n'roll or anything like; his strength is in his unaffected
repartee with the audience, his fallibility and shortcomings anacceptable part of the package.
From astarting position way back in the field he fires past the notion of
cheeky cockney agit-popper and musters an autonomous drive andfrenzy. He makes the bridge between rant and primal rock power, andsuddenly, in the middle of one of his songs ofvehemence and insight, he
has you impaled on adynamic burst, caught in afrozen moment. Lookedat objectively, it never ceases to amaze me how he does it.
"When you're playing you know what lines you want people to hear,
when you want the music to stop dead or build up to acertain pitch.
Basically I'm putting out the rhythm of the guitar-playing it percussively
and relying on myvocals for the melody. Ithink alot about the songs; lotsof bands playa song one way and play it that way no matter what or where
they're playing. When I
go to agig I
try and suss out the audience. By thetime you've done three songs you know if they're in the mood to be talked
to or whether they'll go for your throat."In the present climate where pompous Kay catalogue neo -Torymannequins lord over what Morley has already pinpointed as the"drawn-out death of the pop group", aportion of Bragg's appeal must bethat he is anormal biting back-without the usual recourse to drudgery
and monotony.
"I can remember seeing Spandau Ballet playing 'Chant' on TOTP andthinking, 'Is this the way it's going to be? It's
getting late-is no one going to playwhat I
wantto hear? It's going to have to be me.' I
alwaysthought there'd be people all over the country
saying this to themselves, but apparently not.
"I remember the kilts and everything, it wasgoing back the way Ididn't want it to go. The
remystification of making music was setting in
as well, that you could only do it in astudio withlots of money, lots of gadgets and abig nameproducer. And that is apatent lie."
In Bragg's world there are girls with unwantedor unplanned pregnancies, boys who were once
top of their class now top of the scrapheap,
wanton violence in the streets, afuture only
for "the chosen few". The only solace seems to
be in asentimental notion of love lost or unrequited. Hardly an
encouraging picture.
"I try to be positive. But this is Britain and I'm afraid it isn't all 'Karma
Chameleon' and happy happy. Idon't think people need reality slammed
down their throats, but it doesn't hurt to remind people who, for whateverreasons, are not aware we're living in acountrywhere we're not looking
after everybody. We all say our priority is the welfare state, but it doesn't
even work anymore and the government is trying to pull it apart.
"These are the things that matter to me; it doesn't really matter if therevolution comes or not. As far as I'm concerned there is arevolution
happening right now and it's arightwing revolution. Whatever little Ica n
do to slow that down, I
will."
Do you see anything to be optimistic
about? "Well, I
thinkwe might justqualify for the next World Cup... Nah,Ido. 1never meet anyone who'll admit
to voting for Thatcher; I
know they all
did, but it's astart. Istill believe we canchange the country through the ballot
box- if Labour can get the youth vote.
Ithink it's afuckin' crime that more
first-time voters went for the Tories
rather than Labour last time.
"I certainly don't sit around all day
reading the newspapers and thinking,'Oh God, oh no, it's the end of the world. If the bomb goes off, then thebomb goes off, but as long as those women are at Greenham CommonIfeel optimistic that it won't.
"I mean there was even ahousewife the other day on Capital doing theirwacky'Spot The Record' quiz and she dedicated the whole thing to them.
If you can bring together that sort of thing at gigs, it's worth something.
Like what the fuck happened to RockAgainst Racism? Iremember goingto their gigs."
Bragg the songwriter is acunning wordsmith matching commonsense
socialism with an almost incurable romanticism. At its best- "NewEngland", "This Guitar Says Sorry", "Love Gets Dangerous" -he avoids
polemic and self-indulgences, but sometimes the latter strain rises to thefore and, as with his most recently aired song, "Saturday Boy", it can beslushy and embarrassing.
"That's why Ifailed all my 0-levels-the Monday Istarted them Iwas
madly in love, oh God how I
was in love. The girl still turns up in mydreams. Isuppose the further away in time it gets, the more beautiful
she'll become to me. If I
met her today she'd probablybe aterrible
disappointment. The girl Iloved probably doesn't exist anymore."At the ICA the other night I
saw him exchange afewwords with longtime
fave rave Elvis Costello. Does he feel on apar with people like that?
"To have to think of myself in campetition with Elvis wouldn't do me
any good at all. Consequently Ispend all my spare time saying Elvis hasgone downhill, trying to bring him down to my size. But Idon't even think
about it because Isaw him before Christmas and Ireally enjoyed it -twoand-a-half hours of that was unbeatable."
So you're still conscious ofyour shortcomings, the need to improve
yourvoice?
"Yes, I
listen to tapes and I'm sure I'm singing flat on all the songs.
I
want to sing like Italk, so I'm never going to be agreat singer. Idon't
think Ihave to sing in tune all the time for the lyrics to come across. It
would be nice, but it comes behind afew otherpriorities. It's like what you wear on stage-whatdoes it fuckin' matter?"
Plans for the rest of the year-he wants to go toEurope and eventuallyAmerica, "then we'll see
how much Irely on the patter". Another LP in
the same vein as Spy Vs Spy is planned; in themeantime he urges hungry fans to tape fromthe radio and turns ablind eye to bootleggers.
Not that Bragg and only his guitar foraccompaniment is apermanent thing.
"I don't know how metaphysical I
should makethis, but on the golf course of life it's the first tee,aposition to progress from. Idon't know what it
will develop to. I'll do it until people expect it,
and when they expect it I'll change."
At the odd Bragg performance you may bump into his mother,somewhere at the back of the hall. If you ask her about her son she'll
probably tell you that despite all that racket he really is quite an intelligent
boy, that he doesn't have to be doing this, that he could have aproper job.
She's not the only person who keeps her son in check.
"I'm very conscious of not being acomedian; that's why the raps arevaried, because I
don't want to turn into Lenny Henry. All I
want to getover is that I'm not taking it too seriously.
"Some people say I
play funny songs, but as far as I'm concerned they're
all very serious. But the humour is there, definitely. It's agreat weapon, likeavelvet-glove punch. People who
make great pronouncements anddon't have asense of humour are theones who believe themselves to be
Moses with the tablets. If you can't takeajoke then you shouldn't have joined
up in the first place, as they used to say
to me when they threw me in the river.
•"If you can't read the press and laughat whatever they say about you,whether it's someone announcingthat at the next gig Braggwill walk onwater or someone saying the bignosed bastard can't even sing. If you
can't laugh at all that, then you may as
well forget it." Gavin Martin •"Britain isn't
all 'Karma
Chameleon'
and happy
happy"HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 115

11984

ACM -09

Julian Cope,"Maybe I
justlikethe idea ofbeing weird"

"I'm astar
to me"
rienemesis Ian McCulloch
rnakPe etardom look easy.
JULIAN COPE, Lhough, is at odds
with everything: parents, themusic business, even himself.
Psychedelic pin-up or acidcasualty? In the wake of World E
Shut Your Mouth, an intrepid MM
pieces together the evidence.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984

17

1984

JANUARN -0*

J

MELODY MAKER FEBRUARY18

ULIAN COPE WOKE up this morning avictim of having
been born. Questions crawled around his room, up thewalls, over the ceiling; the same questions as always,
wearing slightly different masks, tarnished or twisted or
moulded anew by alittle more time having passed.
Again he wondered what it was like when he was born. Was
it like atrip where separations didn't exist, like adog's eye view of animage on aTV screen? When did everything start making sense? When
did the fact looking over the cradle going "goo, goo, goo" extricate its
identity from the sky? Did everyone think like this?
He decided he didn't care. He had enough trouble keeping himself
togetherwithout worryingwhether society thought him insane. But
maybe he'd overdone it. He felt pleased with himself that he'd stopped
taking acid ayear ago -there were just enough holes in his shield toallow flashbacks that comforted him with asense that his past was

Frozen postures

acompanion to his present without there being enough perforations
to turn him into just another addled rock casualty.
He reflected briefly on Club Zoo when he was having abit of aproblem
with his personality, and something Bill Drummond said when theTeardrops first started set him off laughing aloud. "Don't ever take acid,
Copey," Drummond had said. "You're quite like that in any case and it
would be just horrible!"
Cope felt once more the thrill of the challenge and knew that Bill had
been right. His childhood had been good enough not to be alearning
process, not to be something you get through before you start living. Hisparents, for better orworse, had given him alife thatstarted at nought and ended at 70. Every memory
lived on, pregnant with experience, another
door to another door. Like the model car he'drecently bought; when he'd opened the box,
he got the same feeling he did when he first
had acar like it in 1966. Like aline ofcocaine, he'd gone, "God!"He thought of [ex-Teardrops manager/
producer/keyboards player David] Balfe;
howwhen they'd tripped together, Balfey'dtake three times as much and never get as far
out as he did. Balfey'd say, "Hey, let's go out and

NME FEB 18 i;ope's solo debut tails to tUlly embrace his osychedelia.
Julian Cope 'qrlrl Shut Your Mouth MERCURY
I
fear we might shut our collective gob forthe rest of time and we still wouldn't get agood Julian Cope album. I
didn't wanna be
the one to spank the author of "Treason" of "Reward" -of the coolest ever paean toacid punk rock. It's just turned out that way.
Betwixt the loud ideals and clowning
rhetoric of Julian Cope, and the dull, stale
polish of this rock record, there is, distinctly
and poignantly, achasm. It is difficult toreason how aman who preaches so
convincingly about Flipper or Scott Walker
or the 13th Floor Elevators can make such
apredictable drama out of "rock".
For Cope now to revamp the old soulful
psychedelics to any happy effect requires
total abandon, not this tousle-headed
whimsy. It's astrange reversal of the days
when the Bunnymen couldn't get apaw in
Top Of The Pops' doors ;where today
McCulloch's emotions flow so forcefully intoclassical shapes and arrangements, Cope isso conscious of what he wants the music to
do to you that it never does anything.
World Shut YourMouth takes some fun
ideals and assorted '6os knick-knacks oboes, sitars, moon-eyed lyrical nonsense and slaps over them the clean sheen of '80s
rock production. It's characterless, notquite the Hugh Jones of Heaven Up Here,nor the Langer/Winstanley of Punch The
Clock, just smooth, functional, forgettable.
It would be adequate were the songs alittle better. Cope's never been able to write
alone, and there's no sign of constructive
collaboration from the technicians who fillout this music. The "hard" songs of World...
are unconvincing, the neo-Teardrop"Passionate Friend" is just silly. "People I
see/Just remind of me of mooing/Like acow
on the grass/And that's not to say/There's
anything wrong/With being acow anyway.""Bandy's First Jump" might pass if
McCulloch sang it, but (as I've been trying
hard not to say) we all know Cope can't sing,
etc. It's abright but mundane rocker driven

18 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

by trusty Gary Dwyer's over-busy snare
and Stephen Lovell's, crude guitar filling.
Elsewhere Cope alters this formula withsome rather unnecessary organ or Kate St
John's querulous oboe. Drug saga "Kolly
Kibber's Birthday" is amerciful exception,
where standard acoustic power chords,
set above rapid-fire electro -bass drum
repeater, seize the ear in arelative swirlof excitement.
The problem with Cope is that he writes
everything in major chords, so that there's
never the cancer-in-the-sugar sensation hedemands of music. All is delivered with thesame orotund enthusiasm, be it the soft,
Blondiesque pop of "Elegant Chaos", theforced, Matt Johnson-style funkiness of"Pussyface", or the wistful Kevin Ayers of"Lunatic And Fire-Pistol". To this day, Copeis singing "Baa-Baa-Baa" and meaning it.
Naturally, the main body of lyrical matter
concerns one Julian Cope -Cope-as-lover,
Cope-as-prophet, Cope-as-buffoon
maverick. "Someone caught me looking/Dancing on my fire escape/Oh, I
could shit
the past, yes..."; "Once I
was Pride/Lived in
the sweetest dream of Foolishness"; "Ninetimes I'm bleeding in my purity". Clearly hehas little of pressing importance tocommunicate. If the songs aren't directly
about him and his career, they're
about yet another no-way loveaffair, all frozen postures andpersonifications, like sketches foravideo. I
don't know why singers
don't just mumble random sounds
if they can't think of respectable
themes for their songs. Anyone
who can pen the line "Allis lost/In
bright confusion" must seriously
consider calling it aday.
World Shut Your Mouth is thatsad and weary thing, another rockalbum, and it won't do Nitwit any
good at all. Time he learned toaccept his award and split.
Barney Hoskyns

get adrink," and Copey'd go, "NO WAY!! reallylike this patch of floor over here. Let's stay in."He reflected, with some relief, that he'd only
ever had one bad trip, at Manchester Hacienda,
and that was only because that girl, who'd
moved into his flat when he'd moved out, had
told him she'd read one of his mother's lettersand it had been so intense and suddenly there
was this girl, who had nothing to do with it,
stuck in aline between him and his mother.
Other situations, he marvelled, were
probably just as heavy, but he hadn't realised it
until afterwards; like the time that guy threw
apint of beer over him at The Venue and he'dgone over and said, "Look, you're gonna think
I'm really stupid, but were you being heavyjust
then? Ican't work it out 'cos I'm tripping?"
He remembered the look on the guy's face andhe smiled. He could probably have been in a
Berlin gaol right now for some of the stuff thatwent down and he suddenlywondered whether
he was good or bad. He thought he'd like tothink he was good because he had astrong
sense of morality, but then again, morality
was asociety thing, like insanity.
He mused over the notion, introduced inarecent interview, that maybe the youth oftoday felt castrated and subconsciously
yearned for awar. He decided he wasn't muchbothered, because he couldn't see that much
worth saving in humanity. "I mean, if mankind
is the end of the chain," he thought, "fuckin'hell... was it worth it?"JULIAN COPE

uTHE GREATNESSIt didn't much matter to him if he died. The idea ofliving forever repulsed him and he felt again the guilty
resentment for old people that always came upon him
when he pictured one of his mother's friends who'dsuddenly been converted to Catholicism as if someinner voice had told her, "OK, start repenting now."',Meat»He realised that you could never imagine not
MIR'S%
existing, that to imagine it was, in itself, to exist, but
he thought, "Wouldn't it be brilliant if you could
actually do it?" He started thinking about
eternal blackness and then thought, "Hold on,
it wouldn't be black", so he started thinking
about eternal colourlessness and came to theconclusion that nothing was an empty box
without the box round it.
Recalling aconversation with Dorian, hebegan to worry about the time the kids theyplanned to have would find their dad anembarrassment or maybe they'd turn out to be
neo-Nazis or something and he'd have to put his
foot down. He reminded himself, once again,that he had no idea what his parents thought ofhim, recalling his father asking if he ever met
people who take drugs. He laughed. It proved his
father knew absolutely nothing and his mother was content not to read his
interviews in the papers because of the barrack-room language he used.
He suddenly felt angry, overcome by the suspicion they'd deceived him as
achild by making him believe that theywere able to handle alot more thanthey really could, and he recalled how acouple of years ago, he'd actuallydespised his mother because he'd wanted to tell her, "Ido this, Ido that, I'm
unfaithful to mywife," and he couldn't. He resented that they'd actually
made himwhat he was, but now, he reminded himself, he accepted thattheywere just two unworldly people who thought theywere worldly.
"I accept it," he whispered under his breath, "but it pisses me off no end.
"I don't even know if I
like me," he pondered. "But then, that's not reallythe question. The fact is that someone's made me with good bits andhang-ups and, for some reason, I
want to project them."
He recalled being told recently that he talked as if he didn't much carewhat people thought of him anymore, and he figured that was true. He'd
had two-and-a-half years with The Teardrop Explodes aiming forsomething that he thought he wanted, thinking (just like everyone else)that when he got there he'd be the one who turned everyone on and do
things abit differently, but when he got there it was all so much bullshit.
He'd decided he didn't want to end up living in comparative luxury
feeling like atwat, but he'd never worked out whether it was possible to be
famous, even infamous, and keep agrip on reality. All he knewwas that
he believed in music, in its incredible duality-like Shakespeare wasn't
writing great art but, because he wasn't, it became great art.
He recalled reading something Mac had said ("I am aShakespearean
character and Julian Cope is aBeano character") and he thought, "Yeah,
that's true; but what Mac fails to realise, because he's not aware of
Shakespeare, because he just sees him as abig block oflearning but
doesn't actually read him, is that Shakespeare's characters were what
Beano characters are now; characters to entertain abawdy 16th-century
audience who'd just come in off the streets.
He worried, briefly, that he used too many Mac analogies. It was nothing
personal, it was just that he was aware of Mac and watched his
movements and saw him declaiming as if what he did was incredibly
important. Cope had seen Shakespeare performed at Stratford and heknew that Mac had got it all wrong. It wasn't an impressive, altogethernow "Is This ADagger ISee Before Me?" routine; it was more real than that.
Cope reflected that he'd been shying away from things important
recently. You could miss an ironyby having it thrust in your face. People
were always asking could Cope cope? Some had decided he'd had anervous
breakdown, others thought he'd faked it for the romantic glamour ofastruggling cult figure. Someone even suggested that he didn't knowwhether Cope could be trusted or not and Cope was inclined to agree.
He'd split the Teardrops simply because he didn't th ink there
was anything to be gained in what theywere doing. He'd been
uncomfortable with his public image and his attitude had changednightly on stage. Why was he there, what was he doing? There had
never been such aself-conscious performer. What was this strange
compulsion to lay himself bare in public?

He wasn't sure what, if any, value it had as heremembered how he'd embarrass 90 per cent of theaudience and think, "Well, what other point isthere?" His sex rap in Nottingham haunted him.
Had he really taunted the girls at the front with therhetorical come-on, "You're thinking about fucking
me, aren't you?"
He'd really freaked them out but he'd had to do it; hecouldn't dowhat Mac had been doing foryears,
taking it down and doing "Light My Fire" or "SexMachine". Eighty per cent of the time he wasn't
even in the mood for rhyming, so his raps were
lousy, although at least he was doing something.
He thought of the pattern of recent interviews
and sighed. Of course his album was selfexamining, but whether he was in search ofsalvation or just after attention he couldn't say.
Maybe both. He'd been asked if he was really anutter, or whether he just wanted people tothink he was, or whether he really didn't know,
and he'd replied, "Maybe I
just like the idea ofbeingweird. But hold on -anybody who likes
the idea must be quite weird in any case."
He pondered his album. He was glad he'dsettled for short songs rather than Jesus Christ Meets Warhol, which
everybody anticipated, and he'd tried to cut the time between thought andexpression by recording it almost as it poured out of him. That Lou Reedlyric was the best ever: "Between thought and expression lies alifetime."
But it shouldn't have to be that way. It was driving him crazy, the wholeidea that two people had to communicate in such an antiquated way, thesyntax and phrasing of any sentence getting in the way of real meaning.
Thought-transference was what he was after; that way there'd be none of
the confusion inherent in language between serious intent and irony.
It was, he sighed, an impossible dream, but at least on World... he'd cut
through the sacred veneer of technique to get at expression.
He anticipated alot of things to be said. Like, in the wake of his NME
feature on psychedelia and his ranting press release condemningmodern pop when he'd folded the Teardrops, accusations of kitsch
revivalism, even snobbery, were well on the cards. He decided he didn't
care; he wasn't really into defences and, in all honesty, this album was
him and the degree to which other people liked it was the degree to which
they would ever be able to respond to him. It was genuine.
There was nothing on World... that he'd particularly change. There
were parts that he found embarrassing, the twee parts, the trite parts, theparts of real bravado, but they were all him, so sod it. He'd realised long
ago that pop couldn't accept whole human beings, that it had to shave off
numerous dimensions before it could market any act, and he didn't much

"I don't evenknow if Ilikeme. But that's
not really thequestion"care any more.
The album wasn't saying anything really except, "This is me." It wasn't
that what he liked musicallywas better than anything going on at the
moment; it was just that this was what he liked. He didn't even reallywant
it to be successful, but at the same time, he wanted everybody to think,"This is brilliant music."
Julian Cope's mind muddled blank for amoment and then heremembered reading in this month's Playboy how, when John Lennon
died, everybody started ripping offYoko and he thought, "God, whoneeds that? For all the money in theworld you wouldn't need that."
Ultimately, he supposed, money could buy you alittle bit of somethingifyou didn't have much as ahuman being. He was more interested inbeing asuccessful human being than asuccessful product of thecapitalist society.
"I am astar. I'm astar to me," he thought, "and Idon't need it confirmed
by other people."
Julian Cope woke up this mor iii
aviuimoth avingbeenbornallover
again. steveswhedand •ASUITABLE CASE
FOR TREATMENT
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2111 HISTORY OF ROCK 19Er

"It's ahard,lonely life"
NINA SIMONE is down, but
not yet out. Post-nap,
pre-rubdown, theformidable artist airs thegrievances which attend
her reputation. "I'mknown as adiva now. Do
you know what adiva is?"she asks. "Good. I
wantyou to print that."- NME FEBRUARY 4-

A

T4.30 PM, aworn anddishevelled Nina Simone isstill tucked up in her plush
Park Lane hotel bed.
The curtains are drawn,
the lightingdiscreet- its glare
directed away from her sullen orbs sunk in layersof eyeshadow smudge and rolls of puffy flesh.
Acassette of Marvin Gaye'sMidnightLoveand
aWalk man lie on the dresser, but the only soundcomes from this formidably sized middle-aged
woman-shouting orders and ripostes to her tall,
slim brother, manager, organ player and sometime
vocal accompanist Sam, who busies himselfwith
sheals and folders on the other side of the room.
As soon as we enter, she's on the offensive.
"No pictures! I
won't have no pictures!" shethunders.
The arrogant and cantankerous Nina Simone
pantomime is underway; at the moment
photographer PeterAnderson is playing Little Red
Riding Hood to herbig bad wolf, but I'll soon betaldngover.
"Here he comes again, areyou deaf? I
said NO
PHOTOGRAPHSISamISAMI Tell him, Sam. Just give
him the ones we have."In the middle of this verbal crossfire-she's facing
me but shouting at Peter over myshoulder, Peter islooking at Sam, and Sam is telling me to sit downItake abedside seat, turn on the recorderandwait
for the sweet, lustrous voice to fill me, to fill us all,with worldlywisdom. Her attention roused, sheturns round in bed.A left breast threatens to pokeout from under aloosely tied purplegown as she getstetchy again.
"W hat do you want?" she scowls.
Itry some small talk to break the ice: How's
London? The shows? The interviews? Oh, Nina,! see
you like Marvin Gaye... But she doesn't want to »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I21

1984

JANUARY -te ll

know. Tired, suspicious and in abad mood, she wants the job over withas soon as possible.
"Oh my God! What kind of questions are these? Come on now, shoot!"
The interview was acertain kind of seduction. It lasted half an hour, shestarted out hard and impenetrable, became warm and friendly midway
through, and at the end she was tired but smiling. I
was exhausted.
IUNICE WAYMON WAS born in Tryon, North Carolina, on 21
February, 1933. Aresident of Paris, France, for the last four
Jyears, she's in London to play a£12.50 -a-head two-weekresidency at Ronnie Scott's. Coming near the end of her stint, she's
starting to feel the strain of her years and the hectic schedule.
"I don't want to go on stage at Ronnie Scott's tonight. Sometimes it justgets to be areal bore, but Ihave to go. It didn't use to be abore, but thepressure of having to do it every night is very great. But Imust go- I
haveto make money and I'm famous. Fame is something you can't stop once
it has started."
In the hallowed echelons of black music the classically nurtured soul of
Nina Simone holds asingularly unique position. Her route from rural
poverty to classical academy, through '50s jazz cocktail bar, the activism
of civil rights and college circuits of the '60s, into festival and concert halls
in the '70s, to the present where she yearns for the irreproachable statusof adiva (which, suitably, means being aprima donna, as well as agreat
singer) did not follow the normal course of most black female performers.
The sheer enormity of her work is hard to put in acontext. It has agrasp
big enough to incorporate the sanctity of gospel, the rough-hewn folksy"Gin House Blues" and "The Work Song", impeccable jazzy quintet
reworkings of standards like "Mr Bojangles" and "Just Like AWoman".
DuringAmerica's Depression of the '30s, the backwater of Tryon was
hardly the ideal birthplace for apotential prodigy. But along with herfamily-three sisters, four brothers and avery religious mother and father-at four, Nina began playing piano at gospel revival meetings.
At one performance she caught the attention of awell-heeled admirer
who offered to pay for her to have formal classical training. When thepatron's support was discontinued, aEunice Waymon Fund was set up.
Local folks gave so generously that, having graduated from high school inNorth Carolina, Nina was able to move to aclassical academy in NewYork.
"I hated those recitals. At the first one in the white library there wasabig hassle about where my mother and father would sit. That hurt me.
Miss Mazzie [her teacher] never knew how tense I
was and how scaredthose white people made me. Ihad to go across the tracks. I
was split inhalf. I
loved Bach, but the music was never ajoy, never apleasure.
"When Iwas young Iwanted to be famous as aclassical pianist. But I've
achieved it as astar and it's avery hard, very lonelylife. I
would prefer tohave achieved it as aclassical pianist. In America, in NewYork Igot turned
down from the first academy I
went to because of racial prejudice. And
that was something !never got over, because itchanged me into ashowbiz person. And, really,
Inever wanted to do that."A

SWE SIT talking in this dimly lit
room, her fierce exterior soon
cracks and underneath lies asadbut resilient figure. Simone's tale is scarredwith the scourge of prejudice, the ugly
machinations of the business and two broken
marriages. Sometimes her voice breaks fromits matronly boom and she sounds as frail andhelpless as asmall girl. She's lovesick, broke,
unable to create... it's all quite tragic, actually.
About halfwaythrough the interview theroom-service trolley arrives and she breakfasts
quickly and voraciously on chicken consommé,
salad sandwiches and aglass of lager. I
have amental picture of her, her mouth filled with bread,beer and soup, and she's trying to look serious,
staring straight ahead and declaring, "I'm known
as adiva now. That's the way I
want it. Do you knowwhat adiva is? Good. I
want you to print that."
And that's kind of tragic too.
From an early age the consummate artistrywhich was to inform her future recordings
was formed.

"I started off as achild prodigy. You know what that is?A child prodigy
plays anything they hear. Ididn't start playing gospel; Istarted playing
bop, gospel, jazz, blues... anything I
heard... hymns."
Although she never really "made it" as aclassical pianist, the style is abase for all her playing. She used it to counterpoint melodies, to cast huge
spectres and gashes of melancholy to aching love songs like "The Other
Man", "I Don't Want Him", or the present "IfYou Knew". Or as acentrepiece
to atowering masterpiece like "Four Women", placing the songs on asetting that is so deep and dark and troubled that it can genuinely frighten
the listener. The ability to do this must be asource of gratification.
"Yes, it is tremendously gratifying. The audience appreciate that, but
don't think of it as classical, they just think of it as my style. The fact isI
playAfrican-rooted classical music. I
would rather use two drummers
and nobody else if Icould. Idon't like using guitar... I
like using
drummers because they can adopt themselves to ballads and not get in
the waywith awhole lot of clapping and carrying on that has nothing to
do with ballads at all."When she played to 2,000 people at the Barbican Centre 18 months ago
she was accompanied only by adrummer and her grand piano. It wasafascinating performance- obsessive, consumed with passion, anger,
sorrow, love, sex, death. Simone writhed and squirmed in front of theaudience. She seemed to be laying herself bare, as if unable to separate
whatever drama or crisis in her personal life had inspired the songs off
the stage. She doesn't agree.
"Hell, no. My personal life is just as important to me as my music, but
Ikeep the two completely separate. That stuffyou saw, Ican turn it on
and offlike afaucet."On stage or off, however, Simone can be aweird, disparaging character.
Performances range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Barney Hoskyns
recalls ashow some months back in LosAngeles where she regaled theaudience with twee ivory tinkling and went through the whole concert
speaking French.
By all accounts her shows at Ronnie's have been similarly erratic. I
caught two nights. The first I
was seated about two feet from her. Ishouldhave been rapt, but somehowwasn't. She came on stage looking tired andfragile; painted and besequinned, she stood surveying the audience withher huge shoulders arched, her hands on her hips and an expression ofvague disdain on her face. While there were undeniable moments ofbeauty, the set as awhole had ahollow ring. She wasn't enjoying it (after
the third song she started to make regular timechecks with the guy at theside of the stage).
"It was ashock. It was very different having to play nightclubs whenIfirst went to NewYork. Iwent there to study classical music, but Iwas
broke and Ihad to make money. It was very hard to get acclimatised to
showbusiness; Ihated it then and Istill do. Ihate the hotel rooms, the lackof good food, the lack of anormal life.
"The audience at Ronnie Scott's is wonderful.
But I'd rather be playing the Royal Festival Hall.
Idon't like nightclubs, but Iam grateful it's been
packed out every night.""Fame issomething
you can't stop
once it has
started"mnieelppi
NY NINA SIMONE
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22 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

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SA RECORDING artist, Simone's
career has been fraught with
contractual and business problems.
Her major beef throughout the interview is
how 50 or so pirate companies owe her moneythat runs into "the millions".
She was 25 when she recorded her first session
for Bethlehem Records, the bulk of which canbe found on the MyBabyJustCares ForMeCharly reissue. She shot to national acclaim
with the million-selling version of Gershwin's"I Loves You Porgy", and her interpretative powers
as singer, arranger and musician on that and otherstandards such as Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" or
traditional spirituals like "He's Got The Whole WorldIn His Hands" reaped lavish critical acclaim, casting
her as asupper-club performer par excellence.
Was it athrill to start recording?
"No, it was very hard, and when it was recorded Ihad
to beg for them to release it."LPs such as the now rare NinaSimone-JazzAsPlayedInAnExclusiveSideStreet Club and Nina

NINA SIMONE"Oh, honey, it saddens me terribly. It makes me so depressed.
I
don't knowwhat to do. Not to have apiano in here and to be able
to create inhere. It saddens me more than anything."
The second time! see Nina at Ronnie Scott's she ¡sin fullcommand, fusing together all her strengths and talents-siding
agorgeous reading of "Porgy" with the parched pathos of the new"Father In My Wings", moving from the funky rumble of "SeeLine Woman" to amajestic "My BabyJust Cares For Me".
From the crowd two guys presented her with red roses (justlike areal diva!) and she made dates with them for after theshow. Apart from the scathing"Stupid Dog" ("dedicated to therecording industry of North America") most of her new songs
are ballads.
"Forme, love songs and ballads are the most important kind ofsongs. Why? Because I'm not in love, and! love love, and I
have achild, and to me the most important thing in the world is love and.I
1being married."
The last great Nina Simone LP to reach these shores was
Baltimore in 1978, and she still plays Randy Newman's title track,
begrudgingly.
"What I'm trying to do now is sing my own songs. It'll be thefirst time I've sung just my own songs. I
want record companies
to buy them."
Did you never have alot of money?
-14"Yeah, I
had plenty. But! got divorced and I
was swindled out ofJanuary 9,1984 on
it by record companies, theatres, lawyers and bad management,"of Simone'searly
she claims. "I like the things money can buy, but !haven't got any.
appearances at
RonnieScott'sjazz
I'll tell you again- the pirate companies are keeping my money
clubinSoho,London
because of the civil rights movement. The only money I'mearning is what I'm working for."If true, Nina Simone must have had some dubious management
to get ripped off by 50 record companies, but then the lady is not
unknown to exaggerate or make outbursts which subsequently have to
Simone And Friends (with guest appearance by Carmen McRae) followed,
be retracted. Arecent diatribe against Charly Records was one such
but with the turn of the decade Simone tired of her position and moved onincident (N ME Jan 28, 1984-see news section p10), and she once told an
to international stardom. In 1961 she married former police detective
interviewer that she had been forced to record Baltimore having been
Andrew Stroud, who also became her manager. Her own songs began to
kidnapped by five men and put in acellar for three days without sleep ortake prominence and they were spitting fire and blood, declarations ofwater and released only when she had finished recording the LP.
black pride and determination.
She now lives in Paris, visits Africa as often as possible with her best
In 1963, following achurch bombing in Alabama which killed little girls,
friend Miriam Makeba, one-time wife of Stokely Carmichael andand shortly after black rights leader Medgar Evers was shot in front of his
originator of "click" singing. ("You've never heard of her. What age are youhome in Jackson, Mississippi, she wrote the memorable "Mississippi
anyway? Man, she's world famous.") She goes to America as little as
Goddam": "Alabama's got me so upset/Tennessee made me lose my rest 1
possible- "I don't like it; that's where they ripped off my songs. Iget reallyAnd everybody knows about Mississippi- goddam!"
physically sick every time I'm there" -and feels at home in Paris.
It was songs like "Young Gifted And Black" (turned into areggae pop"There I
am very, very famous. Did you know how big I
was in Paris?
classic by Bob &Marcia) and her reading of militant black poet Langston
Oh man, it's easy for me to live in Paris, everyone knows my songs. In the
Hughes' Backlash Blues that garnered her areputation as The Highstreet !get recognised all the time- taxi drivers, meat cutters, flower
Priestess Of Soul. When Phyl Garland interviewed Simone for her
sellers. I
like that. Ineed that."book The Sound OfSoul in 1969, she asked her how the change from
Nina says she's putting the finishing touches to an autobiography,
nightclub to protest singer came about. She smiled and said, "Now thatcompiled from adiary she's kept throughout her 30 years in
my people have decided to take over the world... I'm going to have to do
showbusiness. She has arecurring dream that she must finish it, and the
my part."projected title is Between The Keys or Princess Noir. Her immediate plans
Nowadays it's something she'd rather forget.
are to get asingle released, aduet with Sam on aversion ofJerry Butler's"I worked for the... um mm... what do you call it, Sam? Yes, the civil"Let It Be Me". And, like she's been saying for the past five years, she wants
rights movement during the '60s."
to sue the ass off all the companies that have ripped her off.
Are you still involved with it?
Before Igo, Iask her if she's aware of her reputation for not being the"No, lam not. It got me into alot of trouble. It hurt my career. Maybe iteasiest or most amicable interview in the business.
helped black people, but it hurt me. That's why I'm not making the money
She grins. "Sure I'm difficult. Ihave areputation like that becauseIshould be right now. At least 50 pirate companies are holding out on me
people don't know me. I'm used to it now. It's better to have areputation
because of that."for being too difficult than it is for having one for being kind of easy. Hell,That's bad, I
say, because Ithought you were at the height of your powers
if I
was any easier they'd be walking all over me."in those days.
She's looking forward to afew more hours curled up under the sheets"I do too, dear. But it hurt my career in terms of money. I
was playing
before alady comes to give her tired bones arubdown before the concert.
benefits but I
wasn't getting my money then or now. But no doubt some
Sam tells me it's time to go.
of my best songs came out of that period. 'Four Women' was written
Hey Nina, have you ever heard of the Sex Pistols?
overnight, but it took me four months before I
had the nerve to play it"Yes, but Inever hear them. I
hear The Police and! like them. I
don't
to somebody because I
thought it would be rejected. I
played it for mythink I'd like the Sex Pistols."
husband on an airplane one day; Ithought he wasn't going to like itItell her one of the best things about her show at the Barbican was
because it was so direct and blatant.
the way she unleashed so much wrath and force at the audience. It"'Mississippi Goddam' I
wrote in about an hour. But remember,
was the nearest they'd get to experiencing the shock of the Sex Pistols.
these things were written when I
was stable, I
was married and I
was
Iappreciated the wind-up.
living at home. I
don't write now. I'm staying in hotels. I
can't; there's no
Just poked above the sheets, her face cracks into awide, sly beam. She
pianos here."closes her eyes and sinks away. Gavin Martin •Doesn't that make you sad?
HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I23

1984«IJANUAII -O GH

1'....The Smiths: evoking
1 avisionof thecity"strained through' early-'60sfilmsof,.
late-'50s novels",
1

ALBUMSThe Smiths
ROUGH TRADE"And if you must go to work
tomorrow...! Well, if/ were youIwouldn't bother" ("Still III")
Without being pejorative,
there is something soporific
about the sound of The Smiths.
It's so easy to lapse into theirlanguid dreams without stopping
to question where precisely thisman Morrissey should be placedin the infinite space between
heaven and pillow.
Just how clinical and how
innocent is this seducer of ourimaginations? How genuine his
successive (and often mutually
exclusive) stances as corrupted
and corruptor, reformed literary
libertine and celibate gay
bachelor? After contemplationof his flamboyant advances, I've
arrived at no conclusion as towhat precisely he bears before
him or what exactly he is after.
What remains at the core ofMorrissey's art is amystique thathas so far proved impenetrable-he affords the odd insight, butthere is never enough glimpsed
to dispel his fascination.
Consideration of The Smiths
always ends up as attempted
penetration of Morrissey's
singular charms, primarily
because The Smiths in plural are
as average as their uncharismaticname suggests. Where
nothing of "theMorrissey is awielder of thetale" has actuallyarchaic art of the word, his
been revealed.
cohorts are merely competentThroughout the LP, he captures
workers in the grimy craft of pop.
aset of fascinations that appeal
Musically, The Smiths are little
to the current mood -the only
more than mildly regressive.
question is how many of them
What saves them is Morrissey's
are indeed his own and how
rare grasp of the myriad
many the result of long years'
distortions of the pastel worlds
research in arented room inof nostalgia. Much of the intrigue
Whalley Range. Too frequently
behind The Smiths is not what
his philosophy of pop seems all
they have to offer but the
too neatly prepared to appeal
seductive manner in which-the quaint campaign against
Morrissey offers it -his beguilingthe synthesizer, for example.
invitation to forget art and dance
The mass appeal lies
in anotion of animated camp. At(unfortunately) in aform of
this point we come to his enigma
traditionalism -so Morrissey-of the uncalculated versus theoffers the fictional tradition ofcontrived.
"great pop"- complete thisThis has its opening in the cold,
sequence in six letters: thequivering reflections of the
Buzzcocks, Orange Juice, The...
plaintive epic "Reel Around The
Fountain"- apicture of virtual
classical proportions, with
Morrissey's world-weary
tones washing agrey taleof innocence lost."/t'stime the tale weretold," he opens,"Of how you took
achild/And you
made him old" you have to rouse
yourself from thepleasant malaisethat the lazy
BOU GH 61
pace induces to

THE SMIT'HS

»ay'
,
I. •
.

recall that, at theend of the song,

Records Ltd•

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24 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

Calculation, though, canoffer an aesthetic of its own,
and The Smiths, like Culture
Club, weave an intricate webof insignia, delightful in its
diversity, intriguing in its
attention to detail, but
finally impenetrable.
From the sexy malecover to"Hand In Glove",Morrissey has proved
himself adept at the gender
identity game -anothertradition of long-standing
appeal. Throughout the LP,
he plucks at the same stringsof homoeroticism: "I'm not
the man you think I
am,"heintimates coyly on "Pretty
Girls Make Graves",
concluding,"Uve lost myfaith in womanhood" -bothof which are in fact snippets
open to entirely opposite
interpretations.
When he breaks his
genderless rule, it iswith aslyness wemight expect: "Intothe depths of thecriminal world I
followed her...",
calling up areference
to Cocteau's Orpheus
films (a comparison not
so obscure when you
consider that their star, andCocteau's lover, Jean Marais,
was featured on the cover ofThis Charming Man"). Where
Cocteau's Orpheus is left unable
to look at his wife (perhaps he too
had lost his faith in womanhood),Morrissey ends with "I need
advice, because nobody everlooks at me twice."
For every tendency inMorrissey's scheme of things,
though, there is the necessarybalance, for the heaving tragedyof "And 'love' is justa miserablelie" there's the flippancy of"! know that windswept
mystical air/It means I'd liketo see your underwear".
It's more than just aquestion ofbalance, though; it's aproblem ofplausibility, and Morrissey is very
believable. How convincing his
aura of deceptive simplicity,
how credible his imitationof the wide-eyed village
boy adrift in the big city.
When he claims to be"a country mile behind
the world", you
believe him, largely
because his view of
e the city is one visibly

SIDE

RI'm

1984

;
o

ea
strained
rly-'60sthroughfilms oflate-Sos novels
anotion of reality
three times removed.

to no %. ultra
THE EfIRTe4
THE OCATH
TNE GHOST

Don Watson, NNE Feb 25

The Gun ClubABC

Blood, booze, and Host:
midway through amess of"Preachin' The Blues" on thissub-bootleg memento of preFire Of Love Gun Club, Jeffrey
Lee Pierce, sensing he does
not have the Whisky AGo-Go's
full and undivided attention,orders its silence. "Fuck yourface!" he yells. "We're talking'bout religion!!"Poor Jeffrey. How do you
preach the blues to apack ofTinseltown trendhounds?
More to the point, why do you
preach the blues to apack ofTinseltown trendhounds? Why,because his mythic, swampy
America of damnation andsuperstition, of rivers of bloodand alcohol, is one of the only
significant challenges to theglam urban nihilism of1980.
Pierce was Darby Crash inanon-canine dog collar, anobsessive mythologist forging alink between blues and punk. If
visually he suggested Meat Loaf

Barney Hoskyns,
NNE, Feb 25

Cyndi Lat. peron the Fun
Tour,Chi.alo.
Apri124,12a4

SINGLES
Cyndi Lai per

PORTRAIT' EPICI
can see the headlines
now: "Ray Lowry 'Not Mad'
Shock! New Evidence!" Cyndi
Lauper used to sing with US
band Blue Angel, whom
nobody ever heard eventhough our man Ray wasforever ranting about theirbrilliance. It's just possible he
was right, after all. "Girls Just
Want To Have Fun" is afrivolous
pop-dance delight. Miss Lauperpours aworld of authentic
conviction into the song, andits message, though simple,
heartfelt: "When the working
day is done/Girls just want tohave fun!" This is aprovocative
new theory and I
urge our top
sociologists to seek verification
forthwith. NME Jan 21

The Smiths
ROUGH TRADE

Not so good as "...CharmingMan" say some, but I'd say
better. Awailing, wordlesshook from your man Morrissey
hovers, ghost-like, over a
rubbery rockabilly beat, notmarred one whit by Johnny
Guitar Marr's
spring-heeled
peripheryriffery. And the
lyrics cut you,too. Perfect inits détente of
tough andtender, thisrecord, if thatmakes any sense.
Give these men
abig, big hit. (By
the way, re. theNME Readers Poll,it's early days, but I
wouldn't be surprised if the
final results reveal something
to The Smiths' advantage. Say
no more.) NNE _an21

Echo &The Bunnymen
KOROVA

Stupendous. Well,I
would say that,wouldn't I? But
trust me: Mac
and themembers are
not letting us
down. "TheKilling Moon",I
think, introduces
new depth to thegroup's recorded work.
Certainly it plays on anote ofsadness, regret, sense of loss
that I
don't recall in anything
they've previously done. Will
Sergeant's acoustic guitar andasombre, slowly building
chorus do much to establish
this peculiar mood. Most of all,perhaps, it's the words -they're
unusually direct and vulnerable
for the Bunnymen, and being
without that protective veil ofvagueness, McCulloch sounds
encouraged to ditch an amountof his own reserve, closer thanever to the emotional bone.
I
don't know. I
know it's theirmost intriguing song since"A Promise". And I
know thegroup won't be around forever.
Treasure them now. .
MAP-- -an 2/
HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I25

PAUL NATK IN /GETTY"Still Ill", for example, is adrama of flawed perfection,
flickering fading values in dusty
monochrome -Morrissey kissing
beneath the iron bridge finds thefictional Britishness of his
obsession slipping through his
fingers: "But we cannot cling tothe old dreams any more."
What Morrissey captures
above all is anotion of despair
reflected perfectly in the
lacklustre sound of his cohorts,
adeath of the punk ideals that
Morrissey is quite old enough tohave been closely involved in. In
turn what distinguishes him fromaWeller is firstly his wit, andsecondly the sensitivity to deal
in despair without resorting topreaching in desperation.
What does this suitor offer?
Acalculated plan, perhaps, but
enough to haunt the imagination.
For the moment that's enough.

superimposed on
Jim Morrisonall dolled up like
apelvis from hell-there was ahurt
and amadness
in the beachedwhale's bleachedwail which that
Sunset Boulevard
shaman of
instant catharsis
Morrison neverreached. Kid
Congo left for
The Cramps,
but there's
no ghoulish kitsch here; thisblack drug train is going straightto hell.
Pierce might be ignorable if hehadn't written the odd greatsong. The best -"Carry Home","Brother And Sister" -are on
Miami and suggest that he writes
best when least intoxicated by his
obsessions. But what can apoor
blues-crazed hulk do after being
produced by Chris Stein besides
dredge up his very own Metallic
KO? Drunk on the blood of
ghosts, this half-dead-at-CBsstyle souvenir is like aconscious
massacring of folk tradition.
"Bo Diddley's AGunslinger",avisceral complement to Vega's"Collision Drive", or "Walking
With The Beast", a"Mona"-styleskull-stomp, are simple enough.
But when he tries Mack Self's"Willie Brown" or the absurd,
unaccompanied cottonpicker's
cry of "Field Holler", Pierce's
evangelism verges on thegrotesque. Attempting tosnare the fatalistic horror ofRobert Johnson or Charley
Patton in asetting of trash punk,
he overloads and saturates mythuntil the ghosts are as bloatedas he is.
Significantly, the cover is anunholy blood-red marriage of
Munch's Scream and Cave's"Bad Seed" (minus the swastika).
Pierce and Cave: both sick,hard-drinking preachers of pop's
lost highways, wrapping ringswollen fingers round crucifixes
in futile faithless agony.
Asupreme posture. They are
post-punk's Waylon'n'Willie,
Pierce as Cave's Saint Huck
(Finn), the gangling one himself
awasted
Natty
Bumppo.
(Just asuggestion.)
Do whitemen get the
blooze?

1984
JA NU ARV —O

H"We're nottrying tochangean hinYet Iglene gem have apowerful "worker" image togo along with their robust synthpop. They're also big
stars throughout Europe, where their melancholic beats
have found asympathetic audience. "We're just trying
to make people think," says songwriter Martin Gore.

MICHAEL PUTLAND IGETYS

MELODY MAKER ANWitir t—

PARKLERS. THAT'S HOW German audiences display affection andappreciation. Sparklers, plus the odd lone klaxon crying out like awolf withapeg on its nose.
To their most confirmed enemies, the piercing specks of light whizzing aroundlike Tinkerbells in this metal barn must be an enduringly appropriate symbol of thegroup up on the stage.
Depeche Mode, remember, are supposed to play pretty music. Lightweight, harmless, mildly
attractive maybe, but fragile, decorous and twee. At least, that's how the theory goes.
But then theories can always be proven wrong.
While the company blandsmiths perfect their corporate grip on the nation's pop pulse andthe public's taste slithers slug-like towards asquidgy, marshmallow centre, somehave been busy figuring how best to achieve astate of dissidence without sacrificin g
popular appeal.
It might be ahard balancing act, but in 1983 Depeche Mode managed the trick.
Acraftily awkward and deceptively spiky presence in the charts, they learned thatkissingwasn't clever or even interestingwhen you'd been doing it for at least acoupleof years without progressing to anything more daring. Taking stock of theoverwhelming move towards amiddle-of-the-road consensus (are some people
afraid to admit they're not especially moved or stimulated by the pleasantries ofCulture Club?), they found themselves moving steadily in the opposite direction.»

26 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

DepecheModein**Berlin,July1984:(1-r)
MartinGore,Dave• Gahan,AlanWilder,
AndrewFletcher"milk •k,

1984
JilNlJlR'l

Of course, their music has hardly become raucous or truculently
rebellious, but if you think the Mode of "New Life" is the same Mode as"Love In Itself", then you obviously haven't been paying attention.
According to the chorus of the latter, love is now "not enough in itself',
and their third LP (from which the songwas taken as asingle),
Construction Time Again, confirms. There isn't asingle love song here, notaword of romance or personal heartache. This fabric is stitched with thethread of socialism and liberal concern- amost unfashionable position
to take up in this age of conspicuous egotism.
As for the music, it's synthpop still, but fattened and given strength.
This isn't aparty, it's awhole lot more.
Watching the group at Hammersmith Odeon afewweeks ago and more
recently in Cologne and Düsseldorf, it struck me just how tawdry mostother synthpop groups seem in comparison to the sure-fingered touchof Depeche.
Their pop glistens with modernity to such an extreme, futuristic degree
that sometimes it seems difficult to credit that this is actually apopular
chart pop group on stage. This is apop that is rooted in the present, notsome retrogressive notion of what "perfect pop" should sound like.
Perhaps some of you aren't convinced. Like me you've watched them on
Top OfThe Pops on countless occasions and been, at most, moved totwitch the odd toe while complaining that they looked like acollection ofplain youngsters pressing buttons; school students dressed in pullovers
that seem just that little bit too neat and nice.
In which case you need to see them live. When their synths mutate into
apulsating dance beat and David Gahan leaps across the stage as if he's
determined to topple over into the orchestra pit, Depeche Mode ignite,their pop springing alive with an ebullient sense of energy. Depeche canbe muscular -visceral even.
Not that things have always been that way.
"We've always been concerned -like the records always sounded a
bit weak, but in the studio when we actually made them they sounded
quite powerful."
Andy Fletcher is quite aware of some of their past problems. He and Alan
Wilder (the only non-Basildonian in the group -the replacement for
Vince Clarke) are facing the reporter across the breakfast table the night
after 6,000 people of both sexes and avariety of ages have gone bananas at
one of their performances.
"When we were going out playing live," continues Fletcher, "we werequite powerful, but when we actually tried to reproduce it on record it justsounded really weak and horrible. On the last album, we really tried totoughen up the sound."Do people have the wrong idea about Depeche Mode?
"I've noticed that from just walking around the streets. Like where I
live,
in Basildon, Iget quite alot of abuse. Alot of people still thinkwe're liketeeny wimps. Wimps on synths.""But Ithink that's our fault," admits Wilder. "It's nobody else's fault but
our own that people have got that impression, because it's obviously thewaywe put ourselves across. You can't blame people for summingyou up
wrong, because it's down to you to get the right impression."
Wilder is being surprisingly candid. Perhaps as arelative "newcomer"(though his staywith the group now exceeds that ofVince) he can placethem in perspective more astutely.
Whatever, Fletcher agrees: "We suffered alot from the beginning,
because we didn't really know what we were doing. If somebody took
apicture of us, we smiled: we hadn't had
any training. When we met the public
and that, we acted like we would
normally. [One MMstaff member recallsthat the first time he met the group they
were playing hide-and-seeld] We cameacross to alot of people as sickly andreally bad. It wasn't anything that wasplanned or anything."
What kind of abuse did they receive?
"The whole catalogue really. Just
walking along, people from cars, inpubs, going through the town centre.""But that's Basildon for you,"observes Wilder.
"Yeah, it's very like what we call a'Span
Town' -spanners, beer, boys. I
s'pose it's
because we've always lived there-

28 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

they've seen so much of us that they've turned against us. If we go
elsewhere we actually get praised by some people. Ithink it's agood
contrast, because we don't like the pop-star thing, we try to play it all
down. It's good getting abit of abuse; it brings you down to earth."
What was that sentence? "We actually get praised by some people."
Fletcher seems genuinely warmed by the idea that people could actuallywant to come and praise them. Yet paradoxically their popularitywas
achieved so early in their career that they virtually take it for granted. I've
never seen agroup look so cool and casual in the dressing room before alarge gig; walking out of the room and onto the stage in front of 6,000, theylook so unruffled it's as if they are wandering down the corridor to look forthe lavatory. I
wonder if they feel anaesthetised onstage.
"I mean it is an exciting feeling being on stage and playing, obviously. It
gets you going," says Wilder, "but you are right- personally, Ido kind of
shut myself off and go into ashell and go through the motions. And enjoy
it, but don't quite feel the whole thing.""The reason it seems so casual," adds Fletcher, "is we just expect togo down well. During the time I've been with the band, Idon't think we've
ever gone down badly. You expect that reaction and it is like going
through the motions."
So. They are going through the motions. At least sometimes.
Fortunately this "live performance" is filled with much button-pushing.
It doesn't matter. Part of the appeal of Depeche Mode is their mechanicalinsistence- the mathematical certainty of their beat.

B

ACKSTAGEAFTER THEIR Cologne show, Depeche Mode arefeeding the fans. Autographs, chitchat, strained smiles, all are
gratefully gobbled.
"Hi, Andy!" shouts awan blond with spectacles; everyone looks up andstares as if an old friend has just walked into the room. The fan wants toknow ifAndy has heard of "Ze Ze". Andy hasn't. "Don't you mean 'The
The?" asks someone. "That's right, Ze Ze", grins the gangly fan, unaware
ofwhy sniggers are lighting up across the room.
Martin Gore has the right idea. Mode's chief composer, he is sitting inacorner knocking out the opening to Echo And the Bunnymen's "Rescue"
on an acoustic 12-string guitar. Gore has been playing guitar for nine
years-he only began to play the synth when he was 18 or 19. His
songwriting is done on the guitar, mostly. He is aJonathan Richman
and Iggy Pop fan.
This isn't the most obvious thing people expect to hear backstage after
aDepeche Mode gig, even if he does use the instrument briefly on stage.
Mode mentor and (if you will forgive the alliteration) Mute master Daniel
Miller is mooching around with avideo camera recording the extraneous
goings-on and minor diversions.
Also here are Mark and Suzie. They have come all the way from Englandto Germanyjust to see the Cologne and Düsseldorf gigs. Mark has aYoung
Americans hairstyle. Suzie is very quiet.
This is rock'n'roll-but-not-really. The autograph rituals, for sure, but it's
not only in their eschewal of the traditional rock instrumentation that
Mode elbow old stereotypes sideways. There is not ahint of dope to be
smelt, not asniff of cocaine to be snorted during the three days Ispent
with the group. No hours spent preening in front of the mirror (though
Dave Gahan sports amightily impressive flat-top barnet). The groupleave the hotel early to get to their soundcheck, hit the stage bang onschedule at nine o'clock. Some people Iknow probably object to all this.
But then some people Iknow think realmen don't eat quiche.
Bands who say they need drugs to
get through the boredom of atour
are talking crap, says Gahan. "I thinkalot of that went on in the '70s; atthat time that was what bands were
expected to be like-totally out of it
all the time. Now bands are generally
alot younger. The average age of agroup in the '70s was about 35; now
it's probably about 21."
Depeche Mode are currently riding
awave of popularity in Germany,
having sold 200,000 copies ofConstruction TimeAgain and packed
out concert halls without ever having
had asingle in their Top 20-a situation

DEPECHE MODE

that would be unthinkable in the singles-dominatedmarket of Britain.
"The sound we've come up with recently is slightly
reminiscent of some of the earlier German electronic
groups, like DAF, possibly," observes Wilder. This
may explain some of the local enthusiasm. Where
would Mode be without Kraftwerk?
As if to confirm the Teutonic twist, as soon as
the group's tourbus arrives in the industrial
city of Düsseldorf, Martin Gore rushes off to the
HQ of local indie label Ata Tak to complete hiscollection of the label's releases (which include
Der Plan, Pyrolator and Die Doraus).
Ask them why they mixed Construction...
in Berlin's Hansa Studios (check the small
print on The Idiot and Low) and they'll tell
you it was simply because of the mixing desk
there. And ask them whyAlan Wilder bashes
apiece of corrugated metal on stage during
the song "Pipeline" and the answers will beless than totally straightforward, slightly
defensive, as if they're about to be attacked
for ripping off German metal-drummers
Einstürzende Neubauten.

me the other day, but some of their lyrics are moreaggressive- 'Crushed by The Wheels Of Industry':
It's tempting to read too much into this apparently
sudden turn towards politics- to expect revelationsof some Damascus-like conversion to The Causeyet Mode's attitudes seem essentially low-key,
perhaps even alittle naive. "Let's take the whole oftheworld/The mountains and the sand' Let all theboys and the girls shape it in their hands", Gahansings in 'And Then...'. Would it were so simple.
"None of us are really into it heavily," says
Gore, "none of us belong to any parties. I
don't
think there's one of us that's interested evenslightly in politics."
Gahan adds: "None of us have studied politics
or anything like that. Oh, Andy's got an A-level.
Ha ha!Andy's probably more interested thananyone else, but none of us are really serious
about politics."
According toAndy Fletcher, they have always
had socialist sympathies-it's just that this is thefirst opportunity they've had to air them. The
lyrics on the first album were by Vince Clarke,
who "doesn't really care about lyrics at all", and many of Gore's words on...Framewere written when he was only 16 or 17, which is "why they seem
like bland love songs". Like Jim Kerr, much of Gore's writing since thenhad been influenced by his experiences of travelling around the world.
But why such reticence on the subject, having dedicated awhole album
to social issues?Andy Fletcher comes nearest to explaining their position
when he says: "We've got to be careful that we don't become hypocrites.
It's very easy to write about such subjects as famine, but then people just"On the lastalbum, wereally tried
to toughen up
the sound""Actually, when we decided about that we hadn't really cottoned on
to all those [metal-beating] bands, but since it came into fruition all
those bands have popped up as well, so Isuppose it looks like we're
climbing on some sort of bandwagon," says Wilder. "We just thought
it would suit the song."
But Fletcher is alittle more open about their relationship tothe "movement".
"I think we all like the idea. When we actually made the album we did goon asound-hunting expedition. We went down Brick Lane and just hit
everything and then recorded it and took it back to the studio and thenput it into the keyboard. That's howwe made the track 'Pipeline'. We was,like, smashing corrugated iron and old cars. The vocals were recorded in arailway arch in Shoreditch-you've got the train three-quarters of the way
through and the aeroplane up above. It's really interesting doing that."
Whether their adoption of asymbol of aworker-hero, hammer poised
above head, for their album sleeve is directly influenced by the similar
Stakhanovite actions of the likes of Neubauten is, maybe, interesting but
ultimately irrelevant. Gahan tells me that they chose the symbol of The
Worker simply because they felt it was apowerful image. And as an echoof the sleeve of their second LP, ABroken Frame, which depicts apeasant
at work in cornfields, it is perfect-the hammer and the sickle. But though
they describe themselves as "socialists with asmall 's'", or perhaps
because of it, they can be misinterpreted.
"We knew the tie between the hammer and the sickle on the two
albums, obviously, but Idon't think that was athing we were trying to
put across," says Gahan. He relates astory about the group turning up ataBelgian TV studio and being asked to stand on top of agiant haystack
while behind them peasants stood with hammers and sickles andRussian flags flapped about insolently. They walked off the set until theflags were taken down.
But the choice of imagery is far from accidental-the symbol of"The Worker", the traditional property of the left, is areflection of
the political concerns taken up by Mode on Construction... -ecology,
nuclear war, multinational power, famine, and the ideas ofpolitics and socialism in themselves ("All oftheseinsurmountable tasks that lay before me" -and thatfrom "Love In Itself", ahit record!).
"We're not trying to change anything," says Gore, whowrote the lyrics to most of the songs (Wilder contributing
the remaining two). "I don't think our music's going tochange anything at all; we're just trying to make people
think alittle bit.""Before," states Gahan, "they've been used to Depeche
Mode with clever tunes, and alot of earlier stuff was very
throwaway lyrics, whereas with this they can hum along toatune, be sitting in their bedroom, look at the lyric sheet andmaybe they might actually agree with some of the subjects.
"I mean, none of the subjects are really heavy, ramming it
down people's throats. Someone mentioned Heaven 17 toturn around and say, 'You're hypocrites!' I
mean, we do earn quite abit ofmoney. I
think we're too selfish to give all our money away, althoughthat's what we should do."In the wider context of politics, the symbol of The Worker is no longer apotent one- in many ways it serves as an almost embarrassing reminderof the image of the left as nostalgic and backward-looking, based on somemythical, idealised vision of the past.
If the left is to capture the popular imagination, it clearly must find new,exciting images and approaches, learn how to vault into the video age,play personality politics. But Depeche Mode are not "the left". They areapop group. As such, they are not trying to attract votes, merelywin someattention, and hopefully asympathetic response.
In the context of contemporary pop, The Worker does represent a
powerful image, not least because it disrupts the apolitical complicity
and glossy surface of the industry.
But it can only do this for amoment, and not much more. Popular music
has aremarkable capacity for trivialising serious subject matter, for
reducing even the most threatening images and stances to the common
denominator of entertainment- sharp content weathered into blunt
style. Surely the punk experience has shown us how easilyleft-wing
politics is incorporated into "rock mythology", made subservient to it.
Still, even if Depeche Mode are not deeply committed to their lyricalconcerns, there is at least arobust sense of si ncerity behind their feelings.
Depeche Mode are an individual and increasingly abrasive pop group at
atime when the anodyne reigns supreme.
Long may their pop-with-plugs spark. Lynden Barber •1111111116
EWHEELSII,

adolescence imaginable. But all things becomes quite laughable.
Because I
wasn't handicapped in atraditional way. Ididn't have any
severe physical disability; therefore the whole thing sounds like
pompous twaddle. I
just about survived it, let's just say that."
Nevertheless, it seemed that even with all this behind him now, heremained as awriter clearly preoccupied with states of isolation, dreamsof transcendence through flurries of pain; the notion that, in the end, theweight of the world could not be shared, would have to be borne- and why
not proudly? -on lonely shoulders.
"Yes," he said firmly, without hesitation. "I'm very interested in the ideaof being alone, and people being isolated. Which is the way Ithink mostpeople feel at the end of the day. It's ageneral condition under which mostpeople live, and I
often feel that it has something to do with death.
Because one is ultimately alone when one dies. Even though you might besurrounded by people, nobody can understand howyou're feeling.
"It's like when you're critically ill and people try to nurse you to healthand assist you. They cannot possibly understand how you feel. And even
if somebody kind of sits in the bed and slaps acomforting hand on yourforehead and says, 'Yes, Iunderstand...' it doesn't matter. You're still
feeling the illness and you are still on your own.
"It seems that in the very, very serious and critical things in life, one isabsolutely alone. People kind of trundle through life with this very merryidea that they're not alone. And because they have apartner and because
they marry or have these supposedly concrete relationships, they are notalone, and there's another person with whom they can share everything,that there are always these two people in this mystical communion.
"But Ithink that it's somewhat of alie, and Ithink that even though
the world is frenetically overpopulated, people are still quite
profoundly isolated."
He had more, of course, to say on the subject, and like virtually
everything he had to say on anything, it was uncommonly sensible,
thoroughly engaging, often touching in its persuasive sincerity.
But, asIsay, this all came later.

T

HE HOTEL ROOM was small, harshly lit, anonymous; it bore
no evidence of the lives that had passed through it. Morrissey
was sitting on the bed, elbows on the pillow, waiting to deal
with still more questions about The Smiths and their recent, dramatic
ascendancy: 50 minutes had been clawed out of that evening's
predictably hectic schedule to complete the interview. Outside thehotel room, fat knuckles of rain rapped down onto Reading's shivering
head; The Smiths still had agig to play at the university, where the local
reporters, knee-deep in trailing coils of microphone wires and tapespools, had huffily demanded exchanges of banter that Morrissey, on
his way from the soundcheck, had politely declined.
These days, everyone wants apart of The Smiths. These last months
since they appeared on the cover ofMM, and Ian Pye confidently
predicted the kind of success they are currently enjoying, have been
exhilarating and potentially exhausting for the group. Since December,when Andrew Catlin's verdant MMcover shot beamed out frommagazine stands, The Smiths have been aubiquitous presence invirtually everyone's pages. And, last week, they had "What Difference
Does It Make?" and "Hand In Glove" in the national Top 40; both those
singles and "This Charming Man" in the independent Top Five; and a
debut LP, already praised to the hilt in these columns for its unassailable
emotional whack, apparently poised to burst dramatically into thealbum chart, with advance orders that Rough Trade estimate should
qualify for asilver disc.
The Smiths, rather clearly, aren't hanging around for anyone's blessing:
they're out there making things happen for themselves. Which is the way
it should be.
Predictably, Morrissey has taken most of this in a
stride so confident it could quite probably straddle
worlds, his only regret being that more people don't,
to use his own words, thump through the attention
that surrounds him and simply talk to the rest of thegroup; to Johnny Marr, who plays the guitar andwrites all the music for the group's enormously
affecting songs, or Andy Rourke who plays bass, orMike Joyce who plays drums with the unaffected
simplicity of someone tuned into the perfect beat.
Morrissey 's democratic concern is understandable
and honourable; but after talking to the rest of The
32 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

Smiths for several hours following the Reading gig, it emerges that he's
their own reference point; they generously point to him as their qualified
spokesman, harbour no resentments that he's become apublic focal
point for their ambitions. They are funny, bright and engaging
themselves-the provocative Marr, especially, could hold his own in any
popular debating arena-but Morrissey, somehow, for all of them, is theelusive key to The Smiths' arresting hold on apopular imagination thatmight otherwise elude them.
So, we return to this hotel room, this conversation, and Morrissey,
fingers dampening sprouts of acrobatic quiffs, telling the reporter that
he hasn't been at all surprised by any of the attention that group has
recently attracted.
"I could never say that," he said, his deliciously soft northern accentrolling across the bedspread. "Because Ihad absolute faith and absolute
belief in everythingwe did and Ireally did expect what has happened to
us to happen. Iwas quite frighteningly confident. Because it seemed likeaconfidence that had no real place within the whole sphere of popular
music. And, if it occurred in any diluted form, it would have been quite
dangerous and it would have been spat upon.
"Therefore, if our confidence had been diluted, I
would've felt
somewhat like atarget for the critics' barbs as it were, and what I
had tosay would have been construed as boring arrogance. If the music wasweak and there were enormous blemishes on what we did, I'd feel very
silly and I'd obviously feel veryvulnerable. It would become almost likeavery dull pantomime. But since Iactually believe in what Isay, I
want tosay it as loud as possible. And if that falls on dangerous ground, well, that's
the way of the world and it's agreat tragedy, because it perhaps would halt
us in our tracks, and Ibelieve that, at the end of the day, the records we
produce have atremendous value.
"I think," Morrissey elaborated, responding to arequest to do exactly
that, "for the first time in too long atime, this is real music played by real
people. The Smiths are absolutely real faces instead of the frills and thegloss and the pantomime that popular music had become immersed in,as amatter of absolute course. And there is no human element inanything any more. AndIthinkThe Smiths reintroduce that firmly.
There's no facade, and we're very open and we're simply there to be seen
as very real people.
"Also, Ithink the lyrics that Iuse are very direct and, as Ioften say, Ifeel
the words haven't been heard before. It's not the usual humdrum
terminology. It's something quite different. Icould never use words thatrhymed in avery traditional way. It would become absolutely pointless.
So everything I
write is terribly important to me. Similarly the music is
terribly fundamental. But not in asheepish or unworthyway. It's verystrong, in fact. It's like saying, 'Look, you don't need all this fabrication,
you don't need all this quite, quite, phenomenal equipment.' It's the way
you use the basic utensils, like talent."I
wondered for just how long Morrissey had nurtured this enormous andnot at all disagreeable faith in his own idea of The Smiths and their music.
"For too long!" he replied with aflourish that nearly set the curtains on
fire. "And this is whywhen people come to me and say, 'Well, it's
happened dramatically quickly for The Smiths,' Ihave to disagree. I
feel
as if I've waited avery long time for his. So it's really quite boring whenpeople say it's happened perhaps too quickly, because it hasn't."
There seemed no doubt to me, as the author of last week's thoroughly
impressed review, that The Smiths deserved to be whatever theywanted
to be. I
had afeeling, though, that some of Morrissey's bugle-blasting
announcements on the relative worth of The Smiths might somehow
detract from the qualities of the group's music, which was eloquentenough to speak for itself.
Of course, Morrissey had already thought this through: "I thinkpeople
can spot fakes quite easily," he said, unruffled. "Andthe big bores in the music industry people laugh atthem and chuckle along, but at the end of the day, wereally know where everybody stands and we reallyknow everybody's value. Everythinghas to be taken
into account, not just the fact that I
stand on thetable and say, 'YES!The Smiths are absolutely
wonderful.' So, looking beyond the quotes, people
must surely see that there are reasons why Isaythese things and I'm not just dreaming out loud."It seemed to me that Morrisseystill ran adistinct
risk of ending up sounding like akind of Interflora
Bob Geldof, all mouth and tulips.

March16,1984. (1-r) Andy
Rourke, Mike Joyce,
Morrissey andJohnny
Ma, perform "Hand In
Glove","Sti11111" and"Barbarism Begins At
Home" onChanneLS
music show The Tube

"Of course that would be the worst possible
thing that could happen!" he squirmed, visibly
aghast at such comparisons. "But because I'minterviewed so much and in so many ways I'm
almost always asked the same questions, whenthese things emerge in print, it constantly seems
as though I'm saying the same things all thetime, and! could quite imagine that boring
people to death very quickly. So it's reallyjust
aharder job for me, and Ihave to think about
things alittle bit more. But, again, that's just oneof those wonderful dilemmas.
"!mean, Ican't see any benefit whatsoever inbeing absolutely mute or really having nothing
to say or having no opinions whatsoever.And
regardless of what one says, there will always be someone in the shadows
ready to point and sneer and spit. And you could say something thatwould appeal enormously to one person, but another person could see it
as absolutely hysterical buffoonery. I
feel quite comfortable, really, withthe way things are, and Istill have some degree of confidence in the
future. Nothing's changed."

What do you do when you're not working withThe Smiths?
"I just lead aterribly solitary life, without any
human beings involved whatsoever," Morrissey
said. "And that to me is almost aperfectsituation. Idon't knowwhy, exactly... I'm justterribly selfish, I
suppose. Privacy to me is likethe old life support machine. Ireally hatemounds of people, simply bounding into theroom and taking over. So, when the work isfinished, I
just bolt the door and draw the blinds
and dive under the bed.
"It's essential to me. One must, Ifind, in order
to work seriously, be detached. It's quite crucial
to be astep away from the throng of daily bores
and the throng of mordant daily life."
The aloofness from the spit and blood of the daily grind, this assumed
separateness from the graft of living, seemed at odds with the sense ofcommunion and compassion for the victims of life's deadly
circumstances that he articulated to such an unforgettable effect inmany of the songs on TheSmiths.
"But in away," Morrissey argued, with aweight of conviction I
knew
would be difficult to deny, "the two are probably combined. Ifind thatpeople that are knee-deep in emotion and physical commitment withhuman beings, Ifind they're often totally empty of any real passion.
Simply because one is closely involved with human beings doesn't meanthat you understand the human race in aserious, sensitive way. I
findthat it often takes people who are totally detached from much that is
considered commonplace to really make strong comments about thesethings and to really say things that make people stop and think. Imean, if
we look back on the history ofliterature, it's always these really creased,
repressed hysterics, if you like, who are enchained in these squalorridden rooms,who say the most poetic things about the human race.And
you often find that the life and soul of the party, the person with all thepunchlines, had just nothing of any consequence to say about anything.
"Sol think it takes that detachment because, when you're detached andsealed off, you have avery clear view ofwhat's going on. You can standback and you can look and you can assess. And you can't do that when
you're totallyimmersed in people." »ORRISSEY HAD BEEN written about so much recently,
in such avariety of contexts, that Iwondered whether he'dbegun to lose sight of himself. Did he still recognise theportraits drawn of him by so many inquisitive journalists, all ofwhom must have thought they'd cut through the bluff to the tremorof bone?
"Perhaps in afew paragraphs," he said, "but most of it is just peripheral
drivel, and amisquote simply floors me. Ireally can't survive being
misquoted. And that happens so much, Isit down almost daily andwonder why it happens. But the positive stuff, one always wants tobelieve, and the insults one always wants not to believe. When one
reads of this monster of arrogance, one doesn't want to feel that one isthat person.
"Because," he continued, nosing ahead, "in reality I'm all of those very
boring things: shy, and retiring. But, simply, when one is questioned
about the group, one becomes terribly, terribly defensive and almost
loud. But in daily life I'm almost too retiring for comfort, really."M"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I33

PETER CRONIN /REX FEATURES"When you're
detached andsealed off, youhave avery
clear view"

1984

JANUAIri -O U

TheSmithsMorrisseyandhlarr.
respectively The
Smithslyricalandmusicallynchpins

osolookIn this context, it seemed that Morrissey's selfproclaimed celibacy, his abstention from sex, his
withdrawal from physical communication, wasmore integral to ageneral creative philosophy, as away of coping, perhaps, than it might appear to thekind of cynical eye that would immediately equate any such admission
with atotting up of column inches, an eagerness, in its way, for publicity.
Or maybe Morrisseywas simply frightened by the kind of physicalinvolvement, frightened by sex, the sweat and tears, ecstasy being moreeasily imagined than achieved by effort or technique, and celibacywas
astate of mind and body that evaded responsibility to another person.
"It's not really fear," he replied. "I just don't really have atremendously
strong belief that relationships can work. I'm really quite convinced thatthey don't. And, if they do, it's really quite terribly brief and sporadic. It's
just something, really, that I
eradicated from my life quite afew years ago
and Isaw things more clearly afterwards.
"I always found it particularlyunenjoyable," Morrissey says of sex. "Butthat again is something that's totally associated with my past and theparticularviews Ihave. I
wouldn't stand on abox and say, 'Look, this is theway to do it, break off that relationship at once.'"But, for me, it was the right decision. And it's one that Istand by and I'm
not ashamed or embarrassed by. It was simply provoked by aseries of very
blunt and thankfully brief and horrendous experiences that made me
decide upon abstaining and it seems quite an easy natural decision."
There are some records, some songs, some twists of lyric and melody
that can make you feel that the substance, the very fabric of your life, isbeing disrupted, enlightened, touched by an inspiration that won't easily
be erased.
These are the kinds of music that most of us listen to when, somehow,
for reasons best kept to ourselves, we feel like we're falling out of
windows, or simply spent, or rotten, or badly used, by lovers or friends,
when we're crawling face down on the carpet, eating shit but looking forromance, for ataste of times that have passed us by and the people thatwent with them. And the best of this music will remind us not only ofwhat it was like then but of what it will be like again. This kind of musictranscends time, contravenes even the most reasonable contexts.
For my own part, the music that twists my tail in these moods
includes.., well, no names this time around, let's just say that, last year,
REM's Murmur joined the list. This year, The Smiths' TheSmiths isalongside it, for songs like "Pretty Girls Make Graves", "Reel Around The
Fountain", "Suffer Little Children" and "The Hand That Rocks The
Cradle", songs that will whistle down the years.
34 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

But that week, the papers had been full ofother people's opinions about the album. Since
Morrissey's lyrics and Morrissey's voice hadcoloured any interpretation of the LP, what did
he think of it?
"I'm really ready," he said, "to be burned at the stake in total defence ofthat record. It means so much to me that I
could never explain, howeverlong you gave me. It becomes almost difficult and one is just simply
swamped in emotion about the whole thing. It's getting to the point
where Ialmost can't even talk about it, which many people will see as an
absolute blessing. It just seems absolutely perfect tome. From my own
personal standpoint, it seems to convey exactlywhat I
wanted it to."And whywould you tell people to buy it in preference to anything by
Duran Duran, say, or Culture Club or Simple Minds?
"Oh, Idunno," Morrissey laughed. "I don't think I
should say anythingelse. I
think I've been snotty enough already." Allan JonesMELODY MAKER APRIL14-WHEN THE WORLD looks these days at The Smiths, it seems
to only have eyes for Morrissey. This doesn't worry JohnnyMarr, even though it's the clear emotional flight of his
melodies, the haunting twang of his guitar, the subtle shapes andcutting edges of his arrangements that sets the lucid gallop ofMorrissey's imagination in its most emphatic musical context.
"The attention people pay to Morrissey is, after all, just areflection of
the general interest people have in The Smiths," he explains, admirably
patient. "We all know what we contribute individually to the group, weknow that The Smiths is the four of us-Morrissey, me, Mike and Andy.
The Smiths, the idea of The Smiths as agroup, is bigger, more important
than any one of us.
"Just because Morrissey ends up on the covers of the music papers, that
doesn't mean we're going to be jealous of him, you know. That would bepetty. That's justa disgusting trapping of old rock-star attitudes.
Honestly, The Smiths are beyond that.
"We've always hated the idea of, like, rock stardom. It's such apathetic
waste of time, it's not even worth thinking about. It's such an oldfashioned attitude-it should have been buried in the '70s along with alotof the other crap that really soured music during that period. 1
mean, ifyou believe in rock stars, you're just going to be disappointed, you know.
It's like when I
was 12 or 13, I
had all of these rebel idols like the Stones, youknow, and at that age you really idolise them, you really think they'reTHE SMITHS

kicking authority in the teeth, just by having the nerve to be the Stones.
Then you turn around and you find Mick Jagger hanging around with,like, Princess Margaret. I
mean, what's the point? You can't idolise people
like that, it's just desperate.
"That's why, I
think, people believe in The Smiths. We are unique inthat we're just four individuals and we're not afraid to say that we'revulnerable, we're just four human beings who go through the same dailychores that people who buy our records go through. We don't put on any
act, we don't adopt apersona that says, 'We are The Smiths.' We just are.
This is us, there's no great mystique.
"That's why I
think we're really getting back to the original inspiration
for making music. Right back at the birth of this phenomenon called pop
music, music was away of bringing young people together and inspiringthem. That's exactlywhat we're trying to do: we're trying to get back to oldvalues that have been lost. I
don't want to be, like, arevivalist or soundnostalgic, but that kind of, I
dunno, innocence, if you like, has been lost.
Too many people, even these days, like seven years after punk is meant tohave destroyed all this, too many people still want to be stars. All they canthink about is hit records and money and being famous.
"They've just forgotten all the reasons for making music in the firstplace. They're just wrecking the beauty of music, which is what The
Smiths want to get back."
The musical click behind The Smith's recent, spectacular ascendancy,
Marr is small but perfectly garrulous, animated, like Morrissey, whose
gift of the gab he so conspicuously shares, by asingle obsession: The
Smiths and their claim to greatness.
"I suppose," he says, "that people might get bored with Morrissey telling
everyone how good The Smiths are, but I
feel exactly the same way as hedoes. I
think The Smiths are the most brilliant, phenomenal group there
is right now. Ireally do. And Idon't see why Ishould hide the way I
feel.
"I don't thinkwe're second to anybody. Like, when we turned down thistour with The Police, people couldn't understand it. But why should The
Smiths support The Police? We're already more important than The
Police will ever be."W

il EN JOHNNYWAS 14 and an aspiring young guitarist
whose ambition was already stretching the credibility of
most of his teenage contemporaries, he met these people,
acouple of older Manchester musicians, actually, and they knew
Morrissey. And these friends of Johnny's, who also knew Morrissey,
told Johnny that Morrissey wrote words to songs. Johnny remembers
reading some of Morrissey's lyrics; he won't talk much about them now,
though he will admit they made such an impression upon him that
four, maybe five years later, he could still remember them all vividly.
By then, Johnny's musical education was pretty much complete: he'dbeen in and out of various groups, had written more songs than most ofthese groups had incompetent fingers to countthem on. Frustrated, that's what he was. Johnnyknew that he needed apartner: someone whose
imagination and scale of ambition matched his
own. Morrissey was the man he was looking for,so he tracked him down, walked up to his front
door, rang the bell and waited for an answer.
"I was pretty confident that he'd like me,"Marr recalls, "but! was worried in case hethought !looked too outrageous. I
had thisreally silly haircut at the time- this quiff. It
looked like I
had aFrench loaf sticking out of mehead. I
was afraid he'd think! was some kind of
Gene Vincent freak. All! knew about him wasthat he'd written abook about the NewYork
Dolls, so Iwas quite prepared to spend abit oftime talking about them. But after about three minutesof bei ng in his flat, Irealised that would be irrelevant.
We just seemed to have so much else in common, it
was amazing.
"I remember when he answered the door, I
justlaid this heavy jive on him. I
just spoke even fasterthan Iam now, like 300 words asecond. !just said,'This is how Leiber and Stoller got together,' and heinvited me in. Idare say he'd come into contact withpeople who wanted him to be in groups before, so!
wanted him to take me seriously, so Isaid, 'Look, thetime is right for afantastic new songwriting partnership...' The idea that
we wouldn't get on just didn't enter myhead. Before he even heard me
play guitar, we had ideas for about four songs. I
was just singing melodies,and he was already coming up with ideas for lyrics.
"When I
walked into his room, he just said, 'What music do you like?'
And! told him, and after every single group Imentioned, he just went,'Yeah, yeah...' I
couldn't believe it. I
could have gone in therewith all thisspiel and if it hadn't worked out I
would never have done it again withanyone else, 'cos Ireally opened up and he did the same, I
think. He justgot this amazing vibe off me.
"From then on, we kept in contact all the time. We just had thistremendous belief in ourselves, and since that day my life has totallychanged, and! know Morrissey's has, too. Right from the beginning we
knew it was going to be brilliant."
One of the first lyrics Morrissey handed over to Marrwas for "Suffer
Little Children", achilling evocation of the Moors Murders, forwhich
Johnny supplied one of his most elegant and compelling melodies.
"That impressed me massively," he remembers, "when Ifirst read thatlyric... It's probably aself-indulgent little story, but the first time we everrecorded our songs, we went into this little studio in Manchester onenight and started recording at about 11.30 and went straight through to6.30 the next morning. We did 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle' and'Suffer Little Children' in, like, two takes. I
played guitar and bass and thisdrummer who was afriend of ours just stumbled his way through. But
when we played the tracks back, we were just overwhelmed. 'Suffer Little
Children' especially. The more we played it back, the more touched wewere. It was the first time me and Morrissey realised what we could do
together. Like, all the time we'd been writing togetherwe knewwe had theconviction and confidence and the ability and the talent to put thesegems together, but this was the confirmation of it all. Listening to that
playback of 'Suffer Little Children' Ireally heard for the first time thebeauty of Morrissey's voice. Since then we've never really looked back.
"We were always really confident," Marr continues, recollections,
opinions and fleeting asides spinning ever faster. "When we first playedin Manchester we supported Blue RondoA La Turk, and alot of people justturned up to see if we'd fall through the stage. Iknew the Blue Rondo
audience wouldn't give us much of achance, so we went out there to beaggressive, I
think. Ireally had this attitude of, 'I knowyou people justwant to stand around the bar posing, but LISTEN to this, you're not goingto hear anything like it again.' We were really threatening. Ithink we had
to be at that particular time.
"We were aware of our own excellence and we wanted to make everyone
else aware of it. Ithink to acertain extent we've established that now, butyeah, of course, that creates asort of pressure. People expect so much of
us now; we've set certain standards and we obviously have to live up tothem. It's apressure, but it's not really aproblem, you know. Ithink we canrise to any occasion, make it an event every
time we play. It's not beyond us at all.
"There haven't been that many groups
who've had the same kind of acclaim we've
had in such ashort period of time, but to behonest, Ithink we really deserve it. It's notarrogance that makes me say that, it's areal
belief in The Smiths. I
listen to our songs morethan !listen to anyone else's. The music wemake really pleases me. When Isee anew lyricof Morrissey's, for instance, I
feel really glad tobe part of this group. This is what I've always
wanted to do. It's the only thing! can takeseriously, music.
"And Ialways think if Itake it that seriously
and I'm prepared to give it everything I've got,
the audience will see that, they'll know that we really"We'realready more
important than
The Police will
ever be"mean what we say and they'll believe in us just as muchas we believe in ourselves. And that's vital, that theaudience feels part of what's happening. We're notjust out there on stage to amuse ourselves or to
be applauded just for turning up, you know. The
audience is areal part of everything we do, and we'll
never lose sight of that.
"I'll tell you something," Johnny Marr says withafinal flourish, "when the audience is really behindus, The Smiths play like devils..." Allaniones •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I35

1984

JANUARI -te H

People don't know what to make of rHF STYI F
COUNCIL. To help explain his anti-ego, nondilettante mission for good music, Paul Weller
brings along his minister of information, The
Cappuccino Kid. "I grew sick of rock," says
Weller. "The bands are just wankers.""I try andinvolveeverybody"
1

MELODY MAKER ARCH 24 -WAS READING THE DailyMirrorwhen Paul Weller bounded
into the room, grinning. "'Ullo Adam, I've got asurprise foryou." Oh yeah? Abucket of water, perhaps?
"No," said Weller. "You knowyou're always slagging off The
Cappuccino Kid?"
Um, yes.
"Well he's here. Thing is, you're not allowed to see his face 'cos he wants
to preserve his anonymity.' thought it would be quite funny for you two to
confront each other."
The ever-changing Weller was obviously becoming capricious in his oldage. In fact, the staff of the Maker Motel hadn't expected him to speak to us
at all after an unpleasant incident at the startof the year when PW, incensed by frivolous
remarks about his haircut and him being
Spokesman For ABlah Blah, had seized atelephone and frightened half the office todeath with threats of reprisals.
Luckily the mood had passed, and here wewere over at his record company the day after
the opening night of The Style Council's minitour. The Cappuccino Kid (for it was he, or so »36 IHISTORY OF ROCK"We don't want tobe categorised":
Paul Weller in1984

GROOVIN'Che

ft¡ie Ca nini /I

But you can use that argument to justify
anything, even Sounds.
"Yeah but man, you interview Saxon, man, right,
you get some band like Saxon -what have they
got to offer? Their music and that is it, maan. You
get alot of parts with The Style Council, right, andthis is just one of the many facets of the characterof the group."
Abrowse through the new Style Council LP
swiftly bears out this statement, if only because thething is so chaotically diverse it takes some time to workout which way is
up. And of course The Cappuccino Kid has filled the accompanying
booklet with his meanderings (though in fact there's alittle bit about God
in there which is quite droll).
The question is, what is The Style Council?
Onstage, Paul Weller comes and goes from song to song, switching fromguitar to bass to keyboards. Mick Talbot, meanwhile, is all over the music
Kid, and your writings on his record sleeves fall into the same bracket. Are
with his piano and Hammond organ. Everyone's
people reading it supposed to say "this is apretentious load of shit" or...
demanding to know who's in charge here!
"I know, but man, does that matter as long as the kids think about it,
On the CaféBleu album, what are we to makeeh?" queried the unseen scribbler.
of the Michel Legrand strings and smooch
guitar (by Paul) on "Blue Café" or the
moody balladry of "You're The Best
Thing", or the explosive be-boppery of"Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse"?
Then there's bits of funk and aslab of rap.
To put it another way, can you learn to love
acompilation album?
Weller says: "I just wanna make music,
The Style Council
POLYDOR
really. There's too much music made where
about cafes and saxophones. Like, uh, digpeople push their ego before their music,
this, man.., five instrumentals on the album,
Some pile of styles, this... It's immensely ironic
and too many people concentrate on thethree of them among the first four tracks;that the man who did so much to keep theimage or the artist's ego, rather than their
only two Weller vocal performances on thisbeacon of rock alive in the late '70s and earlymusic. And I
just find that really boring.
first side ;ablack rapper taking over the'80s should now be so disgusted with the form
"I think it's good that The Style Council
opener on Side Two. What next? An album fullthat he can barely mention its name without ashows aren't just all me, that it isn't Paulof reggae? Country &western? Blues?
spit and asneer.
Weller and some backing musicians.! try
Well, let's look at the good parts. Firstly, theActually, I'm not so sure about "ironic" -it'sand involve everybody. The whole point
Café Bleu sequence at least achieves what it
closer to outright hypocrisy. This is surelyis, people should just come and listen to
sets out to do -maintain aconsistent smoochy,
agood example of psychological projection
good music, y'know, not because it's melate-night ambience. Strings? We've got 'em.
-the transfer of one's "crimes" to anotheror something."
Languid jazz guitar? It's there. It also contains
person. Why else would those who profess to
The Cappuccino Kid on all that jazz:
one of Weller's strongest ever ballads, "Themost hate rock music be the ones who have"Well, firstly it's like presenting jazz as a
Paris Match", handled with an extraordinary
previously been most hung up on it?
music where you sit in arocking chair anddegree of sensitivity by Tracey Thorn.
That aside, Paul Weller's decision to comelisten to it, which is fucking preposterous.
Flip over and we find Weller has become theclean, own up to artistic stagnation and20th-century schizoid man -"A Gospel" (which
Imean that's one aspect of it.
venture into unsettled waters has to be"And the other thing is like on the album
ain't) is as good as any black New York dance
welcomed. The question we have to tackle
and the music the guys are doing now,platter I've heard recently, the magnificent
next is:just how adept is he at his new job?
they're not being precious, it's saying,"White Lines"-style bassline cradling amean
On my reckoning The Style Council have'This is just music, so listen to it. We don't
hot-dog rap by one Dizzy Hite (haw haw).
made afairly mediocre though reasonably
want to be categorised, like, this is jazz' After this, Weller's usual Woking-soul vocal
agreeable entrance into the pop arena.
you knowwhat Imean?"style can only come as alet-down. "Strength"Money-Go-Round" bounced around pretty
The Kid, sneakers ever in search of cool,
Of Your Nature" is agood dance track, andneatly, thank you, but it was hardly asingle
takes care to name-drop Miles (Davis)"You're The Best Thing" pleasing within the
many of us will want to remember in anotherand Nina Simone in the CaféBleu
limitations of his vocal, but having had the
12 months as an example of some of the betterbooklets, but insists that "kids needappetite whetted by "A Gospel" this isn't
things happening in1983. If there's anythingreferences, man". Paul, are you hip to thereally good enough.
the new soulboy style of Weller has told us, it'ssound ofjazz?
It's here we get to the crux of the problem
what we know already -the man is adyed-in-Weller's dreaded traditionalism
the-wool traditionalist, even conservative
ensures avision of soul anchored(small "c", please note), whether he's dealingsolidly in the '60s. At atime whenin the currency of rock, soul or even jazz.
black popular music is particularly
No, I
haven't made amistake, forjazz is clearlyvital, thanks to the rap -electrothe direction Weller is steering in on one side
break-dancing scene in theof Café Bleu. My first instinct on hearing
Bronx, this seems ridiculously
three-quarters of this LP was to stand up
retrogressive, as if Weller has
and applaud, for this is nothing but an unsafe
decided to offload the challenge
record, one likely to perplex yet more of the oldof leading British pop into more
Jam fans still in search of the lost power chord.
thrilling areas on to the likes of
But is this as much dilettantism as
Scritti and Heaven 17 while heeclecticism? Just as the faithful get
plugs away happily at someaccustomed to that softened-up Motown
under-achieved variant of kitsch.
pastiche, their hero switches direction again
Amixed bag. Lynden Barberand starts laying down some beatnik jive

they say) was sitting behind agiant cardboard
cut-out of Sergeant Bilko, his back to the room.
Ipointed out that it would be difficult to confront
somebodywho was (a) invisible and (b) had hisback to you, but the Kid had been thinking about
this one. "Paul has to face alot of bullshit, right,
he's asuperstar, he has all that hassle. I
want toavoid that if Ican. Ithought I'd just cut through thecrap, you knowwhat Imean? I
find by keeping my
identity asecret Ican do that."
The Kid clearlywasn't Paolo Hewitt, as many of us had suspected. In fact
aglance behind his protective screen suggested that he resembled Clive
Gregson fromAny Trouble, which isn't too flattering Iknow, but there it is.
The Kid says "man" alot and has probably been reconstructed from old
Colin Maclnnes novels.
Nobody seems to knowwhen Paul's being serious nowadays, Itold theConservative Council

MM MAR 17 An eclectic but traditionalist debut album.

39 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"Let people writetheirown reviews": Style
CouncillorsMick
Talbot and Weller scan
the press f
or further"conservative witha
small 'c" calumniesp

Ireally don't see howyou can say it'sconservative."
How about Joe Strummer and his new-deal
Clash, then?Does that strike you as atragic thing
todo, keep on flogging away in that old vein?
"Whenever I've seen Joe Strummer he's
always been very friendly to me, and Iquite like
him," said Paul. "I think he's genuine, he's either
abit naive or he forces himself into that positionof being naive. But Ithink to myself, 'Whybother?' really, 'cos whatever Joe calls it with
the new lineup and new approach and that, it's
still revival whichever wayyou look at it. I
remember all the punks used to take the pissout of Teddy boys 'cos theywere stillrock'n'rolling, and punks have become abit like that now."
Itraded afew insults with The Cappuccino Chap ("You're writing aloadof crap," "So's yours, maaan" and so forth) until Paul came back in. I
think
he was alittle disappointed that the Kid and I
had failed to come to blows,
but no matter: "You've got to get pop music into its right perspective," said
Paul. "I've been thinking about this alot recently. I'm not saying I'm
blameless for this, 'cos I'm not at all, but you've got to get it into perspective.
"Such asmall percentage of the population listen to pop music, that it's
nothing, apiss in the ocean. And Iagree with the Kid, Ithink the press dotake themselves too seriously. What are we all fucking talking about?
There's things happening in the world. I'm not just talking about themusic press, 'cos I
think the bands, including myself, are equally to blame.
"We should be abit smarter and fucking see through all that musicbusiness crap. Ithink ifyou're enthusiastic about something, then you
should write about it. Ifyou think something's shit, then don't write about
it. Ignore it until it goes away."
Love to, but unfortunately there aren't enough people around worth
writing about on that basis. We do have apaper to publish, y'know.
"I don't knowwhy you can't leave it blank and let people write their own
reviews," said Weller craftily.
Perhaps he'd like to review Billy Bragg, currently appearing in The Style
Council live shows twice nightly? »"People shouldcome and justlisten to goodmusic, y'know,
not 'cos it's me"

AUL WELLER, SPRING '84 model, isshowing distinct signs of liberation.
The hardest thing to come to termswith is that this is the same guy who drovequite awell-known three-piece band up thecharts with monotonous regularity and alocked-in, paid-up sense of mission. This boy
was obsessed. Now, he's loose, cheerful and confident. Iwondered why
he'd let himself in for that exhaustive and entirely solemninterrogation in NME the other week, with XMoore and Tony Parsons.
"Yeah Iknow, it turned out to be everything Ididn't want it to be," Wellersighed. "I predicted all of it-big black-and-white moody shot on the
cover, the big confrontation thing, and inside we talk about punk rock,politics and religion. It's the same interview I've been doing for the last
seven fucking years."
Mentions of the press are guaranteed to trigger an outburst from The
Cappuccino Kid, who finds the papers hatefully dull, peopled by hippies
with bald heads and moustaches who can't dance. Not true! Isaw Lynden
Barber dance once, and he may ahippy but he certainly isn't bald.
Speaking ofwhom...
"Was it Lynden's review of the album which mentioned that I'm very
traditional and conservative with asmall 'c'?" asked Weller. "Thatreallygutted me, that, to be thought of as being atraditionalist. Ican't
see that, really.
"Whenever anybody tries to do something different, everyone
automatically thinks it's gonna be avant-garde, which to me is justbullshit. Why can't you still do something different in the normal kindof structures and frameworks of pop music? Which is what I
feel we've
done with the LP, without having to resort to being really far out, y'know?

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I39

BRIAN RASIC /GETTY"Yeah," said Weller, "I used to detest it, but I
just started listening to it acouple of years ago. I
don't profess to know anything about it; I
justknowwhat Ilike. Some of it, Ithink the actual
sound and feel of it's really, really good. The
only thing I
don't like about it is when it starts
becoming intellectual."

1984

JA NUARÏ -le*

CAFE DE FL
33A.1

3

ZAHO

MIKE PRIOR /OM,*

ValeretheriesHick
there's brasserieTalbot and Wellirp.se for astudio
tra tinLondon'I think he's really good," said Paul. ": wasn't 100
pcrcent com.inced when Isaw him before andheard his rec ard, but I
watc:ted him last night doingh_s second set and I
was corapletelywcn over. I
thought hews really good The main hing thatc.ames throue is that he's so honest. Ftople mightsneeze at du: now, but I
think it's deadfucking
iinportant. I
hink that kind of warmth he's got isweat as well:
Alot of people think he sings like you.
"Well, he piebablywon't like this, bu: some of hissangs remind me of mid-period Jam, LkeAllMod
Cons. But I
really like 'im alot."
The Kid was getting bored behind his cardboard cut-out. "He's not mycup of tea at all, man-he just Braggs too much for my liking.""Are you sure you're not ajournalist?" asked Weller. "That sounded likeaMelodyMakerpun."A

NYWAY, THE CONVERSATION turned to accusations ofdilettantism which have been levelled at Weller, thanks to thesunburst of styles available on CaféBleu. My own feeling is

40 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

that the problem is merely one of pushing it thatextra yard-the patchy nature of the album is
eclipsed when you get aglimpse of the full scopeof which the project is calable on agood night onstage. Ithink Weller's gothis new framework
almost right, and now hejust need to grow into it.
Paul says, "This dilettantism thing Ithink is somuch fucking bullshit. It's just ridiculous to me."But can't you see why peaple would say that?
"What, because of all th me different styles? Can't
theyjust hear the beauty it that, all those different
things? We don't sit there tnd go, 'Come on, let's doabossa-nova song now.' Do you thinkwe'd doanything as crass as that? If Icome along with asong and we start playing
it, it just depends how it develops, y'know, simple as that."In particular, Weller has found working with boy-wonder drummer
Steve White (who's only 18) quite arevelation. From bop to funk, the boy
is always at home and has the athlete's gift of time-he never sounds likehe has to hurry.
"It's opened up awhole newworld, all these different things," Weller
admitted. "Cos Imean I've been brought up on pop music, y'know, andTHE STYLE COUNCIL

it's quite asheltered world really. Iused tothis, right?" the Kid began. "It's alittle story,
dismiss jazz and classical music, it was all justright? Acat goes into ashop, right, and he buys
pop, but I've woken up to alot of different musics
apacket of Jelly Babies, right? So when you
in the last two or three years-apart from rockopen up the packet, what do you see?"music and heavy metal.
Er... lots of colours?
"I saw Lynden's little bitchy thing about how"Yeah right, you get agreen one next to ablack
I'd made all my thing out of rock. I've never
one next to ayellow one. Have you ever noticed
denied I've played rock music, and The Jam wereanything about those jelly-babies? They don't
arock band. I
just grew sick of it, just the same asfight- theyjust fucking get on great. One day I'd
you might grow sick of wearing them trousers
like to see the world abit like that. It sounds silly,
one day. Idon't think Ineed to justify that.
but that's the kind of thing that kids pick up on.""I will shy away from rock now, because I
don't
The Kid insists he is anaive idealist, though I
think it's got us anywhere. Idon't wanna playsuspect he maybe apractising cynic in disguise.
rock music or be involved in it anymore, because I
don't think it
The Kid argues that if he were acynic he'd be ajournalist, abitter andprogresses people anywhere. It's just abad of big fucking empty words
twisted attitude ifyou ask me.
and theatrical gestures that do fuck all when it comes down to it. Ithink
Anyway, here's aparting shot from Weller. "I don't knowwhat reason
alot of people behind it and in the bands and that are just wankers."
the crowd came for last night, but theywere listening, that's for sure. I
Weller stresses that he makes no claims for The Style Council as social
think it's just aquestion of us going out and doing it until everyone gets
commentators or political activists. But did he ever really believe in rockthe idea of it. I
just thought there was areal fairness in the audiencemusic, and its power to make that kind of impact?
towards us." Sounds like ahead start for happiness. Adam Sweeting •"I used to, yeah, of course Idid. The whole
reason I
started playing music when I
was 12 or
13 was because of The Beatles. My impetus wasfrom them, so I
was brought up on all that and I
did believe in it. Now Idon't."
Did it take alot of bottle to knock The Jam on
the head?
"Yeah. I
was kind of tempted by the security of
it as well, it was avery secure situation, but itwas
Match" were wooden and badly tuneless.
ALFWAY UP THE M3 fromalso that security that frightened me. To be that
Southampton, 'round midnight,
Frankly, there was plenty of room forsecure, it's frightening-like saying to someone,Ibumped into Billy Bragg and his
improvement.
'This is what you do for the rest ofyour life.'
entourage in asqualid motorway services
Acouple of nights later at the Dominion"I know alot of people have got to do that, alot
-sandwiches and instant coffee only at thatin London, he proved much of this to beof people have got to stay in jobs they don'ttime of night. Bragg had just played his firstcorrect. With Weller obviously muchfucking like 'cos they've got to pay the bills, but
gig with The Style Council.
more in command and wisecracking about
I'm not in that position. I'm lucky enough toAndy Kershaw, from Sincere Management
the need to say, "It's great to be back inhave the choice, so Iuse my choice.
(who handle Bragg), had been watching
London", the 10-piece Style Council turned"We did things in avery straightforward way
from the side of the stage when Paul Weller
in aforceful "Ever Changing Moods",
with The Jam, and we do things differentlywith
came and sat next to him.
awonderfully gospelly "It Came To Pieces
The Style Council. Idon't thinkyou can say weKershaw had been amazed. "He was askin'
In My Hands", and asharp but relaxed
didn't do things straight in the live show,me, like, what did I
think of the show and"Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse",
because we just went out and played; it wasn't
the way there were no gaps between acts,
complete with wristy fills from Steve White.
smug or smart or anything."
and had I
enjoyed The Questions? He
And that was just the first set.
It's been aslow and painful process, but out
seemed dead friendly, and I
couldn't believe
By the end of the night, they'd added anof the apparent stumblings and often clumsy
it -I
thought, 'Why is he asking me?"elastically rhumba-like "Me Ship Came In!",
attempts at humour of The Style Council,
The Southampton show had been abit ofwith Weller on bass, plus amuch-improved
something is beginning to emerge whichashambles in some respects. "Everyone"One Nation...". For the first time, I
nobody could have foreseen. Recent interviews
was bricking it," Weller confessedreckoned I
had aclear view of what The
have suggested that Weller is happyjust to
afterwards. "In the first set I
forgot all the
Style Council was supposed to be about.
make the music he likes, regardless ofwords to one song, I
was just so nervous.
"I'm not saying I'm agreat musician,"anybody's opinion, but he's quick to point out
Ijust had amental block, it was terrible.
Weller had told me, "but I
think I'm pretty
that this isn't entirely true.
And on another song I
was supposed togood really. Alot of that comes from the"It's not reallylike that. I
don't mean to be as
be playing bass and I
walked off stage.
punk thing, 'cos it was embarrassing to bearrogant as that, but all I'm saying is Ican't see"I was standing in the wings and the otherable to play well. The Jam used to get alot of
the point in catering for tastes, which is equallybassist [Anthony Hart] was off stage as well,
stick in the early days down the Roxy, alot ofas bad as being conceited about everything. It'sand he was going, 'Shall Ido it? Shouldn't
the crowd used to hate us 'cos we played inso crass when people do that; you've got tothere be somebody out there playing bass?'
tune and we took time to tune our guitars
followyour own instincts. If it feels right to you
It was terrible. I
settled down abit in theand things. And we had abit of acomplex
and you think it's good, then you've got to go
second half."
about that -well I
did, anyway, like, 'That'swith it. If people agree with it then great, and if
There had still been room for afew
just fuckin' bullshit, I
wanna be able to play,they don't it's one of them things. Anything lesssurprises, like Weller's guitar-and-sax
Iwanna get better as amusician. I
don't
than that is just not worth it."treatment of "The Whole Point Of No
wanna be crap, I
wanna be the best.'
Return" and an ambitious but enjoyable"I've got abit of that back. I
think I'm aencore of "One Nation Under AGroove".
really good guitarist, and I
think I'm better
NTO THIS DETERMINED
hut harmonious view of the
Clearly, Weller had hired some very
now. I
gave it abreak for ayear, and I've got
world, The Cappuccino Kid
plausible sidemen -the Billyso much better. Same with playing live. I
justz
GAUMONT
wished to insert alittle homily
Chapman/Chris Lawrence/
did so much live I
got sick of it and I
started
SOUTHAMPTON/
of his own, and who am Ito
Stewart Prosser horn section
getting very jaded about playing and very
— DOMINION, LONDON
deny you, the reader, theswung and punched withcynical towards it, so I
gave it abreak for aopportunity to study thecommendable force, though
year, and now.., last night I
just enjoyed it so
Kid's godlike genius at closer
Steve White's drums weremuch. I
enjoyed every minute of it, y'know?
quarters? It goes like this...
strangely inaudible and Jaye
It's just great to get that feeling back, that
— MARCH 13/15 —"I wonder if you could print
Williamson's vocals on "Paris
enthusiasm for it." Adam Sweeting"We don't sit
there and go,'Let's do a
bossa nova""I enjoyed every minute of it"

MM MAR 17

H

I

LIVE

(

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I41

D'ecertber 31,1983:
resynr hronised man
Sting fronts ThePolice
at Wembley Arena

111-11STORY O

OCK 1984

LIVE

A little black sun
up in the spotlight
NME JAN 7 stheir frontman drifts towards the esoteric, The Police1( primacy. But for how much longer?

R!CHARD COOK'SEXTRAORDINARY vision of The
Police [NME, December 21 prompts
one to reconsider the profound difference
between The Police -those awful sing-alonga-suicides "So Lonely" and "I Can't Abide Your
Infidelity"- and The Police -the resplendent
beauty of the last two albums.
Cook does overplay his hand, it must
be admitted. There's nothing very
"impenetrable -about The Police, and still
afew things that grate. Sting's pinched roots
wail is often little more than amewling hashof Bono and Jon Anderson(like Bono, he goes in foralot of this -ey-yo-yo"
nonsense to sound that
note of messianic
exhortation) and his lonelyman-in-search-of-truth act
can be abit of adrag, too.
How much longer Stingcan play this peroxide
Man Of Sorrows it will befascinating to see. I
canaccept that if you're the biggest white
pop star on earth you're gonna
need alittle something to get
you thru' the night -atoss-up
NOTTINGHAM
CITY HALL
between Jung and cocaine,
really -but I'm not sure I
buy
Sting's resynchronisation ofhimself wholesale.
That said, The Police are in—DECEMBER 14—
pretty fine fettle.
In performance, the Sting of"One World" and "0 My God"
does not entirely engage me, though
the latter almost turns into asoul stomp.
It could just be the Mad Max-goes-New
Romantic togs that fail to convince, but theroutine of performance has caught up withhim. His little-boy-blue antics and gestures
towards rock theatre look tired. Aforced
affability ill-masks the gulf between the
man and his audience. He is so very serious
afellow, is he not?
Tonight's audience does not observe thisdistance. Ayounger bunch, from the "Don't
Stand So Close -days, might have sensed it,
but Nottingham's smoothly square young
adults are here for the tunes they made out
to before the first down-payment. They are
not here for "King Of Pain".
I
think Sting knew what he was doing when
he sacrificed the UK teenybop market, thoughatiny, fierce clutch of girls is here tonight.
From being asaucy schoolmaster, Sting was

suddenly this angelic hunk who wanted to save
all you brimstone'n'treacle tarts from the pain
0; false love. So that you should not end up as
Roxannes, you were required to read Modern
Man In Search OfA Soul.
From this angle, Sting is the only romantic
still prowling the global video network: hence
amass exodus in the general direction of
Duran Duran. Adolescents aren't terribly
romantic.
Sting's alittle like Bowie in the ways heavoids plunging into the abyss of narcissism.
They both get interested in the same things,
the same sort of film parts,
in order to close up that
eternal gap between self
and image. (In the olddays, it would have been
personalised gurus.) The
difference between Stingand Bowie is that Sting does
appear to have suffered alittle. One only hopes he
won't Exit the Koestler way.
The music at Nottingham
is superb, natch. Three toy-drummer girls intights fill up the spaces in The Police's
marvellously free and fleet-footed songs,
from the jazz-funked Yes of "Synchronicity I"
to the macabre, twisted jazz of "Murder By
Numbers". Stewart Copeland works his vast
panoply of surfaces as though guiding us onatour. (I liked what he told Cook about feelingmore of an anthropologist than aparticipant.)
He frequently overdoes things, but every
lit:le one of them is magic. This one-man dub
machine is always beautiful to watch.
Andy Summers has alow-key night, butthere's agorgeously glassy passage in the
middle of "Tea In The Sahara" where hereally comes into his own :"Walking In
Your Footsteps -he laces with flinty, glinting
runs that recall the Jerry Garcia of"China
Cat Sunflower".
The lighting is consistently awesome:aquatic neon blues and greens, dry ice
billowing through shafts of red and orange
like sunset in arain forest.
For Mr Sumner, though, there's always alittle back (almost invisible) sun up in that
spotlight, an ethereal zone where he really isafree spirit and we truly are immaterial. In
the classical grace of -Every Breath You Take"(a -nasty little song" that sounds like ahymn tothe shades), he crowns himself king of pain
once again, and once again gets away with it.
But he has only come here seeking
knowledge. BarneyHoskyns

How much longer
Sting can play thisperoxide Man Of
Sorrows it will befascinating to see

_
LIVE!

GRABBEDTUC DIU IPt

4

BY THE FUZZ!
(OUCH!)

global vIdeo newenotae ceervit,n1

"We're aluxurything"

44 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

- NME MARCH 17 -T

HE BOY'S Anatural-born charmer.
When, for example, Iconfess that
actually Iquite like that group Echo &The
Bunnymen, he stops, vaguely puzzled.
"Oh, right, right. Isee. No, no, that's
great. Fine..."Paddy McAloon is also one of those rare birds who canstring together words of more than two syllables and at thesame time part his hair or fill aglass ofwater.
Thus do we find ourselves in aNewcastle hotel on the eveof the release of Swoon, the first album from the group
Prefab Sprout. Idon't envyyoung Macaroon. For awhile it's
seemed as though the entire future of civilised songwriting
hinged on his pen-nib, and some of us have watched as yet
another group's reputation is built up to wavering heights,
only to be whisked from under theirfeet just as they've got something toshow for it.
Already people are sticking theknives in, saying it's all too twee
and tuneful to meet whateverchallenge it is that pop is supposed
to pose in March 1984. Ihave myown reservations- can't take theforced freshness of Paddy's voice,would've liked asound as quirky
as the songs themselves -but
Swoon remains afascinating,highly accomplished work that
requires and repays several morehearings than one gives to an
average first release. »PENNIE SMITH

Paddy McAloon's
PREFAB SPROU .offer
an alternative to"vague" and "mood"based rock. But
they're realistic about
what they can do. "If
you want the wholeworld to adjust toaccommodate yourrecord, you're talking
out of your backside."PrefabSprout'score
trioin1984:(I-r)
Paddy McAloon,
WendySmithandMartin McAloonHISTORY OF ROCK 19E4 I45

1984

JANUPBV -- "H

Paddy Mc Aloom"I'd
say theemotionsare
better served by
Richard Rodgers
than they are by
Simple Minds"

Ifyou have to work alittle harder for Sprout than for U2 or Simple
Minds, is that such abad thing?
Swoon stirs up the whole question of The Song, arguing that there
are feelings in life which require more complex musical responses
than most rock and pop can offer.
Adapting music to lyric rather than the other way round, McAloon's
songs push beyond the straight supply-and-demand of emotion, theinundating passion of rock. Songs like "Elegance" and "Technique"explore the movement of feelings, observing changes in perception andworking the listener's own thought processes as great poems do.

0

FTEN HE GOES too far, and the melodies become strained
and obtuse, but when it works, the risks are more than justified.
McAloon knows that emotion cannot be reduced to repetitive
hook phrases. Because these songs steer away from the kind of chord
sequences that trigger off reflex responses, because they refuse toprobe the pleasure dome, they make you think.
Mining the strange seam between verbal meaning and textural
sensation with anew kind of precision, they not only reach back to
Sondheim and Steely Dan, but extend forward beyond Costello andRoddy Frame.

46 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

The best example is undoubtedly "Cruel",
aperfect vehicle of doubt and amodel ofrestrained melancholy set to asoft jazz shuffleof brushes and vibes, about aboywhose head is
telling him not to feel jealous- he's anti-sexist
and "too coolfor the macho ache" -but whoseheart has just started to break.
Using the framing device of "Lions In My
Own Garden" -reference to the blues- thesong compels our desolate hero to see thecontradiction between the way he feels andthe way he tries to rationalise his pain: "IfI'm
troubled by everyfoldingofyour skirtlAm I
guiltyofevery male-inf7icted hurt?' But Idon't know
how to describe the Modern Rose IWhen 'can'trefer to her shape againsther clothes IWith thefever ofpurple prose."
The simple skill of "Cruel" is that it examines
what emotion is.
It's this skill, too, which makes McAloon
asitting target for those closet rockists who
secretlywant everything to be the first Clashalbum over and over for the rest of eternity. On
the basis of Swoon, I'd defend Prefab Sprout's
right not to be The Clash to the death.
Paddy recovers from amild fit of coughing.
"What guides me in trying to write asong is-what is the most valuable thingyou can dofor yourself and for people? What are thethings you can write that are gonna last?
Life's too short for me to listen to U2 and Echo
&The Bunnymen, you've got to go where
it's best, where people are getting the closest
to something.
"At one end of the spectrum is the vague
school of rock, where you're trying to conjure
up a'mood', dealing with atmospheres, like
Jim Kerr, and you knowwhat they mean, but
it's altogether too vague. At the other end isElvis Costello, whose lyrics you can trace backto specific subjects.
"It's very difficult to describe whatlies in-between, but for me, youalways try to crystallise amomentthat you had when you were young,listening to arecord before you could
actually analyse its components andsaywhat made it good. Jimmy
Webb's 'Wichita Lineman' was one
such song for me, because there wassomething about it which went
beyond 'Oh yes, that's apretty tune
and I'm aware of it on the radio'.
"Now, when you write asong,
you're trying do that and you'reusing aset of tricks to do it with. You
have to perhaps cheat yourself every
time, you have to trickyourself out ofself-consciousness and find away of communicating some sort ofemotional content, aware all the time that ifyou start writing songs that
go "I love you/Do you love me?", you're playing with amillion other ghosts,
they're there and you're embedded in them, and to give them freshness isthe hardest thing of all."
Especiallywith "the love song".
"Yes. Nowadays when I
write alove song, I
try and put love in some othercontext. I've got asong called 'I Am APlumber', where I
tried to write aboutlove from aplumber's point of view. You have to, in asense, unglamorise
love, because it is the hardest thing to describe, which is the essence oflove. "I can't use these forms, because they've been used so many times
they're now so threadbare and meaningless. As awriteryou're up against
40 or 50 years of every cliche of every watered-down variation on love."
Curiously, for awriter who has so obviously refused rock's easy options,Paddy perceives no absolute rift between The Riff and The Song. Jim

singPREFAB SPROUT

Kerr's swirling atmospherics derive from the same
genus as his own fragmented pieces.
"There's absolutely no divide, that's the mostinteresting thing. You have 11 shots at it, at whatever
you want to have ago at, and that's the same foreveryone.At the same time, Idon't imagine we sharethe same kind of constraints as Simple Minds.
"I don't want to sound like the Luddite Morrissey,
and after all we have synthesizers on Swoon too, but
Iwould imagine that Simple Minds find themselves more limited by
the instruments they use. Ilike to thinkyou can go for that atmosphericthing and yet maybe more precise lyrically."I

T'S THE NOTION of precision that fascinates McAloon and which
has led him in the past to sounding amite fetishistic about yer
Sondheims and Hal Davids, as if writing pop songs were reallyscience and he himself were about to be elected to some pantheon of
geniuses in the great Brill Building in the sky.
"That's the risk you run when you mention these characters, because it
then becomes, 'Aha, with this person technique is all.' If Imention thoseguys, it's because they had none of the artistic bullshit that you're likely tofind in bands like ourselves!! use Sondheim as an example because I
don't hear anywhere else the excellence, that sheer moment of naked
ability. I'm talking about what makes it possible for one man to run 20
times fasterthan another.
.
"It's hard to talk about, because so many people aren't aware of it, they
don't have the antennae for it, they don't hear the difference between
McCartney's melodies and Elton John's."
Lévi-Strauss said that melodywas "the supreme mystery in the sciencesof man".
"Yes, it's an area you can't get close to when you're describing how asong
is about men without women, or about the Falklands or whatever, but!
would still say the emotions are better served by Richard Rodgers thanthey are by Simple Minds or Tangerine Dream, or whatever kind ofvague,
poetic rock music you want to go to.
"If I
dwell on this picture of Richard Rodgers knocking out acouple ofsongs before lunchtime, I
say that out of sheer awe that the guy's attitude
was purely businesslike, that he said he'd never once waited for
inspiration to strike. I
marvel at the fact that he was afatty in asuit andyet he was agenius, he went way beyond any of these people with theirfabulous intentions. But I
also think alot of people maybe have this gift
and just don't tryhard enough, and I'm sorry if that makes me sound likeaschoolteacher."Prefab Sprout seem to have been built up as almost the ultimate postPostcard group, abit of inadvertent hype that Paddywants to shake off.
"When Keith (Armstrong! started Kitchenware, he admitted straightaway that he liked Postcard bands and that he'dmodelled himself onAlan Home, but he knew
where all the failings were. Myself, I
really don't
feel anything in common with that. Someone
comes up to me and says 'Lions...' is aPostcard
record, but to me it's aBeatles record.
"I come from atotally different set ofreferences. It's adifferent world, and Ithink
Swoon will blow that whole Postcard thing
away, just because of the range of writing andthe range of instrumentation."
What about these people who accuse youof playing into the hands of our cosy student
contingent with their CND badges and theirlittle stash of pot? Is it important to care
who listens to your music? Should you donangry gu itars to alienate the safe people and makethem angry?
"A certain writer was telling me all this andsomehow he neglected to include the bit where
Isaid, 'But you're only describing your own
problems.' Of course I'm aware that our record islined up alongside all the other records; of course
I'm aware of the students and the Good Music
Society, but you've got to grow up. You've got to seethat it's fantastic to be doing somethingyou enjoy
and getting paid for it.

"If! stop writing songs tomorrow, it's not really
going to matter to many people, we're not the miners
or something. We're aluxury thing, and you've got tohave some sort of perspective on it. There's aYiddish
saying that Jonathan Cott once quoted to Bob Dylan
in an interview, which went: havingwon something,
be prepared to forget and win it all over again. If you
want the whole world to adjust to accommodate yourrecord, you're talking out of your backside.
"That whole attitude is such arocky, music critic's attitude. There's
nothing radical or subversive about it, it's just immature. You devalue
your currency ifyou turn everything, every performance, every
interview, into agesture."
What is the main musical criticism that people will make ofyou?
"I imagine there might be acriticism that we're picking and choosing
from different styles, but nowadays Ithink that's the game. I
thinkTop 40
radio is to the white kid what the blues was to Elvis Presley. There's somuch available, such avariety of things, that it turns into this one massive
thing behind you.
"Also today, Ibelieve one has to get away from writing songs about pop
music. You can't write soul records about passion, you have to write about
bedspreads and coffee cups ... passionately."
Isn't Swoon quite an odd title for arecord which is so dry and cool? Itreminds me of Sulk, arecord for which the title Swoon would have been
far more appropriate.
"It's the classical and romantic dichotomy. We fall on the classicalside. However, I've always thought the classical approach to be themost swoonworthy. It's like you can talk about The Staple Singers, andof course those voices are far more passionate, far more direct. The pointis, white boys have to use different tricks, and ours is akind of elegance;
the problem being that some people might find it too measured."Maybe you should have called it "Spoon" -spoon in June with
Prefab Sprout.
"Well, since you mention it, our next LP is called 'June Parade'."Are there any doubts about Swoon?
"I could've envisaged abigger sound. Some of the things we did on it
were slightly rushed, but Idon't think it's aboxed-in independent sound.
I'm not saying, 'Oh dear, we would have done it so much better', butmaybe when I
put on Thriller and hear how theyweren't limited to one
kind of synthesizer, maybe then! hope that one day Ican compete withMichael Jackson on that level.
"Also, and Iknow it's sort of adamning thing to say about your own
work, but compared with Michael Jackson or Brian Wilson, we're all of us,
Elvis and Roddy and The Smiths and myself, so sensible, such moderate
people. With Jackson, everything is so pure, so visionary, there's so muchattention to detail. Nothing gets in the way, his music is total. IfJackson or
Wilson or Spector had been making this LP,
they'd have spent ayear on it."Could you give us one final quote, something
we can stick in abox?
"Sure. Iguess we're somewhere between
Rickie Lee Jones and Einstürzende
Whatsathingy."
You could say Prefab Sprout are outside thePostcard lineage because they're so clearly not
influenced by The Velvet Underground. You
could argue that anyone who thinks Swoon is
too clever has alazy ear. Or you might findyourself backwith our old model of depth andshallowness: ie, Prefab Sprout are deeper thanSimple Minds. Personally, I
abhor that, and yet
Iknow that in some way Swoon plunges deeper
into me than does "Speed Your Love To Me".
Obviously one can't quantifywhy it is that Mozart
is more intelligent than James Last. There's noempirical evidence. But when you get right down toit, Paddy McAloon is doing more inside your average
three minutes than the rest of the pack manages inthe space of whole albums.
The devil might have all the best tunes, butstanding against the magnificent towers of Durham
Cathedral, this bespectacled Catholic boy looks likeawinner. Barney Hoskyns •"I believe one
has to get awayfrom writing
songs about
pop music"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I47

1984
>el*:
LE FOUNTNNS SEVERED HEtSISH SOFT CEL DIRE SMUTSEGARNER 4X1 STYLE COUNCIL

APR
OE
THE BLUE NILE, REM,
COCTEAU TWINS, THE
ART OF NOISE AND MORE

"Some life in theold bat yet"
MM APRIL 21 andie Sha.
ihe Smiths hookjuat. love their songs," says Sandie.

H

AND IN GLOVE? Well, hand in hand, actually. Of course,
it's former '60s barefoot girl Sandie Shaw alongside leading
Smith Morrissey. Shaw and Smiths have just emerged fromastudio collaboration clutching copies of Sandie's version of"Hand In Glove", ahighly improbable partnership, no?
"I thought The Smiths were right nutters when they started
writing to me, I
couldn't figure out what it was they wanted,"
Sandie confessed. "Then they sent me some tapes and myhusband said Iought to meet them, so Idid!"Morrissey, it seems, kept pestering Sandie until she agreed toacollaboration of some kind. "I just love their songs, they're sogood to sing," she bubbled. "I said I'd go into the studio withthem on the proviso that if Ididn't like the result we'd scrap it-but we had so much fun and Ithink the single's great."
Evidently the persuasive Morrissey helped Sandie overcome
the legendary shyness which has been known to lead her to beg
interviewers in mid-conversation not to print anything. But
will she workwith the Gladioli King again in future?
"Mmmm... maybe," she pondered. "I don't like to plan thingsin advance and my motives now are just to enjoy myself.
There's talk of an album, so we'll see. Knowing Morrissey, he
won't give me amoment's peace until we're back in the studio."
Of course, things have moved on abit since Sandie won the
Eurovision Song Contest in 1967 with "Puppet OnA String".
Apart from aguest slot on BEF's Music OfQuality And
Distinction and afleeting stage appearance alongside Chrissie
Hynde, Sandie's kept well away from the music biz. She's
written acouple of children's books, is planning adocumentaryon women in music for the BBC and now has a15-month-olddaughter to go with ateenage one from her previous marriage.
"I'd love to get on Top OfThe Pops, mainly to prove to myteenage daughter that there's some life in the old bat yet! We'revery close-we wear each other's clothes and all that, but I
think she's still faintly embarrassed when Istart boogieing
round the supermarket."
Meanwhile, this 'women in music' TV thing sits close to
Sandie's heart, though she won't go into details. "I've always
been interested in the role of women in music and how theycope," Sandie explained. "I've got such admiration
for people like Chrissie Hynde and Annie Lennox,
who do it with such style.
"Chrissie's afriend of mine- she lives roundthe corner, we were pregnant at the same time.
It was funny really- she seemed to think I
wasapregnancy expert 'cos I'd done it before. Ikept
telling her it was so long ago that I'd forgotten."
Meanwhile, next stop TOTP? Much stranger
things have happened.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"There'stalkof an album":
SandieShaw
and Morrissey

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I49

1984
APR

Gaye onstage at theHolday Star Theatre,
Merrillville, Indiana,
June10,1983‘" 1

Roger Waters'solo show at
Earls Court inJune1984'7400110-.04111110"An altercation
with his father"
MM APR 7Aiarvin Gaye shot deadd, aretired preacher.

M
MM APR 7

R

Waters el.... __ „As to present his debut

OGER WATERS -the founder
member and driving force of Pink
Floyd -is to release asolo single andalbum during April.
And he's lined up aio-date European tour
to promote his new work, which includes two
appearances at London's Earls Court andBirmingham's NEC.
The single is entitled -The Pros And
Cons Of Hitch Hiking" and it comes out on
EMI's Harvest label on April 9. Avideo,
shot on location in Europe and America
by film director Nic Roeg, will accompany
the release.
The album, also entitled
The Pros And Cons Of Hitch
Hiking, is released by
Harvest on April 30.1t
features ahost of guest
musicians, including Eric
Clapton (lead guitar), Andy
Bown (organ and 12-string
guitar), Michael Kamen(keyboards/orchestralarrangements), Andy
Newmark (drums), David
Sanborn (sax), Madeline Bell, Doreen
Chanter and Katie Kissoon (backing vocals),
Raphael Ravenscroft, Kevin Flanagan and
Vic Sullivan (horns), plus the National
Philharmonic Orchestra.

The album was produced by Roger Watersand Michael Kamen. The live shows kick off in
Stockholm on Junei6 and the English dates
are: London Earls Court (June 21,22) andBirmingham NEC (26,27).
The concerts will consist of two sections-aselection of some of the best-known songs
written by Waters from the past15 years,
followed by the whole of the new album.
Many of the musicians featured on the LP
are expected to play on the tour (including
Clapton), and other session players likely to
be involved include Mel Collins (horns) andTim Renwick (guitar).
The live shows will be alavish production, requiring
six articulated lorries tocarry the equipment fromvenue to venue. Gerald
Scarfe, Mark Fisher andJonathan Park -all of whom
helped Floyd with The Wallshow -are working on
Waters' solo project.
Tickets are available now
by post. Send acheque or
postal order for £10.50 or £9.50 (including 50
pence booking fee) payable to Harvey
Goldsmith Entertainments Ltd, to RS Tickets,
PO Box 4RS, London WIA 4RS. Enclose an
sae and allow five weeks for delivery.

Waters has lined
up a10-date
European tour
to promote his
new work

50

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984

wb.

ARVIN GA'YE WAS shot dead in Los
Angeles on Sunday, April 1. Gaye, oneof the world's foremost soul singers,
was killed during adomestic argument at
his parents' home in asuburb of the city.
Reports fromAmerica have given
differing accounts of the incident, but an
LA police spokesman said: "All we can tell
you is that 12.30pm on Sunday, his father
and he had an altercation. His father
obtained a.38 calibre revolver and fired
two shots into the upper torso. Marvin
Gaye was transported to California
hospital, where he was pronounced dead."
The father, the Reverend Marvin Gaye Sr-described as a"retired Pentecostal
preacher" -was under arrest as the MM
went to press, and was later charged withthe murder.
News bulletins have suggested that Gayeand his father had argued over money,
eventually resorting to physical fighting
which ended with shots being fired. Gaye's
mother was reportedly present.
His sister is said to have accompanied
him to hospital in the ambulance but he
did not regain consciousness before his
death an hour later.
In NewYork, DJ Frankie Crocker- an
old friend of Gaye's- said: "We've lost atalented man who anytime could write
music like 'What's Going On' which could
touch everybody. He wasn't just asoul
singer; he was avery talented man, avery
talented writer."Gaye, who died on the eve of his 45thbirthday, became one of Tamla Motown's
leading vocalists in the '60s with astringof hits, including the classic "I Heard It
Through The Grapevine" and theinternationally acclaimed album What's
GoingOn. His popularity enjoyed arecent
revival with the success of the single"Sexual Healing".

U2inAustraiafor
The Unf orgettable
FireTour,Sect'84

MM

U2 to collaborate with Brian Eno on their fourth studi3 album.

U

2GO INTO the studio next month to record
anew album -and, in an unlikely collaboration,
they've recruited Brian Eno
as their producer. Eno, who's
Brian Eno,Augustpreviously produced Talking Heads,
1984: helping U2
is known for experimental interests"spread things
outa little more"rather than mainstream rockproduction, but U2, who've worked
until now with Steve Lillywhite(producer for Big Country, Simple
Minds, Siouxsie and XTC) insist
there will be no dramatic change intheir musical style.
The album will be recorded
during May in Eire. And it'sscheduled for release in theearly autumn, although no release
dates have been considered yet.
A spokesman for U2 said this week:"This collaboration has been in the air for alittle while,
but it's just been officially decided. This has all been verymuch the band's idea. I
know they likethe work Eno has done over the years.
They've been big fans of his for
goodness knows how long. So theydecided to approach him.
"People might think, 'That
won't work', but the possibilities
are intriguing. I'm convinced the
mix'n'match will definitely work.
"I don't think the sound of U2
will change radically by any means,but I
think they'll move in wider
directions... spread things out
alittle more. This album will bevery interesting indeed."U2 are currently "in transit"
in Ireland.

"Three 12-hour sessions"
MM MAY 25

D,wie wraps up film work, works on new album.

AVID BOWIE IS currently at workon anew album -although his
whereabouts remain secret.
And there's also news this week ofmore film projects for Bowie, as wellas an announcement that he's finallyturned down the chance to playavillain opposite
Roger Moore in thenext James Bond
movie. At one point,
it looked certain
he'd accept the part.
Though many of
his film plans arebeing kept underwraps for the time being, it's known
that Bowie has just finished filming
acameo role for anew Jon Landis
movie called IntoTheNight.

"It was done in LA in three
12-hour sessions," said a
spokesman. "And it was all
overnight work- in keeping withthe title of the film. We've got no
Bowre a.: the preview
details about the role. All we canof the play Hurlyburlyat NYC's Promenadetell you is that David was sporting
Theatrc. June 4.1984
amoustache.
David is also
discussing
He's being tried for manslaughter
some other film
following the deaths ofVic Morrowprojects which we'll
and two girls during filming of
be announcing
lluilightZone in 1982. Theywere
shortly. And it was
killed in ahelicopter crash. Among
because of thosecelebrities who've offered to speak forand his otherLandis in court are Eddie Murphy andworking commitments that he turned
Dan Ackroyd- stars of the film Trading
down the 007 movie."
Places-and Michael Jackson, whose
Jon Landis is currently at the centre
Thrillervideo was directed by Landis.
of acourt controversy in the States.

He's turned down
the chance to playaBond villain

1984> Lloyd Cole &The
Commotions, aGlasgow-based
five-piece, release
their debut single,"Perfect Skin" on
May11. Available on
Polydor, it's backed
with "The Sea And
The Sand", and the12-inch version also
includes "You Will
Never Be No
Good". The group
comprises Neil
Clark (guitar),
Stephen Irvine(drums), former
Bluebell Lawrence
Donegan (bass),
Blair Cowan(keyboards) and
Lloyd Cole (guitar/
vocals). MMmays> Bruce
Springsteen isabout to make hislong-awaited

comeback with therelease of anew
single- his firstsince "Atlantic City"
in September1982.
"Dancing In The
Dark" c/w "Pink
Cadillac" comes out
on May 14. Bothtracks were written
by Springsteen andproduced by him inassociation with
Jon Landau, Chuck
Plotkin and Steve
Van Zandt. The
record features theEStreet Band,
comprising
Springsteen, Roy
Bittan, Clarence
Clemons, Danny
Federici, Ga rry
Tallent, Steve Van
Zandt and Max
Weinberg. "Atlantic
City" was takenfrom Springsteen's
Nebraska album.
The EStreet Band
haven't recorded
for three years.
l'elfrlay12

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I51

gal

1984
AP

en
"So each time, I'm discovering
new things in whatever I'm singin'
about, and everything I'm singin'
Iknow about. You see, there's neveratop, there's never that thing where
you got to get to this place, because
once you got there, it's only
someplace else you got to go. You
never stop, so you should neverthink you get so in that you got it
made. Ifyou get there, you ain't
creatin' no more."Thus the empress on her art. She
granted me an audience that
permitted just enough time to ask
her what her life is about.
"I tell you, I
don't like to answer
dumb questions. Idon't like to feel
someone is just trying to check meout for being Etta James; I
jus' like tohave arap about what's happening.
I
guess that's why Inever did
become abig star, 'cos as I
wascoming up, Inever talked. My life
was like amystery. I
didn't want totalk to nobody, Ididn't want nofilm, I
didn't want nothin'."Brieflywe point back to Johnny
Otis and Modern Records, to Chessand Muscle Shoals, to adecade ofheroin addiction, to Allen
Toussaint and Jerry Wexler. Etta
would be one of the undeposable
queens of soul if she hadn't done
so much, hadn't also been a
rock'n'rolling jazzy gospel blues
singer. They ain't no bag big enuff
for the tuffest lover.
"Well, you think that's great 'cos
you look at me as an artist, but
that's been my problem, because
there's been no category. Imean,
can you say I'm ablues singer? Can
you say I'm apop singer? Can you
say I'm rock'n'roll? In America, see,
if they can't put you in acategory, they don't
know what to think of you."
Maybe you never did enough of that puredeep stuff. What was the mid-'60s Muscle
Shoals period like?
"Well, Rick Hall was akind of acat...I had
never been down to that part of the South, andit was really arelaxed atmosphere. He was cool,aSouthern cat. He didn't tell you what to doexactly, he'd just stop you if you overdid
something or just give you— an idea or two. He was oneof the producers Ireallyenjoyed workingwith.
"I'd Rather Go Blind'
would have never sounded
like that if Rick Hall hadn't-a
produced it, 'cos he was oneof those ex-alcoholic cats
who was on the brink oflosing his wife. There wasjust something Iliked
about him-he had thatsurvivor kind of thing."
What about the Jerry Wexler album, Deep In
The Night? Only "Take It To The Limit" reallycame off on that.
"Jerry's the kinda guy that wants to produce
all his favourite people, and Ithought he did

EttaJamesat
theVineStreet
Bar&Grillin
Holly wood,
California,1984.

NME APRIL 14
one of her occasional visits to Britain, Etta James shares
ier rich, troubled past. "There's never atop... you never stop."

SHERRY RAYN BARNETT /GETTY

M

OST EVERY YEAR now, Ms Jamesetta
Hawkins-Etta to you -will, at thebehest of Dingwalls boss Dave
Goodman, fly over to these shores, pickup one of our most thick-skinned pick-up
bands, and jam on down real mean at thelast stop of rivvum'n'booze.
Which is all fine and dandy and more power
to the Boss that he retains the simple faith inher pull to keep bringing her over. But when it'sacase of piled riving into "Security" or "TellMama" or "Baby What You Want Me To Do"
and you're wondering just where those goldenthroated horns have got to, and all you get intheir place is some wooden stump of guitar
being tortured by abandana-adorned relichailing from halcyon Roundhouse days when
Bees made Honey and Ducks were Deluxe, it's
kind of... well, sad.
When there's at least two dozen lamebrain
primadonnas on theAmerican soul circuit who
can take entire string sections on da roadwhenso'er the whim grips 'em, it's alittle sickthat Etta, surely the most powerful female voiceof all time, can barely afford to retain amanager.

52 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

But all of this would be areasonable cause forconcern only if it made any difference to themindblowing passion Etta is still capable ofgenerating. Where most of these legend types
just politely pussyfoot through medleys ofmoulding oldies in three-piece tuxes andUncle Tom smiles, Etta
sings: Imean, really gives it
her all (which is quite alot).
If you watch, you can see
her thinking through evenline, every turn of every
phrase. It doesn't seem tomatter that this is thethousand-and-tenth time
she's done "I'd Rather Go
Blind" (aka "Blind Girl") once again she exhumes andbrings it back to life, pushing
the pain, turning it around, holding off the mic
to hit that exact fading moment of loss.
"When I
sing, it's just like anew experience tome each time. For the band, even; Inever sing
the songs the same way twice, so they can't
depend on playing it in the same way.

"In America, see, ifthey can't put you
in acategory, they
don't know what tothink of you"one of the best albums that he could do withme. He took me into another area, anotherphase; he kinda took me back to the phase I
wasgoin' for in the '60s, when I
took Cole Porter
songs and defied everyone by singing themwith abluesy feel.
"That's whyJerry picked country songs andstuff. I
think it was more orless meant to show myversatility, and he broughtme awhole new crowd. Sure,he overproduced on somethings. I
feel the simpler
things are, the easier they
are to understand, theclearer the words are said
and the story is told."
It's been adecade since
you cleaned up. What's it
been like?
"It's been great, compared to what it was
before. Imean, Idon't have no money, Idon't
have as many jive surface things going, but I
think I'm happier, Ithink! been doin' great.
"You know, to have come through that...
and Ihave been working myway all the way,
there's been no rest for the weary. And Idon't
get no kind of credit. When they run the
rock'n'roll programmes in the USA, Etta Jamesis not mentioned, just as though someone
erased it from history."
What's seen you through?
"The real deal is the unseen, the unspoken...
faith. In what Idon't know, Idon't want to say
I'm this, you're that, in religion, but whatever it
is it's like asupreme spirit, and I
do deal with it,

and Iknow it works. It's like, here! am,
30 years working, and Ihave nothing—I
mean, what's happening? But still
there's something inside of me that says,(whispers) 'Keep ongoing'... you know,
like Mission Impossible, turn left, pick up
the plans, keep going.
"Two years ago, evenafter the drug thing, I
wasstill freakin', I
was startingto hear voices talkin' to me
at night in hotels, and I'm
talkin' to them out loud,and Isaid, 'What is this? I'm
goin' nuts.'"And then Ihad areligious
experience, and Iknew
what I
was and I
knewwhat I
had to do. What Ifound was
the same thing! had when I
was alittle bitty
kid. If! could be quiet and listen, everything
would be told to me. I
find that Ican ask thisthing aquestion, and if! reallywant to know
the answer, it'll tell me in some kind ofway.
"It might sound nuts, but everybody's gotta
have something. 'Cos if you had to go on
what you see, you'd have gave up along timeago, right?"
You'd be out on the streets again.
"Right."What would you like to do?
"One of my main ambitions is to come over
one daywith (whispers) agreat big ol' band,
abig ol' Count Basie sound, like Otis Redding,
and... blow everybody away."
She said it. BarneyHoskyns •"Even after the
drugs thing, I
wasstarting to hearvoices talkin' to me
at night in hotels"

Jamesin Fame
Studios, Muscle
Shoals, Alabama,with owner RickHall(right)and
amemberof thehouseband.1967•

NME MAY 12life of aviell-roundedpython.
Books
Labyrinths Jorge Luis Borges
Roads To Freedom
Jean-Paul Sartre
Rebours JK Huysmans
Oxford English Dictionary
Life Extension: APractical
And Scientific Approach
Durk Pearson &Sandy Shaw
Lecture Notes On Pathology
Thompson &Cotton
Mr Norris Changes Trains
Christopher Isherwood
Gold In The Kingdom Michael Murphy

Other reading matter
Scientific American, New Scientist,
Science Digest, Science, The Times
newspaper (the crossword only)

TV programmes
All natural history programmes,
Butterflies, Rod Hull and Emu, all quizshows except for Family Fortunes

Films
Harvey, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's
Nest, Death In Venice, Rocky Horror
Picture Show, High Plains Drifter,
Young Frankenstein, all Jacques Tati
and most Woody Allen films, All Quiet
On The Western Front, Blue Murder
At St Trinian'sMusicians
Paul Young, Tom Robinson, Sting, Billy
Joel, Ultravox, Klaus Voormann, John
Lennon, Jimmy Shand &his band

Actresses
Irene Handl, Margaret Rutherford,
Diana Quick, Beryl Reid, Jessica Lange,
not Meryl Streep

ActorsBrando, Michael Hordern, Geoffrey
Palmer, Michael Elphick, Gerald
Campion, Peter Sellers, Burt
Lancaster, Geoffrey Bayldon(Catweazle), Graham Crowden

Favourite scientists
Niels Bohr, WK Heisenberg,
Jimmy Watson &"Fran"
Crick, Linus Pauling,
Max Planck,"Ernie", Lord
Rutherford

Hate
Poor contraceptive
technique

PoisonKetamine

1984
APR

"I've always
wanted to be
immortal"

In Los Angeles,
MARVIN GAYE is shotdead by his father.
MM pays tribute toamajor talent who
wanted to become"the Frank Sinatraof soul", but would
never conform.
"I never learn. I
wish
I
could stop believing
in people..."54 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

- MELODY MAKER APRIL 7"I'm concerned about my music livingway longerthan Iwill. Hopefully111 achieve that inunortality
I've been seeking. I've always wanted to be immortal" -Marvin Gaye, June '83"I," SAID MARVIN Gaye once, "am unmanageable."
It was, perhaps, his one statement of real reliability, and there can be few whose
lives he touched during his turbulent career who wouldn't wholeheartedly agreewith it. Unpredictable, headstrong, fanatically independent, single-minded,occasionally bloody-minded, Gaye's intransigencewas legend.
It led him into all manner of personal misery. Bitter public rows with his recordlabel, Motown. Numerous painful contractual hassles. Acouple of marriage breakdowns andexpensive divorce settlements. Bankruptcy... Marvin Gaye had it all. Some finger of doom seemed
to track him all theway, and there was abizarre inevitability about the macabre manner of his
eventual demise- two bullets from his preacher father, the same man who'd induced him intomusic in the first place, playing organ for the church choir.
The old cliche about genius is pain can never have been more glibly proven than by the unhappy
story of Marvin Gaye. For, make no mistake, Gaye indisputably carried the touch of genius.
Not just the acknowledged classics-"I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "What's Going On",
"Let's Get It On" and "Sexual Healing" -but in the manner that they were classics. Gaye was
responsible for breaking the Motown mould, the "factory line syndrome" as he put it, and bydoing
so changed black music so irrevocably that he must be considered one of the ultimate greats.
And the most tragic feature of the whole sordid affair is that, at 45, with his voice in good shape,
his will and determination cast-iron, and the confidence of amasterpiece, Midnight Love, recently 7iunder his belt, Marvin Gayewas strong again and vigorously capable of producing any number ofbrilliant works in the future. »1984APR

0Marvin Pentz Gay Jr was born onApri12, 1939, in Washington DC.
His musical initiation was based, ironically, almost entirely around his
father's church. It was there he first sang at the age of three, and it wasthere he learned to play the organ, amusical education he tookwith him
to high school, playing guitar, piano and drums in the school orchestra.
He had ashort, unhappy spell in military service before getting
involved in doo-wop groups, sometimes depping for Don Covay inWashington vocal group the Rainbows, and eventually teaming up
with acouple of members of the Rainbows to form the Marquees. Bo
Diddley proved to be an unlikely guiding spirit, engineering the group's
signing to Okeh Records, asingle, "Wyatt Earp", and getting them toback him on his own singles.
When the reasonably successful Moonglows split up in 1958, theirleader Harvey Fuqua arrived in Washington to put anew band together,selected the Marquees en bloc, and Marvin Gaye was on his way. With
the Moonglows, he played in Detroit, and was noticed by Berry Gordy,
then in the process of setting up his own label. He married Gordy's sister
Anna, thus sealing his own involvement in the embryonic Motown, along relationship that was to prove as productive for both parties as it
was stormy.
Gaye's early careerwith the label was modest enough: he was asession
drummer and played and toured with, among others, Smokey Robinson&The Miracles. Gordy eventually gave his brother-in-law the go-ahead tomake his own records, and his first single, "Let Your Conscience Be Your
Guide", was released in May'61. It bombed, as did the next two singles,
but the fourth, "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" (featuring Martha &The
Vandellas on backingvocals) earned him his first success, doing well inboth the R'n'B and the pop charts.
During the next couple of years he worked with virtually every producer
and artist on Motown, launching an amazing run in which his next 47
singles all charted in some manner. In '63 he linked up with Holland,
Dozier and Holland for his first British success-the gospel/blues epic
Can I
GetA Witness", and the following year scored ahuge hit with thestorming "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved ByYou)".
He worked with Smokey Robinson for two big hits in '65, "I'll Be
Doggone - and "Ain't That Peculiar", but it was with the production ofNorman Whitfield that he recorded, in 1968, the epochal "I Heard It
Through The Grapevine", asong of such eerie majesty that it seemed to
overpower anything else on Motown, or indeed
any of the other material recognised under theburgeoning umbrella of "soul". The song had
already been amajor hit the previous year for
Gladys Knight &The Pips, but the intensity Gaye
added to the songwas extraordinary. It went to
No 1in Britain andAmerica.
Gaye was now an established hit-makerand Motown had already exploited hiscommerciality to the full by teaming him withasuccession of girl singers: Mary Wells, Kim
Weston, Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross. Hisduet with Weston, "It Takes Two", was aclassic
piece of soul, but it was his workwith Terrellthat was most dear to him. Heavy orchestral
productions byAshford and Simpson turned"Your Precious Love" and "You're All INeed To Get By" into romantic
giants. This was when Gaye was struck by the first in aseries of traumatic
events. He was on stage with Terrell when she collapsed in his arms.
When she died in 1970 from abrain tumour, Gaye's notoriously erratic
behaviour patterns began. Never alover of live work, he now withdrew
completely from the public gaze, becoming almost reclusive.

"I once hadan album out called When I'm Alone ICry. I'm not out tosound too sloppy and sentimental, but that could well have been adescription ofthe way I
felt when I
first arrived in Detroit. Life wasn't
goingtoo good at that time, and when Icarnet° Detroityou could say
Iwas searchingforsomethingto eat." (Feb '67)
"I remember, when Iwas akid, Iused to have to singasongevery time
there was company around at home. Then the visitors would give me
apat on the head and akiss. Man, Mated that."(Feb '67)

W

IIEN HE RETURNED, his music had advanced to sucharadical degree that it startled those around him. He'dchanged, too, in his attitude towards Motown. He insisted
that his work be treated as aspecial case and be accorded more thanthe usual slick, quick Tamla format record. No more, he told them,
did he want just to make three-minute dance records -he wanted tosay something.
What he said was What's Going0n, acourageously ambitious cycleof songs that bitterly challenged the state of America... poverty, pollution,
drug addiction, even Vietnam warveterans were all included in Gaye's
scything social comment on the evils ofAmerican society. This, for
Motown, for black music, for anything, was something new, andWhat's GoingOnbecame acrucial milestone for rock music and forblack consciousness.
It also soured his relations with Motown, who were initially sceptical
about the project and were reportedly reluctant to issue it in its originalform. Gaye dug his heels in, the album was released and became one of
the best-selling albums in the label's history-also producing three
million-selling singles, "What's Going On", "Mercy Mercy Me" and"Inner City Blues".
Gaye had now proved that he could not only survive, but flourish
without all the usual Motown machinery around him. The record also
proved he was now much, much more than aregular soul singer, andGaye now resolved to write, produce and arrange all his own work, andoperate as independently as possible from Motown.
His next project was asuccessful film soundtrack for the movie Trouble
Man-a terrible film but agreat soundtrack, and one that Marvindeclared himself fully satisfied with (a rare admission for aman who
frequently decried his own work).
In 1973 he delivered another opus, andanother brave departure. Let's Get It On was
acelebration of... well... sex, actually. Asmoky,
steamy parade of vinyl erotica that delighted
as many as it appalled, inspiring many
accusations of sexism. Surprisingly sensitive,
Gaye responded angrily to such criticisms,
becoming more and more wary in his dealings
with the press.
Further mass commercial success did,
however, give him the confidence and theimpetus to overcome his fears and appear onstage once more, breaking several years ofsilence to go on tour in '74... atour documented
by an excellent album, Marvin Gaye Live,recorded in front of aboisterous 14,000 audience in Oakland.
His behaviour, though, became increasingly idiosyncratic and there
followed another couple ofyears of silence, duringwhich time he wasplagued by rumours of drug problems and domestic disputes.
It was 1976 before his next album, IWant You, and that was mostly
written by Leon Ware, though he did venture out on stage once again
to promote the record, including his debut appearances in Britain...
asuccessful tour which opened with two sell-out concerts at the Royal
Albert Hall in London. The UK concerts were also featured as three partsof alive double album, the fourth side being occupied by along disco
extravaganza, "Got To Give It Up", which was to become anothertransatlantic hit for him.

"I have only
scraped the
beginning. I
have alot ofmusic in me""I think there are men and there are MEN. There are men who're born
andarestrongenough to be sorcerers. Those who are strong enough tobecome sorcerers can certainly imply themselves to become warriors.
Impeccable warriors. Impeccable sorcerers."(Oct '76)
"There are alot ofthings Idesire. 'desire peace and happiness andlove
and understanding. Thatsounds so ridiculous to alot ofpeople. 'Who is
this guy wantingallthat?Another troublemaker.'"(Oct '76)
Idon't think the social content or the musical content is ethnic at all.
Ithink it can apply to anybody, the entire album. Any race. Any creed.
Anybody."(on What's Goi ng On, Oct '76)

56 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"At this point in my career, I
feel I've achieved standingas asoul-pop
artist, which is gettingthere. Maybe ['Ube apop artist someday. On one
hand, Iwouldn't like that to happen, because it suggests to some blacks
thatyou've left those who loved and supportedyoufirst. On the other
hand, I'd surely love to have the, oh, credibility ofa large pop audiences°that Ican reach all the world's peoples. Ifl can bringa mega-class to mydivision, soul and R'n'B, which is low on
the totem pole, and ifIcan become theFrankSinatraofsoul, that would be
marvellous. Iwill have achieved
somethingfor my people." Untie '83)
"I don't think the music business hastreated anybody black right unless they
become 'white: 'White' black artists.
We're resentful about it, but peaceful.
lam certainly not aggressive in that
response at all."(June '83)

H

"I've been tryingto appeal to other markets as I'dlike to make it as big in
this business as Ican, buta negro R'n'B singer's chances are slimmer.
Only Ray Charles has made it, and Idon'tfeel that he's held in the same
esteem as Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis Jr. Although R'n'B, throughyoung people, is making great strides, the olderfolk tend to stick to their
pop singers, and so their kind ofmusic is more successful." (April'69)"I'm unmanageable. I'm my own worst enemy. Irefuse to be manageable,
and it sometimes gets me in trouble." (Jan '79)

D

ISILLUSIONED AND LEGALLY bankrupt, he split with
Anna Gordy and went into the studio with abizarre divorce
settlement hanging over him. The deal was that Anna collected
alarge slice of the royalties (believed to be in the region of 80 per cent)for the album. With aperverse sense of humour, Gaye made it adouble
and called it Here, My Dear. Gaye insisted that he put his heart and soul
into it anyway, "for my fans", but critical response was poor and thealbum is ashadow of his best work.
He was, by his own admission, promiscuous, but still felt hurt andbetrayed by the split with Anna Gordy. If he was reckoned to be sour andunsociable before all this happened, then he was doubly so after it. He
even publicly disowned his next LP, In Our Lifetime. He'd planned it asanother meisterwerk àla What's GoingOn or Let's Get/L.0n, aconcept
album built around the spiritual struggle between good and evil.
But Motown's patience with Gaye ran out. He used so much time andmoney making the record that Motown simply stepped in, confiscatedthe masters and issued the record, incomplete as Gaye claimed it was.
He was furious and announced that he would never record for the label
again, also commenting that their general meanness with studio timeand money had prevented him doing his best work all along.
"I have arespectfor music that veryfew musicians have, and it's difficult
tofind musicians generally who have the same kind ofrespectfor music.
And fl everfind those musicians, we will play music that the world will
neverforget as longas there's aworld. And Iwon't do my music untilIfind them, and ifIneverfind them my son will do itfor me. Iknow that.
"I have only scraped the beginning. Ihave alot ofmusic in me. Ihave
written alot ofmusic that's unpublished that Ithink is great. But
Icannot afford to do it."(Oct '76)

A

Royalty was in place, but Marvin was in his hotel refusing to come out
on some spurious grounds of "pride and dignity". Berry Gordy, on thephone from America, eventually managed to persuade him to put inan appearance at the club, but by then it was too late —the dignitaries
and half the audience had already gone home.
About this and numerous other incidents, Gaye was unrepentant,insisting that great artists always live by their emotions, and comparedhimself with Bach and Beethoven, both great composers fired by their
uneven temperament.
Maybe there was something in that. He made alot of enemies, but his
criticisms of Motown and the way they hassled him and financiallyrestricted his art were to some degree borne out by the totally unexpectedbrilliance of his next album. With all the wrangles, the bad reputationand the break with Motown, most people assumed in 1982 that Marvin
Gaye was all washed up.
But CBS signed him and he rewarded them with the superb MidnightLove and "Sexual Healing", one of the biggest and one of the best singlesof the year. Buoyant again and seemingly reasonably in control of his
faculties, Gaye was right slap back in the front line, playing concerts andrelatively at peace with himself. There was every reason to expect that his
next album would be every bit as good as MidnightLove, and in his last
MMinterview last year he spoke encouragingly of the future. He'dwritten, he said with atwinkle, acouple of real hardcore new songs hewondered if he'd get past CBS, called "It's My Duty To Spank Your Booty,
My Masochistic Beauty" and "Sanctified Pussy".
Paul Young even had amassive hit with one of his old B-sides,"Wherever ILay My Hat", turning what had been another highly sexual
song into aheart-rending ballad, displaying ahitherto unseen angle
on Gaye's work. The Young record somehow seemed symbolic ofMarvin's rebirth.
Marvin in turn was delighted by it all. He'd got his sense of humour
back, he was optimistic and he was working. Marvin Gaye was rocking
again. And then his dad shot him.
Crazy old world, ain't it?
"When I
find thata man supersedes intelligence and transcends to
wisdom, I'll read his book. Ihave ahealthy disrespectfor intellect; Ihave
all the respect in the worldfor wisdom."(Feb '81)
"Ifmy emotions or myfeelings say Ishouldn't do somethingbecause of
avery strongprincipled position that Imust take, then in spite ofthe
consequences, in spite ofall that isfacingmefrom adetrimental point
ofview, then Ihave to remain true to my artistic nature"(Feb '81)
"I'm involved in lawsuits because ofmy unswervingfaith inhumantinture. I
never learn. Iwish 'could stop believingin people. I'm an easy

mark. l'in not even sure I'vegot the best legal counsel in the world." uan '79)
ROUND THE SAME time, he confirmed his own lack of tact byla iling to turn up to perform at agala charity function at thelakeside Club, Camberley, attended by Princess Margaret.

"I do everything good, but Ido music best."(Oct '76)
Colin Irwin •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I57

RON GALELLA /GETTYIS PERSONAL LIFE grew evermore complex. His marriage
broke up in awelter of acrimony,
his relations with Motown were abysmal,
April 5,1984:Marvinhe was in financial ruins and was up to
Gaye is laid to rest
his neck in lawsuits (he owed $2m to his
at Forest Lawn
former manager Steven Hill alone). Small
Memorial Park in
Glendale.California
wonder he viewed the world with anincreasingly bitter vision, though thosearound him who were willing to talkabout him at all insisted he brought many of the troubles on himself,with his drug-taking and his general moodiness. Aformer Motown
PR called Elaine Jesmer blew the gaff on Gaye with abook called
Number One With ABullet, which was ostensibly about acharacter
called "Daniel Stone", who was evidently based on Gaye. Abigoted,
slightly pathetic, if misused character he was too.

1984
e

APRIl -

REM in Chicago,
May26,1983:(I-r)
MichaelStipe,
Mike Milk, Peter

BuckandBillBerry58 IHISTORY OF

K 1984

"Bucking for
sainthood"
Afriendly but mysterious band fromthe American South arrive in London.
Though young, RIN already convey a
vernacular wiem, perhaps due totheir operating in isolation. "We'renot like Bruce Springsteen," says
MICHAEL,"but, yeah, there's
lelconretin for America the place."•

APRIL 21 —I
I[RE'S TWO SCHOOIS

ofmusician,"arguesguitarist Peter
Burk. "One psi digs playing and isin it for fun, the ot her wants to getrie 'land famous and thinks it
deserves to be seen by the public."'ve been silt ingaround A&M's London offices
for tvr.)days\ ;liking to peo lle like me fall into the former
camp. Cei lll i
ll elyat their most eontet .led si' git ill
rednrA bars on t
heoutskirts ofdying Midwestern cities,
you'd hink from t
heway 'Fey talked hat t
heword "art"held ea meaning for them.

N

REIM play because t
hey di 4t
hat mor tent on stagewhen
four lifelinescross and fuse and someelectric spirit seems
to seine t
hem into one flow big mot ior.They're proud of
theirrecords hut insist that t
hegroup's soul only comesout airtight, preferably not nfront of 110,000 Police fans(asupport slot they rate as "1 he most wretched and abysmal
exper ieneeof our lives").
"Wete st ill basically atou ri ng ba nd ',says Buck."that's
what wed°. The records it rt an integral pa rt of that, hutthey'realsojust oneweek old oftheymrwhen we sou nd
like tint Wedon't sound lithat on stage; were n'ai fluid,
and tint's howwesl
Id ht judged."
Theroecords are still pre(t subli me. From t
he origi nal Il ibToneEof" Radio Ereel.0 rope" to the just-released album;•r

Reckeding, thegroup have lased elect ric-fol kharinoniesto
weaverivetingwehsofoffbrat pop that mingleelementsof•-•"•- 1.%

The 4rds,The Undertonesand The VAvet Underground.
he I
982 EP"Chr•-Tow e" was t
he year's lllll st auspicious
debut, five masterworks that ripped alongat undertonesÉ,pace I. it With an obsessive inroyersit n-thechorus ofes. l.ower" is just themlman melodically
hit rst m; into tears.The Munmuralho' Net I.

4.1

'

frr,

(1983) expanded »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I59
7-4e.

1984
PR

0

the range of moods to instil ayet more coarse andpowerful beauty. The superb production of Mitch
Easter and Don Dixon was one of interleaving, at once
simple and unpredictable, in which atreated snare
beat could suddenly thrust out of the sound's centre or
aswarm of double-tracked vocals scatter like birds.
The newalbum is more faithful to its traditions,almost empty of the lumps and jolts of its
predecessors. Here asimple harmonic strength stands
on its own terms, whether in such yearning blasts as "Second Guessing"and "7 Chinese Brothers", or in the Loaded Lou Reed of "Camera", the "We
Three" Patti Smith of "Time After Time". Strange sounds still intrude-thebells and wind chimes of "Camera" -but the dominant frame of the record
is old-fashioned. This is an album of backwater USA.
"There's less textural overdubbing on this record," says bassist Mike
Mills. "Murmurwas arecord with alot of depth in the sound, whereas thisone is more song-oriented- each one has its own sound and its own style."
Advance warning of REM's genial good humour notwithstanding,Ihadn't expected quite such unassuming friendliness. What Ithought
REM might be was aSunbelt Bunnymen, with awhole burden ofinarticulate passions in their hearts. Their music is so simple, so supple,
and yet there's arecalcitrance, amystification, at its core. What are thesesongs about? What are they doing? Is this group hiding something?
"Hey, I
mean, we're just four guys," pleads Buck. "We're marvelling that
we've been flown all the way to England and people are lining up to talk tous, and we're gonna talk about ourselves."
How come you're so polite? Aren't you bored stupid by these interviews?
"I am almost never rude to anyone. If Iam, it's in ajust cause. It's like,
where we're from, if people curse one another publicly, then they punch
it out, whereas in NewYork people stand toe-to-toe and scream at eachother for five minutes and then walk away. I
dunno, maybe it's artificial,
but in the South there's areal politeness, just because if you step over thatline someone'll take you outside and bash your head in."
Where REM are from is Athens, Georgia, the university town 70 miles
north-east of Atlanta, which spawned Pylon and The B-52's and for ayear transformed America's independent music scene.
Our four guys still reside in Athens, though they don't do much there
besides wait for the next tour. Mike Mills will drop in on Peter Buck,
they'll drink beer and watch The A-Team. Singer Michael Stipe will sit
at home painting, or cupping an ear to Psychic TV records. Drummer
Bill Berry Ican't account for. Isuspect heparties alittle harder than the other guys. All
CCfour dropped out of the curriculum at the
University Of Georgia.
"Being astudent gave me some kind of
rationale for existing," says Buck. "All the timeI
was supposed to be in classes just meant Ihad
free time."
Art student Stipe was the only one in any
danger of academic success. "Yeah, I
was asgood as Manet," he shrugs, his face lost in curls
and scarves.
Stipe is shy and claims to find interviews hard.
Harder still is it to pickup the low, muffled blurof his voice-scarcely amurmur. Sometimes
he's miles away, "withdrawn", an
ex-problem child. Other times he'll say
things that suggest latent psychosis.
Apropos of his mystical /mystifying lyrics,
for instance, he announces that, "You can't
just take ahuge pair of scissors and chopthe buds off the top of atree", asymbol
greeted with anot inconsiderable amountof mirth from his colleagues.
"That must be right up there with thehumanity/sea-cow metaphor," exclaims
Buck. "Michael reallylikes to use
metaphors that don't make any sense."
Clearly this sort of humouring is aregularoccurrence in the REM household.
Stipe smirks. "I used the sea-cow one forayear and finally some poor jerk in Florida
printed it."How did it go?
"Well, the music business was agiant sea-cow,
and all the young new bands were the leechessucking its blood. The guy printed this hundredword metaphor. Also, he asked me what music welistened to, and I
said The Inkspots, so the rest of
the article was about how greatlywe had been
influenced by The I
nkspots.""Really, you can get bored with interviews,"
admitted Buck. "Provincial American papers askyou the most boring
things, like what is your music about? So you tend to make up things like,'I dunno, our music is aconscious creating of the myth of modern man
against that of the penile mother.'"OK, so we're making fun of these guys, but we're also making fun ofourselves. This is apretty sillyway to make aliving."

0

NE THING REM hadn't reckoned with was Reckoning being
the title of aGrateful Dead album. Peter Buck doesn't wish to be
mistaken for arevivalist.
"Comparisons to The Byrds are, as far as I'm concerned, ablot on our
career. Iliked The Soft Boys awhole bunch more than The Byrds. The
only thing! ever liked about psychedelic music was those people doing
dumb pop with, like, fake eastern stuff. Ireally like that absolutegarbage trash shit -I laugh all the way through it, but Idon't think it has
much to do with us.""The real, real title of the record," explains Stipe, "is File Under Water.
In America, both titles are on the spine, with nothing on the cover. Here,they insisted on Reckoningbeing on the cover."File Under Waterindicates the futility of attempting to pigeonhole thisgroup. Do they feel far from the madding pop crowd?
Stipe: "Not in the romantic sense of someone, y'know, hangin' out on
the edge. Ithink in aperipheral waywe do try to avoid the uglier side of themusic business. The whole game of rock is about self-promotion, so you
can easily see how someone who didn't have the heart in the first place
might become an egomaniac."
Buck: "I don't think anything that's going on in rock'n'roll, in the scene
or whatever, has much to do with us- not because we're so unique or
special, but just because we never really thought about it much.""We're just not serious enough about it, basically," suggests lugubrious
drummer boy Bill. "Well, I'm not," he adds after aslight silence.
Mills: "We don't have any mode of dressor anything..."Stipe: "Hey, not that any of us are bucking
for sainthood!"
Buck: "Sounds like the next REM album."
Stipe: "The thing that bothers me about alot of
newer bands is the way they go into the studiowith aname producer and come out with thisamazingly plush and overproduced sound,which theythen try to recreate on stage and that
seems to rob them of any spontaneity. I'm notsaying that we have more correlation between
the records and the shows than anyone else,
because Idon't think the two sound alike at all,but it seems to me important to start with thelive show and then go into the studio,
rather than the other way around."
How has this very close, organicstyle come about?
"I don't know, Ithinkwe all havepretty good taste, so no one's gonna
violently disagree with anything.
When we have arguments, they'realways friendly ones, and Ithink thatreally affects the music.
"I'm not sure that without areal
melodic bass and background vocals
and Peter's guitar, I
would be every
good vocalist. Ithink if the band didn't
sound the way it does I
would probably
sing in adifferent way. The vocal
sound came out of there being anecessity for avocal sound like that."

Itry to movein on one
moment anddescribe what
happened"

60 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984r

M. ////inr"I'd say the same," adds Mills. "I wouldn't be able
to play this really melodic-type bass if it wasn't forPeter's guitar. What Peter does, except for afew songs
where he strums, is playa constant solo, so rather
than have athumping kind of bass, I'm just as free
to workaround the melody as he is."What goes into your lyrics, Michael?
"A lot of things. I
watch people alot. Three-quartersof my lyrics probably come from overheard
conversations, though it's getting harder to steal
from conversation, because Ican't go to parties any more without
people wanting to talk about the band.
"It's been pointed out to me that many of the songs are about particular
times in the life of the band. It's kind of nice to have aset of words which
are so intensely personal that theybecome universal at the same time.
I
try to move in on one moment and describe what happened."
Buck: "These songs are like taking apicture of your bedroom. It may not
make much sense to anyone else, but to you it's all the things in your life.
We're certainly not setting out to be deliberately obscure, but you haveto short-circuit the whole idea that literal language is what things are,because literal language is just codes for what happens. Without wanting
to sound too arty about it, to bypass actions and go straight to the results
is what we're trying to do, to make people feel moved by something
without them even being sure of what we're writing about."
Songs like "West Of The Fields" and "Don't Go BackTo Rockville"suggest some love for theAmerican heartland.
"I like colloquialism awhole lot, which is one of the advantages of bei ng
atouring band. You get to see different pockets of veryweird and very
interesting things. We're not singing songs like Bruce Springsteen or John
Cougar Mellencamp, 'cos they have atendency to get very smarmy, butyeah, there's aconcern forAmerica the place. I'd hope people in Paris andLondon could get alaugh out of it."
"The thing that bothers me about so much rock'n'roll," says Buck,"is that it's so consciously mythologising. In rock'n'roll, simple things
don't seem to happen. There are no stories without definite beginnings
and ends."
Stipe: "It's like Patti Smith sang in that song ]"Citizen Ship"], 'Gimme
your tired, your poor. .
."June22,1984:
REM perform
atthePalladium
inHollywood

Does pop /rock have asocial or political meaning
any more?
Buck: "I don't think so. The people who listen tol'he Clash either already agree with The Clash or
don't pay any attention to their lyrics at all. Ithink it's
pretty symptomatic that all The Clash's hits havebeen, y'know, 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Should I
Stay
Or Should IGo. I
don't think we're gonna get anotherfigure like Dylan who's gonna bring political ideas
into apop format, maybe because there's no one of
Dylan's talent around, or just because people don't want it any more.
"Pop music's too fragmented. Maybe in 10 years when it's all wound
down and it's just abunch of boring Fabian types in funny haircuts,
someone'll drag it out of the doldrums. There isn't one person who
could appeal to all of pop's fans now. Dylan could get awaywith the
Us Against Them thing, because that was the first time it had beenbrought to America's attention that the world wasn't aperfect place.
Now everyone knows that."
Do they feel strongly about anything besides music?
Stipe: "Not really. Ithink if I
wasn't in aband I'd be amonk, or I'd raisemonkeys. I
just love music and related art forms."
Buck: "It sounds sappy as hell, butthe older Iget, the more I'd like to dosomething to make the world abetter place. I
mean, sometimes Ifeel
vaguely guilty about doing this. I
feel I
should join the Peace Corps or do
volunteer work at the weekends."
Stipe: "We've always kind of said that on the ladder of important
things, being in arock'n'roll band is probably the lowest rung, but thenwhen you think about being Secretary Of State to the United States
Of America, it isn't much sillier. And if Peter was Secretary Of State,
Iwouldn't be here today."
REM are rock's student dreamers-just four guys making some of the
loveliest music around. At the forefront ofAmerica's undergroundrenaissance, they are busy saving all the most valuable things in theirnation's pop tradition. Stipe tells me there are 37 other hard-working
bands in Athens, including his sister's acclaimed Oh OK, and more thanafew of them will be following in REM's pioneering steps.
What will the band be doing in 10 years?
"We'll be at the forefront of the acappella craze." BarneyHoskyns •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I61

RICHARD EAARON /GETTY

effer?0,;(er)réi

"We'vebeen soinsular"
APR man, ajournalist and asound engineer
from Scotland are now
BLUE NIL. Madein seclusion, their debut is now the subject ofintense scrutiny. "All we seem to be doing isrunning about shaking hands," they confess.
4ÏiE

1- MELODY MAKER APRIL 28 -., ASHIONED WITH CARE and presented with style. That
just about sums up The Blue Nile's music. Icould use alotof florid descriptions —dignified, spacious, emotional,
exciting— to try to convey its feeling, but nothing could do it
justice. Quite simply, A Walk Across The Rooftops, their debut
LP, moves the receptive listener more than any musicshould be allowed to.
The long-sufferingMMstaff will testify (vociferously, Ishouldn't wonder)that since the demo tape of the album fell into my hands they've had to suffer
mywild enthusing from morn till night! But so completely does this music
bewitch the mind, so mesmerising are its intricacies, that it becomes acompulsion. So if I'm turning into aBlue Nile bore Iplead guilty, sir, anddamn the consequences!
Who are this magic band of men whose spells can capture and entice? How
can The Blue Nile have come from literally nowhere and presume to wiel (1such influence over the emotions? What game are they playing
and just what are their intentions?An explanation is demanded.
Three characters sit before me on the wicker couch of abrightand airy hotel bar near Virgin's Portobello headquarters. But thetrendy bar with its wall-to-wall mirrors and pot plants is clearly
not their native habitat. No rock'n'roll warriors these, with their
chunky hand-knits and tweeds.
They look out of place in these surroundings, uncomfortable inthis situation too—this is their first-ever interview and they'reunderstandably nervous. They've been travelling up and down »62 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

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APR

amail-order record company, we never actually met anyone
from the label; we used to deal with them over the phone andby post!"Absurd indeed-but before the situation could be rectified
or before the band could reap any benefit from the ripples ofattention the single had attracted, RSO went down theplughole, absorbed without trace into the Polydor corporation.
"That," grins Robert, "left us somewhat up the creek!"
But undaunted by this ironic turn of fate, they faced theinevitable decisions. They could either continue in their jobs,
tackle the music as apart-time interest and hope that anotherrecord companywould eventually come along, or they could
abandon other concerns and concentrate full-time on
developing their musical prowess. Paul Buchanan explains,"We had avery definite ideas about the music we wanted tocreate and we realised that it couldn't be done in halfmeasure, so we quit out jobs and knuckled down to awholeyear of concentrated rehearsing and demo-ing.
"We needed to work not only on developing ourmusicianship skills but we also wanted time to work on thesongs. Up till then it had been frustrating-we had ideas but
not enough skill to work them through.
"That year of toil was gruelling, none of us had any money,
and Imean any money, but it was worth the effort. We could
have decided to be more high-profile after the RSO single, tohassle other record companies on the strength of it maybe,
but we all knew the time wasn't right."

A

FTER THIS INTENSIVE period of work, they
reckoned they'd worked on the songs enough towarrant going into Castlesound Studios, near
Edinburgh, to demo an album. This is where fate, which had
played tricks on them before, stepped in again -this time
PaulBuchananwithmore encouraging results. Linn Products, aScottish(right):"I'm
company renowned for its high-quality hi-fi systems (nojust astounded
it's taken off"
relation, incidentally, to the reviled LinnDrum) were opening
arecord-cutting plant and asked Castlesound for some tapes
to practise cutting on. In the pile was the Blue Nile demo.
from their native Glasgow quite alot recently, and that's not atask that
"They contacted us out of the blue and asked us if we'd consider signing
gives them much pleasure either.
to their label," says Paul Moore with an incredulous shrug of the"We're not cut out for all this wheeling and dealing; we'd much rather
shoulders. "They had only ever released specialist-interest stuff up to
be at home working," says Paul Buchanan, the man behind the amazing
then, folk and classical mainly.
voice, abit abashed at the sudden attention they've attracted. "This whole"But theywere so enthusiastic about our work and apparently so excited
scenario is very foreign to what we're used to."by it that we decided to go with them. They're real quality buffs; they
If they seem incredulous at their new status it's not surprising. The
concentrate on improving the quality of the sound and that appealed to us
whole Blue Nile story is one of coincidence and chance. Not that there's
as well. Also they weren't an overtly commercial label, and we knew we'danything accidental about their music, but behind its publication lies an
not be hassled into deadlines and marketing pitches and all that stuff."interesting tale.
So with Linn bravely backing the enterprise, The Blue Nile (a name that
The three met at Glasgow University where Buchanan was studying
Robert jokingly describes as "a desperate attempt to associate with theEnglish Lit, Paul Moore was tackling electronics and fine art (a curious
exotic") returned to Castlesound to make the album. The unhurried
combination!) and Robert Bell was deeply embedded in amathematics
approach was again vitally important.
course. After graduating they each moved into aprofessional career,"We wanted to walk before we could gallop," Robert explains. "We didn't
Moore as asound engineer for Scottish Television, Bell as afreelancewant to do the usual kind of first album. You know- one or two halfjournalist and Buchanan becoming the public relations man for the welldecent songs and the rest padding. We wanted to take it slowly and haverespected 7:84 Theatre Company.
aresult worth listening to."At this stage theywere playing together but their music was secondary
In fact it took five months to record, six months to release after
to their daytime careers. Gradually, though, it became more important,completion, and with the band having spent awhole year rehearsing theand they released an excellent single called "I Love This Life" initiallysongs, it's taken almost two years to surface. The result, thought, isthrough alabel they set up themselves,magnificent. Steve Lillywhite heard it when
Peppermint Records-later to be picked up by
working at Castlesound with Big Country, andthe London-based RSO label.
described it as the best debut album of the past
"No one was more surprised than us when
five years.
RSO expressed an interest," smiles Robert.
The songs, written by Bell and Buchanan,"Up till then we'd seen what we were doing as
have agrandeur magnified by intricate
being quite aprivate thing-releasing the single
arrangements and an eloquence carried byourselves was just apersonal thing; we neverPaul's distinctly personal vocal style. From theexpected anything to come of it.
sweeping passion of "Tinseltown In The Rain""When RSO picked it up and we started
to the haunting elegance of "Easter Parade", thehearing it on the radio it was quite unreal. But
album catches you off guard, its unashamedthat was the turning point; after that we decided
emotional exploration acomforting feast forto think about writing music in the long term.
the battered senses.
"Our connection with RSO was absurd,
The diligence of its production is evident inthough," says Paul Buchanan wryly. "It was likeevery note -even its silences carry import.

"It had been
frustrating-we hadideas but notenough skills"

64 IHISTORY or ROCK 1984

THE BLUE NILE

With the rapid pop beat of the single, "Stay", theBetween them the three play guitar, bass, keyboards
envelopingwarmth of "Tinseltown", the sparseand an assortment of percussion instruments. But, as
balladry of "Easter Parade" and the inventive
they explain, "we don't have set musical roles. The
shapes of "Heatwave", "From Rags To Riches" andwhole idea is to be as versatile as we can.""Automobile Noise", they explore the form of soundOn the record they're joined by Nigel Thomas (ofand its emotional effect. There's no thought for
The London Philharmonic Orchestra) on drums,
personal gain beyond the satisfaction of ajob wellastring section, and Calum Malcolm, whodone. Buchanan's voice is ahypnotic that I
defyyouengineered the album, on occasional keyboards.
to resist. Yet it's going to be afrustratingly long time before we see The"Everyone got very involved in the record," Buchanan says. "Like withBlue Nile playing- if ever. "We'll probably do another album before we
Nigel it wasn't aconventional session situation where he would just playeven think of doing live work," explains Robert. They're aware that thiswhat he was told. He got involved in the songs and in the ideas-which
step is unusual but are clearly determined to follow their own instincts.
was obviously better for us both.""We've never played live-oh, we messed about abit to finance the first
So with all this toil finally behind them, are they pleased with thesingle..." He won't really clarify except to say it was "a bit offbeat".
reaction to the album? Virgin, through whom Linn have signed a"The thing is that we're not known at all, not even in Scotland," says
distribution deal, are really getting their knickers in atwist over it.
Paul. "We were wrapped up in our own work when the whole Scottish
They've just been given agolden goose and they know it.
"I suppose we are pleased," says Paul, alittle reluctantly perhaps. "The'scene' was erupting. No one's ever heard of us and now that we've
finished this album, come out of our cocoon for awhile, we're quite eager
problem is that we hardly knowwhere we are anymore. Imean we'vebeen so insular for the past two years, so single-minded in what we wereto get back to what we consider is normal."doing, and now suddenly all we seem to be doing is running about
It's obvious that The Blue Nile aren't about to subject
themselves to the pressures that asuccessful
shaking hands.""When we were doing the album we honestlyweren't thinking about
record could bring. It's not even certain that
their splendid records will be successful,what the reaction to it might be," adds Paul Moore. "We just couldn't think
though surely only blind ignorance could
that far ahead. We were alot more worried about when we might get some
ignore such delicious music. They
sleep than about record contracts and publishing deals and all that."themselves don't seem to mind either way But reluctant as they maybe to enter the circus, The Blue Nile can't give
us such an enticing masterpiece and then runaway. Such powerful songs
they've done their part knowing that they'll
reach the people who matter. That in itself isdemand some explanation.
arare and wonderful thing. Helen Fitzgerald •"I'm just astounded it's taken off," says Buchanan. "If it goes on foranotheryear I'll be surprised," he adds withdisarming honesty. "I mean, we were allthinking of going back to our jobs once theLP was finished. We really don't have grandplans for The Blue Nile. I'm frightened by the
implications of what's happening.
mmnnsive mnnd music.
"I don't want to have to define things, to makeit seem as if we're constructing aphilosophy to
The Blue Nile'
LINN
His style is distinctive and these way-out
go with a'career'. We honestlyjust want toGood music can always complement thecomparisons are clutching at straws.
make the kind of music we like, in our own
The seven tracks here are diverse butmood you're in, but you know you're onto
environment, in our own time. We're notsomething really special when songs cannever gratingly extreme. There are somecompetitive or overambitious, and we don'tconcessions to commercial suss -the single
create and influence these moods of theirwant that to change.""Stay" is cleverly attuned to pop sensibility
own volition. The Blue Nile's stunning debut"We're just making the kind of records wealbum seduces the emotions as well as thebut still retains adignity that is thewant to hear," Robert affirms, gently but firmly
backbone of these remarkable songs.
senses, and instead of fighting its effect,
for the benefit of anyone who might haveExperimenting with texture is obviously
the sensible thing to do is relax and enjoy it.
designs on the band's potential. "We want toaBlue Nile fascination, from the sparse
Seduced initially by the intoxicating width
take our time and have agood time doing it,
piano/vocal simplicity of the ballad "Easterof the title track, with its heart-stoppingthat's all."Parade" to the more complex constructions
open spaces and sensuous basslines, you'llof "Heatwave" and "Tinseltown". The
recognise straight off that you've hit on a
RAWING FROM PERSONAL
vein of hedonistic luxury. There's amesmericauthors are bent on moody intricacy without
expression rather than calculated
being artificially clever.
quality in this music thatdesign is important to this trio of
Individually, the tracks
makes you want to savour
gentle, stubborn, idealistic men. Their lyrics
weave patterns that leave
every track with theare tinged with sadness, romanticism,traces of spectacularrespectful appreciation ofelation and aperception of the passions
emotions. Nostalgia,
aconnoisseur. Like agoodof love that makes other love songs pathetic
romance, elation andbook you don't want it toin comparison.
reflection are woven into
end, but when it does
their fabric withthat thrilling potency
gossamer-fine delicacy.
loses nothing in
Their spacious
reputation.
arrangements are"Tinseltown In The
deceptively fluid. Listen
Rain" stands out as
the sweetest flavour, lush strings andto "From Rags To Riches" and "Automobile
Noise" (the instrumental version, "Saddle
adynamic beat forming abackdrop
for the incisive clarity of PaulThe Horses", is the single's B-side) on
headphones and you'll see that their
Buchanan's vocals. Lesser mortals
simplicity is acarefully crafted illusion.
have compared his mellow tones to
A Walk Across The Rooftops generates
Tom Waits, John Cale (on "Easter
Parade") and even Nils Lofgren, butararefied atmosphere that's acomfort tothat's all preposterous nonsense.
the soul. If this is just asampler of The Blue
Nile's catalogue, then we're in store for a
Rich and smooth, his tones have no
sharp edges, no unpleasant gravel.
whole new chapter in delight. Helen Fitzgerald

Heart-stopping open spaces

MM MAY 5'
he Blue Nile's cis ,t provides

D

UE

LE

The tracks
weave patterns
that leave tracesof spectacularemotions

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I65

Heaven Up Here, it said everything Mac didn't like about the Bunnymen
but didn't remedy it, never making that crucial transition into what hethought the group should be.
It was avaluable exorcism and agood record for that, but if Porcupine
was Mac in achrysalis, turning down roles in afit of introversion "Look what's happened! Why?" -then Ocean Rain is the re-flowering,
abutterfly born of optimism, of talents rediscovered. It says, "Look! This
is what can happen."In effect, Ocean Rain means that Mac doesn't play songs to people any
more. He now plays with songs that play with people. He can alter theemphasis, impact, even import of the new songs at will. It's as if theywere
created specifically to be performed, written with astrong awareness of
their protagonist.
"It's the difference between drama and melodrama," he decides.
"This album is dramatic without getting into the melodramatic waysthat Isuppose we've been prone to in the past-although not willingly."rr HE SONGS ON Ocean Rain can come alive with each uniqueinterpretation, whereas, he admits, Bunnymen favourites
such as "Over the Wall" and "Rescue" were one-dimensional
and played easily "blindfold". Deciding this was initially asimple
matter of mechanics, but when it was rectified, it led to acathartic
discovery. The Bunnymen were playing too loud for Mac, too intensely
in block chords instead of chord progressions, in the wrong structures,in the wrong key.
He wasn't singing, he was straining, and how could he blame folks likeme for missing out on his humour when the whole aura of the songs was
overwhelmingly, if unintentionally, self-important?
Porcupine sweated the rock-messiah role out of Mac's system and thenthe four Bunnymen took along, hard look at themselves and decided toease up. Allowing more space allowed morecharacter. Will got into the Violent Femmes, Pete
took to brushes, Les went abit hazy and Mac foundhe was no longer Mr Emotional. He had, in fact,
arrived at aplace he calls "No Attitude".
This "No Attitude" situation evolved instinctively
but, for want of anything better, he purloined thetitle and much of the articulation of its philosophy
from my review oflast winter's Bunny shows in
Stratford-Upon-Avon. He's been expanding andexpounding it ever since.

The notion, quite simply, is this: if the performer completely
relinquishes all preconceptions about how the song should be delivered
to the passing whims, desires and necessities of the moment, theaudience can't take anything for granted and, in being forced to question
every nuance and gesture, we partake of astimulating game ofinterpretation capable of changing moment to moment, night to night.
In asituation pregnant with such uncertainty, anything could be ironic,
asense of mystery prevails and inanity assumes the power of enigma.
"A band like us without asense of mystery is nothing," Mac proclaims.
"Lyrically, it works like this: Ihave avision of lyrical beauty and Idon't
think Ineed to say anything that can necessarily mean anything big.
I
don't think I'm particularly clever-Elvis Costello and Roddy Frame areclever and Ithink they destroy the beauty byworkingwith words froman idea of what they're supposed to do.
"I mean, in normal conversation somebody can say something that,say, shocks you but isn't premeditated- that's the only way Ican write.
Iplace more importance on natural intelligence than cleverness,because I
think cleverness just leads you up some stupid alley.
"I get alot of criticism for writing in that way, but it's like criticising an
impressionist painter for painting impressionistically. Ithink it's afairly
weird criticism-you can only criticise something on the level that it's at,and if it's bad in that way, then it's bad.
"We've always written the same way; it's just that the spectrum of how
we write is that much bigger now. Shakespeare wrote in the same way asme. He wrote comedy and tragedy but the tragedy always had comedy
and the comedy had tragedy."
This isn't as daft as it sounds. What Mac is saying is that art can touch on
truth. Just as the Bard delighted in confounding convention, so does Mac.
In Hamlet (a role Mac often readily assumes), the prince won't accept his
part in the old scheme of the revenge tragedy and spends most of the playmoaning about having to avenge his father'smurder. His actions (or inactions) don't make theplay true, but they do the next best thing, creating
alive friction with the mechanical conventions
and revealing them as false. Mac does the samein pop. He won't preach and won't take any
responsibility for our interpretation of his songs.
As he sings in "My Kingdom", one of the morecasually jocular songs on Ocean Rain: "You suckthefoot that kicks you/And you kiss the hand thathits you."
Four on the floor (4):Pete de Freitas,Will
Sergeant, Les Pattinson
and Ian McCulloch

ECHO &THE BUNNYMEN

I
take that to mean he won't play the fame game byanyone else's rules. He's not letting on, obviously,
but he doesn't deny it.
"First of all and finally, there's no way you canrecreate true life, and nobody wants that in asong
because it would be boring. Great songs have always
got to have some other interpretation to them -notnecessarily different, but your own."

A

TSTRATFORD, MAC delivered thelines of "Thorn Of Crowns" with asmuch passion ("Oh, more, Ithink")
as he did "Rescue", one of his more famousemotional numbers. They went: "C-c-c
cucumberIC-c-c cabbageIC-c-c-c-cauliflower"
What was the audience to make of this? Was
Mac taking the piss out of passion or what?
"It's really easywithout all that weight ofmeaning that gets attached to it and that you
attach to yourself," he laughs. "I sit there
sometimes thinking, 'God, this has got to beabout.: and it can never be about... it cannever be about anything as big as the biggest
thing in the world, but ifyou write 'C-c-c-ccucumber', it could be open to all interpretations which, added together,can be as big as that."
And once the seeds of doubt are sown, the old songs too, so set in theirways, so set in our minds, are ripe for reconstruction. It's arole he relishes.
It's acting.
"I find myself in aweird position now that, of all the pop personalities,
I'm the one that discerning people seem to either make more of or less of.
Imean, it can be enviable and unenviable, but Ido realise the importanceof my position...I think...
"Like alot of our fans are Big Country and U2 fans as well, and! can't
understand why, because to me they're just whatever anthems theychoose to write about. They associate themselves with anthems theychoose to write about. They associate themselves with anthems, butI
don't suit that role and! don't think Stuart Adamson does either.
Y'know, he's not exactly aBob Dylan 'Don't Follow Leaders' type, andyet all these people are needing to attach themselves to this anthemic
gibberish that doesn't mean anything. Idon't think you can be thatsincere about anthems that are about stock attitudes.""A Promise" was anthemic. "Yeah, but it's alot more fragile than 'In
ABig Country'. To me, 'A Promise' was true, it wasn't aslogan. There's thedifference. With U2 and Big Country there's aneed to collect the mass.
'InA Big Country' isn't Stuart Adamson, it's him on behalf of amass, but'A Promise' was about me, and if it could be interpreted by other people
as relating to them, then that as well.
"I'd rather not slag off bands, but I
wish they'd slag themselves off abit.
mean, we reassess ourselves constantly, but to me all these other bands
are just looking how to recapture that great moment they had. We've
never tried to do that. With this album, Ithink, all I've tried to do isrecapture how to write songs."

R"Yeah, you've got to... especially if you can walkaround with bad eyesight all your life." Mac's
myopic, unfocused stare apparently unnerves
people. "People think, 'God, what are you on
tonight, Mac?' People used to say that when I
was
13 at school- 'You on drugs?' Ididn't knowwhat
drugs were! Bad eyesight- it's OK!
"No, it's apity really, because Idon't want any
false charisma attached to me; Idon't wantit by default. Ithink I've enough naturalcharisma without that."
What? Like that praying mantis dance?
"Oh, that's just how I
dance. Ifreak out abit
and alot of people say, 'Hey, your dancing's
great', but it's not dancing to me, it's justarticulating bodilywhat I
would have done
vocally. You can dance to anything if you
develop your own thing."
It's as much acrowd-teaser as acrowd-pleaser.
"Yeah, that's fairly deliberate. You have todestroy and confirm at the same time. You
can't be trapped with astereotype. John Hurt
on FilmNightsaid there's two variations ofcharacter actor- there's the type that takes thepart to him and the type that goes to the part.
He described himself as one who goes to the part and Ithink that's what
Iam. It's the onlyway to retain yourself. Bono and Stuart Adamson let thepart go to them.
"It's like something Lorraine said the other night. I
was talking aboutsome particular singer and! said, 'Oh, he sounds just like he's pretending',and she said, 'Well, that's what singing's about, isn't it?' And it's true, but
you've got to balance it out between pretence and honesty.
"One of the things I
worry about is that the great modern pop songs
are all actually acts. Like 'She Loves You' -you can't actually say that John
Lennon's singing about himself. That's aworry to me because, in that
respect, maybe 'Karma Chameleon' is up there alongside it when, from
where !listen, it's just apile of crap like Olivia Newton-John or someone.
"I try and change the rules of that standard 'great pop song' into being
able to be really emotional; Iwanna try and reduce the distance between
acting and reality as much as possible and still create that great pop-ness,but so far the gap's quite big between, say, what Jim Morrison really felt
and his public persona. Lou Reed was alot closer."This attitude worries me. It sounds as if Mac's losing patience,outgrowing the perimeter of pop's capability. It can't contain his irony
because that's neither what it's about nor even what it wants to be about.
"I agree totally, but what can! do? Lyrically I'm fighting alosing battle.
It's the same as rape being on the increase and crime and lack of brain
power. That may sound pompous, like something the school swot would
say, but it's true.
"The attitude today is you've gotta be average, that's the noble thing,and it's the most disgusting attitude that prevails throughout the world.
There's just so much scum throughout every class in every country, andI'm accused of being right-wing and pompous and self-opinionatedbecause Ithink that certain things matter.""I wanna try
and reducethe distance
between acting
and reality"

EALISING THAT PART of the art of great performance isself-consciousness -being seen and heard to analyse theperformance in motion -Mac sent reverberations around thathall in Stratford that, frankly, had many Bunny-fans flummoxed.
"It's good that I'm interpreted in alot of ways. Imean, Bono is Bono,but I
don't want to be 'Mac' McCulloch. I'm Steve McCulloch -that's
important. The fact is that! have aparticularvoice that's more credible
than Bono's or Stuart Adamson's, because if I
sing out of tune-whichI
have been known to -it doesn't matter.
"Dave McCullough [ex-Sounds], when he reviewed Crocodiles when it
first came out, said, 'Ian McCulloch's got the voice of the '80s and theunfortunate thing is that he knows it.'"Well, I
have. I
have the kind of voice that lends itself to being dramaticand, on this album, I've wanted to expose me as avoice more than on any
other album. On all the other albums, I'd singwith the reverb on andbland it out abit, but on this it sounds like not the greatest singer in theworld but thevoice, and! think that's more important."
Such blatant exposure suggests Mac's learned to cope with and express
embarrassment of performance.

O

CEANRAINIS Mac's insistence that pop should matter, that itshouldn't give in to easy options, that it should do what it damnwell likes. It was, inevitably, self-produced.
"It had to be, otherwise it would have been like Shakespeare giving his
plays to an editor saying, 'Ponce 'em up abit and make 'em commercial.'
That doesn't work for me. If what you want is to be big in America, thenSteve Lillywhite or somebody of that ilk is obviously the person, but that's
just an excuse for being second-rate.
"I mean, when Bowie went Ziggy, it was annoying. Old-age pensioners
didn't like David Bowie, but Boy George is the OAP's favourite- that says
alot for the death of pop and yet he's being hailed as the new pop brigade!
I
knowwhen people interview me they're expecting me to come up withsome little controversial thing now and again. Well, I
just wish there were
afew more potent people."
Itell him that, of the hundreds of interviews I've ever done, only about
half adozen people had anything to say.
He shoots me that wicked smirk: "Who are the other five?"
SteveSuthedand •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I69

1984
APR

Ag

,

June17,1984:Nick
Cave& The Bacl
Seedsappear at Exit,"Chicago's orig mal
punk bar sincelg 81"

70 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

A tight, tense
drama
NICK CAVE discusses

his recent activity, inparticular his appetite
for provocation. "Myparticular songs are
fairly harmless vehicles
for expressing whatmight entertain within
my mind," he says

•

•

W

-r

MAY 12 -ITI1APRESENCE as powerful as The
Birthday Party, it's often tempting toassign them their own fictional
personality. Ialways thought of themas Wenner Herzog's most r°table
saintly id iot, Kaspar Ilauser, who,
raise: in adark cellar, developed away of seeing z.nd thinking
that was most disparate, mourealive than those around him in
the outside world.
But then, Nick Cave has beer even less complimentary about
them himself.
For his person ain The Birthday Party, he began with the imageof the consumptive hag from liaz grotesque bin hday party
sequence in Dostoevsky's
CrinteAnd Plutistintent,sittingin the corner coughing into a
handkerch ief and displaying the
spots to the assembled company.
Hewas asordid exhibitionist, an
attention-seeker.
By the later days of t
he band,his image had metamorphosed
into aslug, whoseart was its
slime and whose movements
were slow and painful.
Slithering between irony andtragedy, last year The Birthday
Party slug finallysliced itself
open on that razor's edge, butinstead of t
he unsightly messyou ni iglu have expected, it left
behind the finest examples of
its art in"The Bac Seed" and"Mut iny"- two four-track EPs
that shone through theamorphous mass of transparent
mediocrity released in 1983. »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I71

1984
APR

With both records, there's afeeling of something intangible, of abandreachingwhere they ought not to go-they provoke imagination andinspire hyperbole. Both are testaments of romantic daring and sickobsessiveness, full of feverish images of guilt, pictures of murder that are
simultaneously horrendous and secretly attractive.
It was at that point that it first became clear that Nick's songwriting was
departing from every mode known to rock music and developing intosome new, iridescent form, in turns trenchant and direct, epic andoverblown. Meanwhile, the band's music was hurling itself into astate ofwild, epileptic disorder that seemed to be driven by astate of frenzy, evenin its most dangerously restrained moments.
With The Birthday Party literallyfalling apart-Rowland SHoward
had already gone and Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten
was deputising on guitar-they made their glorious exit on "Mutiny!",smashing themselves spectacularly against their own reflections. And
yet in the midst of the crash, Nick captured the mood of modern Britain
with an acute perception that the desperate, depressing worthiness ofaWeller could never have approached.
"At night my body blushed to the whistle ofthe birch," he raved. "With alittle practise Ilearned to use ¡ton myself"
With that line, ostensibly referring to religion, he encapsulated themasochism of anation that seems to be yielding any notion of individual
power to ahigher authority. It was astinging condemnation of asystem
controlled by punishment and reward-both determined from above.
It was arigorous statement of the individual's revolt against theutopia as an opium of the people, areaction against any dulling agentof the imagination. It ended The Birthday Party in the onlyway possible-violently.
From the wreckage of "Mutiny!", Cave has now
emerged with asolo LP, From Her To Eternity.
Recorded with the quiet and underestimateddrumming force of The Birthday Party's Mick
Harvey, Blixa Bargeld crushes an unearthly
sound from aguitar held together with nails,
Hugo Race (previously of Melbourne band Plays
With Marionettes) arhythm guitar backgroundand BarryAdamson's bass holds an axis solid
enough to link the straining elements together.
Released from all controls, Cave's songwriting
has spiralled into awild and wheeling poetry of
cruelty, pursuing the most nightmarish strandsof The Birthday Party's fascinations.
It begins with an assault on the forbidden
territory of Leonard Cohen's "Avalanche", with
Nick at his most supremely arrogant. In Cohen's words, he discovers
an attitude that's remarkably close to his own philosophy of ugliness asaplatform for individuality. "lam on apedestal," comes the grinding
vocal, "You did not place me there I
Your laws do not compel me now tokneel grotesque and bare." In such asetting it comes as astatement of
messianic self-justification.
In stark contrast, "Cabin Fever" is avivid evocation of chaos with
Cave playing Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh on ametaphorical Ship
Of Fools, set on ablind course for disaster. "Well Of Misery" plumbs
the depths of personal irresponsibility,with the narrator using his own
dissatisfaction as the means to murder
the one-time lover he sees as its cause.
Its vengefulness runs against anothercontrast in the self-directed anguish of"From Her To Eternity".
The second side, originally intended
to comprise the second part of adouble
EP package, further pursues Nick's
fascination with the American Deep
South, in the story of "Saint Huck", thecorrupted innocent who "trades in the oldman ofthe riverI
For the dirty old man ofthe
latrine". "Wings Off Flies" is the nearest
the LP comes to light relief, abizarre little
joke that has the lead character playing
the old game of she-loves-me, she-lovesme-not, using insect wings instead offlower petals. Inevitably, in the lack of

an insect with an odd number of wings, she loves him not. Finally, "Box
For Black Paul" begins as aWho Killed Cock Robin-style elegy for thedestruction of The Birthday Party, and develops into ahuge and bloateddirge that aches with ayearning beauty, the voice dredging the loss to
produce the loneliest sound you've ever heard.
Of course it's not constructed without acertain humour, but even by
the standards of The Birthday Party, it's adark variety indeed -there's
not alot to laugh about. It's awork more contemplative than Marc
Almond's TormentAnd Toreros, but one that shares its total ambition.
From Her To Eternity is astatement of romantic irrationalism, stretching
to the very limits.

1

1ALK TO NICK Cave and you're talking to avariety of characters.
Like JG Ballard, he views external reality as asinister novel, andhe seeks to play more parts: the irresponsible artist, the woundedromantic, the hunched grotesque, the Nietzschean individualist. He
plays with the cartoon personae of Nick Cave in the same manner that
he manipulates the images of Elvis Presley or Iggy Pop.
Right now he's playing acharacter very close to the hag displaying her
blood spots, as he indicates the cramped surroundings of his current
living conditions. Look at my squalor!
"Nice, isn't it?" he asks with ironic relish as we enter the single room heshares with Blixa and Hugo. At the moment, though, Blixa has fled to
Berlin and Hugo to Oxford, leaving Nick to share the room with ahandfulof telephone messages, acopy of MobyDick and atreasured portrait of GI
period Elvis Presley.
Staring from the wall, Elvis stands legs astride, facing forward withagrin, framed byyellow, peeling Sellotape. Nick stands framed by theyellow, peeling paint of the door that connects
to the tiny bathroom, long skinny legs astride,
the toes of his pointed boots leaving the floor
to curl back, pixie-fashion. The back of his
black satin jacket is turned to reveal "Korea"
embroidered on it in large, lurid letters.
He runs nicotine-stained fingers throughthe backcombed nest of hair, an amusedglance reflected in the bathroom mirror as
he watches the latest voyeurs stumblingaround in search of standing space amidst the
dirty laundry, sniffing the stale sweat of theartist's atmosphere.
"I always think it's important to show people
where you live," he continues.
What was that line from the Elvis Costello
song?" This propositionfor invasion ofyour privacy' Give yourselfaway
andfind the take in me." So what are the chances that Nick Cave will give
himself away? Show us the bleeding heart he delights in setting against
the swastika?
Well, first we'd have to perform the impossible task of distinguishingjust
which one of the many faces on show, both here and elsewhere, precisely
is Nick Cave. What Cave's critics have often missed is that his art is one ofdramatic fakery, executed with awicked delight in defying expectation.
Of course there's the usual Wild Man Of Rock/Thinking Man Of The
Modern Age dichotomy between the most
readily recognisable Nick Cave stage
persona and the calm and contemplative
demeanour of Nick Cave the interviewee.
But his gallery of masks contains lesseasily classifiable characters than that-some borrowed from history, somefrom classical fiction, or from the mosthallowed museums of rock'n'roll.
In his songs, fiction merges into reality,
the shadow of Raskolnikov mingles with
Hamlet; Cave's own creations-Gun, KingInk, The Dim Locator- mixwith hybrids
like Saint Huck. All of them are partly, butnever entirely, Cave himself. His latest
fascination stares at us from the wall.
"I've just joined the Elvis Presley Fan
Club," he grins. "They're sending me somemore posters; can't imagine I'll go to manyof the meetings, though.""My songs
require you tolisten to andunderstandeach line"

72 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

The Presley infatuation is reflected in avocal
inflection at the end of "Box For Black Paul".
More specifically there's the next single, aversion of "In The Ghetto" honed down to tonesof semi-seriousness from the original scoured
version that appeared in his contribution to
The Immaculate Consumptives shows.
"There's very little in it to suggest that it'srecorded with anything other than the greatest
respect and admiration," he says with acertain
bemusement. "I love it because it's asong I've
lived with for the last six months-but Ican
imagine aBirthday Party fan might have somedifficulty knowing what to make of it."As with most of Cave's fascinations, hisinterest in Presley is not in his greatness but inhis decline, in the artifice rather than the art.
"The influence that Iget from any fictional
character," he says, "is from their cartoon
selves, the point at which they themselves
become cliches. In that sense, all of my own
characters are cartoons of themselves as well,in that they begin with astock cliche thatpeople can latch onto, that will trigger off thedesired initial impression."I
remember being derided for comparing
Mark ESmith's songwriting to aBuster Keatonsketch, but Istill maintain that both Smith andNick, who belong to amutual admirationsociety, take the same surrealistic delight inbuilding up expectations to shatter them. But
would he say that his artistic progress has been
amatter of avoiding becoming acliche himself?
"No, I
would say that if anyt hi
ng Ihave done
my best to embrace being acliche myself," heargues. "The way that I
write and the way thatlamas aperson is involved in the use ofacliche in an environment where it
would not usually be found, such thatthe new setting restores it to its original
potency. You have to remember what
acliche is-which is something thatwas formerly powerful, but throughoveruse has become meaningless. You
can restore its meaning by putting it inadifferent setting."
Musically, From Her To Eternityis
asparse sound, snagged with Blixa
Bargeld's corruption of the blues guitar.
As along-standing friend of Nick's,
Blixa was the natural choice, not only
because Neubauten's philosophy isin accord with Cave's "search for a
simpler, more directlyviolent" form of
expression, but because as anon-musician he-like Kaspar Hauser- is incapable of seeing
things in aconventional manner.
"As far as Ican work out, Blixa can't actuallyplay the guitar in the conventional form atall, but he has some method of tuning the
instrument that can produce the mostamazing noises without the use of any effects
whatsoever. He would regard using footpedals
or whatever as ahopelessly middle-class,public-school form of playing."
Where the music is simple and direct, though,the lyrics have developed to anew form ofcomplexity. The images are direct and violent, but there's always
something deeper and darker than the surface indicates. It makes ademand on thelistener that Nick describes with atypical arrogance.
"I see it in same the way as atight, tense drama in the cinema- my songs
require you to listen to the storyline from beginning to end, to listen to
and understand each line. Otherwise you get lost in the same way as you

Nick Cave:"Theinfluence I
getfromanyfictional
characterisfrom
their cartoon selves"

would if you decided to visit the toilet in the
final scenes of Taxi Driver and expect to knowwhat the film is about."
As he proclaims, he has abandoned any
careerist notions that he might at one time
have entertained. It's abrave attempt to escape
the tyrannies of commercial punishment andreward, which has its roots in his philosophyof the individual.
"I would like to escape defining my own
reality in terms of pu nishment and reward, inpreference to what I
consider to be good and bad.
Those lines in 'Mutiny', referring to punishment
and reward, were intended to point the finger atreligion, and why people believed in theconventional concepts of good and bad, which are based on greed and fear.
"I'm very interested in discovering something within myself that is notaffected by other forces. Ihave very strong feelings that the way lam is notdue to the influence of my parents or the environment that I
was brought
up in -any external factors are basically quite superficial. I
would liketo consider myself totally alone and above those influences, which is to »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I73

PAUL NATK IN /GETTY"The way
Iam is notdue to the
influence of
my parents'

1984
AP

do with developing acharacter that is sufficiently strong not to be
influenced by the way that other people think, but to develop amoral
code that is not under the influence of ordinary laws and religious laws
and be able to live under that without anagging conscience.
"I have ways of thinking philosophically that are not always so easy to
put into practice; the main one being that the laws that are made up to
govern everybody shouldn't apply to me. They shouldn't apply toanybody, but not everybody has the belief in themselves to realise thatthey are different."
It's amanner of thinking that will be familiar to anyone who hasread Dostoevsky's CrimeAnd Punishment.
Raskolnikov, the character whose face Cave isassuming here, is under the belief that there aremoral absolutes of good and evil that transcend
the law. To be truly great, he reasons, aperson
should be capable of committing murder in thecause of good-like Napoleon. In the end
Raskolnikov is strangled by the very "nagging
conscience" that Cave refers to.
Murder, of course, looms large in Cave's

FRANSSCHELLEKENS/GETTY

scheme of things: in "Well Of Misery" and"Black Paul" and back to "She's Hit", "Gold
Blade", or most strikingly in "Sonny's Burning","C ertaincliches in theright context
can still beeffective'

where aguilty aesthetic is drawn from thecomparison of aburning body to "a brighterotic star".
"My particular songs are fairly harmless vehicles for expressingwhat
Imight entertain within my mind," he argues, assuming the role ofirresponsible artist, "or might find it desirable or interesting to do, were
it not for the obviously impractical lengths you would have to go to tocommit these things. The things that I
write about are things that,outside of the obvious difficulties, I
would like to witness.
"I wouldn't write about these things if Ididn't feel some attraction
towards them. I
don't dwell on these themes in order to be controversial.
There are things that Ido for those reasons, but they're very deliberate
and obvious things that are making acomment on the idea of being
controversial, and how ridiculous and shallow such away oflife is."
You mean the vacuity of the good old-fashioned shock value?
"Well... for putting this age-old bone of contention the swastika, using
this as asymbol and associating yourself with it, never have Iconsidered
what the inference of having this particular symbol is; rather it has
always constituted part of my sense of humour as regards what iscontroversial and what isn't. It's still tempting for me to use thatparticular device.
"In the case of the swastika, I've always used it in the most deliberatelymoronic fashion. I'll also do that in the writing, by inserting aline that isdeliberately shocking or irresponsible. It's finding those symbols andthoughts that are far more shocking incertain environments than they are inothers. As I've said, certain cliches in
the right context can still be reasonably
effective. The swastika, as I've used it, iseffective-I've also used it in contexts
that certain people that I
find totally
intolerable will be repulsed by."
Nick's irresponsibility takes him
to the edges of thoughts that may
be buried in the most self-consciously
moral of minds. It may also beargued that it takes him to the edgeof what might be conventionallydefined as sanity.
"I think that might be afairly extreme
way of saying something that might betrue, but-for want of abetter word- it's
acontroversial way of saying it...
"I find it hard to talk about things likethis because I'm aware of the way that I
would previously have thought of them.
I'm very conscious of my thought
developing in directions that I
wouldpreviously have thought of as funny,something to toy around with."
74 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

What do you mean specifically by that?
"Well... it's difficult to talk about it specifically, but... when I
wrote 'Deep
In The Woods', which Iconsider afairly pompous and overblown song,I
was dealingwith asubject that Ifelt uncomfortable about dealingwith
and I
was nervous about showing that to the group. I
felt they would think
it was too unreasonable, or too over the top, to produce an ode to amurdered woman, aseverely murdered woman. Now Ifind it hard not towrite about things like that, because the imagery excites me in away thatthe images of religion excited me.
"Even in that sense, I
had never thought of tossing over in my mind theworth of religion, I
always assumed that it wasablind alley and not worth thinking about,although Iplundered it for its imagery. Thesedays Ifind myself more and more considering
it as aviable alternative. If Ithought anything
was heading towards insanity it would havebeen to start feeling religious about things."
So you now find the belief in God areasonable
alternative?
"Well, Ican say now, quite firmly, that Ido
believe in God. Not that Ibelieve in the Bible or
Christianity, but amore convenient word to
express something that predestines what we are
to be when we are born, some force that mademe different from other people, in terms ofwhat
we are talking about, about the individual; somecore inside myself, impenetrable to anyone else and unable to be affectedby anybody else. I'm not talking about an old man with abeard, or about
retribution, that after this life something will happen to me, that I'mreally going to go to heaven if I'm agood boy or hell if I'm bad. It's just someforce that may as well be called God as anything else.
"Is that ascoop?"
Is it intended to be?
"No, not at all, it's not aswastika."A

STHE CONVERSATION continues in alocal pub, an old manleans across to our table, and fixes Nick with astare. "You're an
arrogant fellow," he accuses.
"I've got aright to be, I'm afamous person," Nick replies, "I've just done aEuropean tour.""Oh yeah, what's your name?""I'm Napoleon," answers Nick, with atwinkle.
Yes, the role of the irresponsible artist as provocateur, as enemy of thetidy world ofliberal moralists, has been in existence for some time now,long enough now to qualify for cliche status.
All the same, some of us are grateful that the rich tapestry of rock'n'roll
has been splattered with the pus and gore of The Velvet Undergrounds, theIggy Pops, the Foetuses, the Marc
Almonds and the Nick Caves, figures whowill playwith fire and seekto scorch theglossy package of the shiny pop fantasy.
ATRIPLE CASSETTE OFFER ,Nick Cave is an ardent irrationalist,£5.50 TURN TO PAGI
too complex acreature to plod thestraight line of the liberal path. His
images-in conversation as in his
songwriting- are aperpetualprovocation contrived to throw evenhis admirers into astate of crisis.

DOWN INTHE SEWER
AFUNERAL IS SWINGING!

CCI

WOULDLIKETOdefine thisirrationalism as the ultimate
principle ofinfinity in our art,
the indissoluble, the homesickness,
the yearningfor meaning in madness...
The continuation oflife by other means,including the issues ofguilt, ceremonies
ofexpunging guilt, the work ofmourningas the reflection ofthis loneliness of
infinity. At its start suffering; and at its
end morality." -Hans-Jurgen Syberberg,from the introduction to Hitler:A Film
From Germany
Don Watson •November 9,1984:
Nick Cave and Bad
Seeds bassist Barry
Adamson onstage
at the Meer vaart
Theatre. AmsterdamHISTÔMY OF RO•

Auttasaaheouce
Spriepteisenhis
BorrileTh•JBA
Tour Fhilacielphia,
Sep -nbere.84

ALUMS
Bruce Spreigsteen

BROOKS KRAFT /GETTY

CBS

All over Bruce Springsteen's
Ame-ica the lights are going out,in the bass, in the factories, in theframe hoLses. On Born In The
USA,Springsteen is order, evenmore claustrophobic andincreasingly desperate.
It seems astonishing thatSpr ngsteen's morbid obsessions-prison, busted marriages andthe futility of good times -shouldhave made him such alegend in
the American heartlands. The
man's awalking museum piece,
conceived and formed in theprimeval days before MTV, still
adhering :o the simple, robust
formulae of the rock'n'roll music
he grew uDwith. He has more incommonwith Henry Fonda thanwith Boy George.
Armedonly with some corroded
blue collar dreamscapes (Blue
Collar director Paul Schrader
gets athank-you on the sleeve,coincidentally) and the mighty

76 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

EStreet Band, Bruce
has forged acollectionof songs here that ranks
with anything he's done, andindeed Born In The USA miciFittie
his best record. Nevertheless,the last mythic rocker paints
pictures of unremitting gloom.
Ifind this rather odd.
With successive releases,
Springsteen's version of "rock"has moved further and further
from any remaining vestigesof what it mightfeel like to beadelinquent
underagebeer-drinker.
The stately,
ponderous but
devastatingly
powerful
EStreetcontingent
have refined
the primitive
rock beast
remorselessly, tothe point where
it has becomeaform of classicalmusic, completewith its own rangeof references andallusions. Except,
instead of being
acelebration andayell of defiance,
Springsteen has
turned it into a
death-knell forthings once
held dear.
We just sitaround talking
about the old times/
She says when she
feels like crying
she starts laughing
thinking about/
Glory days..."("Glory Days').
There is asort of
doleful poetry in
Springsteen's
Rockwell-bleak
scenarios, notalways apparent
from reading the
lyric sheet, and anundercurrent ofbitter pride running
through his plain
man's narratives.
By the end of Side
Two, though, you
begin to wonder
why the guy
doesn't juststring himself
up and havedone with it.
If you were toboil down thesubject matterof Born In The
USA, you'd end up
with death, either literalor metaphorical. Deadrelationships, ruined lives, deadend jobs and dead people. The
fifth word Springsteen sings on
the record is "dead". The opener,
the title track, blasts off with
Bruce accompanied by funereal
snare drum. It's aveteran lament("Hada brother at Khe Sanhfighting off the Viet Cong /They're still there, he's al/gone"),asaga of aman who chose thearmy over prison and ended up
with nothing. Springsteen singsit like awounded bull, while theband sound like an avalanche.
Among the towering rock
structures, you can detect some
explicit quotes from time to time-there's the Spector-meetsMotown throb of "Bobby Jean",the Cochran/Holly twang of"Working On The Highway"
and the Dylanish "No Surrender".
Not forgetting the unpleasantsimilarity between "Dancing In
The Dark" and New Musik's"Living By Numbers", anunfortunate coincidence.
It's the earthy comradeship
between Springsteen and his
group which prevents this frombeing acultural suicide note.
On the inner sleeve the band
are pictured in monochrome inashadowy unfinished house, so
de-glamorised that Clarence
Clemons looks like aplumber,while the rest could be detectives
from the 38th Precinct. Age has
withered them, but they endure.
It's not quite as natural as it
looks, of course. The very formatof this music demands acertain
melodrama, and in asong like thenostalgic "My Horne Town" youmight spot the kind of workingclass attitudes suggested
cosmetically in Silkwood, andin the last verse, the kind of
bittersweet relationshipmarketed so successfully inTerms Of Endearment.
To that extent, this music is
working-man's soap opera, hardfacts squeezed into formulae andconsequently rubbing shoulder
with cliche. "My Hometown",
for example, manages to cram
racial violence, unemployment
and approaching middle age
tidily into four-and-a-halfminutes, while Bruce never tiresof using penal servitude as thecore of asong. "Made it, Ma -topof the charts..."But despite thefamiliarity ofthemes and forms,
Born In The USA
makes astand in
the teeth of history
and stirs afew
unfashionableemotions. You
may prefer yourentertainment a
trifle less autumnal,
but then again,
it's not justentertainment.
AdamSweeting,
MMJuly28

FICTION

Trying to get to the bottom of
The Top is abit like trying todecide whether ahappy lunaticwould be better off sane. It's silly
and sinister, like Syd Barrett. It's
selfish, irresponsible, perfectly
amoral and completely
incompatible with anything else
happening now, or indeed,
anything that's probably ever
happened. It's playing practicaljokes where the victim dies. It's
Vincent Price in Theatre Of Blood-plotting, delighting to saw thehead off another nice song.
In away, it's as carefree andcocky as The Beatles' "WhiteAlbum", but it never sounds
wilfully disorganised. Its logic
is strict, just unhinged that's all.
We shudder but sympathise,
giggling. The Top is psychedeliathat can't be dated, the sounds
and shapes of somebody
revelling in an identity crisis.
It's apose on purpose, as
preposterous as it wants to be.
There's no way I
could criticise it
even if I
wanted to, because it
didn't set out to do or proveanything, so it couldn't fall short,now could it? It recognises novalues but its own existence;no rules, no precedents, no
preconceptions, nothing. The
Top is perfect freedom.
I've yet to meet anyone who cantell me why The Cure are having
hits just now of all times -it's oneof those brilliant things that
confounds all those theories
about only clones of clones
surviving. Have we discovered
something in Smith's busy
lethargy (two bands and still
dreaming all day!), and if so, inheaven's name what? Or has
Smith uncovered some twitchingnerve near our funny bone thatreacts instinctively to hiswhimsical tortures? Whatever's
going on, Smith's kept his sulk tohimself and done what all the
Wellers have been bleating on
about; he's escaped his past andwriggled out of the cul-de-sacthat we knew and loved to death

Steve Sutherland,
NIMMay5meiiriue.
t*orMI

Kajagoogoo
sansLimahl:"patheticallytameandrneek"

SINGLES
KajagoogooEMI

If hearts of gold madegreat groups, then I'm sure theKaja chaps would be up therewith the best. But as you wellknow, the devil has all the best
bands and Kajagoogoo try very
hard and achieve very little. For
all their attempts at providing
avigorous funky base for theirwell-scrubbed pop, the soundis pathetically tame and meek,
while the limitations of Nick
Beggs' little-boy-lost voice are
painfully evident. He tries tocompensate by plunging into
falsetto at every available
opportunity, but Frank 'field
yodels much better. tetAprza
Bruce Springsteen

so caringly andconfidently
delivered that I
rushed out andbought apacket-ofthree. The orchestration
sways along seductively, withdabs of falsetto and wafts ofstring. Very romantic, but could
form plaque. mt.4,mays
Everything But The GirlBLANCO YNEGRO

Reminiscent of those old GetzGilberto-banked-down bossa
novas, this is gently pleasant.
Tracey Thorn's vocal is pitched
low and confidential, but
the number only achieves
memorability with the entryof Dick Pearce's flugelhorn.
Pretty playing, humdrum song.
MMMay5

Jason And The Scorchers
CBS

Great commotion in the officewith rumours of anew Brucie
single. Well, sorry to disappoint
you, Mr Sweeting, but thismissive from the hero's campis frankly aload of old twaddle.
It sounds more like Meat Loaf
on an off day than the mighty
Springsteen at his best. A
flat-footed beat carries no
momentum, and the vocals
sound like the death throes ofastrangled wino. I
mean is thisretrogressive or what? Filealongside Johnny Cougar andlet's forget it. MM,May79
Modern Romance

RCA
This lot seem to date back to the
Eisenhower era, and possibly
have atie-in with Bravington
engagement rings. They arevery good at it, though. "Such alucky guy... soon we'll bemarried and raise afamilee... twochildren, maybe
three.., every
night on myknees 1opray." This is
Amillty+
Doris Day:àmaterial, but
vome.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEENDANCING IN TIE DARK
4 t=ologebome.aw,
Stott

EMI AMERICA

Sad stories of the
AsoS
death of rock'n'
INE
See°roll abound,but have little
bearing on
the saga ofJason and his
Scorchers.
Sounding likesomething they may‘‘..•
once have tested at
wr.1.111WIà
Edwards Air Force Base ;the Scorchers areincandescent like asilver
streamliner. "To live outside
the law, you must be honest...
darlin'," snarls Jason, lashinghis Palomino with his Stetson
and at once converting one of
Bob Dylan's finest bons motsfrom drugged wariness into
blunt instrument. In the midstof aguitar comeback, theScorchers clock in with anunprecedented number ofpoints -this has guitars
absolutely everywhere,ripping, tearing and burning.
The Scorchers appear to beunhinged Tennessee rednecks,
so the public are urges not to"have ago" unless fully tanked
on Rebel Yell. t.immay72
MM19,2,y42

ee

ULLSTE1N BILD /GE1TY

The Cureas The Cure.
He's stomached
the violent
monotony of
the wretched
Pornography
and thrown it allup. He doesn'tcare what we
think any more
-he's not theguitar hero inblack with ahead stuffedwith Camus, but
he could be next
Wednesday if he felt like it. He
just doesn't give two hoots, hehowls when he wants to.
There's not astraitjacket
designed by the critical canonthat could restrain The Top. It
could be ajoke or anything.
Smith's voice is all over the place,play-acting, mock passionate,whining, daft as Steve Harley,
devious as Devoto. Where hishead's at's something else. Mostof the lyrics on The Top -"Dustmy lemon lies"... "Oh, I
should feellike apolar bear"... "Shapes in thedrink like Christ"- sound like
video cues to egg on Tim Pope toweirder excesses. They circle
their subjects like vultures,
swooping to peck at some sense,
squabbling over morsels, thenfluttering away again, gluttedwith their own being. Every lineon The Top is asong in itself.
Could it be drugs? "The Wailing
Wall" could be an acid trip inIsrael. Could it be the Banshees?
The Top itself worms aroundsimilar tunnels. Could Smith beahippy? "Dressing Up" is agorgeous acoustic ditty yawningand stretching like vintage String
Band. Could it be cunning? Oh,very. Just as "Love Cats" teased
cocktail jazz like acat with amoth, so there are clues in
The Top of Smith's inspiration.
The flutey feedback of"Wailing Wall" is Hendrix's
If Six Were Nine" ;the "Give
Me It" vocals echo Nick Cave's"Mutiny In Heaven". Smith'sagreat taxidermist.
Still, attempting to account for
The Top is like trying to accountfor someone's dreams; you add
up all the reactions and reasonsand there's still something
missing. The more I
thinkabout it, the more I
reckon either Smith'sgone mad or wehave. Maybe
both? Whoknows? Who
TEREO
cares? Love it!
359

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I77

1984
APR

be

"Raiding the20th century"
Ablack group? Not agroup at all?
—the music/
information wing of Trevor Horn's ZTT, home of Frankie —areexplaining nothing. "In America," says ZTT board member Paul
Morley, "it's just anoise —and they responded to it naturally."Q

MAY 19 -UESTION: IF TREVOR Horn is the heart of The Art Of
Noise, who are the nose, ears, brain, neck,elbows,
legs and big toes? Answer: JI Jeczalik, Gary Langanand Ann Dudley, the production team who worked
with Trevor Horn on Malcolm McLaren's Duck Rock.
The Art Of Noise were responsible for the opening
shot in the Za ngTumb Tuum label's campaign of act ion: avoluptuous and frequentlyvociferous offering that simultaneousfi(a) avoided t
he single/12-inch single/album format, (b) instituted are-ordering of sound quite unlike any ot her, and (c) reached No Iin
the US dance charts.
In England some would call it acrock of crap, but me, Iliked it.
Several months after its inception, "Into Battle" and its recent
sibling"Beatbox" stand as two of the most appeal ing visionary
records of the past six months.Abom-bom dance beat fabricatedfrom the human voice, car ignition motors performing
paradiddles, blown across milk bottles (a sonata of sourcream?)and the scarcely noticed incidents of domestic life became partof pop, the fabric of anew rock'n'roll... oryou could point to thefunk and say it was soul.
Who cares? What the music is doesn't matter so much as what themusic isn't. There is always ajoy to be had from the uncoveringof
the new, t
he glimpse of the unseen, and whileThe Art Of Noise, likemost developments in popular music, do not spring from nothing,»

78 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"I>

3

Oneof the enigmatic
publicityshots-taken at
Birling Gap, between
Brighton andNewhaven in
East Sussex-accompanying
the release of the second
AONsingle,"Close(To The
Edit)", in May1984

4.411STORY OF ROCK 1984 I79

1984
AP

à

it's their fresh way of dealing withmaterials, ideas and even cliches
we already know backwards fromsome other context that gives them
their dynamic thrust.
AON toywith sounds, toss them backand forth across the studio, indulge
themselves in the wonders of studiotechnology for the pure sake of
discovery. It's amusic that takes itself
seriously and wears asmile at the sametime, wandering through the blurredborder regions between parody andtribute to throw forward an intriguing
sense of ambiguity.
Albert Goldman had an astuteinsight into the workings of innovation in pop
culture when he wrote the following about theearly Sun-period Elvis Presley: "During theseyears he used his talent to create amusic thatwas essentially playful and parodic.
Approaching the pop song in this spirit, heestablished the basic aesthetic for rock'n'roll.
Rock is not simply an amalgam of blues, country
pop, etc. This is to define it by its sources andsubstances instead of its soul. The music's
essence lies in its attitude.
"The attitude first comes to expression in
Elvis, then in Little Richard, and then in The
Beatles. All of these singers are at bottom
parodists. They assume the identity provided
by aparticular style; then, working behind this mask, they achieve theexhilarating freedom of the ventriloquist talking through his zany
dummy. Inevitably they tend towards falsetto and caricature... The
important thing is to recognise that the root of rock is the put-on andthe take-off."
In Sarm West, the West London recording studio owned by Trevor Hornand his wife /business partner Jill Sinclair, appointed press handler Paul
Morley leans forward to consider the words. To ensure objectivity hehasn't been told who wrote them or who they are about. He's simply beenasked if they could fruitfully be applied to the AON.
"Yeah, I'd certainly agree with the put-on and the take-off bit. That's
been avery important element of what we do in this blue building.
Parody... you see, people always accuse what we do of being serious. Thisis adistinction Itry to make. I
never quite pull it off, but those people who
accuse you of being serious simply because you try and do it with anattention to detail and try to do it well, they're usually people that dothings so seriously, they're so inhibited and rigid.
"The people who accuse you of being intellectual are usually the ones

INTO
BATTLE
ArTribF
NOISE

The Art Of Noise came together
during the time when McLaren
wasn't in the studio for the recording
TITLES
ofDuckRock, he explains. Horn,
Untie
BEAT BOB
Fairlight operator Jeczalik, engineer
THE ABUT HOW
Langan and classically trained
DONNA
MOMENTS IN LOVEmusician Dudleywould mess aroundDI, hi "'Odein the studio, come up with odd
FLESH IN ARIAOUS
COMES AND GOES
combinations of sound.
moment In love
"And then, because we wanted todevelop the unit, the fifth part
became... not necessarily me, but therecord label, in away. They became
the frame so that the AON didn't
become an anonymous, nonsensicalthing. Instead of McLaren it was ZTT
who gave it shape and content.
"I hated the stereotypical notion of the
pop group, and what we've tried to do witheverything we've signed-though it wasn't
so obvious with Frankie -was aunit ofcommunication that wasn't 'the pop group'
or 'the rock group', because it seemed thevery format was stifling the amount ofcreativity or invention that could comethrough. So the AON was set up as akind ofinnovative idea to the group.
"At the moment there's ademand for the
instant hit -Nik Kershaw, Sade, Fiction Factory,
it's all 'Gotta have ahit' -and we put them on athing called 'The Incidental Series', as opposed
to our 'Action Series', which was mainstream to compete in the chartswith the Spandaus and Nik Kershaws, because we wanted to try andgenerate the kind of patience there used to be once upon atime where arecord label was interested enough in the music of the group, as banal asthat sounds- to encourage them to find out themselves. So we wanted tosee how patient we could be, how far we could take it without people
actually knowingwhat was going on. In England, especially, people gotvery self-conscious about that."
Is this because people have been conditioned to be spoon-fed?
"They are being spoon-fed, and that's why they respond with complete
bafflement to AON, if at all. The response in England was classic
indifference. That was quite enjoyable to one extent, because it was avery
interesting music and people who'd been decrying the blandness of lastyear, when something did come along that was trying to experiment in anaccessible sense -as opposed to anonsensical German messing aroundwith noise-there was complete indifference to it."
Was it any great surprise that the record had been so well received
in America?
"No, in away it was inevitable, simply because there's anaturalness
there that we don't have here any more; ie, they didn't wonder why it wasdone, what label it was on, what it meant- for them it was just anoise, andthey responded to it naturally. In America, NewYork especially, AON arethought of as being ablack group, and that's interesting as well. Whereas
over here the Faceli-D trendsetters were actually responding to substandard AON music, but that was trendy."
Morley speaks of "dredging up" the European tradition and applying
it to "a pop context". Perhaps this isn't so surprising; the style of ZTT'spress handouts and sleevenotes is obviously inspired by the Italian
futurist manifestos, and I've always suspected he'd defend the more
outrageous excesses of his pickled prose with references to the absurdism
and desire to shock of the dadaists. An inkling that turns out to be not so
far from the truth.
The European-ness of ZTT's Propaganda is obvious, the Teutonic
flavour of their "Dr Mabuse" underlined by the echoes of German
expressionism in the video. But what about AON?
"In away, they are raiding the 20th century, in terms of it being an
incredible century in terms of what's happened, in terms of discovery,@red"There's acertain thing
opposed to theword 'art' or

who are taking you seriously and don't see what you're trying to do is puton and take-off. And there's acertain thing opposed to the word 'art' or
the word 'intelligent'. It's strange, actually, because from intelligencesurely will come all the radicalism and all the discovery and innovation
people always seem to be thirsting for in their whining about blandness."
This is not to be the usual "band interview", as the presence of Morleyobviously signifies. Jeczalik turns up towards the end, but by then themost interesting ground's already been covered. Far from reflectingsome awkwardness or casual perversity, the AON's "anonymous"
image is adeliberately planned style of presentation. The style of theirphotographs (no faces shown, often no bodies shown) mirrors aprofile
kept carefully in the shadows.
Morley, former pet enfant terrible on the NMEand now amember of theZTT board, assumes the role of thinker, schemer. If Horn is the heart of
The Art Of Noise, Morley's the dreamer. As awriter whose prose finallydegenerated into atediously obscure form of self-indulgence, it's
interesting to find that in person he's lucid and direct. He virtuallyinterviews himself, gabbling through his ideas at afurious number ofwords per minute.

STAT E /7-THE ART
Zang! Zang! Zang!
go Lyndon Barbees art-strings au het moats
pop cryptographers ART OF NOISE.
Laud photography by Tony Barrett«IIITHE ART OF NOISE

and combat, the fury of the century, the tension of it. Rock groups justseem to borrow from within avery specific era for their stuff, so it getsweaker and weaker until it just disappears into apuff of Howard Jones.
"What I
wanted to do was to reconnect to that time in the 1910s and the1920s of surrealism and dadaism and futurism that just seemed to becompletely lost-the war just destroyed it. To me, there was agreat senseof play going on there, and also provocation, and I
felt that rock in its
known types of provocation had died adeath. Punk was the last kick of
provocation within rock. Sol wanted to dredge up some of this idea ofplay and apply it to this context.
"So that's the European tradition I'm talking about, that sense of classic
ideals and very much asense of comedy, in fact, ZTT is avery funny label.
Not many people get the joke but in fact it is, it's meant to be hilarious.
Those that do get the joke have agood laff, because it's meant to be funny.
Trevor Horn is amaster comedian, y'know.
"Because of certain aspects of our post-Factory presentation, or
whateveryou want to call it, people think it's over-intellectual, too
serious; 'ArtAttack', as some teenybop mags have called it. What it
usually is is simple intelligence, simple creative energy. It's always
misinterpreted as something as dull as art."

They don't care about what it means or what it is or any trend or anything,so that introduces an interesting freshness to it."
What comes across with great strength from the AON is the sense ofbreeziness, of curiosity. Some of the greatest music arises not from a
pre-planned scheme or genius-like vision, but from the natural instinct
of inquisitiveness. I
say "natural", but frequentlywonder if everybody
possesses this quality, often get disappointed and annoyed when people
are given the resources to produce abrain-teasing music and then fail to
use them, or even begin to explore what their equipment can do.
Modern studio technology possesses amind-boggling capacity forcreation if put into the hands of those who hunger for exploration,
invention and just simple fun. Anyone who's ever tinkered around on
asynthesizer knows that it's capable of throwing up fascinating sounds.
So why are synthesizers so frequently under-used?
"That's the point," says Morley. "There's no need to go in with any plan,
it just comes up. It's an accidental music. Iagree with you. Ican't
understand how, when you review the singles, you get 90 singles, andwhy 89 are so awful.., because that beautiful room in there (he points
towards the studio) is gorgeous.

"Anyone who has any dedication to what they do, any creative energy,
cannot go into aroom like that and come out with some awful record.
I
don't knowwhat happens.AON records sound like they've been madein that kind of room, whereas you hear Howard Jones or Nik Kershaw or
the Thompson 'Mils, it sounds like it was made in amental hospital orsomething. It's almost as if they're scared of that room."
Hearing such wonderfully wicked vitriol, Icould almost forgive Morley
for making Haircut 100 respectable. I've always felt that Morley's sloppily
defined new-pop ethic helped pave the way for the new-MOR, in thesame way that Callaghan's social-service-cutting Labour government
softened people up for the Tory onslaught. Those who sow should reap,
you might say.
Me? OK, Iforgive. Bitching between writers is
like acouple arguing overwho didn't put the catout in front of their friends. And quite frankly,that was then but this is now. The subject of thisfeature is: The Art Of Noise.
Let us hear what JJ has to say. "The onlything
The Art OfNoise has is life, joy, fun. That's what
we're all doing it for, we're having agood time.
Hopefully other people can buy the records andenjoy some of the lunacy."
Does it take very long to create anAON track?
"It varies. Some are very immediate. 'The
Army Now' was half an hour's work. We left it
because it had something that reworkingwould
have lost. 'Beatbox' has been reworked several
times, so there are no hard-and-fast rules."Much music seems to have lost asense of dialectic, asense of struggling
against something. Do you think there are other musics, maybe very
different to AON, that will encourage ahealthier climate that will enable
you to flourish, or do you have an essentially pessimistic view?
"No, it can only get better, because I
see the AON as not really ridiculingthe situation at the moment but challenging it."Tell me about the relationship between AON and ZTT.
"Their view ofAON is contrary to the way conventional record
HAT IFIND interesting and, curiously, paradoxical aboutcompanies sign bands these days. It's like Paul said, artists nowadays do
Morley's despair at the self-consciousness of response inrecords and the turnover rate of bands is frightening, and there are very
Britain is the very self-consciousness with which he speaks
few bands who actually have along-term plan. Record companies are notof AON and its place within ZIT, the self-consciousness of its
prepared for something that may start to turn over aprofit in Xmonths orpresentation and style. He admits that part of his motivation is to get
Yyears; it's generally singles deals and 'If we make abit of money on thispeople "puzzled", to present "a challenge". Given Morley's
we'll do an album'. It's aunique situation.., it can onlyget better."imaginatively-thought-out propaganda offensive, it's easy'p„..
The final word goes to Morley: "It's ajazz music [though IJ
to assume that asimilar self-consciousness was at work
. pdisagrees] and 90 per cent of it is improvised. And it's going
t
e.att
•
;
in the studio. But when Icomment that "Beatbox"•.
4" • '. • :back to avery old-fashioned idea of enjoying music forseemed to have added quite deliberate references to•the sake of it. Now you're not allowed to do that theserock'n'roll, as if they were slyly giving their own• ,••days very often. So we incorporate acertain kind of
rebirth of the form, he shatters an illusion.
es
e at
a
gkt .• calculation, the kind you need to compete withartof — seb• •• rTi,„„. «,•"'"No, that's simply how it came. Imean Garybiggies like EMI and CBS. Our idea is that we want to
rat
Langan is arock'n'roll guitar player, Ann Dudley is acalculate and manipulate, but based on inspiration,.
••• ' egreat classically trained pianist. They're not young.• „. based on something with imagination and delight• , „„
people making pop music, to appeal to aSmash Hits
mg"
•
•
'•
for people. I
don't know why.
.•.
market, they're just old-fashioned blowers- theyjust
"The
'70s
was
dominated by ageing hippies; maybe..0.soscei'"G
go into astudio and blow, they get on with it. Naturally.
•s
I'm just an ageing punk." Lynden Barber •I'd go beyond characterising the AON as European to see them as partof acurrent process of internationalism of music that transcends not juststate lines but also crosses the Atlantic, ablurring of boundaries to form
amusic that owes allegiance to no single nation or narrowly defined
cultural tradition.
That in NewYork"Into Battle" is seen as part of electrofunk is
instructive, for the electro /hip hop scene is aship adrift on international
waters. Recorded mostly in NewYork, its sources are primarily black
American vocal traditions and German electronic music. But Kraftwerk
draw on funk rhythms from blackAmerica and repetitive patterns
inspired bythe systems composers, themselves
fired by the music of the Third World.
It's not at all surprising that New Order should
record with Arthur Baker, or that the most bellyrumbling electro record around should be acollaboration between German punks Die'Men Hosen and NewYork rapper Freddy Love.
Neither should it come as ashock that aBritish
record should provide the model for the latest
Bill Laswell project. Matrix is essentially
Laswell's answer to theAON, even borrowing
the 12-inch /45rpm format of "Into Battle".
Maybe the only surprising thing is that, given
the extent of the internationalisation of theworld's economy, music scenes have previously
been so parochial.
"What Ifind interesting about AON," says Morley, "is that it fulfils a
certain plan- that in Europe they're acknowledged as an avant-gardegroup, like King Crimson maybe, and in NewYork they're acknowledged
as adance group. Imean, the only area where they're completely ignored
is England. But I
find it interesting that the Europeans have responded toacertain part of it- maybe the cut-up technique of Faust, or something,or the sheer bombastic-ness ofVan Der Graaf Generator that occasionallycreeps in, and in NewYork people just respond to the dance feel.""Rock in its
known typesof provocation
had diedadeath"

W

•

•

n

'

u.onte;.

•iOt MeeRterADEO

qa..1,31:e 0.1Sen.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I81

"The next
Mr Miserable"
From Derby, LLOYD COLE might be the Morrissey of
Americana, apostmodern poet of the heartland.
"I like to have something that mocks the selfimportance of it all," he says. "I mean, I
don'people to think of me as aself-important

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"HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I..;:.;:a.NPICL.t'11‘.:1!

1984
APR

A

MELODY MAKER MAY19 -FTER 10 YEARS, the dream is about to unfold. Ever
since Lloyd Cole was 13 he's wanted to be apop star,and now the fantasy has reached that mysterious
cusp which separates the imagination from reality.
He's finally on the edge, the threshold, and his
discomfort at the prospect is tangible.
Squinting at the fierce sunlight reflected from the Serpentine's
diamond-flecked surface, he wonders which strategy to take, which facts
to leave in and leave out, who he should be today and what he might betomorrow. At 23 he's already too old to play this role straight.
His mind is burdened with spectres from the past and present- Marc
Bolan, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Edwyn Collins, Morrissey..."Howwould
they handle this?" he ponders, anxious all the time to conceal his
hesitation. But it's too late in the day to be naive and there's no naturaleccentricity to fall back on. Nor can he accept the coolly mannered styleof the self-regarding. His preference has always been for those who
pursue the maverick dignity of the cynical outsider, the young Paul
Newman as Hud finding much approval.
Yet there's another avenue that's closed-not much call these days forrebels without acause. So, for the time being, the nagging worry that eatsaway at Lloyd Cole is forgotten, pushed to one side and held at arm's
length as the needs of the moment are uneasily confronted. The myth will
come later, he concludes, and right now bluff and bravado must suffice.
Like the goalkeeper's fear of the penalty, with the passing of time
Lloyd Cole has acquired the writer's fear of himself. He maybe sitting inabeautiful park on abeautiful day, but to be just plain old Lloyd he feels
is not enough. He wants to be the stuff of legend, but was legend ever that
contrived, that preconceived?
His lyrics consciously strive to be great as well, and frequently they
do have aspecial ring to them, astudied wit. And then musicallyhe looks
back to the days when it was so much easier to be apop star, and groups
had wonderfully honest names like Lloyd Cole And The Commotions.
Ithink Elvis Costello (And The Attractions) have played
this game before, but so what? It's agood game-why notplay it again?
TheCommotions
appear on Channeld
pop show The Tube:(I-r)Blair Cowan,
Neil Clark, Steve
Irwin (drums),
Lawrence Doneganand Lloyd Cole

It has to be said that Lloyd Cole's music is not spectacularly original, but
strangely it is exciting and discreetly magnetic.
Rhythmically, he mixes countrywith soul, which turns out to be moreof adivine accident than anything else, and lyrically he shows all thejagged uncertainty of the mid-'80s menopause. He has akeen sense of
melody and each song employs acarefully paced dynamic structure thatevokes afine illusion of depth, but more importantly Ishould mention
that voice.
It's the kind of voice that can make the most simple phrase soundspecial. Against the scheming, acid lyrics it offers warmth and passion,aschizophrenic counterpoint to aself-effacing verve. It's not just astudiovoice either, and live, as they proved so convincingly at their London
debut at The Mean Fiddler, The Commotions really are very impressive.
An observation which is also shared by Lloyd: "Yeah, we were good thatnight, but then again we are good-1 wouldn't be doing this if! didn't
think that!"His accent is ablunt Derbyshire brogue and he's quite capable ofsummoning the tenacity to match. "Becoming public is pretty
inevitable," he predicts, "because Polydor will buy it for us if they have to.
So, Iknow that we're going to be splashed everywhere."
Then what's left?
"Well, the music, of course, and what Ido with this fame when Iget it. By
then Ithink I'll only do interviews on certain subjects-I mean, what's thepoint in just talking about anything? If somebody doesn't come up withsomething interesting, I'm not going to do it."I

NHIS PREPARATION for pop stardom, Lloyd has bought himself
aportable Sony tape recorder. "I need this now to make anote ofideas for songs, because you lose so much time in hotels. Living in
Glasgow you spend an awful lot of time at home, and so you end up
writing quite alot of songs -in the Columbia Hotel you write none! It'squite worrying, so I
went out and bought atape machine and now
insist that Ihave an acoustic guitar in my hotel room."
The first Commotions single is "Perfect Skin", atingling pop song thatwas written typically from the title out andshows aplayful love of language and paradox.
Asly story of unrequited love and loathing.
"Funnily, alot of people have started withatitle," says Lloyd authoritatively. "BurtBacharach did that. The phrases or verses
just come after that. 'Perfect Skin' took about
aweek to complete, but that was mostly tying
up the loose ends.""Forest Fire" was written in the samemanner, but more significantly it appears to
be one of the few straight love songs in theCole repertoire. That is until you get to theline "it'sjust asimple metaphor", yet even this
can't undermine the song's sense ofbrooding desire.
"It's very difficult for me to do thingsstraight," he admits. 'Forest Fire' obviously is just
asimple metaphor, so that's my little joke, butthat song is actually quite serious and !don't
write many serious songs.
"There's an awful lot more important things inpeople's lives than affairs they might have had,but Imust add that this song isn't even about anaffair I've had. My personal love life is hardly themost important thing in the world, is it?
"So if Ido asonglike that I
like to havesomething that mocks the self-importance of itall. Imean, I
don't want people to think of me as
aself-important prick."
Lloyd looks worried again and pushes his hand
awkwardly into his thick mop of black hair. His
determination to reveal next to nothing about
himself while at the same time courting the
public eye remains aconstant theme.
Wasn't "Perfect Skin" saying something about
his feelings towards Cosmopolitan chic, though?
"Mmm... I
would say that 'Perfect Skin' is justafew ideas linked by atitle. It's just like 'Michelle,LLOYD COLE ANOTNE COMMOTIONS

ma belle..? You know, wee verses that I
thoughtsound good-the literal meaning of the words didn't
have alot to do with it. It was awhole atmosphere.
"It's not the song that will probably be our biggest
hit, but it's the song I
want to do when people see us
on TV for the first time. It captures alot of aspects
that are sometimes only touched upon in different
songs. Ithink it sums up the group fairlywell."Iremark that it reminds me of classic mid-'60s
Dylan. "Well, that's when he was saying, 'I don't
write songs, I
just stringwords together.' Perfect
Skin' is almost asong about songs.

LLOYD COLE &THE COMMOTIONS"I've already been portrayed as the next Mr
Miserable, which is so far off the mark. I
want tomake it clear that I'm not in any hurry to commit
suicide. Idon't think of myself as atortured artist.
Iplay golf and have fun, you know? My job isto become some kind of individual character
which will serve as areasonable front man forthis group I'm in, 'cos we've got to have acharacter, haven't we?
The problem is, if you aren't that characterby birth and all the guises have been used up,
where does apoor boy turn? Can he see himself
as the next saviour of pop? "No, I
thinkwe'll
finally kill it off," he splutters. "I think we're tooconceptual to be pure pop even though we do
use alineup which is very R'n'B."
Ah yes, the return of the guitar, and in Neilthey have aguitarist of great subtlety and craft.
Could that be the banner to wave?
"It's alot of nonsense!" says Cole loudly.
"The very best LP for agood fewyears is
Swordfishtrombones and Tom Waits is playing a
synthesizer on that album!And it sounds great!
"But Ilike the feel of country guitar-it's rhythmic and almost quite
flash but not in ashow-offyway. It's really lively guitar playing. And
country solos are always apart of the song and not some ego."
Balanced against their country leanings is aroots sense of rhythm thatreflects the group's interest as awhole in black music. Only recently, says
Lloyd, has he rediscovered anywhite artists worth his time, and gospel
music remains one of his true loves.
"Singing is areally weird thing," he muses. "There is something very
physical and spiritual about it. Even though Itry as hard as Ican to
distance myself from lyrics. In fact, Idon't do any songs that are about
me personally.
"I don't want to be asoul singer bleeding his heart out on stage. But theminute you actually start singing you do get carried away. And it's not
emotion, because alot of my songs have no emotion in them! To me thatwould be terribly self-indulgent. I
would never sing about an experiencethat affected me incredibly unless it was genuinely interesting-and eventhen, I
would never let on that it was me I
was singing about.""I think
Bowie justwanted to beapop star,and so do I""Do you know any Rabelais? He used language
in much the same way as I'm trying to do, except
Ican't write long pieces. 'Perfect Skin' is about
the longest thing I've ever written in my lifewhich is probablywhy I'm in pop music morethan anything else!"
At school, kids said Lloyd was a"poof" because
he liked Marc Bolan and David Bowie while
everybody else liked Slade. "I tended to prefermore effeminate things," he confesses. "That's
why I
tend to dismiss all these effeminate
youngsters around nowadays; because, to be quite honest, I've been
through all that."
Wasn't Lou Reed's version of glam so much more provocative andinteresting than the newwave of pretty boys, though? "Yes, that's
basicallywhy Marilyn and Boy George are so boring. People who are thatinterested in the way they look, who spend so much time putting on
makeup when they could be reading abook, are not very interesting.
"Marilyn's personality is so full of shit and his taste in clothes isn't sogood either. Real transvestites are quite interesting people-I mean, I've
been in some seedy situations in Paris and I
was scared!"
For the record, Lloyd favours dressing down in Beat-generation style,from polo-necked jumpers to cowboy shirts.
When his parents moved to Glasgow to manage agolf club, Lloyd went
with them and later took up aplace at Glasgow University to study
English. He never finished the course. The call of Top OfThe Pops proved
too strong for the more reserved pleasure of Samuel Johnson.

T

HE COMMOTIONS CAME together round anucleus of Blair
Cowan (organ), Neil Clark (guitar), and Lloyd (vocals andguitar). Later they added ex-Bluebell Lawrence Donegan (bass)
and ex-Fruits Of Passion Steve Irvin (drums) in the wake of afailed
experiment with an eight-piece soul band, inspired vocally by one of
Lloyd's perennial favourites, The Staples Singers.
Armed with his remarkablyvaried songs and an empathy that gavethem adistinct live presence, they quickly established acult following in
Glasgow and the subsequent deal with amajorwas as inevitable as Lloyd
would have you believe. Whether they can scale the real peaks remains tobe seen, but success is something they deserve more than most.
Lloyd's photogenic features will hardly be ahindrance. He's got thatsupremely contemporary look-half baby face, half moody introvert. Sort
of Matt Dilllon with aguitar and brain. How does it feel to be afuture teenidol, then?
"Well, there's teen idols and there's teen idols," he replies sharply.
"Christ almighty, Simon Le Bon's ateen idol and he's afucking ugly
bastard! Kajagoogoo are teen idols and they're all about 30 and look
disgusting!
"I suppose this career might enhance my sexlife, though. But
personally, I
think Matt Dillon is horrible-but then again, Ithink
I'm horrible most of the time. The thing is I'm working on it; I
doubt ifthey are."If Lloyd Cole is unwilling to commit himself in the search for the perfectenigma, he does admit to harbouring afascination for the brash energy ofAmericana. The sleeve of the single, which he co-designed, reinforces
this ambience, with apicture of agleaming '50s auto plus legs and highheels on the back seat.
"I do have this feel forAmerica," he says, nodding his head in emphasis.
"Somebody like Morrissey can be incredibly English because that suits
his character. Imean, The Smiths are the Rolling Stones with Oscar
Wilde, aren't they? But they do it so well they overcome it all -Morrissey's
got this incredible charm, which is something Ienvy, to be frank.

S

COTT WALKER IS high on Lloyd Cole's list of favourite singers,
although he pointedly shuns any kind of melodrama. "Theworld's not heard abetter voice," he notes, "it's quite depressing
to someone like myself."
He used to rate Kirk Brandon as well. "He has got avoice- but hedefinitely has not got abrain! Idon't like to be pompous and say this guy isamoron, but he is, and Idon't have alot of room for morons-there's anawful lot of morons in the music business. 'Moron' is areally cruel word,
but I've only started using it since Istarted meeting these morons.
"I mean, this girl from Geffen came over from the States to see us. I
said'How do you imagine us pitched inAmericar She said, 'Well, the AOR
market with The Fixx and Dire Straits.' I
said, 'I hate those groups!' And
she said, 'Well, you do write lyrics that are maybe as good as Billy Joel."This healthy disregard for the predictable music establishment is
the likely response from anyone with adiscerning attitude, but still
Lloyd seems intent on fashioning this mythic figure to lead The
Commotions on to greater glories. Given the sophistication of his music,
his ambitions appear strangely out of line, and ironically, he spends
some time telling me how his earlyhero, David Bowie, revealed himself
to be afraud precisely because he adopted characters as one would anew
suit of clothes.
"I think he just wanted to be apop star," he says of Bowie, "and so dol,
actually. I've written songs thatwill help me realise it, too. In fact, most of
the songs I
wrote between the ages of 14 and 16 were written because
that's all I
wanted to be.
"I mean, you do get to the point where you just do it, instead of doing it
for some ulterior notice. But one of the reasons I
wrote these songs was tobe apop star-I'm going to be quite honest about that. Ididn't buy aguitar
because I
wanted to be asongwriter! I've always wanted to be on Top Of
The Pops-it's achildish whim!And I
still want to be!"Something tells me it won't be long before this is an ambition fulfilled.
Ian Pye •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I85

1984
APRII -

"I will kill
you likeadog!"
Meel VAN HALENLong amystery in
the UK, their single"Jump" has madedisciples of the
sceptics. Can abackst?e meef-41"
with DAVID LEE ROTH
and EDDIE VAN HALEN
convert the musicpress, too? The
truth is stranger
than anyone might
imagine...

86 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

- MELODY MAKER APRIL 14 -H

AS ABSENCE MADE the heart growfonder? Has it been banished so longthat its cliches seem fresh? Maybethere's awhole new generation
uninitiated in its rituals and ethics?
Maybe it's just that there's morevitality in its inherent humour than in anything our
new pristine pop can master?
Whatever, old father rock is back in favour. Loud
guitars and heroic poses. For some folks, in some places,of course, it neverwent away. One such place is Buffalo,
atown resembling the Birmingham bypass snowboundup north in NewYork State.
"HalenlHalen!" 16,000 teenage good-old-boys andbuxom girls -ail blond hair, blue eyes, beards (theboys!), faded jeans and checked shirts- are hollering
for their heroes. "Halen! Halen!" Burning Bic lighters
illuminate the Memorial Auditorium, 19,000 lightbulbs flash above the stage and Michael Anthonydrags
his bass solo to aclose. The crowd screams. He presents
his bass to the front three rows. It is shaped like aJack
Daniel's bottle. Yee-ha!
Later, Alex Van Halen will ignite
agongsimplybyst rikingitandbanks of lights will descend likespaceships around his brother
Eddie. Right now, though, there's
some serious rabble-rousing
goingon. Flouncing like Jagger,
wearing aT-shirt picturing »ApriI3,1984:Dayid
Lee Roth fronts
VanHalenatthe
Meadowlands Arena,
East Rutherford,
NewJersey

HISTORY 01 ROCK 1984 I87

himself and making eyes like Al Jolson, David Lee Roth, singer, swordfunny, two's stretching it, three's boring, though! admit Ididn't tell Lee
Roth that later. He's bigger 'n me (cheers). And Ididn't tell Eddie Vandancer and womaniser, is addressing his audience:
Halen that he's the best guitarist in the world either (boos), nor that he's
"Sounds like we're starting the weekend alittle bit early here tonight."
wasting himself (catcalls).
It's Thursday. The crowd cheers.
OK, so I'm chicken.
"Ain't nobody makes anoise bigger 'n Buffalo does!" More cheers.
"I propose to toast to the great, great State of NewYork!" More cheers.
CC'
ON'T WRITE THAT or! kill you like adog!" Then that noise"I propose to toast to the beautiful ladies of Buffalo!" MORE cheers.
again; alaugh so infectious, so throaty, it carries as much
"I propose atoast to all you under this roof here, 'cos you're abunch
danger as humour. That's the sound David Lee Roth makes
o' loud-mouthed motherfuckers!" Mayhem.
laughing at his own verbal inventions. He constantly surprises andHe picks on agirl: "Don't you stickyour god-damned tongue out at medelights himself, holding court, plucking theories from God-knowsunless you intend to use it!"where. Little jokes and conceits just appear on his tongue.
Screams.
His face is about six inches from mine, leering, looming larger than life.
"We've got ajournalist and photographer over here from England
tonight!" I
get pummelled on the shoulders bywell-meaning oafs.
His eyes are glazed, his reason running ever more riotous as various postgig intoxicants rattle round his system. He talks and talks and talks,"They like to come over here once in awhile to the home of rock'n'roll!"
mostly sense, always flamboyantly.
The crowd bays. "I'll tell you what- it sounds like fuckin' Buffalo invented
And he laughs that laugh, from now on
rock'n'roll, man!" Howls.
denoted by (L). Try to imagine it, but you"And they tell me the guywho invented sex and drugs comes
still won't be close:
from Buffalo, is that right?" An affirmative roar.
"One thing I
don't see is alot of
As for the show... well, it's not that Van Halen are bad at what
personality in pop music, particularly inthey do, it's just that what they do is dreadful. One number's
f'f fMr/ TT
sturm-und-drang rock'n'roll. What Ido

LARRY MURANO /GETTYDMI IllMarch 30,1984:
Eddie Van Helen on
stageat Madison
Square Garden,
New York Citysee is alot of strain (L), alot of neckmuscles with the veins coming out andalot of angry posturing.! don't thinkthey're angry; they're selling enoughrecords that they shouldn't be (L)."David Lee Roth shifts mental gears:"It's become asort of cartoon character.
There was atime when leather andstuds meant something taboo; now itmeans Métal Hurlant comic book. It
becomes aparody of itself-well, once everybody
does it, how could it not?
"And, granted, Van Halen has alot of cliches, but it's
something that we feel. You see alot of musicians,
artists in any field of entertainment, mimicking,trying to copy something else specific, it's notheartfelt. They want money or they want record
sales or they want groupies or all of them... Hey!
I
want it too, but mimicry is not the way Igo about
it. I'd rather please myself and the fellows in the band,and then ifVan Halen is lucky, we're lucky in thatwhat pleases us seems to be pleasing the rest of theuncivilised world (L) ."David Lee Roth is adisconcerting, down-to-earth
space case, abusinessman who claims, "I view mywhole life as one big art project... admittedly at times
it's finger-painting, but nonetheless, art.! create myown world and stay in touch with reality. It's notnecessary, it's not obligatory, but (L) beneficial at times.
"People say to me all the time, 'Dave, you live in yourown little world.' I
tell them, 'Well, at least you know me
there!' (L)"One of his favourite subjects is girls: "It's anaberration in the big, hard rock field. You don't see alotof girls present for avariety of reasons, the way I
see it.
Are you interested? I'm glad you asked (L). First off,
there's alot of anti-female lyrics in big rock, alot of
bitterness, alot of put-down, alot of victimisation: 'I'm
gonna do this to ya I
And then in the morninTm gonna
do it again (L)/And then I'm gonna take my carand do it
to ya again (more L) I
And then I'm gonna do it to my car(choking with L)... He calms down. "Also the posture on stage is hypermacho, without any sense of humour attached orwithout casting awayward eye at any of theproceedings. Y'know, it all becomes one big Marlboro
cigarette commercial (L). It's all muscle and grip andmen's magazines (L).
RR "I've never written that kind of lyric. My overall tone
is extremely aggressive, but then so is my personality,
that's the way Iam. The strongest lyric I've ever

Van Halen at thel984
MonstersOf Rockfestival, Donington
Park:(c/wise from left)
Eddie Van Halen, Alex
Van Halen, Michael
Anthony, David Lee Rothsome places that won't see the sense of humour. Some people'll write it off
as obnoxious verbosity and, in asense, it is. Others'll write it off as freeform anarchic art..."He's laughing so much now that I
don't know what at. He's losing his
track. "I'm not changing shit! It's me! Next to football and religion, thiskind of music has got to be the single most therapeutic, primal (L) sort of
excursion available to us. Ireallyget acharge out of the road. Ido it up justfine textbook rock-star style-y'know, play in the Learjet. We have ourshare of excesses and wantonness... (L)!"I

DOUBT THAT SUCH rock'n'roll means anything any more; itexists because it exists, that's all.
"Well, if you mean it's something contrived, it is something you
have to learn. Fred Astaire didn't do too badly by that. It's got to look andact like it sounds. Y'know, people come over sometimes and say, 'It's
choreographed. You guys learned that move, you do it every night.'"Tell it to Gene Kelly, baby! (L) The world's Top 40 is like an audio shotin the arm for everybody. It's aeuphoric; it's awhole lotta caffeine andsugar (L). It's an upper, makes you drive faster, gets you outta bed.
"It's the same as when you go down to the Alphabet district in New
York and try and score some heroin: 'Oh, here's some Iranian Green. Ah,
here's some Peruvian Brown' -'Here's some Donna Summer, here's
some Boy George, here's some Van Halen'.., we're all different and we're
all being consumed by the radio for no other reason than we're al1128
beats aminute and damn good-looking (L)."
Suddenly he's back to Europe-Van Halen
are topping the bill at this summer's Castle
Donington. (They recently played an
American festival for one-and-a-half million
dollars -incidentally, that's 16,000 dollars
aminute!)"We can take this parade into adifferent
climate. We're waterproof (L). You can take us
underwater. You can take us in the shower (L).
You can go waterskiing or mountain-climbing
with us... even horse-riding, Steve (L)."He's gone completely.
"We're like a... (L)... like aTampax..."Ah, but if I
write that he'll kill me like adog. »"Don't stickyour tongue
out unless
you intend
to use it!"HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I89

ANDRECSILLAG/GETTY

written in that vein is 'House Of Pain' on 1984. It goes, 'You say you're
gonnal... er... 'You say you're gonna leave me! 'Cos Ionly tie you up I
Itriedto love you tender 1
Butyou only like it rough.' (L) It's completely from the
opposite end of the spectrum; there's asense of humour to it. There
has to be!"I
wonder whether such songs are written from personal experience(well, wouldn't you?) orwhether he just makes them up?
"The music is always completed first. Edward comes up with six oreight different parts and we band 'em together in different ways-"Oh,that sounds like averse, play it twice. That's agreat chorus. We'll use that...
No! No! That should be averse... Fuck you! Nah! Nah!' We pound it out.
"Then I
take atape home and call Larry- Larry's my roadie; he takes
care of the towels and drinks and swords and microphones, etc. He
comes down the next day, right after lunch, we get into the 1951 low-rider
Mercury painted bright orange and red with awhite pin-stripe down the
middle, Larry drives and I
sit in the back and we drive around the
Hollywood Hills and up and down the coast and I
write the songs.
"We play the tape over and over again on the stereo and about every
hour-and-a-half Ilean over the front seat and go, 'Say Larry, what d'you
think of this?' (L) And, after acouple of days like that, we'll havesomething. We just drive around in the sun and make it up, so in essence,
Iguess Larry is primarily responsible forwhat you hear (L). There arefewer lyrics on the 1984 album, though-we had acold spell in California
and I
couldn't write anymore..." He delays his punchline perfectly. "...It's
aconvertible! (L)What am Igonna do? I'm not
responsible for the weather!"He claims he's written all his songs that way
except one, "I'll Wait", which was inspired by
Calvin Klein's underwear for women. Iwonder
whether this is all bullshit-what he thinksIwant to hear or, more pertinently, what hethinks his audience wants to hear?
"Not at all," he growls. "I feel absolutely no
responsibility whatsoever to the fans ofVan
Halen." And he goes on to catalogue the fickle
nature of fandom. "I don't see why they should
feel any differently about our group. You start
trying to please everybody, you please no one.
We can only be ourselves. Granted, there are

1984
APR

(C

0

W!" EDDIE VAN Ha len tears ascab and blood seepsthrough his fist into his palm. His head is bowed, his speechslurred and that infamous schoolboy smile's rather more
desperate than cheeky. Next door we can hear Lee Roth and thehangers-on redecorating the dressing room with afood fight. Here,though, in his bare locker-room, Eddie speaks slowly and softly.
"I hit walls when I
get mad. You can tell which hand Iuse," he raises his
lacerated fist. "No knuckles!"There's nothing conspiratorial in his confession. Only sadness. I
wish
I
could scuttle away instead of prising open this man's misery, but Itry
to make light of it. Uh... not the greatest idea ever, for aguitarist to
punch walls.
"Well, my wife, Valerie, she talked me into using my feet." He grins
sheepishly. He's talking to himself. "I broke three toes, so I
went back to
my hand... at least until my foot heals. I
get, y'know, frustrated. It's not
mad really, it's just like... yeaaargh!"Iwonder what on earth could frustrate the man who has everything.
"I'm obsessed with music," he mumbles, "and sometimes things don't
go right. We grade each show. Tonight's was only six instead of 10-plus...
I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"
I'm sorry too. What we were talking about was "Jump" sitting on top of
the charts for five weeks and 1984 hitting Number 2in the Billboard
album chart with abullet. What we were talking about was Van Halen,
the biggest band in America, the band that bears his name, afact that I'm
fast finding out means very little.
"Jump' was written two, maybe three years ago," he informs me.
Why, then, has it taken this long to record?
"Because I'm supposed to be guitar-hero Joe Bitch," Eddie mutters.
"I was told that people wouldn't like seeing me playing keyboards.
I
disagreed with that, so this time round I
just did it."He's pleased with his independent stand but he's not gloating. In fact,
there's asuggestion that, prior to the single's success, there's been serious
arguments within the Van Halen camp about the music Eddie wrote forthe album-something along the lines of it not fitting in with the band's
established image. He doesn't want to talk about it.
"I don't want to cause any more trouble than I
already have bywriting
music, that's what it boils down to. Iget frustrated because I
have so manythings that I
wanna do that I
just wanna get out. Idon't give afuck if theysell, if people like it or not, I
just wanna goddamn get it out of me. It's liketaking apiss- my bladder's hurting, I
just want it out, d'you understand?"Indeed Ido. After all, there's supposed to be anovel or somethingequally epic struggling to escape every spotty hack, isn't there?
"There are sides of me that people don't know. They think I'm Joe
Guitarist. Idon't give afuck about that. I'm as much of ageek as anyoneelse. I'm insecure, I
cry, Iget happy, I
get horny, everything. I
mean, Ihate
to blow anyone's fantasy, but I'm just normal."Ididn't think normal people got to meet Michael Jackson, let alone playwith him. I'm referring to Eddie's contribution to "Beat It", aspirallingsolo that brought him to the attention of an audience previously put offby
his album covers. He's embarrassed by all thefuss "Beat It" caused, claims he didn't evenknowwho Quincy Jones was until his dad told
him, and lets on that he's glad he didn't know orelse he'd have gotten too nervous to play. Seems
Quincy just called him up and asked him andEddie said yes. Lee Roth was holidaying in Haiti,
so Eddie had the excuse that he couldn't reachhim to ask whether it was cool to go ahead.
Was Jackson there in the studio?
"Yeah, he was there. He was across the halldoing ETor whatever. Istarted playing, he camein and went, quote unquote, (in aMickey Mousevoice) 'I really like that high, fast stuff you do.'He's agreat guy, but the guys in the band get
uptight when Ido outside things.
"I don't see anyway it could have hurt; if anything it helped us, but I
didn't do it for that reason either. I
just did it out of the goddamn fun!I liketo play and it's sickening to have no one to playwith."fuck me in the ass, d'you know what 1mean? The wife
gets uptight. She goes, 'You love that more than you dome', and Igo, 'Well, in away, yes.' Y'know, Ican't fuck myguitar, the three-quarter-inch holes are alittle too small,but... I'm rambling, I'm sorry.
"Certain people, not me, but certain people think I
wasafool to play on an album that sold so many and not ask forpayment. Ididn't want paying. Iknow that Ihelped him,that it wasn't until 'Beat It' was released as asingle withall the press about me playing the solo, that they started
playing Michael Jackson on FM stations [some are so racist
that they only played the solo atfirst].
"I'm glad I
had something to do with it. Hey, who knows,
one day Imight want some dance lessons-he owes me one!
"What the fuck? Idon't do anything for areason,
especially not money. Imean, Alex and Iwere brought up
to realise that you gotta eat shit before you knowwhat
asteak tastes like. My father was 42 years old when heleft Holland and came to Pasadena, California, with 15
dollars and apiano -aprofessional, cookin', smokin',fuckin' clarinet-sax player- and he had to walk six miles
every morning to wash dishes to pay the rent. He didn't
even know the language!
"That taught me that no matter what happens, if you got
the will you can do anything you want, anything. People
say, 'Oh, you're so talented, you're so gifted.'"D'you know what the gift or talent is? The will to focus
on one something. Anybody can do what Ido if they'reobsessed in the exact manner thatlam. Y'know, Ididn't pop outta my
mom with apiano ora keyboard or
aguitar... I'm rambling again...
I'm sorry."
Van Halen's tour manager tells
me later that Eddie's been up threenights solid, just playing. Right now
I'm getting his life story. His familyleft Amsterdam for California when
he was six, encouraged by lettersfrom relatives about picking
oranges off the trees. "A crock ofshit," Eddie says.
His mother insisted that he andbrotherAlex take piano lessons, butboth rebelled. Eddie, inspired by The Dave Clark Five, borrowed 25
dollars off his parents and bought aJapanese drum set; Alex started
learning Segovia on anylon-string guitar, but while Ed was out on his
paper round paying back his parents' loan, Alex was bashing his drums.
"I got alittle bummed out, because he played better than Idid," Eddie
says. So he stole Alex's guitar and that was that.
It's rumoured that the brothers still fightfrequently, although Eddie's full of praise forAlex's drumming.
"I believe he does on drums what Ido on
guitar," he says. "I don't mean to sound holierthan-thou or egoed-out, but the way he plays,
he inspires me. He was inspired by Ginger
Baker and, Imean, come on, Idon't care ifthat guywas ajunkie or aspeed freakor camefrom hell or heaven or whatever, that guychanged drumming.
"Y'know, there's not another guitarist in theworld that Ilike besides Clapton. I
just got thepleasure of meeting him about two months ago
at the Forum, where he was doing that Ronnie
Lane thing, and I
was so nervous and scared that I
got so drunk I
just blew
it... Ithink he understood." He doesn't sound sure.
Eddie tells me howhe used to play Goodbye and Wheels OfFire at 16rpm tostudy the solos. "If there's anybodyon Earth that I'd love to sit down and justspend five minutes talking or playingwith, it would be Clapton," he says,
and gets angrywhen I
suggest his hero's been under-achieving foryears.
"That's not true. People can say the same about me. People change. I'm
no better now than I
was 10 years ago, I'm different.""It's likethere's anotherme and Itripon myselfwhile playing"IIETRAVELS WITH aportable studio, setting up in each hotel
room. "I'm obsessed with the shit. Ilove playing with anyone
who'll let me, and if no one will, I'll sit in aroom by myself andplay. It sounds avery selfish attitude, but that piece of wood will never

90 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

eel*

W

ETALKABOUT his solos and Iwonder whether they're
expressive exercises or virtuoso showcases?
"I'm not showing off anything," he insists. "I feel it's mychance to do whatever the hell Iwanna do, and every night it's different.
It's the most euphoric feeling. It's better... nah, not better, but it's likecoming, it's like sex except different. It doesn't even matter whether there
are people out there or not, because Iactually get off more when I'msitting on the floor in my hotel room, totally drunk, smoking acigaretteand getting in that state of mind where it's like you're meditating. It's likethere's another me and Itrip on myselfwhile I'm playing.
"OK, this is alittle deep, don't think I'm weird !his studio in California
is called 5150 after the police codefor an escaped mental case), but Ifeel
there's apart of the brain that deals with problems in reality andmeditating and yoga or drugs or whatever numb that part and let theother part happen and flow. Just sitting there for hours playing, I
startfloating and things come out.
"I mean, I
think I'm unique as aguitarist. I
do weird, twisted shit on a
guitar that hasn't been done before. It gets me going- that's the point: I'm
still akid in the playground, and that's the way I
approach music.
"Music is nothing but afeeling, an emotion, an expression. I'm nottrying to prove shit; I
just hope people feel something. Everything !write
is apart of me, it really is. Iread reviews of 'Jump' or people tell me, 'Hey,
that's agreat pop tune!' Kiss my ass! It ain't apop tune, it's just goddamn,
downright music. I
hate categorising anything."
Isuggest it's probably the lyrics that lead to the categorising.
"This may sound fucked, but to tell you the honest God truth, Idon't
even know alot of the lyrics to our songs. Dave writes 'em and I'm just notinto it. I
hate books. Idon't read, I
barely made it through school.
"I'm serious, Ihate books, I
hate being told, 'This is the way you gotta doit.' I
wouldn't be playing as twisted as Ido if I
went by the book; that's notgonna inspire anyone to be innovative."
The road manager returns to tell me time's up, but Eddie says he's
enjoying himself and is there any booze left to take back to the hotel withhim? The road manager goes off to see and Eddie wants to know if"Dave writes the lyrics
and I'mjust not that
into it": Eddie Van
Halen and David Lee
Roth stick to their
specialisms,USA,1984

England likes "Jump". I
tell him we do. "Can Iaskyou aquestion," heenquires, characteristically humble. "Why do you think they never liked
us before?"
Iexplain about Top OfThe Pops, how the video went down well and how
awhole new audience was exposed to Van Halen for the first time, not justthe metal lot...
He grabs my hand and shakes it heartily, his blood staining mypalm. "That's the way we are!" He rejoices, "We're not heavy metal. I'm
amusician."
He confesses abemused interest in the European fixation with fads.
"They change styles like! change my underwear," he marvels. "It's almost
like they don't really get into the music, they get into the trip of it, what it
stands for, what it means."I
explain that attitude's of utmost importance.
"To me it's not. Classical music. What are you gonna call Beethoven or
Tchaikovsky? One's punk? One's heavy metal? It's music!"I
venture that the fad fixation serves two imperative functions that
America lacks- it perpetually flushes out the clones that clog up thecharts after any original artist makes an impact, thus allowing theindustry to endlessly exploit novelty, and it also provides the fans withasemblance of motion and mattering, afun if fake revolt against
yesterday's fashion. It's an enforced credibility gap.
"That's what makes me sick," he says. "I haven't changed my hair in thelast 10 years. Isee no reason to. The way Iam as aperson and the way I
playand the music Imake shouldn't come across by the way Ilook... I
don't
knowwhat he fuck I'm talking about."
The road manager returns with bottles of brandy and vodka.
"I'll take that one." Eddie reaches for the brandy. "Uh, I'll take both."
The manager frowns at him long and hard. Naughty Eddie.
"Uh... I'll take that." He grabs the vodka. "It's abigger bottle," he grins.
"I guess I'm mentally and physically healthier nowthan I've ever been,"
he says, and staggers out the door. Inotice the dry drops of blood on thefloor. He didn't convince me. Idon't think he even convinced himself.
SteveSutherland •HISTORY 01 ROCK 1984 I91

RICHARD A. AARON /GETTY

p.

1984
APR

"Timeless, I
think, would
be aword"
In the most diffident way
THE COCTEAU
TWINS
dilding
auaience."We'rejust
doing the music forpeople who like it,"says Robin Guthrie.
"We're not three
individuals standing
there flaunting ourwares. We're no actors."

92 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

•

—
ee

--

v

Cocteau Twinssinger Elizabeth
Fraser andguitarist Robin
Guthrie,formerlyof Grangemouthin Scotland

"IMELODY MAKER MAY 26 -THINK IT'S ONCE in ablue moon that you readsomething interesting in amusic paper."OK then, what's interesting?
"I don't know. It's been along time since there wasablue moon." Watch the skies....
Every interview I've ever read with the Cocteau Twins
has been, in one way or another, about how they don't like doing
interviews. I'm determined this one won't be.
"You can only ask the same questions," says Liz.
"It's difficult, we get seen as awkward people who don't have anything
to say... sort of bigots," says Simon.
"It always comes over that it's not acase of we don't have anything tosay but that we don't want to say it, like we're being rude or obscure orsomething. We're not," says Robin. "What you're asking us is the same as
ifyou were to ask us to analyse going to thetoilet. It's natural. It's not something that's sat
down and planned and thought about.""What makes it so difficult, probably for you asmuch as for us, is that we really find it hard to talkabout, y'know, ourselves, because we're privateand being in agroup puts you in aposition
where it's difficult to be private, difficult toforget about all the hoo-ha that's going on andjust tryto retain the kind of person you want tobe and not what other people want you to look
like or want you to sound like," says Simon.
"It's really stupid," Liz sighs, agitated, doing
worried things with her hands. "It's gonna belike this every interview. We won't have thought

about it because, if we didn't start thinking about those things, we'd get
really fucked up."
"The trouble with journalists," Robin decides, "is that they thinkmusic's acompetition, one band against the others."
He's right.
There are three Cocteau Twins here in their manager Ivo's flat- Robin
Guthrie and Liz Frazer, two lovers from Grangemouth (she sits on hislap), and Simon Raymonde, arecent addition to the family following theabrupt and traumatic departure of original bassist Will Heggie.
Robin wears winklepicker boots, faded denim and abootlace tie andhas red hair and bad asthma. He's overweight and speaks in asoft,congested Scots whimper that's often (I think deliberately) hard to
decipher. He's annoyed that Ionce suggested in areview that his guitar
playing hadn't gone much beyond the Banshees. He calls me lazy. He's
right again.
Liz is tiny,like adoll, warm and distant. She wears astud through her
nose and compulsively tidies things, putting
magazines into neat piles, washing up teacups,
picking hairs off the sofa; she's effervescentwith nerves and when she laughs she sounds
frightened, though I
suspect she's only like thiswith strangers. I
also suspect that it takes along,
long time not to be astranger with Liz.
When she talks it's to herself as much as
anything and she repeats herself often, quietly,as if as she says them she's discovering her
words have alife of their own. She once knew a
kitten that died of leukaemia and she sings inaway that makes me want to weep with joy.
Simon is bright and funny and watches
Brookside and the snooker. He found aDinky
Toy London taxi at the bus stop the othermorning and is pleased to tell me about it. The
outsider-insider.
Ithink these Cocteaus would be happy justmaking records, no publicity, no nothing. "Inan ideal world, yes," Simon agrees.
"Gotta eat," says Robin, "You can't win
anyway. If you keep alow profile, people startsayingyou're enigmatic and all that sort ofthing, which is totally false as well.""There's always the possibility," Simon
decides, "that one time you may do something
and people will see you for what you reallyare instead ofjust imagining what you're like."Ibelieve, in my blind infatuation, that Iwas
struck by such amoment the first time I
saw
the "Pearly Dewdrops' Drops" video -stainedglass windows, waterfall, an avenue of trees-simplicity itself, anew light, serene Gothic.
Wrong, twice.
They shot the video in Virginia Water, atHollowayAsylum, aVictorian establishment
for correction and experimentation. Now,
mercifully, closed but available for filming for
50 quid aday.Adam Ant did "Prince Charming"
here, though you wouldn't have noticed. The
Cocteaus shiver.
There are 2,000 rooms in this Dachau, too
many for anybodyto be bothered to clear out.
The Cocteaus found the mortuary-still, theysay, bloody. They found the lobotomy chair, thedungeons, the weird room where even theguard dogs won't go. They found awheelchair
to push Simon around in and they found therecords room where huge dusty books say stuff
like "Miss Mary so-and-so, admitted June 1,
1840 following five suicide attempts. Apri14,
1842, terminated.'
Gut hrieand
Fraser with Simon
Asecurity guard told them that when theRaymonde.
place was closed down, they found an old
replacing original
Cocteaus bassist
woman cowering in the shrubbery. She didn't
WillHeggie
knowwhy she was there, so they checked and"Our music
doesn't gowell in places
with plastic
palm trees"

94 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

COCTEAU TWINSMelodies undreamt of

discovered she'd been committed for being an unmarriedmother 50 years before. Alifetime. No one was sure what
happened to the child.
Ichoke on my serene Gothic. And...
"That video was terrible," whispers Liz. "A disaster."conspiracy of revenge, a
1\11 ANY STILL ENCOUNTER the
It was supposed to be asurrealist film, not what they
premeditated suicide, if Liz hadn't
Cocteau Twins and hear only
consider "a cheap promo, cheap and trashy".
been driven to tears of frustration.
Siouxsie. Others hear only The"People see something like that and make up their minds,"
The voice that can swoop and soar
Cure or starkest New Order, but
says Simon. "All this Pre-Raphaelite business, it's all made up,such conclusions draw like veils
like ahawk, protecting atune by
it doesn't mean anything. Just because we had some stainedevasive acrobatics, drawing us up, on
where they should let in light. The
glass windows in it... that kind of imagerywasn't intentional.
and over again and again, was strained
Cocteaus start here.
We didn't say, 'Look, we want alot of church windows andto the point of agony. When she beatHead Over Heels, their latest LP,angels flying around it.'her chest for release, the voice
could be what everyone's looking for,"Maybe one shot would have been nice, but it dominated it.
fluttered and fell, brave but broken.
astep further on. But it's so guileless,
It was all sort of religious. We wanted something that wasn't
It's possible that the luxuriant vocal
so bereft of gimmicks, that many 'the Cocteau Twins in 1984 to go alongwith thatsingle'. It's likeisolation of their ironically successfuleven those paid to intuit alittle in theputting alabel on things, it isn't very healthy."alter ego This Mortal Coil misled ourclever pop comics -are incapable of
Nonetheless...
expectations. It's even possible thatrising above first impressions. But
ACocteau Twins song is like one of those leopardskinRobin decided to take it upon himself
fall, really fall, for Head Over Heels
pattern shells you buy in shops at the seaside. It's polished, its
to shed the Coil before it took wing
and it takes that sound and takes off.
contours are smooth but wild and perfectly formed, it onceand cast astifling shadow over theRobin Guthrie's imagination may
served afunction but its inhabitants have since moved on andCocteaus. Whatever ;Ihope Inever
not yet stretch far enough further
it's ornamental now, sitting in my room reminding me of when
witness another callous display ofthan AKiss In The Dreamhouse, but
Ifound it. It's an emotional souvenir, something small to thegratuitous volume such as tonight's.
Elizabeth Fraser's voice moves
touch and massive to feel. It's aprivate thing, something
It was tragically compelling tobeyond lyrical articulation andsacred to yourself.
witness Liz tortured and raw-lunged
instrumental texture to astate of
To others it also means something, it stirs their own
as Robin refused to turn it all down
rapturous emotion. At the peak of,indulgent memories. The Cocteau Twins are the first noise I've
and the songs, spawned from somesay, "Sugar Hiccough", she alights onever heard that Idon't want to rush out and share. I'm happy
reflected angst, gained new brutal
jazz, dips into pop and serves into
keeping them to myself and I'll never forget HeadOverHeels
dimensions through this theatre of
melodies so pure they've thatfor the first time, over and over while Valentino's BloodAnd
cruelty. In many ways tonight was aeternal quality -unheard, undreamt
Sandflickered on the video. That's mine. When Iplay it now,
disaster, through I
don't believeof, but instantly and forever familiar.
it's always the first time.
there's acrisis brewing. It's just that
Between them Robin and Liz are
But put aCocteau song to your ear and you can hear tides likethe nerves, embarrassment andachieving something
the sea, raging or calm, the crying of gulls windswept overuncertainty overwhelmed their
moving and newcliffs, the crying of souls drowned or about to be.
confidence, poise and desire. I
thinkalthough this was
Pictures, fears, lives, livelihoods, way back and
VICTORIA PALACE
this struggle is what Cocteau Twins
barely evident
forward through the ages. It's afriend, aprovider, an
LONDON —Oasongs are often about, so next time
tonight. Indeed, I'denemy. It soothes, it kills, an existing energy thatthe outcome may well be different.
have been sorely
intoxicates and lets you knowyou're alive. It tackles
tempted to consider
And even if it isn't, I'll still gladly bethings known but unspoken, wells of emotion. Liz's
this performance athere. Steve Sutherland
voice can be foreboding as adistant fogwarning,
shattering as crashingwaves, gentle as the backwash—
fEB 26
scurrying across the same. Always beautiful...
It's especially hard for Liz: "I get nervous and my throat tightens"Timeless, I
think, would be aword," says Simon.
and Ican't breathe, so Ican't do anything."
But then, pin it down to today and, Isuggest, with a"We've gotta play these longish sets now, doing about three or four more
perverse twist of understatement, that the Cocteau Twins are
songs than we feel happywith. Och, she's just alittle girl, isn't she? She
reluctant performers. Robin and Simon lurk in the shadows, heads
gets tired," says Robin.
bowed in concentration while Liz switches, exposed in the spotlight,
Liz laughs. Can she articulate what she feels nervous about?
gazing into the middle distance as if transported by stage fright from this"Well... um... right, the audience, what they expect."
world to the next, half scared to death, the way they present themselves...
"They've come to expect much more now, Robin explains. "A year ago,
"We're not presenting ourselves," Simon corrects me. "We're just doing
we could walk on stage and be quite comfortable, play our bit and thatthe music for people who like it. We're not three individuals standing
was it, but now people have started paying to come and see us. It's not us
there flaunting our wares."that's changed in that respect, it's people's expectations. They just want
"We're no actors," Robin adds, tersely.
more and more."
Iwonder if Liz really feels as she looks, desperate to escape any
It doesn't help, either, that Liz's vocal technique isn't atechnique at all.
awareness of an audience by losing herself in the songs.
It's impulsive, its strength wrenched from the threshold of pain, its
She sighs: "When you finish asong and you get ready to do the next one,ecstasy torn from torture. No one else sings this way and Liz has started tothen you remember the crowd's there again. Or... it can be different. If
realise that, in order to preserve her gift, she must sacrifice certain songs
I've got awhacking big light shining in my face, I
can't see anything andto orthodoxy. Reworking "Sugar Hiccough", singing it sweet and straight,
Ican forget, but sometimes it's difficult to. Itry, I
have to," she laughs.
helps ease her throat from ruin. She's also started
Do the atmospheres of the pieces vary according
takingvocal lessons with Tona De Brett, tutor to theto the occasion?
stars (well, Johnny Rotten anyway).
"Never trust aplace with palm trees," Robin states"I think she's angrywith me," says Liz. "She's
with some solemnity. "Our music doesn't go well in
getting really frustrated because Ising from here"
places with plastic palm trees."-she shocks me by punching her precious throat In manyways, performing is like going through"and you're supposed to sing from your stomach.
paces for the Cocteau Twins. It's achore. Because of
But that's just the way I
sing, even if Ihurt myself."
the way they record- "We just do it. We just seem to
The lessons aren't wasted, though. Tona taught
do everything; we make ¡tupas we go along, asong a
Liz to breathe properly, and that in itself is aday" -they're often strangers to their own creations,confidence booster. I
wonder how she started
painfully retracing their steps to reacquaintsinging at all? »themselves with their compositions note by note.

MM MAR 3 -PrIc!Pr'g voice is pushPd tn hrnaking PointLIVE!

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I95

1984
4PR

°\

"I asked her," says Robin.
"Yeah, but why did Ido it? Why? Why did I
think that Imight be able to
do it? "Liz ponders.
How did it feel to discover the voice?
"I was embarrassed, of course. Ican't understand it. I
haven'tthought about it. I'm thinking about it now and I'm baffled. I
wasn'tpleased. I
wasn't disappointed; I
wasn't over the moon...""It was wonderful," Robin recollects.
"It's funny how things can take shape and you just never know what
they're gonna sound like," says Simon. "When we recorded earlier inthe year, Robin and I
would finish and we'd just be so excited about
what it would sound like three hours later with the
vocals on it. It was always acomplete surprise."
When I
enquire after the Cocteaus' standards,
Robin's reply is no surprise: "If it pleases us."
They're thankful, in away, that the video was only
shown once, on Whistle Test. Not too much damage
done. One more week with "Dewdrops" climbing
the charts and it would have had to have been on
Top OfThe Pops.
"Uh... we'd have been out of the country," laughs
Robin. "You've got to be sort of diplomatic. Idon't
believe we've got anything in common withballoons and flashing lights. As soon as you're on

there, you just bring yourself down to the level of that programme.""Can you imagine what it's like miming to your own fuckin' record?" Liz
whispers. "With those balloons flying about and all those people who've
never fuckin' heard of you in their lives and they're giving it the Sandie
Shaws and everything... Oh dear! And it's supposed to be filthy in thatstudio and it's supposed to be so fuckin' small and every fuckin' band's
just hanging around waiting to do their thing—there must be somebitching goes on as well."
The Cocteau Twins explained this to Tommy Vance live on the radio theother afternoon. He played their single. He's been playing it all week. The
wrong side. They had to tell him on the air!

Ghostly traces
NME NOV 3 Jst-This Mortal Coil, thet,OGicatIS deliver awafting miracle.
Cocteau Twins

asure 4AD

Oh sure, the music's alright -but look at thesong titles! Side One: "Ivo", "Lorelei","Beatrix", "Persephone", "Pandora". Side
Two: "Amelia", "Aloysius", "Cicely","Otterley", "Donimo" (sic). It sounds likethe whole of Hampstead breaking out in anorgy of kitchen-christening.
There is indeed an air of tweeness about
these Cocteau Twins, which would becloying except that their music can rise
above it, sometimes to realms of genuine
magnificence. Given the delicate precisionof their sound, and the extraordinary
qualities of Elizabeth Frazer's singing, they
get away with things.
What could seem sickly
and precious in the handsof lesser practitioners ishere redeemed by simple
beauty. An innocent magic.
It's taken me threealbums to feel sure on thispoint. Treasure is surely
their best collection yet:it's softer, more vague than before, butsomehow even closer to the purity at theircore. Where Garlands was atentative
reconnaissance of '82's rocky landscape,heavily Banshee-shadowed, and Head
OverHee/s showed agroup on the verge ofself-discovery, this third LP is aprocesscompleted. The Cocteau Twins have neversounded less like anyone else. If I'mreminded of anyone it's the nicer bits ofKate Bush. You may have your own idea as
to what the nicest bits of Kate Bush are, but
for me it's acertain way of woven melody, afeminine spell that's
suggestively mystical and,strangely, peculiarly English.
(Except, of course, theCocteau Twins are actually
Scottish, which nixes any
potential Grand Theory.)
What you've got on these songs is,mostly, that stately-slow processionalbeat, Robin Guthrie's chiming guitar, Liz's
impenetrable, abstract lyrics. It's the oldvoice-as-instrument touch, albeit anexceptionally evocative one. And thesleeve art is elegant and mysterious as ever:the photos are like those competitions you
sometimes see, where
they show you aclose-upof, say, ashirt button
and you've got to guess
it. Is it amicrochip? Or
acaterpillar's head?
What fun!
Yes, it is all abit hippydrippy. And yes, it is real
student music, destined
to waft along hall-of-residence corridors
from Keele to Kent-at-Canterbury. No,
there's nothing here that's quite as glorious
as "Song To The Siren" (performed by the
Cocteaus in their part-time guise of This
Mortal Coil), nor anything so instant as thatrecent single "Pearly Dewdrops' Drops".
But it's apretty thing, this Treasure. For all
its enchanted-garden Laura Ashley-ness,there's something more than most musicdoes now. Like asepia-tinted Victorian
print of someplace you know today. I
likethose ghostly traces. Paul Du Noyer

If I'm remindedof anyone it's
the nicer bits ofKate Bush

96 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"He lit about 70 cigarettes
and his face suddenly became
like flannel," laughs Simon.
"And after we'd actuallyfinished the interview, he wasreally embarrassed. He said,'You'll never believe this, but
Ididn't even knowyou wereThis Mortal Coil.' Ha! Stupid
Inglese! Oh dear! Oh dear!" Lizis sobbing with laughter.
But it's no laughing matter.
Most of our wonderful DJs were
under the impression that last
year's independent success,This Mortal Coil, were theforerunners of the Cocteaus,
not asideline nurtured by Ivo.
The hit "Song To The Siren", Liz
and Robin's reworking of the
Tim Buckley song, is now
something of an albatross,reluctantly sucking them into
the mainstream. Theywere losing
control. Everything about theCocteau Twins is irredeemably
separate. They're so obviouslyan
entity apart. Is it possible, with nogauge but themselves, to discern any
change, progression, direction?
"I don't think we've got one,"says Robin.
It transpires theywork instinctively, Robinand Simon putting things down in the studiowithout premeditation, building up layers,
breaking them down.
"Basically, you just feel that something
complements something else," says Robin.
"If it doesn't, you just try something else.""It all ties in with what people are like," says
Simon. "Other people that think about what
they do and have plans about their life, bands
that are in the charts write songs for that reason.
I
suppose because of the people we are, doing
things when we feel like doing them in normal
life, we do exactly the same in the studio."
The studio's ajoy to the Cocteaus. It's here
that, rather than expressing emotion, theyescape in the act of playing. Aguitar canchange Robin's mood.
"How do you know why you played what you
played? Icouldn't sit here and say, 'Such andsuch is asad song because my leg fell off thatday. — Robin's being serious.
What's Liz doingwhile the boys are playing?
"I'm writing. I'm upstairs. They're
downstairs."
D'you know what they're doing?
"Just... through the walls."
Liz only writes at such times, with nothought whatsoever for the tone or tension ofwhat the others are doing. Her mind is totallyenraptured bywords, not just thesenses but the sounds, everything
about them. Her words are playful,
pure, astonished and, mostly,indecipherable.
"That's just like it is!" She cries.
"It can be the print, actually seeing
the word itself, the way it looks, theshape it's making on the paper...
all those things."
She says the words while she reads
them, luxuriates in the shape they
make in her mouth and the sounds
theyconjure up in her throat.
"The songs just write
Treasureseekers:
themselves," says Robin. "It's like
"Och,we'lljust get
we're getting manipulated oradealin America e, 111:
and well havesomething sometimes."
loadso'money"
Liz agrees: "I was gonna say thatit's like.., who's that woman?
There's this woman... and who'sthat bloke? Oh, it's Bach or someone. She'll suddenly sit down at the
piano and...""Is this ajoke or something?" Robin snaps, cruelly.
"No it isn't," she snaps back. "She'll just sit down and come up withthese...I can't remember who it is? Who is it? Gilbert O'Sullivan? He's notdead, is he?"We all laugh and agree that it's possible he's been dead from the neck up
since the day he was born, but Iknow what she means. Liz feels possessedof another's talents, an agent for another's gift. Does she know where thewords come from?
"If Iknowwe're gonna be writing, I
start reading. I
have read, that's
where Iget everything from. Ihave to see the words. I'm never lounging
about on the sofa and the film comes on... Idon't read so much now."
What sort of stuff when you do?
"It helps if the book's good. Uh... what am Ireading? Ican't remember
the last book Ibought.""Fungus The Bogeyman," says Simon.
"Oh, the Plop-Up Book-that's dead good," she laughs.
Liz gave Simon acopy of Fungus for his birthday and Ivo gave Liza copyof The Magus for Christmas. This explains alot. Presumably the songs
mean something to Liz?
"Oh yeah, of course."
There must be acertain pleasure, then, in the meanings being secret?
"Yeah. You're not thinkingyou're really smart or anything, but you're
pleased when other people think about them. That's what they'resupposed to do. It's supposed to happen for them, not for me.""It's great to see people mouthing words that you know are totally alien
to what they really are. It's good because people
are just fantasising and enjoying themselves,"
says Simon.
What wasn't quite so great was when theirdebut album, Garlands, was released in Japan
with alyric sheet compiled by someone who'dtried to discern the words from listening to
the album.
"There's not one line correct," Robin gloats.
"There's only about, maybe, four or five words
that are actually correct.""It's so embarrassing," says Liz. "I mean, that's
what people must have thought Ifuckin' wrote!
Never mind... never mind..." She sighs.
I
like the Cocteau ityins -theywon't let Smash
Hits print their songwords. Communication, forthem, is atenuous thing. They recently met Eno to discuss working on a
new album, talked alot about sequencers and he left thinking they didn't
reallywant him to produce them. He was right, they didn't. Theywere after
acollaborator, so the project remains uncertain in that Cocteau-like way.
"I wonder how much we'd get if we signed to amajor?" Robin inquires,mischievously.
"Oh, about amillion," Simon replies.
He knows. His brother's been hawking round arumour that theCocteaus are planning to leave 4AD, just for fun. No one baulked atamillion. Even so, they're staying put. They trust Ivo, consider him
afriend, and that's the way theywork. Although right now, they arepaying themselves aweeklywage, their funds are invested in anew
studio and Liz and Robin are homeless, crashing at Ivo's having been
kicked out of their rented flat in Muswell Hill. If they signed to EMI,I
venture, they could all afford mansions.
"Och, we'll just get adeal in America and we'll have loads o' money,"says Robin. "That's what Americans are for, to be used."
Robin always suspected that Americans were daft but now he knows-the Cocteaus played in NewYork last winter.
"They're fuckin' nuts over there," Liz reckons. "They really laugh at
Robin. He was areal sort of curio-they couldn't believe his pointed
shoes, they thought he was afreak- and yet everybody, everybody there,
was going about with earmuffs on... Not subtle -theywere big teddy bearearmuffs, fuckin' crocodile earmuffs. They're over-the-top, thosepeople. Ican't get over their clothes.""Crimplene," Robin snorts.
"No one ever wore anything that fitted them. Honestly, honestly. The
things you buy in the shops over there are either too big foryou or too
small foryou -they don't fit anyone. It's incredible!""They've got incredibly bad taste," adds Robin. "You always get the cab
driver's life story, his marital problems, everything.""They're so talkative, it's unbelievable," says Liz. "It's like atape loop or
something." She shivers. "I'm fuckin' freezing in here."
Ioffer my jacket, which she wisely declines, and Ienquire about her
dress -usually white and long, not exactly Laura Ashley but, y'know, notpunk. Liz says the last two dresses she wore were made by someone Ivo
knows in Richmond who makes clothes out ofold material.
"She's got some things that she can't wash
or anything. They're beautiful. They're justincredible. When you're surrounded by things
like that it makes you feel really good." Isuggestthat the notion of fashion is an anathema to theCocteaus. Simon had earlier dismissed thelatest Cure stuff as "fashionable".
"Can't be fat and fashionable," Robin tells me.
Two days later Icatch him staring into amirror
in the dressing room at the photo studro.
"Who's that fat bloke?" he asks and prods
himself. "I don't feel like that inside!""People who buy the newest clothes and allthat kind of thing probably need to because
they haven't got any other way of expressing themselves," says Simon.
I'm about to ask Liz whether she always wears cardigans because she's
ashamed of her tattoos -one on each arm, "Siouxsie And The Banshees"
and I
couldn't catch the other-but Robin butts in.
"Liz wears apretty dress because it makes her feel more comfortable
when she walks onstage. She could hide behind that almost... this isgetting abit Smash Hits is it not? We should be talking about the music."Itell them that, in away, we are and they all retreat into their quiet
smiles. Again. SteveSutherland •"If Iknow
we're gonna
be writing,Istartreading"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I97

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ARCHIVESOFHICK CAVEPAUL WELLERGEORGE MICHAELBRUCE SPRINGSTEEN/
NINA SIMONE'51,14,
HISTORY OF
ODE ;ee THE HISTO
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NMEh
MELODYMAKER

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UHF HIS - ORY OF

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MM/NME JAN-JUN
Thumb deal

1am writing to complain about
the recent spate of advertisements
for the new Roger Waters single
and forthcoming tour. These
adverts-in Time Out, City Limits,
MelodyMaker, New MusicalExpress,most undergroundstations, any hoarding space
available-are offensive to look atand read. The advert, you must beaware, consists of aback view of a
naked woman hitchhiker with theartist's name and the motif The
ProsAnd Cons OfHitch Hiking!
This is obvious comment on
the recent court case in which
afemale hikerwas told she
deserved to be raped as she had
been hitching alone. Ifind thistype of inference doubly offensive.
Not only is the advert blatantly
using awoman's body in order tomake the wares more interesting,the message also implies thatfemale hitchers are "asking for it"
and deserve all they get.
lam forced into the positionof complain ing about thiskind oflurid advertisingthough Iam against censorship.
I
would advocate more sex,
less sexism, but this type of
misogynistic advertising leaves
me totally nonplussed.
lam well aware that I, as anindividual, am unable to change
the attitudes which produce thiskind of dross. I
would still rather
not have it shoved down my throat
every time I
open anewspaper or
go for awalk. After all, Igrew up
in the swinging '60s; Iam still
encumbered by the belief thateveryone is entitled to do theirown thing so long as it doesn't
harm anyone else. (Right on -Ed.)
However, this advert hurts me,Ifind it personally offensive. I
amawoman and ahitchhiker.
I
recognise the deep-seatedinhibitions and frustrations which
lie behind this kind of attitude.
Ihave known alot of inadequatemen, Isee them everyday, I
workwith afew, and now again they
have their set of unformed
prejudices and inhibitions
verified by this crummy piece of
second-rate advertising!
POLLY GREEN, Barnes,
London SW12 (NME May 26)

What difference does it make?

The Smiths are as plain as apacketof crisps. Morrissey's momentarystardom owes far more to music-press hype than it does to genuine
talent. He claims he's agenius.
Perhaps he is, but only atmanipulating the media.
The Smiths' only real strengthlies in Morrissey's carefully
cultivated image. The eccentriccelibate recluse with the baggy
jeans, National Health specs andInterflora-endorsed back pocket
oozes mock sincerity and invites
troubled souls to share his pain.
Could this be another Johnny Ray?
When the propaganda's dies
down, the press have backlashedand the trendies disappeared,
The Smiths musical vapidity
will be exposed to the full andthe embalming man will sink
without trace.
TERRY, Villa Paradiso, Torquay,
Devon (MM May 5)This question may sound terribly
naive, and I'm sure it will elicit
some smart remark, but I'll ask
anyway. Is Morrissey gay? Whatabout the rest of the band? You
see, living in the US, we don't get
much information about new
bands, and I've just recently beenable to find ashop that sells Am
Now that I've totally embarrassed
myself, I'll end here
PATTY GIARRUSSO, Cranston,
Rhode Island, USA (MM May 5)'70s-style outrage
back in fashion

Help! Is it true that they're goingto scrap the John Peel show ormove it to weekends? Please tellme how we can stop this. Maybe
if Radio One received hundredsof letters supporting John in the
10-to-midnight slot they'd pay
some attention? If there are anyother fans out there, why not write
and tell Radio One what we want.
CLAIRE, Harrogate (MM Feb 25)
The crypto-fascist, capitalistic,
materialistic, militaristic,
nationalistic, NF short-back-'n'-sides mentality ofyour secondrate brand of toilet paper makes
me violently ill on contact. Ihave
no recourse whatsoever except to
put avery heavy curse upon yourexistence. Be warned-I am
preparing ahex that will bring
aplague of boils upon your staff,
ridicule to your establishment
and an end to your days. There,
I've said my bit, now go back to thevoid and stay there, you senselessbunch of bastards.
HAPPY THE HIPPY, Pink Fairies
for Glastonbury CND Festival,
Shakin' Street, Now (MM Feb 25)

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Prejudice won't keep you warm

Why do you English all hate Duran
Duran or like Culture Club, or like
Duran Duran and hate Culture
Club? Personally, I
prefer Culture
Club, but that's no reason to hate
Duran Duran.
I'm not exactly aDuran Duranfan, but at least I'm not interested
in slagging them off to tellsomeone how much I
like
Culture Club.
Suppose they've been playing
this beautiful record all day
long on the radio (and you're
aDuran Duran fan and Culture
Club hater), and every time they
announce that record you forget
to listen?
And, oh dear, it turns out to be
Culture Club's new single! Would
you go and buy it then? Even
though you knowyou've always
hated that "poor Boy George
and co? I
don't thinkyou would...
you're so awfully prejudiced.
I
don't care whether therecords I
like are sung by Culture
Club or Duran Duran. Up to now
I've bought more Culture Club
records than Duran Duranrecords. That's probably why I
prefer Culture Club.
SIGRID CLUAES(?), Belgium(MM Jan 21)

Nick Caveand the Bad Seeds

Playclead

CarcrashInternationethe Sciertiste
LYCEUM MONDAY4thjUNE.730pm

THE
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0

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11éd

And finally

Please, please help me. Imet thiswonderful girl at the Genesis
concert on Saturday. We didn't
exchange names or addresses,
but Iwant to contact her. She
was wearing ablue Wind And
Wutheringsweatshirt, and we bot hbought tickets from touts and sat
by the side of the stage. All Iknow
about her is she's 17. Please, pleaseprint this letter.
RAY MEADS, Malthouse Square,
Beaconsfield, Bucks (MM March 17)

2
o,

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OUT JAR et

99

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I

WAR 1984"A monster comprisedol •milloon heeds,
ili on ,onuues, and nobody, no nervous
eeeee rn. no Sense or direction."e

WHAT'S YOUR POISON?

Marc Almond unlerashes germ ei

SAY WAR OR MA'?
Pete Wylie- tongue tying th,

CALL ME SCARFACE

Jill.

WHAM!, MORRISSEY,
THE JACKSON S, JAMESBROWN AND MORE

Al Pacino -guns don't argue

Emphasis on
wife-beating
MM JULY 28 Prinut gutà sLiGN iüi Liltuùuleih. ur his movie Purple Rain.
RINCE OF WAILS: That nice Prince,
enjoying his first British hit with "WhenDoves Cry", is back in deep water. Alreadysubjected to alifetime's worth of outraged
audiences and righteous indignation asa result of his provocative manner on stage,
Prince has enraged critics with his new movie,
Purple Rain.
At aNewYork press screening of the movie,
the hacks were out in force, loudly and bitterly
bemoaning the gutter language and the undueemphasis on wife-beating.
Prince, of course, is unlikely to be fazed by suchoffence: the man is obviously acomplete loony
who never comes out in daylight and is not of thisworld. He basically plays himself in thefilm, and although he didn't actually
write the script, much of the film is a
refracted image of his own troubled
childhood in Minneapolis.
It's ambitiously dramatic, with somewhiplash editing and some electrifying
concert sequences.
In addition to the Purple Rainsoundtrack, there are songs from thefilm which appear on the new Time
andApollonia 6records. And to further
appease amateur shrinks there's apiano
piece in it, which is supposed to illustrate
Prince's odd relationship with his screen
father and was actually written by his
real-life father.
Mr Sigmund Freud will be delivering
his own verdict on Prince's sanity in next
week's MM.

100 IHISTORY OF ROCK 19P

4+444
IN HIS HIT MOTION PIG [LIRE.

MEAL°
FAGGLIJLI FUn
APOLLONS KO
DM. OUP KARIATOS re WHENCE WILUAMS III
Deedior home,.DONALD MINN •Music Saxe by_IMSHEL COLOMBIER
Sams Compiled and Ploluced by PRINCE
ALBERT MAGNOU and WILLIAM BLINN
0 JOSEPH RONALD and STEVEN FARGNOLI/i

4

Prince on stage
during the 98-date
Purple Rain Tour,
which saw the live
debut of his band
The Revolution

1984

JULY —WISERt.

Smiths lyricist
Morrissey had "alengthy conversation"with the mother ofMoors Murders victim
Lesley Ann Downey

MM SEPT 15 ``' .•ff-- !'"'- ":"~nn" causes troubk erlr The Smiths

R

ECORD STORES NATIONWIDE
have withdrawn copies of The Smiths'
first album as well as their last single,"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now".
The Boots and Woolworths chains haverefused to continue selling either record owing
to the lyrical content of asong called "Suffer
Little Children". Featured on both the album
and the B-side of the single, it's been deemed
offensive to relatives of the children who diedin the infamous Moors Murders of the '60s.
Although there's been controversy in thepast about the lyrical content of the song,which deals with the killings, it's only recently
that official complaints have been made byrelatives of the murdered children -Lesley
Ann Downey (aged lo) and John Kilbride (12).
Boots said:"We had acomplaint from theKilbride family, and as aresult we decided towithdraw both the album and single because
there were words that tended to be offensive
to the family." And aWoolworths spokesman
said: "The Manchester Evening News
telephoned us to say that one of the relativesof one of the Moors murdered children hadcomplained that we and other stores wereselling these records by The Smiths. We
played the song and we had adiscussion.
There was an investigation and we decided totake the records off sale altogether."

However, the ban has not been taken up
by other major record chains. At Virgin a
spokesman said: "It hasn't been withdrawn
as far as we know," and at HMV Records theword was that "we're looking into it first".
A spokesman for the group said this week:"The Smiths stand behindioo per cent of the
lyrics to all of their songs and 'Suffer Little
Children' is no exception. The song was written
out of aprofound emotion by Morrissey,
aMancunian who feels thatthe particularly horrendous
crime it describes must beborne by the conscience ofManchester and that it mustnever happen again. It was
written out of deep respect
for the victims and their kin
and The Smiths felt it wasan important enoughsong to put on their last
single even though it had
already been releasedon their LP.
"Ina word, it is amemorial to the children
and all like them whohave suffered suchafate. The Smiths
are acknowledged as"It was written
out of deep respect
for the victims andtheir kin"

REX FEATURES"Totally against heroin Rim
B
IG COUNTRY, THE Style Council, Tom
Robinson, Marilyn, Madness and Feargal
Sharkey are among many top pop names
who've promised support to anew campaign
designed to fight heroin use in Britain.
The Anti-Heroin Campaign—launched byphotographer Simon Gargette and designed by
Mac Sullivan— is an ambitious project designed
to warn youngsters ofthe danger of the drug.
Already anumber ofleading pop
personalities have agreed to wear anti-heroin
T-shirts on tour and plans are being made for

102 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

writing with sensitivity, depth and intelligence,and the suggestion that they are cashing in on
atragedy at the expense of causing grief tothe relatives of its victims is absolutely untrue.
"Morrissey has had alengthy conversation
with the mother of Lesley Ann Downey, Mrs
West, and she understands that the intentionsof the song are completely honourable.
Furthermore, he's willing to speak to any
immediate members of the families involved
so there will be no misunderstanding.
"As for the photograph on the record
sleeve which bears aresemblance to Myra
Hindley, it is, of course, Viv
Nicholson, whose picture
was chosen to illustrate therecord 'Heaven Knows I'm
Miserable Now'. The photo
was taken in 19 61 and was
first published in the NewsOf The World year before
the tragic event occurred.
"The decision to put'Suffer Little Children'on the B-side was madewell after the choice ofMs Nicholson's photo
had been made, andalthough it is achillingcoincidence, there is nofurther connection."

SEPT 29 ..Latainers unite to campaign against hard drugs.

amajor "star-studded ball" in London to raisemoney for the campaign. In addition, anationwide poster campaign—with the slogan"Heroin is alife sentence"— has just started.
"Essentially, we want to show young people
that pop stars and others like sportsmen andwomen, politicians and TV personalities aretotally against heroin," said organiser Mac
Sullivan. "It's great that people like Tom
Robinson, Jerry Dammers, Madness and Big
Country have all agreed to help in whatever
way they can." The T-shirts and poster

campaigns will be followed by stickers, cards
and balloons, and cartoonist Ralph Steadman
has drawn two colour illustrations for theAHC.
Tom Robinson has already expressed aninterest in playing live at the London ball.
It's estimated that there are more than
150,000 heroin addicts in Britain and that
£200m worth of it enters the country each year.
Fears have been growing for some time overthe safety of schoolchildren and otheryoung
people who inhale the drug, knowing it only
as "skag" without realising it's heroin.

Jagger.solo album
being produced byBill Laswell,not
Trevor Horn
/Pa n

MIKE
SCOTT

NME AUG 4
nu iWFlJU
shares his
influences.

Poets
Yeats, Rimbaud, Jerry Lee Lewis

Books and authors

MM JULY 28 sick Jagger's solo album will not mean the end of the Stones.

T

HE ROLLING STONES have this weekreacted furiously to "inaccurate
codswallop" written about them in thepress. One story in the London Evening
Standard suggested that the group were about
to split; that Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and
Ron Wood were angry about Mick Jagger's solo
album; that Jagger and Richards hadn't spoken
for weeks; that the cracks were highlighted
when none of the groupturned up for the christeningof Jagger's baby daughter.
The Daily Express reported
that Jagger was working on
asolo project with Trevor
Horn as producer.
"The group are totally
mystified by all this," said a
spokesman for the Stones' office. "There's
absolutely no truth in the rumour about'cracks' in the band. They're recording later thisyear. They're going to have avery busy couple ofyears ahead of them, and they're as far awayfrom any split as they could get.
"It's all nonsense. Mick and Bill areparticularly chummy at the moment, and Keithand Mick haven't spoken forweeks because
they're living 5,000 miles apart with aneight-hour time difference thrown in. The
christeningwas for the immediate family andnobody outside it was invited.
"For any of the band to be annoyed with Mickrecording asolo album is inconceivable. There's
along-standing arrangement in the group thatwhen they're not recording or touring, they
can do what theylike as
individuals. That's precisely
why the group haven't split
up over all these years.
Their solo projects havebeen countless.
"The whole story in theStandard is based onhearsay... The Express story
is just as bad. Mick is recording asolo album thatwill be released this autumn, and the producer
is Bill Laswell. Mick met Trevor Horn for adrink,
but that was purely asocial meeting."
Jagger's solo album is said to be "a mixture of
all sorts of things... some rock songs, somefunky type songs". It's scheduled for release on
CBS in October.

"They're as far
away from any split
as they could get"Dion Fortune
CS Lewis
George MacDonald
The Girl In ASwing Richard Adams
The Awakening Earth Peter Russell
The Misfits Of Avalon Marlon Bradley

DrinksVodka and coke
Chocolate milk

PlacesEdinburgh
The Portobello Road
The sea

Politician
Tony Benn

Soul music
Easter Patti Smith
Dirt The Stooges
Summertime In England
Van Morrison

Philosophers
Sitting Bull
Iggy Pop

Colours
Green
Black
White

"So trendy you even have pickets"

A

POLOGIES TO ALL our readers forour non-appearance over the lastnine weeks. We hope you've missed
NMEas much as we have.
Our absence is one result of adispute
between the National Union of Journalists
and IPC, who own NME. Action by the NUJ in
pursuit of a12 per cent pay claim resulted in
our non-appearance and the subsequentsuspension of publication by I
PC until the
resolution of the dispute. This came with theunion's acceptance of management's 7per
cent offer, with improved conditions. Manyother IPC titles were similarly affected.
What did we do during our two months
away? Well, the Carnaby Street picket lines("NME's so trendy you even have pickets,"
quipped Billy Bragg, one of the performers
to offer us abenefit gig, or at least aroundof beers) weren't reruns of the scenes

misses auiiiu uis alluria
outside the nation's coking plants, although
the stalwart NME pickets ensured there
were NO coal deliveries to these offices
during the dispute.
What did we miss, besides pay? Someof the greatest gigs of the summer season-Stevie Wonder, alternating between
singalongatedium and inspired splendour; andan almost too successful Glastonbury Festivalwith El Costello outstanding and Morrissey
swapping his flowers for tree limbs. The event
continues to be the single largest fundraiser
for CND as well as attracting afar more diverse
crowd that the customary"hippy" sneers suggest.
There were acouple of rare
concerts from Dylan, as near toroutine as Dylan shows can get ;ascorcher of adebut for the
British Reggae Sunsplash, andai ding out an entire summer
the NME/Capital Six Day Wonder -afab
week of new bands organised by NME in
conjunction with Capital Radio.
Our absence from the newsstands meantthat the18 groups didn't get the crowds they
deserved; our thanks to them all, as to Capital,
and all you faithfuls who showed up anyway.
Otherwise we watched the evolution of the"Frankie Say" T-shirts along Carnaby Street,
and we still can't figure out just what Frankie
say beyond "Relax", "Go to it" and "Work forthe fat cats"; rest assured, chaps, we're doing
all three already. NedSpencer

GENE SHAW IGETTY, DAVID MAGNUS IREX FEATURESNME AUG 4 ike acilUll uui pay aivai

1984

OMER

"Playing the
pop game"the er -"Careless Whisper" GEORGE MICHAEL-defends WHAM! as "an equal, democratic pactiaer—honest, political, and having fun. "Ihris less instdting than sor
Duran trying to look like ahand "Lin qns, winningly.
rt

14 CM TO ME MOA TAT/Mfg

11111: COME PleS

MOTS SavIll'..e FrelrEr

Hitting peakbouffant, Andrew
Ridgeleyand George
Michael of Wham!
pose for aphotoshoot in France

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984

105

MARTYN GODDARD /REX

"aticir

1984
JULY_

setnERG

MELODY MAKER JULY 28 -EORGE MICHAELAND Andrew Ridgeley are sexist,
fascist, stroppy, untalented, arrogant, mercenary,manipulative, elitist, despicably commercial, andwholly egocentric.
Or so the papers say, and it's not been unknown
for yours truly to cast amalicious stone or 10 intheir direction. And before you accuse us of wanton victimisation,
let's face the facts.
Wham! are such obvious targets for derision in their sun-sand-seaand-sex utopia. If they had set themselves up solely as fodder for vitriolic
adjectives they couldn't have done abetter job. From the swaggering
bravado of "Wham! Rap" and "Bad Boys" to the permanent 18-30 holiday
posing of "Club Tropicana", they wear their egos on their sleeve, theirassets down their Fila shorts and irritating smirks on those permabronzed complexions.
As the glossy fan mags clamoured to deify the dubious duo, we
possessors of more (ahem) critical faculties searched for chinks in theirapparently untarnished armour.
Circulating rumours were pounced upon with bloodlust glee- they
were both gay, they didn't reallywrite their own songs, Andrewwas
merely astooge for George's convenience, he couldn't even play the guitar
he touted on stage, he was only there for his pulling power, two pretty
faces better than one- or so the stories went. Fact and fiction blurred somuch that each ludicrous episode added fuel to the fire.
Four weeks before "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" was released,
George was loudly boasting that it would go straight in at No 1.
Afewweeks after that we heard the absurdly convoluted saga
surrounding's Andrew's nose-job. The preposterous ice-bucket-flinging
story had been concocted not as an alibi for Andrew's plasters, but as apublicity stunt for their mate David Austin who (by sheer coincidence ofcourse) happened to have arecord released that same week.
All this, coupled with their ruthless marketing tactics, hardly dispelled
the wrath of unrelenting cynics. It wasn't just the press that made Wham!
the butt-end of vicious send-ups, either.
Just as The Smiths' rapid rise brought scorn from rivals, so Michael andRidgeley's popularity attracted acid rain. "We might be commercial but
at least we're not as tacky as Wham!" is aline that's recurred in many
recent interviews.
Wham! seemed to have risen to the top on empty merit of afew glibly
constructed singles. Adopting atactic that had successfully plucked
Duran Duran from flagging sales figures and transformed them into
darlings of the international glitterati, Wham! plunged vigorously into
afew sub-tropical videos and then hit the jackpot with the pantomime of
the Club Fantastic Tour.
Those shows, once seen, were easily and rapidly forgotten. My review
was scathing in the extreme. If George had farted into the mic the fanswould still have screamed.
Wham!'s arse-wiggling and crotch-thrustingcued ripples of collective teenage orgasm andthe wideboy casuals stood behind the girls,
nudging each other with copied bravado.
Wham! were everything they'd been accusedof and more. Lacking in content and almost
sinister in design, their facile antics might benarcotic to the masses but they weren't for me.
And then astrange thing happened.
As I
waded through the review singles one
week, "Wake Me Up..." hit the deck and Wham!
Bits twitched that had never twitched before.
Was this Parkinson's disease or the DTs? It
couldn't mean !liked it, could it?
"You making it single of the weekwas the best
reviewwe could have had," George laughs mockingly
at me in his manager's office, the scene of our debut
encounter. Andrew lounges lazily nearby, gazing
disdainfully at the aggressor. They look exactly how
you think they'd look, faded Levi's and pale T-shirts
accentuating their peak of fitness and deep Miamiburnt tans.
"A favourable review from someone who hates you
means far more than another pat on the back. We

only agreed to do this interview out of curiosity. We wanted to give you
the once-over. And we wanted you to see that we haven't got nine heads."
He grins atAndrew, who ironically responds.
"After that live review you did we'd never have talked to you, but thenyou made us single of the week, but only after saying in the same breath
how much you hated us. Imean, why did you feel you had to apologise forliking the single? That's what narked us; we had to meet you after that.""We didn't want to talk to Melody Makerbecause your hypocrisy makes
us sick," George states flatly. "You use our name on the cover to help you
sell more issues and then slag us off inside. And then you have the nerve to
criticise our marketing strategies. One issue last year slagged us off fourtimes, and yet used aglossy picture of us for the free calendar inside.
"We're only talking to you out of curiosity and because we fancied doing
ajuicy interview for achange."
He rubs his hands together gleefully.
"We're sick to death of those boring, repetitious questions about ourholidays and haircuts and videos. Ask us something nasty," he hackles,"but first tell me whyyou had to slag us off personally in that single review.
Why did your opinion of us as people have to enter into it at all?"
Because, George, as you astutely recognised from the start, nowadays
it's impossible to divorce asingle or album from aband's persona. Videos,TV, PAs and interviews collectively reinforce achosen image, what
advertising executives would call corporate identity. Only unknown
bands can have their records reviewed without assorted mental images
springing to mind. It's insanely naive if you expect rigid objectivity. It's
impossible when image and product are so incestuously entwined in arelentless audiovisual package.
And from the faded denim dole chic of "Wham!Rap" through to thesequinned Number One T-shirts for "Wake Me Up", Wham! have courtedthat bi-sensory blending more than most.
"But it's still unjust to make personal assessments of our motives before
you'd met us," George argues, unconvinced by the argument that if we
had to reserve judgement unless we'd met the particular artist there'd beastockpile of unreviewed records stretching from High Holborn toShanghai. Leaning forward eye to eye, he demands my condensed
opinion ofWham!, which he wants to challenge point for point. OK then.
How do they come to terms with the fact that their live shows are geared
to milk the basest form of entertainment-cheap titillation?Andrew
leaps out of his chair, exploding into adiatribe about "missing the point"and "giving people what they want".
George is more reliant on his powers of reasoning and his sincerity, evenif his argument is not convincing.
"Why do people accuse us of talking down to our audience? And why
do they find us offensive? Ithinkwhat we do is far less insulting to theirintelligence than someone like Duran Duran standing aloof andimpassive and trying hard to look like arock band.
"Alright, so we come on to the crowd, show them videos of our families,of us with hangovers in the morning. But through what you callpantomime we send people home feeling thatthey know us abit better than before. If you'dtaken agood look at those crowds you'd haveseen nearly as many boys as girls, and most ofthem were older than the 14-16 age bracket thatyou think is our market.
"The girls were there to be flirted with, so we
did-the blokes just wanted to laugh with us'cos if they were in our position they'd love it.
But there was more singing and dancing thanscreaming. Sure, when we lark about up there
it looks ridiculous to you, but that's because
you don't see the humour in it.
"Our whole image is humorous, we're playing
at pop, playing the game verywell, and the 'videos in Spain and Florida are apart of that.
For God's sake, what do you expect us to do on stage sit in acorner and recite the Gormenghast trilogy?
"The reason we attract so much hostility is because
we're quite blatant, quite open about subjects thatmost bands won't talk about. We want to be huge"-he stretches smooth-haired forearms from wall
to wall- "that's no secret. We're doing it the same
way as everyone else, but because we're frank about
our moves and motives we're blowing everyone"We want to behuge. We'redoing it in thesame way as
everybody else"

106 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

FRI.:F:1)011

else's cover. It's like we've broken some unspoken
code of behaviour."
And in asense he's right. Wham! are possibly thequintessential pop band, the culmination of atwodecade evolution that's turned short cuts, dodges
and formulae into an art form. It's as if they took ademographic survey of what kids would look for in
their ultimate pop band and then turned it into reality.
Wham! songs are transient, disposable, and vitally mobile. So far
they've flirted on the fringes of Latin American, Motown, rap, soul,
jitterbug, funk and disco. Yet no one questions their lack of originality or
whimsical changes of image, because this is Pop, Pop whose capital 'P'
stands for payola not purism and whose only taboo is aflop single.
"What we're increasingly becom ing aware of is that because we mainly
do very superficial interviews, people think we're thick," George mutterswith agrimace. "They ask the same things over and over till it makes you
feel like screaming. Sometimes to combat the boredom we play up andthrow in some arrogant statement in the hopes oflivening things up, butthey never respond. They just go back and print everything we say, like
'Wham! said they think they're the best pop band ever'... They can't evenpick up on the sarcasm."T

HE OTHER VITAL factor that George is almost over-eager toconvey is that Wham! aren't given enough credit for theirsongs. "Here Iam, 21 years old, right! I've written six Top 10
singles, written, sung, produced and arranged aNo 1, I've just released
asolo single and what do people want to ask me? Where Ibuy myshirts and what my favourite food is! Iknow our fans want to know
the trivia but we'd like to be given more credit for the thing we're bestat -making hit records. And there's aknack to writing hits that people
often don't realise."Sounds like George has been hoisted by his own petard. In defence ofWhanes relentless pursuit of basic-ingredient pop, he is quick to quote
other belatedly recognised talents.
"Remember Motown was despised when it first came out, for all thesame reasons we're being slagged off now.
"Look at ABBA-by the time people had realised how good theywere it
was too late. ABBA just kept releasing aregular stream of faultless, catchy
melodies and very clever pop songs. There was nothing fantasticallyoriginal about them either. They triumphed by being consistently good,
and that's what we want for Wham!"
The future seems to hold no fear for George- he's already making
plans adecade in advance. "Unless something dreadful happens to me
or I
get bored with the business, I'll still be writing derivative, catchy,huge-selling records in 10 years' time. My songwriting is getting better
all the time. The songs I'm writing now have afar wider appeal than ourearlier ones.
"We're not like Duran, whose record sales are propped up by ahuge andloyal fan club following. We sold 64,000 copies of 'Wake Me Up' in one day
and we worked out that 90 percent of the people who sent it to No 1would
never have bought aWham! record before. Which proves that theybought it just because they liked it, which has nothing to do with ourimage orvideos or anything else."
Articulate, direct and unbelievably clever at bringing you round to his
point of view by devious circular reasoning, George is fun to cross swords
with. Worse still, you end up liking him for his audacity. Prod him withthe fact that since "Wham! Rap" (its life-on-the-dole lyric seen as Britain's
equivalent to Grandmaster Flash's "The Message") his lyrics haven't
strayed far beyond the reflected glamour of apopstar lifestyle and hesmarts visibly.
"What you're really saying is that we did asudden turnabout fromaggressive to soft, which we can't deny. The aggression in 'Wham! Rap'

113

WHAM!

and 'Young Guns' was real enough, but I
succumbed
to the pressure of sticking to formula with 'Bad Boys'and Ihated that single. It wasn't me. So after that I
decided to write from instinct rather than demand
and that's why the songs changed.
"Since then we've been called fascists, which
Ican't understand. We both vote Labour, we're notsexist, racist, bigoted in anyway-oh, and we're not gay either," he smiles.
"We even tried to take part in aCND benefit at Wembley this year, andwe want to do something that wouldn't look too naff to support theminers. The only thing I'm worried about is keeping the music andpolitics separate."
Obviously to protect the aura and identity Wham! have built aroundthemselves. The potential fragility ofWham!'s new success is also afactor
in releasing George's solo work as acompletely separate project.
"Careless Whisper" was released on Monday, and if George's
buoyant predictions are matched, it'll hit single-digit chart figures
within the week.
"Basically, my solo stuff is very different to what people have come to
expect from Wham!; it couldn't have been incorporated into what we do.
Iwanted to release it, so! have. I'm not expanding my horizons in caseAndrew and Isplit up, which is another one of those rumours you'll haveheard. There's no question of that. But as Wham! the only constantidentity we have is that we're uptempo, lightweight pop. Ilove writing
Wham! songs, but I've enjoyed doing my own stuff too.""Careless Whisper" is acaressing soul ballad that far outstrips themixed charms ofWham! releases. This is so obviously the naturalelement for Michael's richly toned vocals that it's apity his solo work will
be dictated by Whanes schedule. Over the next six months they have torecord an album (in the south of France for tax reasons!), tour when it's
released in late autumn /earlywinter, release another single in themeantime-and then it'll be Christmas.
George is keeping his best song in reserve for the Christmas
competition.
"It's the most commercial and melodic single I've ever written."More commercial than "Wake Me Up"? Impossible. The new Wham!
LP promises to be more of apop-and-soul album than adisco album.
George plans to release another solo single next year- though if "CarelessWhisper" justifies its author's confidence, it'll be interesting to see just
how much time he'll borrow from Wham! to bolster its success.

W

ITH GEORGE DIVERGING on asolo tangent, the specifics
of Andrew's role in Wham! will again be under scrutiny.
George is adamant that Andrew's is not asecondary role.
"He plays guitar, is half the image, co-wrote 'Careless Whisper'with me, and if it wasn't for him Wham! songs wouldn't be what
they are. Wham! is an equal, democratic partnership and it's goingto stay that way."
Andrew, who's done little more in the interview than nod, scowls
moodily and rises to the bait. "Just because I'm happy to let George domost of the talking doesn't mean !don't have opinions. It's just that I'm
not as patient as he is about constantly having to justify our existence tojournalists who never listen anyway."
George inevitably concludes this surprisingly educational joust withachallenge. "Well, you've sat and talked to us now, you've heard Wham!
from Wham!. We're not saying that we have no egos- of course we'reenjoying this success, that's been our target from the start. We're notcovering anything up and we're probably adamn sight more honest in
our intentions than some other bands. Having met us, can you still goaway feeling that we're con artists who prey mercilessly on other people's
vulnerability to pave our way to the top?"
And the answer of cou rse is no. Helen Fitzgerald •

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doll«•••11."(rfrare a."
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1984
ySY

I
ntotal command:ichael Jackson onstage in Bof falo, New
York, August 270984

Jacks

sin every

NME AUG 11...but it's Michael's songs that the crowd want (and get) to hear.

PETRAVER/GETTYSCARCELY HAD I
touched down
Stateside last week when I
foundmyself bound in abus for
Meadowlands, in ahumid pocket of endless,endlessly irrelevant New Jersey. Dislocatedas only an exhausted English rock-crit canfeel, Iwas sped off from CBS midtown
Manhattan in acoach that nosed under theriver to surface in that nebulous nowhereland, in tow with the man from the Sunday
Times and the boy from Smash Hits.
The joke of NooJoizy unfolded along myport side as, in the distance, the sun's bloodyball slid over agigantic spaceship called Giants
Stadium (which hosts football). Here The
Jacksons proposed to hold the night's court.
Once we'd made it past the thousand
varieties of memento, including aprogrammethat retailed at $10, dolls, gloves, aguy selling
battery-operated geese, things started tohappen inside and over the stadium (whichlooked like the end of Close Encounters).
Choppers danced in the sky like insects,
planes rerouted to get aquick glimpse, kids
shadow-boxed jewelled Michael gloves.
At one point, when the popcorn-fuelled
anticipation had reached proportions ofhysteria, afrightening wave effect started
on one side of the stadium (how I
know not),whereby each section rose and fell in domino

108 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

sequence, until it reached me. Each time it
The planes continued to reroute above.
did, I
felt like I
was suffocating. Finally it
Jacksons worked the stage in every
ceased, leaving only the sound of Noo
conceivable direction. Tito was going this
Joizyites, like crickets, talking baseball.
way, Marlon thataway, Jermaine was jammed
The stage was not small, nor were theinto his bass. They dodged and dummied
various control towers. Nor wereand decoyed like American
the screens on either side of thefootballers. "Heartbreak Hotel"
stage, which can only have been
was an electric shock of colour
EAST RUTHERFORD,
blown-up backdrops fromand jerking movement,— NEW JERSEY
Bambi or Snow White. These"Human Nature" was layered
folded away after anoisy andsilk, waves of love, and Michaellaser-slashed tableau in which
was in total command. Facing
abunch of rather sad-looking
us, he was an evangelist—
JULY 29 --ogres called Cretons werepreacher on hot coals; facing
vanquished by valiant, armourhis kin, he was adrill sergeant.
plated Randy.
My favourite Michael pose is
Synthetic thunder rocked thewhere he's asports coach trying to
Arthurian meadowlands, while acombination
explain adifficult manoeuvre with the flat ofof magnesium and dry ice gradually revealed
his hand. He'll stop, in mid-hop, to pickthe five noble knights of the San Fernando
something out of the night air, to size us up. At
Valley. They descended to the sputtering
Meadowlands, too, he was singing beautifully,
pulse of "Wanna Be Startin' Something".
swooning on his back for "She's Out Of My
Start something they of course did. The
Life", long fingers stretching out at the darksight of Michael's white socks blown up abut the voice not breaking. Jermaine, inthousand times on the holograph screen
contrast, was pitiably flat on an otherwise
propelled countless teenage women into
hard-cooking "Let's Get Serious".
astate of near delirium. My own thought was,
One incidental point: as Michael gets ever
yes, that is Michael Jackson, not threesleeker and more stalk-like, so his brudders
hundred yards away, the most famous person
seem to get butcher and meatier. Randy is
on Earth. I'd know him anywhere.
particularly keen on flexing his buttocks, asLIVE!

Andrew Ridgeley
and George Michael:"posturing farcically"

Odd but eventful

LIV

SEPIEMI3C

MM SEPT 15

A

would Jackie be had he not been nobbled
before the tour began. (Jackie hobbled on in
aWorldwide Nuclear Ban T-shirt, leading one
to suppose that he must have tripped over asilo somewhere.) One of the group portraits
in the ripoff programme shows Michael,surrounded by his butch brothers in boxing
togs, splitting the image of that beautiful fey
boy in Visconti's Death In Venice.
All the tour's preceding hype had no doubt
overworked us, but the clamour for more was
not the loudest din your correspondent has
ever heard. Back in asalmon-pink space suit,
Michael jumped through "Beat It", "Billie
Jean", "Shake Your Body", lay prostrate as
giant Meccano triffids with purple eyeballs
tried to eat him, twirled like aspinning top afew
more times, and generally carried on making
spontaneously choreographed love to himself.
Fireworks closed the proceedings as I
wandered through the squashed franks andspilt cola to the sanctuary of the press bus. By
now too creased to form ajudgement of thespectacle just witnessed, images of Michael
and more Michael swam over the film of myeyes until, with ajolt, I
was walking the Sunday
Times man and the Smash Hits boy back totheir suites at the Algonquin Hotel. And lastnight I
dreamed Michael Jackson all the way
home to London. BarneyHoskyns

sILURKED round the back of the halltrying to get in, asmall entourage swept
past led by ashort, greying man,curiously familiar... Arthur Scargill! The
teenage girls hovering round the door paid
no attention. They were preoccupied withthe serious business of waiting for Wham!
Afaint aura of culture shock lingered overthe evening like awhiff of cordite. The boxes
and decorum of the Festival Hall seem more
Midland Bank than NUM, but it was full ofdetermined expressions and akeenness toapplaud the right sentiments however they
were expressed. The critic did not feel
welcome, though the event was presumably
as much about publicity as anything.
Alexei Sayle kicked off, resembling abadtempered grizzlywho's woken up to findhimself inexplicably sewn into an ill-fitting
suit. On TV, Sayle is achore. Tonight, he wasbelligerent and very funny, "political" onlyby
inference but scourgingly provocative.
I
couldn't hear much of Mike Harding
because my seat was in the acoustic deadzone. Still, I
heard him say that the miners
couldn't be beaten because they had nothing
to lose, and this earned atumult of applause.
Rik Mayall as "Kevin Turvey" wasalmost exactly as you'd expect, with someconvoluted saga about something happening
to him on the wayto the auditoriu m It ended
with much talk of"pricks", rather rude in
myview. Typecasting inacomedian is even worse
than it is for pop stars, who
can at least pretend to be
actors when people stopbuying their records.
The Style Council took
the stage for apacked,
purposeful set which lifted off nicelywith arhumba-styled "Speak LikeA Child". Weller
sensiblylet the music do the talking, apartfrom dedicating alithe "Move On Up" to "allthe miners" (hardly necessary, one would
have thought). For "Mick's Up", Weller played
bass as the admirable MickTalbot rippled
round his keyboards without visible effort.
Style Council seem to be shaking down into a

versatile unit, with tonight's short display
showing awelcome lack of pop-star ego.
Weller and Talbot returned to the stage foralow-key encore of "My Ever Changing
Moods" and pottered off into the wings.
Still unable to hear much of what people
were saying, I
was at first under the
impression that the man in the dark suit
who'd stepped to the mic was some sort ofstand-up comedian. However, Irealised myerror when Icaught the bit about "this man is
one of the finest TUC leaders this country has
ever seen". Heavens, he wasArthur Scargill'swarm-up man. Thereupon, Arthur (looking
nervous) strode on stage and delivered an
impassioned speech, evidently much shorter
than his usual workout, thanking the artists
and predictingvictory for the NUM. Nothing
new here, but he brought the house down.
After the interval we had the awful Nigel"Neil" Planer, mercifullybrief, then it was
Wham!All ofWham!, that is—backing girls,
brass section, keyboards, guitars—all
miming. George thought everybody had
come to see them alone, and apologised toanyone who'd bought aticket under the
impression that Wham!would be playing
live. He did add that this wasn't the point of
the evening, but obviously Wham! were out
to milk their 15 minutes for all it was worth.
We had "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go",the grim "CarelessWhisper", anew song
called "Everything She
Wants" and the new
single, "Freedom". Dressedin white and posturing
farcically, Wham! greatly
pleased the three rows ofyoung girls at the back of
the hall and left everybody
else stone-faced and baffled.
Working Week, dependable jazzers who've
seen athing or two, closed the proceedings
with the right air of rewarding application.
Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn sang the words to"Venceremos" with astounding ineptitude,
then the band lit up for the long instrumental
passage and left us sizzling. It had been an
odd but eventful night. Adam Sweeting

George apologised
to anyone thinking
Wham! would beplaying live

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I109

"Theintention
was to beahero"An unexpected kind of meeting with.
What begins as a
junketfor his new single with AFRIKA BAMBAATAA
becomes an insight into how amajor
star succeeds, prospers and endures.
"I'd love to record with Streisand," says
JB. "That would definitely be good forhumanity and for artistic merit."

SEX MACHINE TODAY
Funky President? Soul Godfather?
-

••

-

ri

ihlican JAMES BROWN lays the '80s rap on a

I.

King of hip hop Af rika
Bambaataa andgodfatherof funkJames Brown,
collaborators on the
Tommy Boy single"Unity", sommer 1984

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I111

1

1984
JU y sYR

NME SEPTEMBER 1-W

HAT DO YOU thinkof when you think ofJames Brown?
Astretcher case raddledwith emotional pain
dragging himself backfrom endless encores of "Please Please Please"?
The self-proclaimed, undisputed Godfather
Of Soul roving across his kingdom in his robes
and finery giving strength and supplication to
the weak and weary masses? The man who
stopped arace riot? Apompadour quiff dripping
asheen of sweat over his face? Rubber-limbed
knee jerks, full-length splits and heel swivels?
One of the finest musical brains of the past 25
years? Alarger-than-life presence. The speed.
The grace. The glory?
Laydeez and gennelmen -the star of theshow, hard-working, Mr Dynamite...
Jaaaaaymes Brown.
Or, are you ready for this James Brown
wrapped in abathrobe, coolly appraisinghimself in front of his bedroom mirror with his hair wrapped in pinkrollers. Would you believe it? The Man's Man Sex Machine Brother Rapp
Minister Of The New Super Heavy Funk with huge plastic combs to givehis nylon-textured locks that permed flounce and parting!

I

pitch look over the broad sweep of the Manhattan
skyline, and beside the windows sits alarge Steinway.
Various people from Tommy Boy Records and theJames Brown entourage mill around the main room
and kitchen (where there's abar with an extensive
supply of Perrier water). At the top of the spiralstaircase, James finishes off his preparations.
As I
wait for his arrival, the girl from Tommy Boy
introduces me to Alfie, the fourth or fifth Mrs
Brown, who's nowbusying herself with someknitting.A good fewyears IB's junior, she's
fairly plump and squat, with abouffant ofback-combed black hair and awell-powderedwhite face. Later in the day, somebody tells
her she looks like Joan Collins and she's notamused, at all.
Also there throughout the three days is Mr
Henry Stallings, hardest working managerof the hardest-working man in show business,
and Willie Glenn, afriend of James sinceschooldays, now employed as ageneralassistant. His chief function seems to be togive wholehearted support and agreement
to the craziest statements and conjectures
made by his friend and keeper. Some of Brown's male offspring by
previous marriages and his newest collaborator-Overlord OfThe Zulu
Nation, self-proclaimed, undisputed King Of Hip Hop, Afrika Bambaataa-are also present.
It's only after flying 3,000 miles from London and about three minutes
before the interview that I'm taken aside by the girl from Tommy Boy andtold there are three areas to avoid-politics, religion and colour. AJames
Brown interviewwithout politics or religion wasn't exactly the sort ofinterview I'd been preparing for. The thought that I'd had when the trip
was first proposed began to niggle. It was that Brown had only decided
to do interviews as part of the deal struck with Tommy Boy for his
collaboration with Bambaataa on the megamix "Unity" (it was rumoured
he was given an unconditional payment of $30,000 for his part in therecording) and not to delve into the brilliance and complexity of one of
the most amazing success stories and catalogues of recorded work in thewhole of history.
Suddenly there he is descending the stairs in awide flapping casino
hustler suit, aviator shades, and aruffled red shirt. Patent leather shoes
click on the floor as he strides over to the piano to run through an oldsong that he never got round to recording. Tune called "Honeydripping",
and it's afine version.
"Boogie-woogie!" yells Jamesas he goes for an extended run
between verses.
"I wish I
could see his eyes; his eyes
say it all," sighs Alfie.
He looks in my direction. "Youwouldn't know 'bout things like that,recorded before you was even born,"he says removing his shades andcoming down to sit beside me. Afrika
Bambaataa takes astool on my otherside, but remains mute while Brown isspeaking. Although it was his idea toapproach Brown to make "Unity" andhe's followed him for years, it soon
becomes clear that there are several
issues on which Bann is prepared to be
more forthright than The Godfather.
His silence seems only to avoid
contradiction and ensures the courtly
respect flows smoothly.

"They wantme to workwith Aretha,
but Ichose
Bambaataa"

FYOU WERE around his hotel room the morning before the startof his three-day assault on The New Music Seminar in New York's
Hilton Hotel, you'd see how the rollers are just part of his elaborate
and well-established process of readying himself to meet the press andpublic. Inside their bedroom, his wife Alfie busies herself with thevarious makeups, toners and highlighters that will improve his features
without making him look like one of those over-painted honkys who
seemed to have colonised the charts while James has been elsewhere.
Then there is the extensive wardrobe of clothes designed to make thissmall, corpulent 56-year-old look solid and imposing rather than theglutinous overweight mass that one suspects lies under the carefully
tailored cloth. He is also on adiet specially planned by Gertrude Stein, hiswardrobe mistress and weight-watcher for the past 20 years.
Obviously no spring chicken herself, Ms Stein, atall, quiet lady in awhitecrimplene frockwith amild case of varicose veins, had quite ahard task.
Because while Mister Brown, as everyone in his select entourage refers tohim, nibbles on cornflakes and sliced
bananas at breakfast and delicate little
canapes for alunchtime snack as heplays Funky President-in-waiting,when at home in his Augusta, Georgia,
mansion, he is no stranger to the joys ofSouthern-style home cooking.
The extra flesh is there to prove it, but
the careful preparation pays off and
Mr Brown looks smart, cool and, yes,
imposing. It's still abit disconcertingwhen you see him swagger across thefloor of his hotel suite or strutting
downtown NewYorkwith the butt
wriggling and that rolling cowboy gaitin full swing. Still, pink rollers! Thatwasn't going to be too easy to forget.
That was areal shocker.
On the Hilton's 44th floor is the
Presidential Suite. Richard Nixon
stayed herewith his wife Pat in the
middle of some of his corrupt dealings.
The main room has oak-panelledbookshelves with averitable libraryofAmerican literature, various itemsof engraved antique furniture andaswish polished-ballroom floor.
Windows the size of asmall football

RENEGADE
GODFATHER

112 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

In the past you've been critical of new
funk groups. Why have you decided towork with Bambaataa?
No, I'm not criticalit's an extension ofwhat we've done and it's another way
to get to it. I'm never critical of no one.

"He's gota reputationfor
helping the young, andthat'swhat I'mabout also",
Brown on Bambaataa

One thing we are critical of, Bambaataa andmyself, is people killing each other. Nowyou live
as long as you can and die when you can't help it,
but we don't want you to plan nobody's death.

"Louis Jordan
influenced
me. It was theshow as wellas the music"

But you must have had offers frompeople before?
Yeah, I
have; Iwon't call their names, they're
good people, good faith. Ithink one of the
Rolling Stones wants to do an album with me
now, Nona Hendryx also. They want me to workwith Aretha, but Ichoose Bambaataa. When I
first talked to him, Iknew it was what I
wanted to
be involved in. He's about people looking out for
the underdog and looking out for the small man.
That's what Iget from him, that's what he told me; anything else
he's thinking I
don't know about, but that's what he told me. He's got
areputation for helping the young, and that's what I'm about also.

The sound of inner-city hip hop is an extension of the sound of
American geography. When you began making music, the various
regions had clearly defined "sounds". Were you conscious of wanting
to integrate all these elements?
It's like travelling- some takes the autobahn, some takes the service
road, some take atrain, some take aplane. Everybody's going thesame place-survival. [Baffled, Irepeat thequestion.] No, I
wasn't. I
was conscious about
eating and sleeping. I
wanted to live. All thatcame after. But once you get what you want you
shouldn't be so hung up on yourself that you
won't help other people. That's why I
love him,
because he's concerned about people otherthan himself.

Weren't you influenced by people? I
hear
you like the blues singer Little Willie John?
No, he didn't influence me. I
like some of
the things he was doing but he didn't
influence me. Louis Jordan influenced me,
Lew-iss Jordan. It was the show as well as themusic-very vibrant, very entertaining.

Your showwas very stylised -how did you go about putting it together?
Ithink organisation is the key to everything. Organise- that's what
Bambaataa's talking about. Organise people's minds toward peace.
Organisation. What's wrong with the entertainers today is that theywalk on stage and they're not organised, then they ask the audience
which one shall we play. We know which one we're going to playwhen
we get up there. Entertainment, that's what its about -E-N-T-E-R-T-A-I-NM-E-N-T, entertainment. »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I113

1984

-0111iPiERWas it important that your show was veryrootsy; it came from local communities andordinaryfolks could relate to it?
I
don't understand your terms of words, so I'm
not going to agree with you.

AFTERAWHILE it becomes clear that
James Brown isn't so much interested
in answering questions as using thespaces in the conversation as an opportunity
to propagate his flaccid, ecumenical cliches.
He tells me later that I'm too young, got no
wisdom, that I'm dragging down the horizonsof the interview. Well, excuse me.
I'm not quite used to adjusting to the neo mystical rarefied verse required byYe Gods ofentertainment. Oh sure, we could get into oneof those dopey religious flip-top dialogues, but
it would get us nowhere fast. This is JAMESBROWN forgodsakes, areal bleeding hero. I
want to grapple with the reality of the man who
had me motivated and fortified by his music for
as long as Iremember. Aman whose music has
travelled further and stayed sharper thananyone involved in the (r) evolution of modernmusic, whose gut-bottom pained shriek on"Cold Sweat", "Please Please Please", "Bring It
On" (fill in your favourite) is the epitome ofsoul music's sonic powerd rive. Aman whose
esteem seems to diminish every time he opens
his mouth to do anything other than use The
Steinway. Idecide Imight have more successwith areverential pitch.
You went through alot of hard times touring
the South, recording great music that nevercharted, getting ripped off. Did you always
feel that you'd be popular?
Ithought I
would get to the top. Iknew I
hadsomething to offer and that I
was as good as any
man that wanted to do something and awhole
lot better than those that didn't want to do
nothing. Heh heh heh. You understand?
You became areal hero to many, likeyoung
Barn here. Was that the intention?
Imust have done something he liked. Ihope
Ibecame ahero to him. I
hope Ibecame ahero
to his family and that he's ahero to me. The
intention was to be ahero, to make everyone
like me. In the beginning it was for me, then I
got mine and Istarted to think of other people.
Any man who doesn't think of himself first is notvery intelligent. When you eat food, do you eat
for yourself or someone else? I
rest my case.

JIM STEINFELDT /GETTY

You developed at the same time as
Elvis Presley...
I
didn't develop anything Elvis did. I
was singing
before Imet Elvis. We wasn't allowed to play
together during that time, there was aseparation thing called prejudice. Elvis and) got
together when we weren't working; we weregood friends, we was religious brothers. Bothsung gospel.

Septembemo,
1984:Brownon
stageattheFirst
Avenue nightclub
in Minneapolis,
Minnesota"The intention
was to be ahero, to makeeveryonelike me"Were you to black folks what Elvis was towhite folks?
We was equivalent to people, but the system wouldn't allow us to be
together- not as white and black people. But we had to say what we said
during those times, even though people don't really have acolour. But
since they separated us, we dealt with what we had. But, by the same114

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984

token, when he'd get off work, Elvis would be
peeping in the windowwatching BB King and
TBone Walker like Iused to watch Tommy
Dorsey, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
You met them as well?
Yeah, I
met Sinatra. Sinatra's avery good friendof mine. Ilike alot of things he did. Ilike the way
he stood up for himself and defended himself
when he was publicly attacked.

Would you like to have recorded with Elvis?
Ithink it would have made agood record- me
doing what Ifelt and Elvis doing what he felt.
Ithink it would have been good for humanity-like Bambaataa and me together is good for humanity. I'd love torecord with Streisand, that would definitely be good for humanity andfor artistic merit. I
would still like to record with Sinatra and hopefully,
Iwish, he would like to record with me, because Ithink we could bringalot of things together.

JAMES BROM

You created agreat showman that you seem to haveto be 24 hours aday- is that easy to live with?
James Brown is forever because he do as God tells him
to. Yes it's great to live with, all you got to do is think of
the time before. To be so important is easy to live with.
Does theworld need heroes today?
Sure, everybody needs heroes. Heroes arerole models.
Are the heroes of today the sort theworld needs?
The world needs what it has; the world don't
produce nothing it don't need.
It produces famines, nuclear waste, wars.
Wars? I
guess it needs wars. Wars is away of
debating. Killing-they don't need that. But
they have wars, the whole of the Olympics is war.
Awar of art. Heh heh heh.

and on the box, but it's only asmall part of it thatis like that."
For aguy so young and so much in demand,
Bambaataa seems in control and not afraid to let his
tongue loose on issues like South Africa, when these days
The Godfather would rather keep schtum. Idecide to go for
broke with Brown and ignore the guidelines.

"I'm not goingto get off onblack andwhite. Don't
ask me"Have you seen The Jacksons' show?
Ididn't get achance, though I
was invited there. But Michael is doing very
good and well enough without me not to bother seeing him. Idon't want
to distract attention away from him. Kids need to look at Michael, not me.
We got Michael going, now we got to work on Prince and Bambaataa.
Jackson regularly checks you as amajor influence, but the elements ofsexual ambiguity and childlike wonderment in his act seem at odds
with the masculine tradition that you celebrated. Would you agree withblack Muslims who've said his image is "sissified"?
Ihaven't anything to do with that. I'm not here to talk about that. Ithinkyou've run out of questions, haven't you? Don't get fresh when you comeback to me. I
don't want to talk about other people. Don't ask me those
sort of questions. I'm here to talk about this thing (points ata copy of"Unity"). You talk to Bambaataa now.

W

You've met nearly every president since
Kennedy-what effect did that have on you?
There are things I'd like to do and! see things
they're fighting and help to make their lifeeasier. Every president wants to do good,see. Everyone want to do what the other one's
doing, they all want to do good. They just haveadifferent way of going about it. I
met Johnson,
Vice President Humphrey, Mr Nixon, President
Carter and Mr Reagan. Mr Nixon is my numberone president because he was the president, theboss. Most people become president and listen
to someone else, but he was the president in hishead and Mr Reagan is president in the same way.

The relationship we have with China is only because Mr Nixon knew
what he was talking about with Watergate. If he'd have waited to see what
they were doing then we'd have had to forget about China and the whole
new frontier for communications, the relationship and brotherhood. He
done the right thing.
The person that is the president of the United States is the president of
the world, because the United States sets all the presidents up like thatwhether they like it or not. So you should have your act together if you
want to be president of the United States.
[I didn't need to ask this man if he was voting for Jesse Jackson.]Afew years ago you played in San Quentin prison and became
quite emotional at the sight of aprison filled with black men. You
said nothing had changed for black people in this country. Is it
still the same?

HOOPS, THINK Ijust blew the James Brown story. The
great man ups and walks off to complain to Mister
Stallings. As Ishoot the breeze with Bambaataa- asweet
guy with his own story to tell -Ican hear Willie Glenn shouting, "Yeah,
you right, you right, you damn right."

I'm not going to get off on black and white. Don't ask me about that.
Things have changed in America for everybody. You can do what you
want to do; most people don't want to do anything. I
don't want nobody togive me no welfare. Don't want no welfare cheque, that stagnates me.

Bambaataa had met James Brown several times in the '60s and '70s
when he came up to the Bronx, sometimes making an appearance at oneof the special annual Brown tribute nights that Barn DJ'd. Just as James
Brown stopped arace riot by going on 24-hour TV in the late '60s, so when
the cairn of his club was one night disturbed by ashooting incident
outside, Bambaataa quelled the crowd by playing nonstop IB.
The Godfather recorded what is probably the first rap record-"America
Is My Home" -and later, when the '70s scene took off, made one of his
greatest records in years with "Rapp Payback" -semi-taunt, semi-tributeto the youngbloods. While he'd obviously been keeping tabs on the New
York scene- he'd been snapped hanging out with Kurtis Blow during theearly days of The Roxy- it wasn't until the young man who heremembered from way back (Brown's photographic memory islegendary) made him an offer that he decided to join forces.
But it's not all that Bambaataa's been involved with or plans to be
involved with.Alist of his ventures criss-cross the cornucopia of modernmusic. Firstly he has his own groups on avariety oflabels- Shango, Soul

What happened to the James Brown of militant pride, the James Brown
who wasn't afraid to point fingers and diagnose ills?
When we recorded "Say It Loud I'm BlackAnd I'm Proud" it was necessary
to get people to come forward, but to me it was acomedown. I
didn't wantto have to record that, because it separates them. I
had to separate themand give them an identity at one point and join them together later. That's
why "Unity" is so important.

Sonic Force, Time Zone-and then the people who are interested in using
his beat advisory service-John Lydon, Thomas Dolby, George Clinton,
German rapper Falco, Yellowman, Nona Hendryx.
He hasn't actually met Lydon, but in preparation he was watching
all available videos of the PiL lynchman and reading
as much as he could about him. Whatever love
he once had for Lydon's former manager waswashed away by McLaren's comments on arecent
hip-hop documentary.
"Anybody asks me about Malcolm and! always starttalking about Malcolm X. McLaren is aliar. He met me
in ahousing project in South East Bronx- it wasn't
burnt out or looking raggedy or nothing. They show
the same piece of the Bronx all the time in the movies

So was "Sex Machine" areaction against being politically pigeonholed?
"Sex Machine" had nothing to do with it, it has many meanings. There issex in everything, sex is understanding, also sex is something else. Comehere and I'll show you how to write "Sex Machine".

W

EGATHER ROUND the great sage as he prepares to gothrough one of his weird little games. Doubtless Willie will
be humbled with wonderment at the end ofit all. On asheet of paper Brown writes "Sex Machine".
"That to you means getting it off, making love. But have you everlistened to the message on 'Sex Machine'?"Well, I've always thought it was about more- motivation, excellence,
disciplined pleasure.
"That's right. Now what is it?" (He makes the 'S' into
adollar sign.)"Money," says the girl from Tommy Boy.
"That's right. You knowl do alittle bit where Islide
across the stage. That's like atypewriter, the return.
I
go back and forth. Change things. And Istart inlots of different places, so 'Sex Machine' becomest
he musical cleft (draws another 'S' and alters it
accordingly). It can also be two people making love.
That same 'S'." »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I115

1984
,u,

"How old are you?Icantell
by your questionsthat
you'reveryyoung"iBrown
with indefatigable NME
inquisitor Gavin Martinin
New York.summer1984

As Joe (Stevens, photographer] decides to take some snaps, Brown
pushes away the packet of Kool cigarettes resting on the table beside him.
"One thing, we don't want pictures with cigarettes in them."
Still, throughout the course of the day he regularly filches afew fags
fromAlfie's packet. Even soul giants have theirvices, Iguess. He also

So you thought about all those thingswhenyouwerewriting the song,didyota
No, God gave me an idea and he knew I'd develop all those thoughts fromthat one thing.

tells Bambaataa to hide his wallet: "You don't want to associate
ASKWHYHE recorded so many of his old songs again in the lateyourself with money."'70s, and he says, "I just do as God tells me."Later the next day I
see him talking to Tommy Boy label boss andAnd what of his collaboration with Sly and Robbie?
"Unity" executive producer Tom Silverman. They are comparing"I wanted to go in one direction and theywanted to go in another. But hehands and Silverman comments on Brown's lack ofjewellery. "That's
and Idid something together because we went in the same direction. Hehgood, that's right," says JB. "We don't want to alienate the poor, don't
heh heh. Ain't that funny, Barn? Hehh heh heh heh, that's really funny...
want
to show our wealth.""I ain't metcher mam yet, Barn, got to meet your mam."
One thing that has always come through in the mercurial fuse"That'll be atrip for her," says Bambaataa.
of Brown's music is the way he combines gospel traditions and"It'll be atrip for me, too, to see where afine young man like you comespiritual thoughts with the most visceral, the dirtiest of desires.
from. You come from aspecial breed of people to go through all the things
Unhindered by contradiction and compromise, his swagger andyou went through and still draw ahappy medium. But you're still intobuzz phrases and his finger-popping funkthat black thing real strong, aren't you, Bam?"throttle were given full reign and became"I check for all world things. I'm looking out
multi-applicable- good for the body andfor everybody. But especially for them that are
atonic to the spirit.
where I
come from."
Never was he haunted by the crisis of"But you got to take everything in your stride.
conscience that drew Little Richard andAl
You'll see alot of things but you don't want toGreen to the path of preachin' purity, nor has
limit your conversation when you sayyou're
he been shadowed with the dark foreboding
black, white, German or Jewish; you're going tothat hangs over the legacy of gospel brothers
turn off other nationalities and limit it. Your rap
Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye.
will begin to change and modify itself, but you'll
Brown points at Alfie, "She's first in my life.
still be talking about the same things.
Well, God is first in my life, but in worldly things"I'm not telling you what to say, but I
will give
she's first in my life. God gave me amessage foryou both points of view and let you make yourall my songs. God found out man was lonely soown decision, because you're going to makehe gave him awoman.
both decisions later anyway. You make one"How old are you? Ican tell by yourdecision now, what's known as arightquestions that you're very young. If you
decision; later on you'll make aleft decision.
cowere five years olderyou'd ask differentty•Later on you'll make one that's right downUEquestions, young Gavin. You'll do nothing
FIRST AVENcothe middle. That will come from experience,
before your time, heh heh heh."
6
701 FIRST AUENUE NORTH
nobody can teach you that."ro58111hItgellnONDÇA.:.
W hEa.
U
4 MPS OPEh 3,00 Pli
P
116 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984TNISI OE It ID MIMED.

1"One thing we don't wantpictures withcigarettes
in them"

JAMES B
ROWN
rb

JAMES BROWNW

ITH THE PHOTO
session finished, theentire Brown posse
retire to the dining room for lunch.
The girl from Tommy Boy asks
me if I've got enough and Igive
her abefuddled look. She nods
knowingly and agrees to Stevens'suggestion that we accompany
them to their next assignment withMTV afew blocks across town.
There he and Bambaataa will beinterviewed and the video for"Unity" will be previewed.
When Brown strides purposefully
through the hotel lobby or across
New York streets, many elbows are nudged,
eyebrows raised and tracks stopped in. Youngguys have that quizzical "Is it really him?" look;older folks holler and cheer, "JB, mah mainman!" "Whoo, Godfather," yells aconstruction
worker atop several stories of scaffolding.
In the green room at MTV, Alfie preens Brown
for his appearance- fixing his shirt collar,
removing dust flecks from the back of his jacket
and flicking his hair curls into perfect shape.
James and Willie decide to try their hands atthe pool table in the middle of the room. "WellI
dunno, Iused to be pretty good but! ain't shot
for some time," says Willie.
"Weren' I
bad, Willie, weren' Ibad?"says Brown.

himself. Along the way he forged
R'n'B, gospel and self-respect into
S-O-U-L, became asymbol of pride
and resilience, drilled some oftightest, most stunning groups ever"At first I
fought on thestreets, thenIwas aprofessional""You sure was bad, James. You sure was," says Willie.
"When James and me get togetherwe're the baddest team there is.
Ain't that right, baby?" says Alfie on the sidelines.
"That's right, baby, that's right," says James.
James gets beaten on the game of nine ball and as Willie walks away heplayfully mutters under his breath, "Ya jive-ass mutha-fuggin' nigger."Bambaataa had disappeared into the kitchen on arrival but as they'drode the short distance from the hotel to the TV station Brown had
continued to give him advice on presentation.
"You speak kind of low, Barn, Idon't want to undercut you. When you
say the words 'LOVE', 'PEACE' and 'UNITY', say them loud like aDJ."
But just before they are due to make their appearance, there's ahitch
which is finally resolved when MTV agree to draw up aspecially worded
contract. James objects to the wording that says MTV permits him toappear on their channel. "I'm not signing that-I didn't ask to be on thisshow. There might be some kids begging to go on the show, but it's not me,
not James Brown. Rick James may have begged to go on it, but where is henow? If Igoon, their ratings go up and they get millions ofviewers. I'mdoing them afavour..."Everything is eventually completed to everyone's satisfaction. "I told
you, things can't go wrongwith Alfie there. Everything goes well when
she's around," confides James. He helps his wife into the van, pushingher expansive rump. "Always let me help you, honey. Because you always
help me," he coos.
As the van makes its way back to the hotel he slaps his palm on the
upholstery in time to the funky backbeat provided by the radio. Although
he never rolls up his trousers to reveal the scars and smashes caused by 20
years of onstage knee drops, up close you can see his marked, flattened
knuckles bear the scars of his previous career.
"I was aprizefighter, y'know, southpaw. At first I
fought in the streets,
then! was aprofessional. Fought three fights professionally, won themall, 138 pounds! was then. They wanted to take me around the country,
but! couldn't go because in those days I
was ajuvenile delinquent.
"Me and Sugar Ray Robinson sparred together once. We knocked eachother down at exactly the same time. Ain't that something? Have you everbeen knocked down? It's like you've stumbled over abox or something.
Everything seems to go slow and you're looking for something that you
tripped over but you just keep falling."
Unlike some, however, James Brown didn't keep falling, rising fromthe lowliest of stations (born into Southern poverty and racial hatred,ajailbird by the age of 16) to become the massive alter ego he made forrecorded, and produced atornado
of alive show, the sheer blinding
intensity of which will probably
never be equalled.
Now the trajectory of the man
who gave his all to showbusiness inasearch for his place in America iscomplete. He may have had to prune
down his massive business empire
when the income taxman arrived
in the mid-'70s -the chauffeurs,
the valets, the hairdressers, the radio stations
and the mansions- but now he's back on top,
on parade.
He hobnobs with presidents, kids who weren't
around to hear his golden era catch up with an
exhaustive series of compilations, andalegion of performers -black and white- bear
witness to his influence. The recognition andacceptance he has lusted after is now his andhe can look over the NewYork skyline and far

beyond and say, truly, "James Brown is forever."This picture of asoul survivor, asoul
champion, is brilliantly etched by GerriHirshey in her magnificent book Nowhere
To Run. But there are those who would say that,to get where he is, James has had to turn his head round so many times
that he's now amass of contradictions, that the monolith of theAmericanindustry and the political straightjacket it imposes on all its lynchpins
has eaten away at the resonance and strength of his deepest, mostadamant declarations. And they've got apoint, too.
On the final day of the New Music Seminar, James Brown dominates
the panel which includes Peter Wolf, Bambaataa, George Clinton, acoquettish Madonna and astarstruck Lou Reed. The whole seminar has
been hallmarked by the serious, serving attitude of the industry, and asazealous image protector, James Brown is not about to upset the trend.
Brown performs well in front of acrowd even though most of what hesays is backslapping industry twaddle. However, while outlining hisplans to peg prices on his forthcoming tour, he defends The Jacksons'ticket fiasco. "Bullshit," cries avoice from the audience.
It was acharge that could quite easily have been applied to an earlier
comment when he told the audience he played to 1.3 million people inFrance. "That's more people than live in Atlanta, Georgia," he enthused.
Actually, the population ofAtlanta is nearly double that figure. Somepeople don't know where to quell their egomania.
Fielding aquestion about voting preference in the forthcoming US

election -which, predictably, no one wanted to answer-the panel
chairman Howie Montaug said he would certainly not be voting for
Reagan. Brown interjected, saying if that was the case then he would bevoting for him.
Tom Silverman (a seminar organiser as well as Tommy Boy chiefafact that led several to believe the whole seminar had been designed
around an elaborate puff for "Unity", and certainly James Brown,
the total showman, sees to it that the single is publicised at every
available turn) reportedly later chided Montaug for allowing thequestion to be posed.
Too confusing, too off-putting when he gets on his reactionary highhorse (sure, JB says he's against nuclear war, but so does Reagan), butwhat he does best, what everyone wants to see, is James Brown, the
JAMES BROWN. Inevitably they get their chance at the close. Someone
asks for aJB scream and he obliges. Then his old pal George Clinton
goads, "Do the splits, James. Do the splits as well." Sure enough, he getson the podium and he does amean little shuffle and two full-length
splits. The crowd rise in thunderous applause- all those that came to see
James Brown be the guv'nor, The Godfather, are satisfied.
And all those who expected him to be less cosy, more challenging?
Well, maybe we shouldn't expect so much from someone who's foundacomfortable place at the core of the American dream. Gavin Martin •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I117

1984
_

MER
"Momento Mori" is Brighton's"The Gift", and it's all surely the
beginning of astring of vital discs.

Virgin Dance
SPARTANriders. On the sleeve of thisrecord, he cuts astunningly
forgettable figure in he-man
trench coat, and the future
looks ironed. To predict that
this will not be ahit seems
wishful. In all truth,
Howard is asweetman. But a
steady dietof sweets
RAK 372
sickens.
3720.

4.

National
Pastime

SPELLBOUND

SINGLES
The Woodentops

FOOD

Anyone sane living in this world
will realise on hearing "Plenty"
that The Woodentops bringwith them anew age ofenlightenment. This, their prize
exhibit, is arecord that you wantto cuddle and keep forever. A
proud, dramatic, earthy romp, it
is apersonable celebration amid
the pallid hoo-ha of false popness. The Woodentops, with
Easterhouse, have the insightthat all young groups ache for,asense of knowing that arecord
should never be made unless it isaphysical necessity on behalf of
the artist. Here, avoice of fine
pitch sails with explosive
honesty. Similarly, the B-side
stands as an unqualified triumph.
E, Please God, make this ahit.

Ei Flying Lizards

STATIK

2 Heaving asthmatically in thee, name of high sexuality, Sally
L' Lizard emerges as bloodless as
1.18 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

aprune. With Michael
Lizard, she recounts James
Brown's grand romancelessseduction with churchlike
sobriety. The pace is snail-slow,
the passion almost programmed,
and the good-fellow jollity is fun
in much the same way that deathby leprosy is fun.

Howard Jones
WEA

Pop rajah Howard concretely
illustrates how afinely crafted"pop" record can almost hint at
human cruelty. It is by sheer
miscalculation of nature that
toothsome Howard finds
himself making records.
Howard's success could lastforever, but his songs will
never be mistaken for serious
art. On this single, one canlisten to it for hours and hearnothing, which must be acraft
in itself. In aworld of "in-ness"and "out-ness", Howard stands
as an identification figure forall prepubescent horseback

Musically
derailed,
National Pastime
spur on, by nature of
their boyish charm, tobecome household
irritants. One does notwish to bedeliberately cruelto quite obviously
dedicatedmusicians, but inthe interest ofgeneral publichealth, cruelty
becomes necessary.
For all the sizzlingly
dull "romance", theurgings sound flattened, thecravings sound embalmed.
National Pastime are four boys
for whom awell-buttered scone
would satisfy all fleshly cravings.

Venus In Furs
MOVEMENT

Grantedly grim, VIF etch on their
run-off "Next stop Auschwitz",which sounds moderately selfdeprecating. Times is the little
coddled treasure controlling thisproject. Ready instead of rough,his voice is not dissimilar to Bid of
the Monochrome Set.

EN•FENDED
PLAY

Typically Now, VD are, you know,
Gothic and Mysterious. As therecord hits the turntable, themystique is magically exhausted.
Edwin Hind is amodern spiritualson, and the mechanics of sex are
his lyrical concern. Effortlessly
handsome, Edwin's machismo
crucifixion glamour pose is the
dream realised; curious how theother four members arealmost entirely
blacked out byan obviously
sensiblesleeve artist,
DO
WLD
owv
for fear that
Tarzan be
Sl.121GUATRO
upstaged.
But alas, one
has forgotten
the song
before therecord ends.

Suzi Quatro

RAK

At your age? I
sincerely doubt
it. On this sleeve, bearing a
bloodcurdling resemblance
to the Witch Of Capri, theseemingly deathless Suzi revs
up yet again with amusical plot
which remains unaltered since1973."1'm an alley cat," shegrowls, sentiments which,adecade ago, were mildly
forgivable, but which, in1984,
seem almost unhealthy. Quatro
is worthless because of her
absolute inability to convey any
emotion other than pre-teen
hysteria. A"Rocker" she claims,
and a"Rocker" she is. Rocking,in fact, into oblivion.

Troy Tate

SIRE

The numerous associations of
Troy Tate must now be put firmly
behind him. This is the bestrecord he has ever appeared on.
Lyrically, "Thomas" is bravebecause it bulldozes overdelicate ice. Male friendships
viewed sensitively risks ridicule,and Troy survives through deep
sincerity. Withholding nothing,
the overstretched guitars lead
poignantly to afatal gunshot
and the death of Thomas. This
record should be asizeable hit,should justice prevail. However,
we know that it very rarely does.

Gina XSTATIK

Frightfully modern rehash of
Beatles cutie which makes noimmediate sense. Gina looks
smug on the sleeve, for reasons

The Go-Betweens

The Adventures
Part Company

that can only be other thanmusical. Sexy, yes, stylish, yes,
but also alittle silly.

The Go-Betweens
SIRE

It is amad, indescribable joy tolisten to words with depth,
scope and thought. The
Go-Betweens' mood here istremendously sad, and it istheir best record. Produced
carefully by John Brand, The
Go-Betweens have waited
some considerable time fornational acclaim. Their time hascome. Listen and learn.

Kid Creole &The Coconuts
ISLAND

CHRYSALIS

Many major reco rdcom pan ieshave mastered the knac kof
presenting new groups in waysthat make us believe th atth ey
are not, in fact, new. With ou t
signalling revolutio n,
Th eAdventures' disc looms inglamorous gatefold sleeve .
I
wanted to like this record, butIjust couldn't. It doe sno thave
apaper label, which isa thi ng
Ilike to rely upo n as a ma tt er ofcourse. The Adventures ar e no teven vaguely repelle nt(d es pit ebeing on Chrysalis) andIwishthem well.

East Of Java

RCA

Where well-coiffed hai
rd
os t
ell
a
the whole story. It wou ld
sne
be criminally unf
air
to dismiss EOJ as%»1 Fa/•'"10
rto $ amadly dated-•4817W1/_
doe
d Japan, but
9107 this is how
they plead
mid to be%Pe recognised,
ir. ;lewhich is no

wq e•

ire

When you've
been up, theonly way isdown, andKid Creolecardinal sin,must concede
but hardly
V24
l
A i'
defeatenmeshed ingracefully. The
tact or common
undistinguishedsense. Their effort
ho-hum hokum ofis brave, but clearly there"Coconuts" has plots of old
isn't much to work with. They
diluted, soiling the always
will spend all their RCA advancepleasant memory of theiron arazzle-dazzle video, butearlier hits. But theirthat their record could never be
hasty eclipse becomes easily
construed as agothic art is aunderstood. The locker-roomfact clearer than day.
giggles, the ragbag of rhumba
Diana Ross
and wares of old are neverre-peddled. The punchline
TAM LA MOTOWN
never arrives, and Kid Creole
stands humourless like a
Re-released old
Halloween trickster in mid-April.
befuddled chestnut
which sadly does not
The March Violets
turn out to be a
REBIRTHmirage. It was dull in
Encased in adoring cover, theIwo, and remains so.
Violets march hard-faced and
The warmth is paperindependent. Like such as
thin, the soulless
Killing Joke, their spirit andmoan is murderous.
guts as people is often more
Eluding the grasp ofalluring and appealing thantime, "Reach Out"anything they put on vinyl.
has deliberately
phoney Diana
Mark Kingemitting the
POLYDORchillingly flat, paleWho, in an audience, could feelhumanity for which
the remotest empathy withshe inexplicably
such sterile, clean, efficient,achieved global
non-human music? Thankfully
fame. One can only
the unusable voice is not usedpray loudly for its
persistently, and semi-disabled
final deletion.

ALBUMS
PrinceWARNER BROS

The problem withmajor-league soul
is not alack of"good" music.
What has been
lost is the ability,
possibly thedesire, to makerecords that relate
to the aspirations
and needs ofcommunity. In thepast, Mayfield,
Wonder and James Brown fulfilled apurpose bycommunicating on asocial as well as an emotional
level. Nowadays Michael Jackson and Prince setthemselves in aselect firmament and nurture the cult of celebrity for
its own sake, lighting our lives with ablessed gift to entertain.
That's not to say their entertainment is not often brilliant andenthralling ;to these ears "When Doves Cry" is One Of The Greatest
Records Ever Made. So why, you might ask, should Prince, who's never
set himself up as asage or aconscience, be expected to be anything
but the perfect composite of black superdude stars? No particularreason, except I
find it unsatisfying that the Minneapolis wunderkind
with looks, youth, talent and the world at this feet can find nothing
more to sing about than himself and the many marvellous chicks thatundoubtedly come his way.
That said, I
can't help but be washed away by the bulk of the goods
on display on this, the fifth LP by the boy. The beauteous mix of guitar
snarls, synth stabs and melodic elegy that make up "When Doves Cry"
could have come from no one but him, and this uncanny knack for mixmatching dynamic raunch and epic balladry is borne out elsewhere on
the record. Compared to the inferior tracks from 1999, too many small
ideas stretched into brittle dirges, these songs are full bodied anddeep enough to show off the Prince's treasures to best advantage.
"Let's Go Crazy" opens with the self-deflating manifesto establishedon past outings: the end of the world is nigh, so liberate your underwear
and your ass will follow. It's ahot and juicy all-out rocker with anautomated Ant beat and it sets me in mind of apre-conversion electroage Little Richard, though it's obvious from the way he wields his guitarand cocks his titfer that Prince would rather be compared to Hendrix.
The main ode to sex here is "Darliig Nikki", but its HM guitar grind
and lyric to match isn't really apatch on the dual-edged popsical treatsof Dirty Mind. Where this slutty sylph-like imp comes into his own iswhen he's easing romance out of bruised desire, when he takes his
voice from empty sorrow to exquisite pain. When he pleas, cajoles
and, yup, even climaxes on record he does it with amix of the elemental
and the technical (dig if you will thevolcanic screech, the vocoded
sexual nemesis of "Purple Rain").

July26,1985:P-ince
promotes his fi m
PurpleRoin at Me
Holly wood Pak ce

The final crowning
glory, the monstrous
title track, is spoiled byoverindulgence: it drags
on just alittle too long.
It's some sort of proof
that if you choose to
merely use your fameto further your selfmythology (as one
imagines the biopic
to which this album
provides the soundtrack
will do) you risk notonly being flippantand derisive of thepossibilities your role
could contain, but also
watching the wholething swallow you up.
Gavin Martin, NME, Aug 4

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I119

SHERRY RAYN BARNETT /GETTY

musical interludes cou ld
not, by any stretch of th eimagination, be consideredparticularly vital. The lyri c
is impoverished.

..0110=0"' •

1984

/
w

JULY -SEPW-O ER«I

Black Flag frontman
Henry Rollinson stageat The Gallery in
Manchester, May1984

120 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984e•

"I craveextremes"fer-

Like NICK uave and co, BLACK FLAG are part of anew
underground, with violent, humorous interests. Only
British apathy offends them. "Mere was this guy lying
in apuddle of beer, giving me aV-sign," says singer
Henry Rollins. "At least he could have tried to bite me."R

— 'Irn" SEPTEMBER15—

UN! THIS CAN'T be happening!Theheadlights of the car baa -ing down
on Greg Ginn and Bill Stevenson capture two slack-jawed faaes, stark withastonishment, with ahint of terror leaking into their eyes.
They've just come from another Black Flag pract ice sessiondawn in theLong Beach dump theycall their base- but theycould be heading forbring him out here and introduce him to one of t
he Samoans, the bald-headed, black-leather,barn-door size brigados, gang members. You get alot bss Samoans to the ton tit In you do
British skinheads.
OneofthemissionsofBlack Flag is to lift the LA rock Ind draw attention to t-escuttling
creatures underneath- to give the lie to t
he well-groomed, preppy public face iCalifornia.
But there aresome extremes Greg Ginn will not go to te prove how much violenceand psychosis
seeps through the LA smogs, and landing up as agangland casualty statistic istop of the list ofthings to beavoided. »MARTIN O'NEILL IGETTY

purgatory for real unless they move h the next sixth of asecond.
Greg always said that anyonewho thought LA was just palm treesand lard-ad, nut-brownbusinessmen in light suits and matching limos ought to paya visit down here. He'd have liked
to take oneof those English skinheads who rant aboutrniddle-class, cossetedCalifornia,

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 1121

1984
JULY

-

But here he is, playing the role of the hunted in one of those cat-andmouse, car-and-person, "let's see how much Ican scare you before I
smash the living daylights out of you" games. In the movies it's OK, but...
This is really happening!
As Greg and Bill wrench themselves over the wall, the car scrapes past,leaving asmear of black paint on the buff stone. Before he drops into thepile of garbage on the other side, Bill catches sight of asymbol on the backwindscreen.
White supremacists!There's aslight and illogical relief in an attack withamotive around here. This is the land of the "serial killer" -lone prowlers
gunning for anyone game for aslaughter- the citywhere overfilled
mental hospitals spill registered psychopaths onto the streets.
All the same, it seems you just can't win in Long Beach. Black Flag havegained the respect of the Mexican and black gangs, which qualifies themas targets for cruising racists. It's insane, that's what it is. Insane.

0

NTHEIR LAST LP, My War, Black Flag freeze-framed aset ofchilling scenarios from some steamy clime where tempers fraywithin astrand of snapping. It's something that comes to themnaturally, as natural as the mordant humour that oozes through theirevery track. These are the images of modern America. Perhaps thesedays, when America is tranquilised up to the eyeballs in an attempt toescape back into the Dream, it has become acountry so lacking in selfidentity that it can only be seen by outsiders. After all, the best American
film of the year, Paris Texas, was made by aGerman, Wim Wenders.
The aesthetic terrorists of the American hardcore are outsiders within.
It's from Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, the Meat Puppets, the Swans and Sonic
Youth that the most resonant images of ModernAmerica have come.
Where theAmerican mainstream has plummeted further and further
into the heart of the rock'n'roll cliche, the hardcore fringe have remained
dedicatedly outside. "Swimming in the mainstream is such alame
dream," Black Flag announced to an internal cheer from this listener.
From this sniping point they've emerged as satirists, ironists, parodists,musical journalists of the real.
"Art that doesn't tell you anything about reality isn't worth alick of shit,"rejoined another musical terrorist, Jim Foetus. Welcome to the reality
show- in genuine sensurround scumerama!
Beginning with acue more from the Ramones than from the English
punk explosion, the American hardcore has
adepth and diversity absent from thestereotyped idea of nonconformityfoisted by
the many English punk merchants. "Punk"means little to Black Flag-in fact on their visits
to this country they revel in poking fun at theconformity of our Pavlov's punks.
"Back in '79 when punk first started,I
was cool," says vocalist Henry Rollins toabarracking crowd of regulation spiky tops
who balk at his shoulder-length hair. "I had
askinhead cut and everything!""1976!" bellow back the young punky types,
who know their history well.
"79 was the year," Rollins repeats in definite
tones, and Pavlov's punks are confused.
This band rings bells, but at the wrong
time-should they slobber or not?
"Where's the punk rock?" demands
aconfused onlooker.
"Anarchy," bellows another carrottopped Turvey punk.
"Anarchy?" asks Henry. "We play an

This is aform far removed from English punk. The germ that Black Flag
implanted in the West Coast has since spread, with similar strains
sprouting up in irritating rash-spots across the conformist face ofAmerica. The travel line could be plotted down from LA to Phoenix,
Arizona, where the Meat Puppets produce asound of scorched andscreaming, sand-whipped guitar set against poetry ofloneliness andfear. The shadow that flits across Meat Puppets Ills alone figure, walking
single-minded and dedicated through the desert.
Then in the mid-American heartland there's Hüsker Dü, deliveringwith Zen Arcade an evocative selection of postcards from Nowheresville.
And on to NewYork City, way over on the East Coast, where Black Flag's
ethic of noise and dedication has been picked up by the anti-rockist,radical art fringe represented by the Swans and Sonic Youth, who havetaken this sound to the limits of belligerence.
Meanwhile, more influences have been fed into Black Flag throughHenry Rollins' connections with such literary-minded sick men as Nick
Cave and his diarist Jim Foetus. It may seem, on these pages if nowhere
else, that these names are splashed about with wilful abandon, but itwould be foolish to ignore just howwide Chris Bohn's "nervous system" of
Immaculate Consumptives is stretching its neurones.
What we have here is not a"scene" -one of those fragile little
happenings centred in asingle city, ready to be picked up and exploited,copied, destroyed-but agenuine system that spans aglorious arc acrossthe atlas: LA, Phoenix, Minneapolis, NewYork, London, Zurich, Berlin
and right across to Melbourne, Australia, starting point for The Birthday
Party and Foetus. It's asystem of resistance, actively mobilising against
the forces of banality condemned in NME's "War On Pop" issue.
Greg Ginn, founder member and only survivor of the first Black Flag,
is aman of single-minded dedication, now eight years on from the
beginning, when Black Flag began in isolation in the basement of
Hermosa Beach Bath House. He's still pushing the unit through theboundaries of claustrophobia and further, on to new planes. It's apainfulprocess, but the pain is all part of the discovery.
Eyes staring blankly forward, he drones monotonously.
"A lot of people... thinkwe're just... the most... miserable... depressedpeople all the time. But to me it's the most fun... that I
have."
Gaze still fixed at apoint on the wall behind my left shoulder, he pauses
long enough for me to contemplate whether his shirt had ever seen aniron, then continues. The eyes still show nosigns of expression. "I really am partying.
Even the slower songs are... well that's mykind of party song." He looks at me for the firsttime, the corners of his mouth turn down
slowly and aLurch-like chuckle creeps out.
"Huh... Huh... Huh!" He laughs on the same
single note as he speaks.
Rollins meanwhile hides behind his fringe,
his mouth twitching every now and again as hesqueezes the pool ball in his hand. He carries
this around everywhere-he squeezes it andoccasionally spins it on the table. This does notincrease my feelings of comfort and security.
What, I
begin, is your reaction to people
who say that Black Flag are abandstuck in time?
Rollins slams the pool ball down on
the table. "Who cares about otherpeople," he says with dangerous
emphasis, "Fuck what they think-let's
hear what you think."
Ithink you use cliched forms, butwith an awareness that they're cliches
and with irony.
"You really think that?"
Yeah, Ithink that (foolish bravado,
Ireflect, as I
watch the hand tighten its
grip on the pool ball).
"Man," Rollins spits, "you must justhave such contempt for what we do."I'm watching the letters of the"SEARCH AND DESTROY" tattoo on
his arm contract as his muscles flex,
when Greg pipes up.

"I want thedarkness,the horror,
because Iwant
everything"

LACK

instrumental where the whole bandplays percussion and that's notanarchistic enough for you. Seems
pretty fuckin' anarchistic to me."
Abuse they thrive on; the only thing
they can't cope with is apathy.
"There was this guy in Retford,"says Henry, "just lying on the floor in
apuddle of beer, giving me aV-sign.
I
just thought, 'Bring on the 16-ton
rake.' Imean at least he could have
tried to bite me or something."

122 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

AS

A/ A R\

BLACK FLAG

May5,1984:Henry
Rollinsduringa
Black Flag concert
atPerkinsPark,
Pasadena,California"No," says Greg, "not at all. We just believethat if something isn't happening then you
do it yourself, like we did with starting ourown record label, which has since given an
outlet to the Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü andplenty of other people.
"Then people accuse us of preaching somekind ofAmericanism, but what they're
ignoring is that America hasn't worked too
well for us. We've been totally fucked over by
the legal system, the illegal system, thepolice, just about every form of American
control. So we're not preaching
Americanism, but individualism, sure!"B

LACK FLAG'S INTENTION is topush everything to the edge,
physically and mentally. Not thatthey subscribe to the manifesto of physicaldestruction. What they pursue is theextremes of emotion, the extremes of the"I don't think so. Ithink that's totally correct."
Ibreathe in for the first time in 30 seconds.
"I do like to use alot of cliches," Greg continues, "and that's why I
don't
think that we're reactionarylike alot of the post-punk bands that we're
put in acategory with. They just want to react to everything and stay static
themselves. But what we do is actually use the cliches in an active sense.
"It's really funny, though, when people take it literally. We get loads of
idiots relating us to Led Zep -it's just reacting to the surface and totally
missing the substance."
Ihold discourse for some minutes on the wonders of the cliche, making
many references to The Birthday Party. Rollins grins."Oh yeah!You gotta
have humour." Now that he's discovered that we share an obsession I
begin to think he may not wish to disembowel me after the interview.
"Not everything is like atotal joke. But if you sit there and are justtotally serious about it all then it's just not believable. Everyone laughs
at themselves- and everyone who doesn't has their head stuck way up
their ass.""The humour makes the heaviness so much more effective," adds Greg.
"Before Henry joined, Black Flag were just so hilarious, but Henry's reallyheavy. The first time I
saw him sing I
just went blaaaaaaaaagh!"Henry again: "When I
write the stuff Idon't think, 'Hey! Where'm I
gonna put the little punch?', but you can usually get abit of achuckle outof it. I'm apretty funny guy." He crushes the pool ball alittle tighter andflings amanic look at the coatstand in the corner.
I
profess afondness of Henry's "Swinging Man". Now that pun on
swinging as in swinging dude and swinging as in strung up by the neck,that's what Imean about inverting cliches.
By now Henry is beginning to look not only as if he may spare my life, but
as if he may like me just alittle bit. "Yeah, but the things that you findfunny, like Nick !Cave] and me, they aren't the sort of things that people
feel are exactly fair game for humour- people hanging themselves.
"But! really like those images -I just took this completelygross, pathetic
image and made him into areally
happening guy.
. Iimagined him justhanging around there for three or four days, and he's just like bloated,"
the Rollins grin gets wider as he contemplates this image, "and yet all thewomen are checking him out!" he bursts into guffaws oflaughter. "And hejust takes his pick-he hasn't got acare in the world."
Is there anyone more gross than you, Henry?
"Yeah!That's what busts me up-things like U2 and the Thompson Twins,
all that miserable, forced music; it just occurred to me the other day, thosepeople are actually grosser than me, they're grosser than Henry Rollins.
That really balls me out-I've got to figure out away to out-gross them."
There is nothing grosser than overt cleanliness.
"I'm not into save-the-world bands," Rollins replies emphatically.
Some of us don't want to be saved, and you can put me down on the list.
As far as I'm concerned, Bono Vox needn't have formed aband on mybehalf; he could have found alike-minded sort and formed abrassiere.
All the same, there is an ethic to Black Flag, anda fairly puritan one atthat. None of the band drink or smoke, any "waste of time" is frowned on.
Imean, what is this? Some perverted breed of the American Dream?

capability of the human body- Rollins
pours half apint of sweat out of eachsneaker at the end of aperformance.
Their resources are implicitly directed against the stultifying force ofAmericanism. It's in this way that they identify with Charles Mansonas someone who sought to break the security of the tidy organisation of
the rich side of LA society. (Bymurderingpeople?-Ed.)
In fact they now plan to release aManson record on their SST label-an
LP of acoustic guitar and voice recorded in prison.
"We're planning to pay the royalties real fast," quips Greg.
"All these people can wear all their little Charles Manson T-shirts andfeel really bad," Henry glories, "but we're putting out the vinyl."
So why does Manson's perspective interest you?
"He's this five-foot-four guy, sitting up behind bars somewhere in
California, and he terrifies people," says Henry.
But isn't murder just an easyway for anonentity to attain acertain
amount of notoriety?
"There was more to it than that, though," says Greg, "a lot of emotion
to it. I'm not into killing people, but! can look at it as aphenomenon andfind it interesting.""A lot of what Black Flag is about," says Henry, "is looking at the evilthat lies within human nature. You watch us play and you blow thewhistle on yourself."
Of course that's something claimed by many-Theatre of Hate, forexample, have made the laughable claim to penetrate human evil. With
Black Flag, though, there is atangible sense of danger- due mainly to
Henry Rollins, who exerts such frantic energy in performance that thechuckle at Black Flag's obvious humour can get stuck in the throat.
"I do crave the very extreme of the extremes," he says with adarkcalmness. "I've seenApocalypseNowll times, and Iactually get into
depressions, thinking that what Ido isn't shit, because I'm not inclassified Cambodia, with chopped-off heads all over the place. I'm only
pulling up to aclub and playing.
"People ask if being on stage is hectic. I'm still alive, it can't be that
hectic. I'm obsessed with that idea of the Heart Of Darkness. I
feel if!
could find the opening to that heart, I
would throw myself in. Iwant thedarkness, I
want the horror, because Iwant everything. Not everything in
the world, but every experience."
So howwould you describe the Black Flag experience?
"It's like drinking black coffee all night," says drummer Stevenson.
"Someone said our new LP was an electrified aerobics record," rejoins
bassist Kira.
"Yeah," says Rollins, "you get aWalkman, and you go into an all-girls
school and get abig knife, and then you start doingyour aerobics.""Yeaaaaaaaagh!" Stevenson makes inhuman screaming noises while
making stabbing motions.
"Only kidding," Rollins emphasises.
But! was taking you seriously. I
was just wondering where Icould get
abig knife from.
"Oh, we have alot of them in the van," say Rollins helpfully. "Black Flag
knives are going to be part of our merchandise-big 16-inch blades.""No handle," adds Stevenson, "you have to hold the blade." Don Watson •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I123

E

:12

1984

OCTOBER-DECEMBER

elk•,
I 111 01

U2, EURYTHMICS,ZZ TOP, ALISON MOYET,THE FALL AND MORE

11111 •1111• 101

1.111%• 0 %IC • -November 25,1984: some of the hastily
corralled stars comprising Band Aidrecord the backing track for "Do They
Know ItiChristmas?"at Sarm West
Studios, Notting Hill,London:(1-r)
Johnnie Fingers (in hat), George
Michael, Pete Briquette, Sara Dallin,
Gary Kernp,Steve Norman, Koren
Woodward, Nick Rhodes, M artyn
Ware, Roger Taylor,JodyWatley,
John Taylor, Paul Young, Glenn
Gregory,Rick Parfitt, Tony Hadley

124 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"Momentous"
MM DECi‘einnr rfinips stars

A

HOST OF POP stars, including Wham!, Spandau
Ballet, Duran Duran and U2, have joined forces
to record one single- in abid to raise money for
Ethiopian famine vict_ms. The single, described as"the most momentous recording in the history ofvinyl", also features Sting, Phil Collins, Paul Young,Paul Weller, Heaven 17 and Bob Geldof- whc
organised the entire venture.
Others include Jon Moss of Cultu re Club, Kool &The
Gang, Bananarama and Status Quo. The 38 Kars are
calling themselves Band Aid for the single, expected
to be top of the charts by Christmas.
The record, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", is tobe co-produced by Trevor Horn and Midge Ure, whowrote the track with Ge_dof. The B-side contains
personal messages from David Bowie, Paul
McCartney and Fran kie Goes To Hollywood. There
was apossibility, as the_VMwent to press, of Frankie
joining all the other artists on the A-side, but noconfirmation was available.
Everyone involved in the recording has given theirservices for free, from Virgin (who manufactured it
for nothing) to t
he T-shirt manufacturers, and evenmotorcycle messengers who were hired in the courseof the operation.
Big record-store chains like WH Smith, Boots,
Woolworths, HMV, Virgin and Our Price have agreed
to take no profit from sales: they're
buying and selling the record for £1.35
including VAT.
All proceeds will go into atrust fund.
And British Caledonian have alreadyexpressed interest in co-operating withthe project to fly food supplies out toEthiopia. Recording started on Sunday,
and it's hoped that the single will be out
within days.

1984
OCTOBER

Lenny Kaye (from Patti
Smith's band) but eventhat didn't live up to
his expectations.
"After all the farting
around I'd been doing it was
like amiracle, being offered
work with someone you've
called ahero for so long. My
manager had sent Lenny atape and he liked it, so I
flew
over to New York. The wholething was fucked up from thestart. I
wanted to work as acollaborative effort withboth of us playing, but in theend it was with Lenny as
producer and me as artist.
I
really don't work wellwith producers, I
don't need
to be told things. I
hear theNovember6,1984:
final song in my own head,
MikeScottbackstage
asTheWaterboys
so I
don't need the guidance.
supportU2at
So here I
was in asituation
Barrowlands,Glasgow
with this man I
loved and I
just
couldn't accept the way wewere working. It was great
to meet him," Scott shrugs
with angular grace, "but it's one of those
things best forgotten."
Before I
have time to comment on his
naivety and stubborn idealism, he's whisked
off to the soundcheck. Barrowlands is likealurid aircraft hangar.
Police guard the stage door as if the PM
think we're like them. We're much wilder,herself were about to grace its portals. U2 are
more open to improvisation, and themobbed climbing into their coach to return toinstruments we use are more diverse."
the comforts of the Holiday Inn. Mike Scott,He rolls his eyes disarmingly.
meanwhile, is leading his band through the"We have an unquenchable sense ofsoundcheck as though their lives depended
adventure, and that to me is more importanton it. Opening for U2 can't be fun at the best
than anything else. I
don't think about successof times, but in Glasgow the pressure is twiceand selling records. I
just want to make theas intense.
best music I
can. I
don't
But, in the event, The
have goals or plan what
Waterboys won theirIwant to be doing in two
audience as cleverly as I've
years' time. I
guess that willseen it done. Scott didn't
look pretty trite in print but
flinch when they chanted
that's howl feel."for U2 in disturbing unison.
He grew up in Ayr and"OK, they'll be on later," he
Edinburgh, hated "thelaughed, crashing into theparochial, small-town
next intro. "So how about
attitudes", and in1977 he
alittle of this for starters?"
started his own fanzine,
In two minutes the crowd
interviewing The Clash andwere stomping and clapping, swept
The Rich Kids and whoever else came to town.
unwillingly under Mike Scott's influence,"I knew even before then that I
wanted myliking his songs despite themselves.
own band, wanted to write and perform"I suppose there's alot of amateur
music, but up until then I
didn't have thepsychology involved," says Scott afterwards.
confidence to try."
Upstairs U2 have taken the stage, floor and
His first band, Another Pretty Face, hadwalls vibrate and the sound of afootball
two marginally successful singles but seemed
terrace singalong mimics Bono's every
plagued by contractual hassles and unsettlingutterance. Jim Kerr stands at the sound desk
problems. Funhouse was the next incarnation,and mimes his own peculiar routine to thethen after that The Red And The Black, allstrains of this allied band. Both men look
the time with Mike Scott trying to get thelike marionettes conducting alunatic chorus
components just right. Disheartened by his-aclear case of the blind leading the blind.
failures, he went to New York to work with

"A sense of adventure"
MM NOV 24

M

IKE SCOTT IS aman with amission,
though exactly what this mission is
he finds it hard to say. At 25, he's
ahandsome fellow, though "striking" might
be abetter word. While people around him
desperately cultivate the ragged, angularpoise that associates itself with artistic
endeavour, to Scott it comes as naturally as
the fluency that permeates his work.
"Wild" is aword he says alot with afaraway
look in his eyes. His heroes are Bob Dylan, Patti
Smith, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen.
He is, to say the least, enamoured with the ideaof himself on stage, singing songs of poignant,though often raunchy beauty, to awildly
receptive audience who'll go "wow" atevery nuance of his lyrics. His songs are
gift-wrapped and stamped "deep andmeaningful", and sometimes they really are.
The Waterboys' music perpetuates the
ethic of that era, and is tinged with justenough raggedy arrogance (the Patti Smith
connection) to sway the modern arena. Theband, very much aMike Scott-controlled
affair, play rock'n'roll, of that there's no doubt.
Somehow, though, they're misfits. They're
not part of the "pomp 'n' glory" boys (U2, The
Alarm, etc), but they've been shunted in that
direction for the want of any otherassociation. They don't really want to bemainstream either. Right now, they'resupporting U2 in Glasgow. And, taking apresoundcheck breather, Mike Scott is kneading
his hands over the
failing heater in his
dingy hotel room.
"I quite admire
some of thosebands," he drawls,"but I
don't really
126 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

HANDS
THE

"I'm not as naive
about the businessas I
pretend, but it
can be useful tofake ignorance"

SS

,
,
r
Ifr
- -7
"I respect their fervour," Scotthedges as I
ask him what he thinksof U2's manipulation of the crowd's
hysteria. "I think they have only thebest of motives. But I
think you'reright to say that most of the crowd
up there aren't really listening to
the music, they're hearing it, andthat's different. For myself I'drather have 20 people who werereally taking it in, than awholestadium full of moronic lemmings."
When asked about his songs, he's lessspecific. Some of them are moralistic in
astorytelling kind of way -like "Red
Army Blues" and "Savage Earth Heart".
They all harbour that stoic kind of
wisdom that Dylan honed to an art form.
"What I'm interested in basically islife," Scott explains with acurious
glance that asks how I
hadn't picked thisup for myself. "When I
was akid I
wasobsessed by the American Indians, by
the power of their mythology, how theirphilosophy is based on principles ofmaking the best from what you have.
"They prayed to The Great Spirit
because they'd been given life and theywanted to make themselves worthy ofthat gift. I
think that's the best any of us
can try to achieve. CS Lewis once said
that nothing is truly yours until you giveit away, and I
believe that as well."If you're thinking that Mike Scott isapuritanical sourpuss you're wrong ;he's just deeply entrenched in his own
convictions. There's no po-faced
proselytizing in the Waterboys camp,
but Scott takes himself damnably
seriously despite the horseplay. He
writes songs about pagan mythology
and the good within us all, but he always
manages to avoid sounding twee.
"I'm not as naive about the businessand related practicalities as I
pretend,"he grins, "but sometimes it's useful tofake ignorance ;it's my way of dealing
with the everyday problems. The
problems we've had with interviewers
before has been that we never put onan act. I
can't sit here and reel off glib
answers to queries about my songs.
I
can't present myself in any particularway, I
just am.
"I don't like talking about my lyrics,
because they're such an intuitive thing.
You either understand them or you
don't. Like 'The Church Not Made
With Hands' is about the religionsthat existed in this country before
Christianity and how they didn't needfour walls of achurch to worship within.
"I suppose you could say that
intuition and instinct are things thatinterest me alot. I
love watching theway humans behave."
He pauses. "I want The Waterboys tobe the most talked about band of the'8os. And that's not as unrealistic as it
sounds," he laughs, curling alip over thejagged edges of his teeth.
Mike Scott is an impossible dreamer,
but his heart's in the right place.
Helen Fitzgerald

HA

TFIL

OF

ink

H 0

.L

0

Reading matter"Implorine
demands'

Sue Townshend: The Secret Diary
Of Adrian Mole
Various: Oscar Wilde -Impressions
and Interviews
Electricity bill
Stephen King:The Stand
TCoraghessanBoyle: Budding
Prospects

MM7The Smiths releasean "affordable" compilation LP.

T

HE SMITHS ARE about to rclease an"interim album"- a16-trackcompilation that combinŒ. cid, raremateriz I
with aselection of hi singles andextra tracks from 12-inch versrons. The
group, currently recording new songs thatwill emerge in some shape or brin in
February, release the album, .nratful Of
Hollow, on November 2on Roue Trade.
The old material has been chcsen fromRadio One sessions for the John )eel andDavid Jensen shows. And the retnaining
tracks comprise "Hand In GlovE","Heaven
Knows I'm Miserable Now" and 'William, It
Was Really Nothing" as well as' Aim Soon Is
Now?" "Girl Afraid" and "Pleas,: Please
Please Let Me Get What !Want"
The album, 55 minutes long aid packagedin agatefold sleeve, goes out in shops for no
more th an £3.99. Morrissey sal: t
his week:"A good 3ort ion °four mail contains
imploring demands that we rekaase versionsof our sangs that we recorded fc rRadio One
sessions, and the band and! sudzIenly
realised t
hat we hadn't even propersoundi rgtapes of them oursekes, except forafew dire bootlegs
that we bought at our concerts.
"As faras we're concerned, those were thesessions that got us excited in the first place,and apparently, it was how alot of.ather
people discovered us also. Wed added toinclude rhe extra tracks from our 12-inch
singles br people who didn't hareall of
those and to make it complete13, affordable."'A cruel

Records
Sister Sledge:"Lost In Music"
Prince: "WhenDoves Cry"
Kraftwerk TourDe France
RobertWyatt
Work In Progress
Turkey Bones &The Wild Dogs:"Raymond"
Tina Turner: "What's Love Got To Do
With It"

Films
The Hit
The Wall (Yilmaz Güney)Reuben Reuben
Greystoke
48 Hours
The Long Goodbye

Likes
Money
Listening to the radio
Coke and ice cream
Trivial Pursuit
My Porsche 911 SC
Targa (with sports kit)
Agood book

Hates

George Michael's"Careless Whisper"
Madness (especially
their manager)tern,' MM NOV 17

N

IGERIAN SINGER FELA Kuti has been sent to prison for five years on smuggling
charges. He was last week ;ound guilty of attempting to smuggle money worth £1,600
out of Nigeria en route to the States, where he was set to play concerts. He wasarrested at customs on that occasion, and subsequently arrested again when he held apress
conference at his home. That charge has since been dropped.
He appeared at the Foreign Exchange Anti-Sabotage Tribunal -amilitary court without any
judge or jury -and was sentenced to five years in jail with afurther term suspended. There's noright of appeal, only a"theoretical but unlikely possibility of remission".
Aspokesman for Kuti said: "The authorities in Nigeria just wanted him away, and they've done it
now. It's such acruel system out there." Kuti was known for his attacks on the Nigerian authorities
in interviews. His brother is holding a
conference in London this week.

ooFela Kuti laded

1984

I\VEHOGAN /GETTYOCTOBER

0R

woulemar • 21-11P'
November14,1984:
Bonoralliesthefaithfulat Wembley Arena
during U2's year-long
Unforgettable Fire Tour

128 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

4111110.11/

"We build
the positive"
U2 (ire abig band of conscience, trying to do theright thing. Martin Luther King and gospel music
their inspiration, Brian Eno is their guide. But will it
all turn into empty gestures? "There is adanger inbeing aspokesman for your generation," says Bono,"ifyou have nothing to say other than `help'."

1984

IOW

OCTOBER -blaring bombast, these shape-throwing sessions
weren't what I
wanted to be associated with. Where
once they had represented Life, Fire and Action, the
ARLIER THIS YEAR one of rock's
new rock hopes were looking every bit as crude andnewest messiahs, U2's Bono,vulgar as this generation's Led Zeppelin.
appeared on stage alongside one of
Now on their drive to big fame, we meet for the first
its oldest, Bob Dylan, at an outdoor
time in three years, in an annexe of Island Records.
Dublin festival in front of somedriemme4W
They've just returned from Australia via Dublin, and40,000 people. And Bono'sin London theywill rehearse at Brixton's Academy
influence over anew generation was officiallyfor the European leg of their world tour. Althoughconfirmed at about the same time when Premier
they strike me as being just as affable as when we last met on their first
Garret FitzGerald invited him to join acommittee set up to look at the
British tour, travelling across Scotland in amini van, they hold acertain
problems of youth unemployment in Eire.
wariness towards interviews. They aren't as keen to be drawn on points of
As their native city became avery bleak place with rampant heroin
strategy and idealism as before, preferring to let the music speak for itself.
abuse, unemployment, even child prostitution, U2 had risen from theirThat said, Bono is agem -immediately exuding the same natural
lowly garage band beginnings to become an international success -oneebullience as on our last encounter. Guitarist The Edge is the calmingof the country's leading exports, its four most celebrated ambassadors.
influence, arational counterbalance to Bono's sometimes exasperated
Even after travelling the time-honoured course of rock behemoths frompassion, and at the end of the interview he voices concern that we've
the last decade -from being rock's bright new hopes to becoming its mostconcentrated too much on topics other than what really matters-theprominent, bombastic banner-wavers- U2 signalled some sort of hopemusic itself. Adam Clayton, with his English tones and scholarly
and optimism for aDublin beleaguered by the new depression. In acity
disposition, can come over as surly and cynical, the guy most likely towhere the music scene stagnates around the tradition of Irish
pick holes in my questions. Drummer Larry Mullen, the group's youngest
showbands, 112 had gone outside and reaped the fruits ofworld successmember, is absent as he's decided he's sick of the whole interview process.
and brought them home. They are now in aposition where they canWith their massive world tour, "Pride" their first Top Five British single
quietly begin to finance one or two community ventures.
and their latest LP The Unforgettable Fire, this year U2 are perched on the"There are ways we can do things," explains guitarist The Edge, "but weedge of mega success. They keep the actual figures under wraps, butmust never be seen as charity, the noble boys doling out slops. Just keep
suffice to say the amount of money they grossed last year made sense of
our mouths shut and get things done."the slim returns of their first three years. While no one dares whisper it, it
Seen in the context of Dublin, even now the purpose, concern andseems their plans to make it big, first by playingAmerica's smaller Midwest
compassion that shone in the early 112 remains still. Even now.
venues and gradually easing into the large festivals and stadiums, hasWith the view of an outsider, as someone who was swept up on their firstbeen quite carefully orchestrated by manager
LP, Boy, what 112 have come to represent looks
Paul McGuinness and their record company.
radically different. In the aftermath of punk,
But it is this endless slog of touring that I
feel
Boywith its furious mixture of implosion andhas drained U2's vigour, amisplaced trust incelebration-the fears, aspirations andwhat it can achieve for the group's music. At thisadrenalin of four young men stepping out intosuggestion, Bono's voice cracks into gear.
the world -seemed to herald anew rock dream"We all left school completely uneducated;
and aswirl of possibilities.
touring has been our way of learning. It upsets
They may have come from Dublin but in rock's
me when Isee U2 portrayed in the press as
tapestry U2 seemed to have no obvious home or
touring, the pressure, the penance. I
enjoy
destination. But all too soon their crucial desire
looking out of the coach and seeing Denver,
to communicate and their relentless energy wasColorado, or the run from Edinburgh todirected in the wrong channels. While
Glasgow. Imean, talk to Echo And The
applauding their moral resilience andBunnymen, to Simple Minds.., these are thecommitment, it was sadly predictable to see
bands that are touring, we're not bored by it.
them embark on endless continental andThis is not apenance."
American treks.
But non-stop touring can makeU2 developed along the
you lose your bearings; there's a
traditional lines of all rockdanger of being sucked into the"We're not boredgroups, and perhaps it was naive
by touring. This isAmerican way, unable to assess
to expect otherwise. In an earlynote penance":
what's happening to the band.
Bono down under,
NMEreview Paul Rambali had
September 1984
The Edge: "Touring has abadsuggested, "They might lose theireffect on us when we're not being
subtlety as they learn to use
stimulated by it any more. But witheffect... might one day harden
this new LP it's achallenge tointo ahollow, grandiose andreproduce and we're finding themassively successful style."
whole idea of being on the roadIndeed, consistent touring
artistically demanding again.
drew out the bombast, theBono: "The thing about being
anthemic rallying cries, theon the production line, going
symbolic gestures. Their records
through the motions-and it's
had their moments- certainly
agreat criticism of me as a
the vibrant, pulsing "New Years's
performer- is that whenever theDay" stood up to the best
performance is sagging I'd throw
moments of Boy-but in the main
the proverbial stick of gelignite
they lacked the sensibility to fulfil
into the audience and it wouldthat debut's promise.
completely freak the band.
One Saturday night I
turned on"I've had to face firing squads
the box to see Bono clamber overfrom the rest of the band on lateastack of speakers, then unfurl anight phone calls. I
would wish notlarge white flag in their "UnderA
to do that, but it was my frustration
Blood Red Sky" video. It was thewith the onstage environment, myfinal irony, this preposterous
feeling that aperformance should
mishmash of grandeur andFl

NME MOM 27 -"With Kno werediscovered
the spiritof our music,
aconfidence"

130 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

In Australia,
September1984.
(I-r)AdamClayton,
Larry Mu'lank,

TheEdgeand Bononever be boring, that led me to do that."He likens the banner waving,
the speaker-stack clambering, toan artist's bold strokes. I
just saw it
as pompous, signifying delusionsof grandeur.
"It came from the opposite emotion;
it was done out of insecurity.Afearthat
the music would not stand on its own."
There must be amore honest way of
expressing that emotion.
"Yes, that's what we've got to find;
I'm not sticking up for myself. We werecoming from Dublin, hardly the rock'n'roll capital ot the world. We were
putting our shoulder to the door and we developed this muscle, thisaggression. Eventually the door opened, but we were still there goingbang! Wallop!"
Later he will correct himself.
"By the way, I'm not giving this awhole 'father, forgive me for I
havesinned' vibe. There was aside to U2 on stage that Iliked, that I'll stand by.
It's aspirit of abandonment that none of our contemporaries would allow
themselves. Ibelieve conservatism and the stiff upper lip of the English
music press reacted against the sweat, the tears, the total thing of thegroup on stage.
"You think of the '50s and the '60s in the US and the white bands of thetime, the Buddy Hollys with their shirts and smiles, and compare them tothe black groups of the time, groups that you respond to. The very reason
theywere rejected by the establishment was because of the spirituality
and the sexuality of it all.
"U2 were the same- it was all too much. The western way is to pick atthings, to open little packages and go through the intellect."T

HE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE, recorded away from the glare
and remorseless grind of the business -first in the ghostly,
cavernous ballroom of Dublin's Slane Castle and then in thelocal Windmill Studios -in acautious way bespeaks arebirth for U2.
Ditching the dullard sameness of Steve Lillywhite at the controls, thegroup enlisted ex-Roxy wizard, ethnic charlatan and Paris recluse
Brian Eno and his partner Danny Lanois to produce the album. The
pairing has reaped benefits, away from the dull litanies of October andthe routine agitpop of War, the group's
introspective approach has led themto impressionistic landscapes, vast
heartlands that their frantic rush into
the rock'n'roll quagmire meant they
had bypassed. Nothing is cut anddried on this LP. They've steppedback from the slamming lambastof Warand touched the spirit andcelestial wonder at the core of theirmusic once more.
But there is an underlying suspicion
that it amounts to little more than anexperimental diversion, that the big, bold rock sound will soon surge
forth again. Bono dismisses the suggestion.
"If you think there's aperiod where OD-ing on rock'n'roll has damaged
the new record, then you're wrong. That is arecord totally devoid of the
tracks and techniques of rock'n'roll-which is why it's foxing half the USA
even as wespeak."According to Adam, over the past five years "every band in this country
had been on the phone to Brian Eno", but U2 was the onlyofferhe accepted.
Bono: "All he'd listened to for three years was gospel music. It was thespirit in which it was made that attracted him to the group's music, thesense of abandonment."
Adam gets tetchy: "The question shouldn't be whywe wanted to workwith Eno but why he wanted to workwith us, this pathetic little rock'n'rollband from Dublin who hadn't made agood record since Boy. He musthave seen something there."
The soul/gospel parallel wasn't something I
could see in U2.
Bono: "I could relate to it. People talk about the spirituality of U2, and I
realised that was part of everyday life in black music. Indeed Jimi Hendrix
was the wildest rock'n'roll performer, and Janis Joplin would love to havebeen black. Irealised though we weren't rooted in black music, there wassomething in the spirit that was similar.
"With Eno we rediscovered the spirit of our music and aconfidence inourselves The emphasis was on the moment in this recording, on the
spontaneity. It's like that Irish tradition, the Joyce thing-when you'rerelaxed you're not inhibited. The recording atmosphere was very relaxed.
"Like 'Elvis PresleyAnd America' was recorded in five minutes. Eno justhanded me amicrophone and told me to sing over this piece of music »HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I131

1984

OCTOBER-Oe BER
June 22,1985. with justfive more dates of The
Unforgettable Fire Tourahead of them, U2 play
the Milton Keynes Bowl

giving Reagan too much importance; thenIthought, 'Martin Luther King, there's aman.'
We build the positive rather than fightingwith
the finger.""Pride" and "MLK" are also the most obvious
representations of Bono's heartfelt Christianity
on the record. Though TheUnforgettableFire
relies more on atmospheric textures andfragmented images for its appeal, I
wondered
if agroup with their professed beliefs, andhaving spent time in America and seen how
Christianity is distorted and used bywarmongers like Reagan, would like to show
the alternative interpretation directly.
Bono: "I feel more secure and therefore not as
defensive as I
was about that. Again it's thewestern thing-the English bottle it up; on theContinent spirituality is much more open.

ILPO MUSTO IREX FEATURES

that had been slowed down, played backwards,
whatever. Isaid, 'What, just like that, now?' Hesaid, 'Yes, this is what you're about.' So I
did itand when it was finished there was all thesebeautiful lines and melodies coming out of it.
Isaid, 'I can't wait to finish this.' He said, 'What
do you mean "finish it"? It is fin ished. The title UnforgettableFire comes from an
exhibition of paintings by the survivors ofNagasaki and Hiroshima, aJapanese art"I would liketo see aunited
Ireland;Ibelieve it is
an island"treasure which the group are trying to getshown in Dublin. It also applies to the ugly allconsuming force of heroin that was responsiblefor destroying acouple of Bono's friends.
"It informs the LP alot more than people
realise. It had agreat effect on me. When your friend becomes ajunkie heceases to be your friend; he'll steal from you, he'll fight you."
Another undoubted influence is alasting passion for the great Martin
Luther King, first byway of the LP's lucid closing requiem "MLK"(perhaps the most moving vocal Bono has ever recorded) and secondly in
the group's current hit single.
Bono: "I originally wrote 'Pride' about Ronald Reagan and theambivalent attitude in America. It was originally meant as the sort ofpride that won't back down, that wants to build nuclear arsenals. But thatwasn't working. Iremembered awise old man who said to me, 'Don't try
and fight darkness with light, just make the light shine brighter.' I
was

132 IHISTORY 01 ROCK 1984

"The best thing I've learned about the aspect
is to shut up about it. I'm so tired of words,
having been to America and seen the faithindustry. The three-piece polyester suitsthose people frighten me.
"Whereveryou look- in the Catholic church
and Protestant church -you see flaws. You can't
ever find purity or perfection, and we findourselves becoming more and more distanced.
We get flak from all sides, really heavy lettersfrom people saying how can you believe thisand do this."
The Edge: "Words are avery limiting medium.
Idon't think it's essential for us to say anything;these things come out best through the music."
Afewyears ago, in one of his high-minded
manifestos, Kevin Rowland declaredsomething about Dexys' Projected Passion
Review "flaunting insecurities". U2 havealways made the point that their music is a
result of the special chemistry between the four
personalities in the band. What Ilike about The
UnforgettableFire is that it has room for doubt
and human frailty in its broad sweep.
Away from the studio, however, they seem tohanker after amonolithic sound. The faceless,emotionless rock noise beloved of Simple
Minds, Big Country and Echo And The
Bunnymen. They refuse to confront orquestion this responsibility, or the group's
music, seeing it as alaw unto itself.
Bono: "Sometimes when we're creating we get
the feeling that we're actually channels forsome creative thing that's happening. It's likewriters sometimes say it's in the air, theyliterally just pull things down."
The Edge: "There's awhole backdrop to themoment of creation and we're just the last linkin the chain. What it means is we don't
arrogantly believe we are responsible for thiswonderful sound or anything."
Bono:"I started reading the music press again
recently. For awhile I
didn't, and I've noticed
there are two definite types of musician who
talk to the press. There are those who say, 'Listen to this wonderful music,
aren't Igreat? 'And those that say, 'Listen to this wonderful music, isn't itgreat?' We are definitely in the latter."As U2 have grown, expanded with corporation-like efficiency, so too
has their presentation and packaging of the music become inflated into
portentous symbolism. Even the magnificent photography byAnton
Corbijn on the new LP cover wears heavy on the product of amere rockband. Again it calls forth images of past behemoths. The song remains
the same?
The Edge: "The burnt-out castle is the end of aperiod. Think of the
British Empire, think of the west. The golden hour is over, the thing thatU2

interests us about that is the faded glory and thecreepers, the fact that there is new life getting in there."
Bono: "It was the antithesis of that Olympian thing
you seem to be suggesting."
But you do go in for grand symbolism.
Bono: "But we don't use it in adestructive way. John
Lennon's the one that started all that. It was ayear
listening to him that brought that out. He had
awaywith words, simple catchphrases, andmaking them mean something to alot of people.
"With Boy and OctoberI got flak because they
were so abstract. So with War I
decided to strip it"We're notgoing to takeour trousers
off to get on
the cover"right down. Ilistened to it for the first time theother day and there was some great songs therethat you overlooked in your lousy review. For the
first time Icould see astrident quality in therethat let me down. I
could see how it might havesounded like afinger pointing, and of course
we've never pointed afinger at anyone, apartfrom ourselves. That voice was very angry;I
didn't realise that I
was so tense."
The Waralbum, which focused more or lesson Ireland's troubles, was inspired by playing in
America. Icastigated it at that time for not doing anything that Stiff Little
Fingers had not already done-repeatedly, and shoddily.
Bono: "It was only going to America that made us think about Ireland.
You just don't think about it until you have people throwing money onstage during Bobby Sands' whole hunger strike thing. Ithought that guy
must be so brave, but why? Why be so brave? Why die? There's something
not right about this. People were going, 'Yeah! You're Irish!'"But these people were seeing everything in the black-and-white about
Ireland and they didn't realise it was all in the grey. 'I don't know, Idon't
know what side I'm on I
I
don't know my rightfrom my left or my rightfrom
my wrong', as I
had it in 'Two Hearts BeatAs One'. But they know better
now, I
think, having met people since the LP. Ithink we've contributed tothat understanding.
"I would like to see aunited Ireland; Ibelieve it is an island. People thensay, 'Do you believe in acause enough to die for it?' Ibelieve in acause
enough to live for it. These people believe in taking others' lives away. I
just can't agree with this whole 'If you don't agree with me I'll put agun
to your head' vibe. Having had aProtestant father and aCatholic mother,
Iknow how grey it is. There are no sides."Apart from speaking for CND in Ireland and playing one or two
benefits (the money from their NewYork Christmas show will go
to Amnesty International), the group are cagey about more direct
political involvement.
Adam: "Although we can lend our support to things like CND, thesethings are all inherently flawed. The waywe can best contribute to ourtime and our generation is just getting down to what we do, which ismaking records."
Bono: "That's why the idea of The Unforgettable Fire appealed to me,
because it is acreative thing.
"There is adanger in being aspokesman for your generation if you havenothing to say other than 'help'. That's
all we say in our music. It's never sort of,'Yes folks, here we go, here's the plan.'It's always, 'Where's the plan? -W

HILE THE VIRTUES, eventhe possible triumphs, ofthe group and the War
album are not in doubt, Istill find its
forced expression, the flexing of therock music Bono talked about earlier,indicative of U2's steady route to...
gulp... world domination. Perhaps
The Unforgettable Fire is an LP
unlikely to reap the full commercial
success that could be theirs, but as
another mammoth world tour
stretches before them Iwonder if thelure of acrusade is what entices them.
Adam: "I think we acknowledge thatstagnation is the worst possible disease. You've got
to be threatened and challenged to have an opinion.
We didn't want to play the Marquee every night for
the rest of our lives, because we knew that would
damage our creativity and our music."
Bono: "There are alot of easier ways of being big.
Only now, after five pieces of plastic, are we having
our first hit single. Had we wanted to be the
new Beatles or whatever, you would have seen
us far more in those papers. It annoyed me tosee Paul Du Noyer, though I
liked him and I
liked his review of the album, saying that Under
The Blood Red Slcywas mopping up in themarketplace. We took our royalties right down
so we could sell that record at cut price. Surely
the one thing that's clear is that we're not goingto take our trousers off to get on the cover. We're
not going to bring out amusic we don't like to be
big in America."
It's true to say that U2 are agroup without any
direct tradition. It was atopic Bono broached inarecent edition of Dublin's Hot Press when heinterviewed/had aprotracted conversation in

print with Bob Dylan. The punk explosion had not only freed them of thestifling legacy of '70s Who, Stones, Zeppelin et al, but had also cut themoff from the valuable heritage of the '50s and '60s which only now are they
becoming attuned to.
"We're lost in space in that respect. We became interested in areas ofmusic-Irish, country, folk. The track on the LP 'A Sort Of Homecoming' isgeographical, but Idon't know where it's based. When I
look at Van
Morrison or Bob Dylan I'm in awe of their tradition, I'm jealous. We
haven't got that, we aren't plugged into it."Still, Icounter, they have spawned atradition of their own. When Ifirstinterviewed Bono he was decrying the number of "Johnny Rotten's
bastard children roaming the streets", and though he now blanches
when I
throw the old quote at him, it was avalid point in the wake ofpunk's fag end of The Exploited, the UK Subs.
It would seem that now, four years later, with The Alarm, Big Country
and awhole slew of Irish surrogates, that there is alot of U2's bastard
children roaming the streets-or at least the recording studios.
"If they've just gone out and copied U2 then they've missed the whole
point of the group -we are about the individual and individuals," says
The Edge.
Bono is emphatic. "Don't answer the question, you shouldn't. Basically,
Gavin is sayingwhat is the difference between U2 and Led Zeppelin? If weare to sit down here and try to sell him the answer to that question we
become salesmen, and we're not salesmen, we make music.
"I believe there is arare spirit to this group, but Ican't tell you why, thatwould be wrong. If you don't see that rare spirit then we've failed as agroup as far as you're concerned."
Ido see aspirit in U2, but I
see it falling between two stools, theenlightenment and resource of Unforgettable Fire, and the possibility that
another plunge into the endless touring cycle will drain it, smother it. So
Imust press the point.
"If you'll excuse me, and with all due
respect, that is the sort of question that
Idon't think we should answer. This iswhat we're trying to get away from. We'retrying to make afew songs, make therecords deep and get away from thiswhole cosmic taking on the world and themusic industry and our place in it. Why ismusic so competitive, Gavin? Just
because there's aTop 10 and people see itevery week, it's as though it's become abig
competition. Why can people not just see
our music as part of something else?
"I'm scared of the responsibility ofstanding in that space," said Bono in thedays before he was feted by cheering
crowds all over the globe.
Sometimes alittle fear in music is not
such abad thing. Gavin Martin •HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I133LISA HAUN /GETTY

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40
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ig 1.1i h,;je!

•%ri‘ •

shot of Rough Trade and "flappy mong"are on their way back.
Pm album even displays apoppy side.
have been trying to connect it with
3Mark Smith of his new wife/guitarist.
were songs we had anyway."

1984
OC OB R" R

MELODY MAKER ICTOBER 20 -"I

WENT TO SEE The Fall in Chicago
and they were just... the best
band 1ever saw. Really goodmusicians and no fashion or
image. Nothing to get in theway of the music. It was really
hard. And so much stamina. And even thoughIdidn't know the songs, it was like.., the best
show Iever saw.
"I went with agirlfriend... we were in aband
together. During the concert my girlfriend met
some man and left me, so I
was there by myself
and I
was wandering around like alittle waif
and Iran into Mark at this bar downstairs andwe just started... talking.""Arguing," corrects Mark.
Arguing?
"Well, Imade some comment to him like it was
the best gig I
ever saw but the lyrics irritated me.
Theywere so good, but I
couldn't understand them. Icouldn't understandthe accent. And the words going together were such non sequiturs for meat the time. It was brilliant but it was driving me crazy trying to figure itout... which is something you shouldn't try to do anyway."T"We were inabad way.
No money, no
support, hugedebts..."HEY MAKE Acharming couple. Brix Smith is small, blonde,
veryAmerican and engagingly sociable, with aslightly offbeat
humour -Cyndi Lauper with brains. Brix plays guitar andcomposes songs with The Fall.
Mark ESmith is the original perverse northern sod: give him akey andhe'll wind you up. Mark is singer and boss cat with The Fall and writes
lyrics that come spitting out at you like the desperate last stand of aThompson gunner and never fail to intrigue audiences and give
reviewers headaches.
Mark and Brix got married first and pitted their artistic talents later.
This was some time after guitarist Marc Riley had been ejected from theband and wasn't amove designed to make way for Mrs Smith. It doesn'tstop people drawing their own conclusions, however... There is, after all,abad tradition of wives in groups.
"Nepotism, yeah," says Mark. "Prejudices are gonna happen. It's
already happened. All the time. But basically it's nobody's fucking
business, being married, knowwhat I
mean? Basically, she's aguitarist
and that's all there is to it."
Was there any resentment from audiences about the departure of
Marc Riley?
"No. Don't think anyone noticed.
Except it was alot easier on the ears
once he went.
"You just didn't see this big flappy
mong walking around the stage
distracting everybody's attention.
Know your Enemy:
Saved alot of money on equipment
as well.""Oh, he was really nice to me," says
Brix. "No hard feelings and all that. The
two camps should just declare peaceand get on with their business.""I haven't declared war."Well, someone declared war. The
bombs were sure flying afew months
ago. Mark insists that The Fall werechanging. Mark, whose dictatorial
approach to The Fall is well known,
now has someone not only prepared
to argue with him, but relishes it.
Goaded on, Mark has reacted withan unprecedented burst of artistic
passion and energy that has revived
him completely following adepressing
year in 1983, when he admits he cameclose to folding the band. For asecond
there, for Godsake, it looked like they136 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

might have ahit single with the quirkily
sardonic ‘C.R.E.E.P.'.
- C.R.E.E.P.' is smart, brainy," concedes Markgraciously. "A lot of people said they thought itwould be ahit, but Inever did. To me it was just arant.
Inever consider anything we do potential hits."
It's fairly bright, though...
"Yeah, but it's got alot of big words in it. Thatmakes adifference nowadays. The important
thing was that it got the name of the group flung
about abit."
The burning question of the day, however, is
who is "C.R.E.E.P." about?
"It's bits of things. Alot of people think it's
about them. They played it on Round Table andRichard Skinner goes, 'This is about The
Smiths.' Irang up Radio One, me. Isays, 'Whered'you get this from?' Isaid, 'You bloody say a
retraction.' AND he had to say it."Why did they think it was about The Smiths?
Brix: "We never found out. I
think it'sMorrissey's paranoia that perpetuated the rumour. On 'Kicker
Conspiracy' they thought Mark was saying, 'Kick out, kick out Morrissey'
But we've nothing against him. Nothing whatsoever."
So you know him?
Mark: "Used to."Not agood friend, then?
"Notan enemy either."I

NJANUARYTHE Fall were at their lowest ebb. They walked
out of their deal with Rough Trade. Mark found he couldn't
write anymore, they were broke and their support seemed tobe diminishing.
"Me writingwas getting so dense and complexwhen we were with
Rough Trade... I
started getting awriter's block towards the end of lastyear. They were screwing us up so much.., so we left Rough Trade andambled about. It was like, I'd rather retire than staywith Rough Trade."
That bad, eh?
"In an artistic sense, yeah. When you're skint and dealing with aloadof bleedin' dickheads, what can you do? We were in abad way. No money,
no support, no nothing... huge debts, blah blah."Suddenly and dramatically he dumps the terse northern accent andlaunches into awholly unexpected bout of Italianese.
"That's why when I
see 'C.R.E.E.P.' I
could keess the song. I
see'C.R.E.E.P.', Ikeess eet."
He offers no explanation for this extraordinary outburst, other than thefact that the group instinctively knew it
was asong they had in storage for arainy
7 and 12" ..Me Fall !
day (it was written at the time of thePerverted By Language album) and could
Pat -Trip Dispenser
pluck it out to restore them to publicfavour when the need arose. The need-a series
had clearly arisen.
5. The ketwJedir../..t.,• 1970 •"People have been trying to connect
r-ps
yEs
it with Brix, but 'Oh Brother' andcreep cs 1 .1a ,, ,•,-...ie ,,) .E'C.R.E.E.P.' were songs we had anyway.
Believe it or not, we used to do 'Oh
4- Ls weer---Brother' in 1978; used to do that before
we even brought arecord out. It was abit
different then, though; it was abit Bo
Diddleyish. It's only on this LP that Brix
has really come into it with the guitar andstuff. Brix is agreat guitar player, but theguitar isn't even on those two singles."At one point it looked as though theymight sign with Motown. The idea of
The Fall on Motown is scarcely credible,
but Mark and Brix swear it's true andwere talking about £46,000 advances.
In the end aMotown big boss in
America turned them down, saying,"We see no commercial potential inthis band whatsoever."

The Fall*icie rfu"Prejudices are gonna
happen": Mark ESmithon the appointment of 'his wife Brix as The
Fall's new guitarist"The funny thing was this guy at Motown asked for some of our old
stuff he could listen to and the only thing! had was Hex Enduction Hourand the first line on that is, 'Whereare the obligatory niggers?' Ithought,'When they hear that, we've had it'... we were prepared just to pack it in.
We weren't gonna go around pleading... bleedin' ell. We've never done
that. Never will."
Happily, Beggars Banquet came in with an offer they couldn't refuse(or something) and Mr and Mrs Smith clearly see it as abrave newdawn for the band. In Mark's estimation the new album is "bleedin'
great" and "five times better than Perverted By Language. Ilike the way
the tracks are arranged. All the rock songs on one side... and the rest on
the... other..."Sure, Mark.
Brix is certainly enjoying herself with The Fall. She's overcome her
nervousness and worry that the rest of the band would resent her (theydon't, they all think she is fab) and is contributing alot of material("Godbox" was one of her songs).And she's still drooling over Mark's lyrics.
"When! studied Mark's lyrics it blew my mind. Great poetry, let alone
lyrics. You can just dig, dig, dig into it rather than just 'She loves you, yeah
yeah yeah'. Iheard 'Slates' and it didn't leave my turntable for two weeks."Ah, but what about the obliqueness, Mark? The fact that most people
haven't aclue what you're on about much of the time...
"Oh, I
don't know... what can you say?"I
don't know, I'm asking you.
"It's all there. It's just amatter of bringing it out. It's not amatter of me
producing it better or taking elocution lessons- it's just amatter ofbringing it out. You probably hear the lyrics better live than on records
anyway. It's the atmosphere, isn't it?
"It's funny, 'cos in the last two days I've been sat down with this blokefrom Berlin who's gonna write abook... collate abook of Fall lyrics...
and some of the things he thought I
was saying was quite different towhat Iwas really saying. But you never think about that when you're
singing. You just think, 'Don't make it too obvious.'"And any °four lines is worth 10 of anybody else's. There's 10 times
more words in there. This is part of the problem. It's not due to the factthat !can't talk properly.
"I think people pick up on the atmosphere... it's no big deal. Alot of the
stuff is about nowt. Some of the interpretations this bloke had on thesesongs were great- much better than what !wrote."
It doesn't matter that people draw all sorts of weird and wonderfulconclusions from what you write?
"No. It makes me laugh."
Perverse bugger. Colin Irwin •W rld
The FallBEGGARS BANQUET

Hardly The Fall go
pop -but almost.
By their own
distinguishedstandards thisis probably
their most"commercial"record to date;though, of course,
The Fall will never be
an easy band to decipher.
Many in this office will argue
that they'll always sound like a'78 garage-punk band demoing
sessions for the John Peelshow, but really they deserve
afar higher rating than that.
OK, so aFall album of '84
mightn't sound too far removed
from some of their first records,
but it also sees them moving
into dreamier, less abrasive
territory. Mark Smith is still amadman whose fractured
visions of life are often
coloured by paranoia anddelusion, and sometimes he canbe too obtuse for his own good,
but it's clear that things havechanged radically in The Fallcamp since our last encounter.
Those in the know single out
Brix (Mrs) Smith as being
responsible for their new,lighter countenance, and it's
certain she's alot moreconvinced of pop's value thanher spouse. Sharing lead andrhythm guitar with
Craig Scanlon, she
adds zest to their rumbling,
repetitive guitar chords,
intrigue into this erstwhile
bastion of masculinity.
Songs like "2 x4" and the new
single "Slang King" are stillcharacterised by traditional
dagger-sharp Fall drumbeatsand dissonant bass chords,
but they've been spiked with
Brixa's subtle infiltrations.
Gavin Friday of The Virgin
Prunes contributes anotherdose of new blood, guestingon the vocals of "Copped It"
and "Stephen's Song", andwith all titles boasting band
co-authorship, it's clear that
The Fall is working more asa
democratic unit than it has in
the not-too-distant past.
It's still Mark E's show, but with
Brixa's mellowing influence he's
loosened his grasp of the reins
and the results are stunning. The
Fall are an acquired taste, but
that's no excuse for ignorance.
Helen Fitzgerald,MMOct73

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I137

1984

Eurythmics:
Orwell, it could
have been worse

ALBUMSL) VAN HOUTEN /REX

Eurythmics

VIRGINWar Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery,
Ignorance Is Strength, and thissoundtrack LP with the logo of
Radford's1984 on its cover is not
the soundtrack of the film. Not
the new Eurythmics LP, and not
the film's music. So what is it?
Well, it's not another disaster inthe vein of the last not-the-newEurythmics LP -(Don't) Touch(With A Barge Pole) Dance -butneither is it the masterpiece that
Dave and Annie seem to think on
the evidence of last week's coverstory. But then the soundtrack
project has always been mostdear to any artist's heart.
The perils of interpreting
Orwell's novel has already been
just about successfully
negotiated by David Bowie on
Diamond Dogs, so breaking new
ground this isn't. Second, partly
to do with that very LP,1984 is agood deal further down the roadto clichedom these days -in fact,
last seen it had broken throughthe wall at the bottom and wasstill going. Maybe at one time
you could have got away withavocoder coda chanting "1984"
in cold mechanical tones, now it's
definitively CORNY.
With only two actual songs,"Sexcrime (1984)", the one withthe offending vocoder, and For
The Love Of Big Brother", itcomes down to mood music.
There's two moods here; takeyour pick, epic or plaintive, mate.
Problem number three is thatthe line between being epic andsounding septic is thinner than138

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984alayer of celluloid. There is,I'm afraid, more than one
moment when all this sounds
alittle Jeff Wayne, especiallyon "Doubleplusgood", where
aclipped newsreader voice iscountered against stirring
themes and achorus of"Plusgood, Doubleplusgood/
Plusgood, Doubleplusgood".
Some moments, agreatarrangement on the discordant
piano and strangled scat of"I Did It Just The Same", but
doubleplusgood? Not exactly.
Don Watson, NME Novt7

Alison Moyet

CBS

As the blue dawn pours in throughthe shutters, Alison Moyet stares
from the cover of her first solo LP
with alook that immediately
signals something is wrong.
There's asuspicious glint in thoseirregular hazel eyes that thegrainless perfection of the
airbrush finish can't quite
sandblast smooth. The last
defiant flash before the gloss
closes over her face says: "Are you
sure I'm doing the right thing?""Alf"- signed by CBS, sealed inquotation marks
and delivered by
Alison Moyet.
Signed, sealed,delivered, but
who? Thereseems to be someuncertainty here
as to the identityof this "Alf",
now that she's
encased in the
inverted commasof the product.

Back when Alf and Alison were
one and the same and half ofYazoo, she sang of heartbreakand doubt, but with asound thatsprang from an inner conviction.
It was this, more than anything,which distinguished Yazoo. At
atime when electronics wereassociated increasingly by fragile
boys paddling in piddlingtraumas, Yazoo's hooks were
slung by this lumbering figure of
awoman, who seemed to breathe
alife of pain into the mostelemental romantic scenarios.
If she recognised weakness,her sound was one of strength,
bleeding towards cruelty.
Now, despite the bluster of"Love Resurrection" and "All
Cried Out", the high profile andher picture on the cover of her
own LP, she sounds all the more
introverted -ready to huddle up
inside the warm soul/funk of
Swain and Jolley's arrangements.
From the outside there's apromise that in "Twisting The
Knife" or "Where Hides Sleep"
something might break throughthe gloss, but at the core there's ahollow. This is Alison pretending

WHAM! MAK

to be "Alf". For any
interpretive singer,
the song's grain is the
texture of its singer's
personality. Sade will
never sound convincing
because her songs areprojected against thecountless Face spreads that
we saw before we heard hervoice. She can sing "hungry
but we won't give in" with thebest will in the world, but all
she'll call up is the image ofagaggle of models in asmall Parisian hotel room,
grumbling about theirstarvation diets anddespairing of ever attainingthat anorexic look. Helen
Terry, well, she still justsounds like the born sidekick.
Of the current female
singers, Alison was the
only one with the strengthof character to soundconvincing. Here it sounds
like too many record company
questions and marketingsuggestions have shaken her
idea of herself. She looks out frombehind the cover. She's not sure and it shows. Don Watson, NINE Nov 70

WHAM!

EPIC

Let's start with Barry White. Now
there was aman that Iloathed. At
the height of his success, I
used
to watch his videos in mounting
disbelief as he, dripping in
extravagance, lumbered aroundgrunting his trite love songs toskimpily dressed women lying
around amassive swimming pool.
To me, Barry White personified
crass with acapital C.
Ten years later, I
now know whatsome of my friends at the time
were trying to persuade me:
Barry White created somebrilliant records. Devoid of all
those cliched images, he now
stands on his music, and his musicalone, as agreat songwriter.
So how will we, in time, judge
the pop music being madetoday? Without their crassstatements and shallow
credibility, will Spandau Balletsuddenly be recognised as amajor talent?
Duran Duranas masterfulcomposers? And
what, then, ofWham!, currently
Britain's mostpopular groupand possibly themost reviled?
It remains tobe seen, butsomehow I
doubt
if this music will

REVIEWS

last. It is too synthetic andtransparent. It rings hollow,
without invention or mystery. This
new Wham! LP does nothing but
reinforce the idea that George
and Andy are simply producing
music that will sell, not writing
music that is naturally its own.
Just as they clumsily appearedwith their early white-boy raps tofill agap, so now they ditch thatfor what they think will sustain
their success. They should havecalled it "The Art Of Pandering".
On that level, then, they havesucceeded brilliantly. The music
is loud, simplistic and vulgar. It has
no foundation. If you strippedaway one part, the whole song
would come crumbling down,around their ears.
Of course, Wham! have now
moved away from writing their"socially aware" songs. And it
would be stupid to condemn themfor that. They weren't exactly
novel ideas, and writing songs
about the working classes doesn't
automatically make you talented.
Just look at how Springsteen canrelease the weakest LP of his
career and get away with it simply
because he writes about the lot of
the working man.
George Michael now writes
songs about love. Either being
in love or wishing you were. He
seems to have afunny attitude
to it. Women are either theharbingers of eternal happiness("Wake Me Up..." and "Freedom")or callous cruel bitches who steal
all your money ("Everything She
Wants" and the cringeful"Credit
Card Baby"). It's all surface stuff,
boy meets girl, etc ;reflections onadolescent emotions written andperformed in the mock style.
"All I
know is all I
see," he sings in"Credit Card Baby", and George
Michael knows an awful lot. For
many people, Wham! aredespicable because of the way
they project themselves, itself
agreat clue to their natures andway of music making. Smug,arrogant and without acare in
the world. I'm past the point ofbeing offended by this conceit.
At least it isn't as hypocritical as
Gary Kemp's Labour-card policy
when his group and their image isso obviously Tory-minded.
What springs to mind is how
boring and predictable theWham! operation is. They act as
pop stars did when they weregrowing up, and the annoying
thing is that the generation who
will come up behind Wham! will
act in exactly the same way.
Thankfully, I'll still have my
Barry White records. Paolo Hewitt
NME,Novto

presenceover thelast sevendays hasn't
obscured ordeflected
from the plightof the people thisrecord was designed tohelp. He's entitled tosome congratulation,and if he gets his face
all over the papers, it's
for acause that no one
could seriously claim
isn't worthwhile.
Inevitably, after suchmassive publicity, therecord itself issomething of an anticlimax, even though
Geldof's sense ofuniversal
flea eri„ry,ft
melodrama isperfectly suited
SIERE
InsanelycatchrPrinceeee'
to this kind of
attheSpectrumin
epic musicalPhiladelphia,
November 24 ,1984
manifesto.
Midge Ure's
large-screen
catchy,production andyou'd be:fee.
Prince And The Revolution
the emotional
mad not to
WEA
vocal deliveries
fall for it,of the various
while thePrince is ascream, of course;•celebrities match thearrangement
his every gesture perfectly
demonstrative sweep offizzes brightly,
manicured, designed to
Geldof's lyric, which veers
setting whirling synth lines
enhance his legend as someoccasionally toward an
against brazen rhythm guitar,
exotic creation, beyond
uncomfortably generalisedwith Prince's voice waltzing
conventional emotional
sentimentality that threatens
through the spaces between
intercourse, asensibility so
to turn righteous pleading
the nudging musical climaxes.
rarefied, so elevated, it remains
into pompous indignation.
Probably the nearest thing thisbeyond the grasping embrace
On the other hand, I'm sure
week to arecord that I'll beof mere mortals.
it's impossible to write
listening to again. Ise1Dec 7
In this he reminds me oddly,
flippantly about something
but increasingly vividly, ofBand Aidas fundamentally dreadful as
Bryan Ferry. Like Ferry, he has
MERCURY
the Ethiopian famine. mmDeei
an acute understanding of the
The reaction of defiant cynics
vocabulary and mechanics ofJohn Lennon/ Sean Ono Lennon
to this all-star Band Aid
pop and soul and how they
extravaganza has been
might best be manipulated to
POLYDORpredictable. They've alreadyenhance their own images.
Paul McCartney Withchurlishly dismissed "Do They
Bowie has done this too, of
The Frog Chorus
Know It's Christmas?" as ancourse, but never without
opportunist trick, turned bysounding convincingly phoney,
PARLOPHONE
Bob Geldof in an attempt towhich has bothered him lessJohn tends to soundrevive aspectacularly flagging
than Ferry -an eternal worrier
abit house-trained
career, acrass exploitation of-and, I
suspect, Prince.
on trite pronounceaterrible natural catastrophe
The latter, despite his cartoon
ments like this. Mostby afading star desperate for
narcissism, is delighted by his
likely he composed it
publicity. In the circumstances,
perceived public persona and,while baking one oflike Ferry-and unlike Bowiethis verdict is simply cruel.
the famed Dakota
has no sense of humour about
Geldof has inevitably foundloaves. Little Sean's B-side
himself back in the headlines
himself; he's unintentionally ais an unbearably cute appeal to(see our own cover this week),
parody of his own imagination.
tousled sleepyheads the world
None of this vague
but syrups off to the,,,„„„..... .....,
over to wake up, "cos everytheorising, of....•""«....
chap: it was histhing's gonna be alright". Listencourse, makesr ee lii ‘ED ftf *ape..'.
initiative, after
carefully and you'll just hear his
I
aI
t
l
,
t
hat pulld"I Would Die/°\
hambitious
mum threatening no pocket
4 U" anythingI%
less than; 15 RPM
money in the background.
‘ project
John's old art-school buddy,
together,awinning
Fe
EA
E
ND
D A11Dlmeanwhile, sinks into aswamp
i and hisrecord. The
to promote the animation<,........—,.« I ubiquitouschorus isbiopic of Rupert Bear. NMENovu/ media
so insanely
DO THEY KNOW ITS Cif RISTMAS ?
•SINGLES+moot. ••••••.
me,

HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I139

1984
ocos BR"Real weirdos"
Meet 77 Tbr, ablues
band for the video age.
Two-thirds good ol' boys,
guitarist Billy Gibbons is
an anomaly: an arts
patron and electronic
musician not always athome in the band's worldof neon and beer. "So few
bands are aware of what
American culture isabout," he says, en routeto atopless place.

- NME NOVEMBER 17 OUSTON, OCTOBER: THE monsoon season in thisblandly corporate boomtown. Idescend through hotstorms over achrome metropolis built on flat sand andoil deposits, all hopes of snaring the bearded boogiemenof ZZ Top in their appropriate Texan climate rent apartby vicious cracks of lightning. Visions of boiler suits andsouped-up stock cars with mad whale-tail fins against deep-blue sky are
washed away in the relentless rain. ZZ Top will be indoors, watching TV,
thawing out frozen tacos.
Who knows what to expect of these genial loons on their home turf? I'mlooking to them to subvert rock'n'roll America, but they may just be part of
Houston's boom: slick businessmen with aneat line in self-merchandising.
(There must be ZZ Top dolls by now.) Doubtless they'll wish to be photographedin the boardroom of ZZT Enterprises.
"Lord, get me out ofHouston town," wailed soul man Ted Taylor. Everythingwas
goingwrong for Ted, but not for our good friends of the chin-blisters. ZZ Top have
dwelt in the East Texan city for 15 good years and show no signs of hotfooting itout. In manyways it's an ideal place for them, acity quite removed from theentertainment empires on the coasts and free of specific rock traditions.
Houston has grown, but grown so fast that things are still loose enough foracartoon celebritylike Billy Gibbons to have served two years on the trustees'
board of the city's ContemporaryArts Museum. The money is new, so a
generation or two can elapse before aclass structure sets in hard.
The latest issue of Vanity Fair, akind of highbrowAmerican Taller, takes
agossipypeek at this trendy new meccawith its Philip Johnson 'scrapers,
its outdoor Dubuffet sculptures, and its subsidised ballet. In amongst theheiresses, the oilmen and the gallery owners is the voice of one BGibbons("Rock Star") ...

PAUL NATK IN /GETTY

1

140 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"Despite its size, the feeling, the thread that binds the whole of it together, isblue-collar. This is not apurely sophisticated city by any means. You've got theship channel and the dockworkers and the refineries. The business community
is firmly planted with both feet in that territory. You never really get away froman earthier kind of feeling."
The idea is to observe ZZ Top-along with MotOrhead and the Blue Oyster Cult,
one of metal's more engaging anomalies- in their own backyard. Their album
Eliminator, ahi-tech, rocket-ignition overhaul of their bastard hard blues, hasbeen sitting seemingly immovable in our national Top 10 for two months. No
one seems quite sure what propelled it up there; without ahit single, it looks
positively freakish. »February8,1984.ZZTopat
the MetroCentre,Rockford,
Illinois-(1-r)DustyHill,Frank
Beard,BillyGibbons

PAUL NATKIN /GETTY

It's aremarkably good record, of course, containing the mighty "Gimme
All Your Lovin'", which achieved in three minutes and 59 seconds whatdear old Status Quo have been striving to do for 20 whole years. Other
spiffing riffs boasted by this fine disc include the video masterworks"Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man", plus the mirthsome "TV Dinners" and"Got Me Under Pressure" (with its unbeatable line "She likes cocaine/And
flipping out with great danes").
It's still raining the next day as Iclimb aboard alimo and head for the"health spa" which ZZ Top have recently acquired in order to limber up
between tours. An in-car TV box reports flooding in the north-west of thecity. We glide past new housing settlements with names like Pecan Grove
and White Oak Bayou on long, flat roads stretching off the highway, past
Pentecostal churches and cowboy surplus stores. Asign for Humble
Mobile Homes comes up: humble indeed, though it was Humble Oil thatlater became the giant Exxon corporation. ZZ Top's outrageously funky"Cheap Sunglasses" booms from the tape deck. "That dude pick the shit
outta the bass," remarks Fred the black driver.
The ZZ Top "spa" turns out to be fairly humble itself, though decorated ingarish bordello wallpaper. Aplastic imitation set of Mr T's excessive gold
neckwear adorns one wall. It must be said that as we enter the spa the fellas
are not exactly utilising the impressivearrayof Nautilus equipment on display.
Nor do they exactly resemble three Arnie
Schwarzeneggers. But then old Conan's
pectorals would doubtless interfere
T.V. Dinners
with the subtle licking action whichcharacterises Top's grooviest platters.
El primo licksman Gibbons looks about
as unlike abeefy 10-gallon Texan as
anyone could. In his blue pinstripe suitand white-shirted paunch he is more likeaHasidic Jew in abaseball cap; atiny
pigtail tickles the nape of his neck.
Bassman and bearded double Dusty Hillis continually grinning aset ofjagged
little teeth and stroking his prodigious
facial hair. His combination of Nikesweatpants, motorcycle boots and yellow
sou'wester more than bears out his usefuldefinition of "sharp dressed" as "anyth ing I'm
not wearing", and he strikes the eye as ajumble ofcar mechanic, hillbilly farmer and one of SnowWhite's seven dwarfs.
Gibbons and Hill have always struck me as
the Morecambe &Wise of rock'n'roll, or least
Morecambe &Wise crossed with the falsebearded Marx Brothers of Duck Soup, and in theflesh this is precisely what they are. As for freshfaced drummer Frank Beard, his little leather
legs are the one thing Inote about this natty,
reformed-wildcat golfer person. ("Rod Stewart by
way ofAmerican Gigolo" is how Billy Gibbons
once appraised him.)
Almost immediately, we repair to an almost
inevitably Mexican restaurant, just two doors
down on the same shopping lot, and while theculinary scene which ensues is not quite on thescale depicted in the gatefold sleeve of Tres
Hombres-lashings of greasy cheese overguacamole and enchiladas -it's quite enough tonullify any strenuous exertions they may havemanaged in the spa. "This is purr-fect fer Zee Zeu
Tarp," drawls the laconic Beard, whose Southeril
acksint is simply total. "Work out for two hours
and then destroy it all." He promptly digs into
alarge round of nachos.
Three iced teas are ordered for the Tops andconversation turns briefly to the subject oftolerable Mexican restaurants in London (Cafe
Pacifico in Covent Garden earns their highest
rating). From there it winds into more general
feelings about the band's relationship with
Britain. Gibbons speaks in alow, quiet voice.

142 IHISTORY OF ROCK 1984

"It's funny, because we waited so long to go to the UK. It was actually
10 years before our first appearance. Having found anice little cultfollowing, it was averywarm reception in the beginning, and yet so manythings had changed in music that we were very uncertain about how aZZ
Top type band would go down in the UK, especially since the wave of new
stuff in the late '70s. We were lucky to hit it just when aheavy metal thing
was coming back- there was aslot we could sneak into."
Iremark that Eliminatoris amore metallic record than Deguello or
El Loco. The guitars are revved up like the Corvette engine in the album
cover's 1932 Coupe.
"We've always been car freaks," says Billy. "A guy came into Houston
and recommended that we go with him to California for the National
Drag Racing Championships, and not having been to one in awhile,I
reallywasn't quite prepared for the magnitude and dynamics of a
2,500-HP nitroburning bomb. It was just like arocket with wheels, it was
so awesome. If there was just away to get that sound and that feeling on
stage and record, well...""Hot cars and rock'n'roll have always been synonymous," puts in Dusty
rather prosaically. "They're already tied together...""Although Frank," counters Billy, "is suggesting that the next album
feature the ZZ Top boat."
Has anything changed in these three over the course of 15
years? Were they the same merry pranksters in 1969?
"Ah'd swear they're wilder than they was tin years ago."
Will you never grow abeard, Beard?
"Ah cain't!Ah'm jist so far behand!Ah used to say I
was tooyerng, but after 12 years that stopped working. Then ah said it

February 7,1984:
ZZ Top on stage in
Rockford, Illinois

ZZ TOP

about ZZ Top's humour, Frank and Dusty get goodwas doo to female thigh-burn, but Igot married andol'-boy humorous- "hey, humour's jist humour" ah cain't say that no more!So now I
say ah'm jist too
but Billy (the only reallywitty one) looks serious. So
far outta the race."
serious that he leaves the table. Somehow I
sustain
Gibbons and Hill are quick to point how muchthe line of enquiry.
money their hirsuteness saves them tie-wise, though
In awayyou're akind of pop-art group, aren't you?
Billy sometimes invests regardless. "There's areal"You mean artsy-fartsy? Heh heh!!!" bawls Frank.
hip little shop in Covent Garden called Robot, andSHARP DRESSED MAN"Heh heh heh!!!" concurs Dusty.
they had the greatest string ties with skull-andIstare long and hard at the remnants of my guacamole.
crossbones, which you just won't find in Texas. Isaid, 'I'll take 10."l'he"Dusty, you goin' to that party Saturday?" inquires Frank.
guy said, 'Why?""I gotta go to my mother's birthday, so I'm gonna be outta town. But
Billy Gibbons' grandparents were English, which part-way explains his
Ineed to git acostume for Hallowe'en next week."
abiding affection for our fair isle, and his old man was Freddy Gibbons, a"Ah wanted to go as y'all," cackles Frank.
pianist and society orchestra leader who came to Texas from New York on
Mercifully, Billy Gibbons drifts back into the room. I
repeat myaccount of his wife's poor health. "I'm real glad he did, because being here
pop-art question. "I think that's acompliment," he says."I don't think
we've all had to figure out what it is that makes Texas such agreat place to
we've ever set out to present ourselves as the Talking Heads or anything, yet
put down musical roots. Isuppose one of the reasons was that up until thethere are so few bands who are aware of what American culture is about."'70s none of this convenient modern city livingwas available. Growing up"An' we're certainly not one of 'em!!" bellows Frank.
in Texas, there just seemed to be so much time on your hands, and that
"Heh heh heh!!" Dusty bellows back.
was afactor-that plus the old tradition of the Texas gunslinger. In otherBilly ignores them. "There's so little regionalism. There's this kind ofwords, if you didn't have asix-shooter you used six strings."
glaze which has made the East Coast like the West Coast and Texas like
"There was also abig rhythm'n'blues thing here and in Dallas," says
Wyoming and everywhere else. It's hard to pinpoint little segments or
Dusty Hill, "and you couldn't help but have that seep into you." Dallas, 300
sections that have some oddball thing you can play off."
miles north-west of Houston, is hometown to Dusty and Frank. Well beforeIguess ZZ Top is akind of oddball institution in itself.
Billy had gotten his first Gibson Melody Maker and Fender Champ amp, a"The entertainment level here in Houston is at such an ebb that we're
14-year-old Dustywas playing some very primitive bass therewith such
real weirdos. Houston is not ashowbiz town. I
kind of enjoy the oddball
blues heavyweights ofJR-ville as Freddie King and Lightnin' Hopkins.
attitude that is thrust onus. It keeps 'em guessing."
It is alittle-known fact that among the projects Billy Gibbons undertook
HAT FIRST UNITED ZZ Top, unbeknownst to each of them,during ZZ Top's sabbatical of 1976-1979 was acommission to compose
was alate-night blues station operating out of Mexico on
and record some ambient electronic music for an art gallery in Paris.
which, 300 miles apart, they discovered the likes ofJimmy
Alittle while after Frank and Dusty have taken off in their respective
Reed, Howlin' Wolf and T-Bone Walker. "Because he was from that
automobiles, Billy Gibbons proposes avisit to Rick's Cabaret, a"highhigh-society background," recalls Billy, "my dad didn't care for thatclass titty joint" housed in akind of neo -Vegas Palladian villa, sort ofjive stuff. It was the old story of the kid who wants to play rock'n'roll,halfway between The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and the Houston
y'know, and Dad says, 'Why are you playin' that stuff?' So the kid does
"encounter booth" where Harry Dean Stanton finds Nastassja Kinski init twice as heavy."
Paris, Texas. Since he is by no stretch of the imagination apriapic
In Dallas, Dusty and Frank wound up together in adubious combo
rock'n'roll pig, Billy looks distinctly out of place at Rick's: at worst, framed
known as Lady Wild &The Warlocks, the lady in question being ascouseby clusters of G-strings and nipples, he is Benny Hill rather than David
siren of uncertain talents. On her ladyship's departure the Warlocks
Lee Roth. Feeling the acute discomfort that only a25-year-old English
metamorphosed into the sub-psychedelic American Blues, noteworthy
introvert could feel in such atemple of hedonism, I
watch Gibbons being
if only for the shocking-blue hair they sported as they gamely toured
greeted by fellow Houston bigwigs, gorillas in suits and ostrich cowboy
through the redneck wilds of Texas. (One of their showstoppers wasboots. I
cannot decide whether to believe in this good ol' boy alter ego.
called "Chocolate Ego".) In Houston, meantimes, Billy Gibbons had
Back inside his limo, Billy turns and confesses his anger at Dustyand
assembled the amazing Moving Sidewalks, an acid-garage band who
Frank: "You were asking aserious question and theywere being real
today rank alongside ?&The Mysterians and the 13th Floor Elevators intiresome." Billy loves to talk, even if he loses himself in his own abstractions
the Texan enclave of punk ancestry. The Sidewalks' "99th Floor", aand has astrangely awkward wayof searching out the right word. He's
collision ofThem's "Gloria" and the Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me",
chuffed that people get far enough to take his humour seriously, and I
thinkremains apinnacle of '60s garage punk, astabbing riff ofVox fuzz organrelishes the disparity between his own wide-ranging interests and the Top
and tinny, needling guita r.
audience's narrower infatuation with boozy boogie. "I hate to draw
It was while the Sidewalks were touringwith the Iimi Hendrix
dividing lines", he says, "but where does Muddy Waters meet Brian Eno?"
Experience in 1968 that IH blessed Billy Gibbons as "America's most
By the time we've arrived at the Gibbons abode, I've stopped listening
promising young guitarist". The bigger influence, of cou rse, was Cream,
to Billy's ruminations. Instead I'm staring in
the original power blues trio. The irony ofdisbelief at the interior decoration. The house
Texans rediscovering their own blues heritage
is constructed around one outsize room
via abunch of limeys reared in desperately
overlooking the swampy-looking Buffalo
unsoulful places like Twickenham has been
Bayou River and is filled with artefacts ofremarked on before; Top have in any caseseriously advanced kitsch: blue neon cacti,taken more than two steps from the blues
amannequin mummy, apair of chromesince then. If their first album, released in
sheep. Everything else is merely tasteless.
1970, was orthodox enough, the patented
Billy is reading my mind, or at least myhumour was already sneaking through on
expression. "Americans invent things that
Rio Grande Mud (1972), in such unbluesy odes
are fun, things that go from right-field
to Americana as "Chevrolet", "Bar-B-Q", andconservative to the seediest left-field"Whiskey'n'Mama".
expression you can dream up, yet most of them
The subsequent twenty years have produced
are reactionary rather than visionary." He isaveritable cornucopia of High Trash anthems:
about to say more when the doorbell rings.
"Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers", "Nasty Dogs
Alawyer friend has shown up with the rest ofand Funky Kings", "Cheap Sunglasses",an Elvis-style inner echelon of pals and it's time to play good ol' boy again.
"Groovy Little Hippy Pad" and many more. Along with The Cramps and
The lawyer chides him for taking me to Rick's and everyone is slapping
The B-52's, ZZ Top have crafted some of the wittiest pop statements ever
him on the back, chuckling like kids. Time to make excuses and bid
made about America.
farewell, pausing only to glance back at this singularly odd fellow in his
It's here that acurious tension develops in the conversation. For while
pinstripe suit, surrounded by urban cowboys.
Billy is clearly desirous of minor pontification on musical/cultural
The Benny Hill grin is alittle crooked. BarneyHoskyns •generalities, the others equally clearly aren't. When Iask (seriously)W"I hate to drawlines, but where
does Muddy
Waters meet
1-3rian no?"HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I143

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Readers' letters

MM/NME JUL-DEC_

Industrial inaction

The sunshine that filteredthrough mywindowwas as empty
as ahead waiter's smile. Itapped
my badly bitten biro on top of mydesk. The facts stood up in mymind big as boulders: thesubscription had been paid oversixweeks ago; confirmation had
been received, yet the morning
mailbag brought only air, dust andan old musty smell of canvas.
Itapped my biro again. I
lookedat mywatch. I
looked at the wall.
I
looked at nothing.
PHILIP MARLOW (Stephenson),
Kaptagat, Kenya (NME Aug A)
Last week I
was in astate ofdepression because the NME
was not printed. In aweek's time,I
will start myA-levels and Ineed
some jovial sustenance. Whilst
bypassing the Mayfairs,
Economists and Private Eyes,
I
noticed avacant gap where thispaper should have been. I
left
immediately, cursing everyone.
Still downhearted, I
watchedHigh Bandwith Thomas Dolby.
He played "Windpower", andwhat did I
hear but "There is no
NME" repeated anumber oftimes. What acruel blow!
PETER KOUKOULAIDES aliasPeter Koukoulaides, Catford,
London (NME Aug 4)

ÛLI wan,Peel praised ai id Doublethink identified...

infected music over the past few
years; it's surelyworth suffering
the current rash of Ovalteenies,
Go West bands or Birthday Partyclones he seems to favour.
Anyway, this letter isn't any
different. What really got up mynose was the two "critics" ofJohn
Peel in your last issue. Is everyone
at Cardinal College, Oxford, asmuch of awanker as you,"Arkansaw Traveller"?
Does Mr Peel really deserve all
those nasty remarks about his hair
just because he doesn't quite likeU2 as much as you do, Selma of
Middlesex. I
mean, Ilike U2 very
much, but I
wouldn't knock
someone who didn't. People likeSelma seem to lose their tempers
far too easily when others fail toshow the same adoration for theirfavourite pop groups.
All in all, Ithink JP is adecent sort who should keep
broadcasting until he drops into
his coffin, whilst you, Selma,should plugyour narrow mind
into an endless U2 tape loop andgo jump into avat of your own
faeces, where you will probably
bump into that arse wiping from
Cardinal College, Oxford.
HUGE (WILLY) WILLIAMS,
Noctorum, Birkenhead, Merseyside(NME Aug 4)

Last week I
had to buy Snouds—
the first and last time. Let's hope
all's well this week.
RICHARD SCOTT, aworried manfrom Leeds (NME Aug 4)

ANN CLIFFORD /GETTY

Peel the noue

Inote that the rumbling ulcer ofanti-John Peel mail has reared its
ugly head again. To see Peel as a"disillusioned hippy", or to
castigate him because he doesn't
play U2, The Wombles orwhoever,is surely to miss the point. Peel's
programme is asafety net forRadio One; he adopts an eclectic
approach, encompassing soul,
jazz, African, punk, reggae andother"minority" forms, as wellas promoting the lesser-known
mainstream artists.
The Smiths and Cocteau Twinsare just the latest in along line ofbands who benefited from his
benign enthusiasm. I
would thinkthat regular listeners are quite
happywith this catch-all stance.
Personally, I
welcome his rejectionof the noxious tribalism which has

Wham! bad rap

Let's start wit hPaolo Hewitt.
In 10 years' time, the Paolo
whatsits of the world will open
predictably derogatory reviewsof albums by the big pop stars ofthe daywith comments like:"Let's start with Wham!. Now
there was apair of lads..
CR KYME, Forest Gate, London
That'sjust the problem, Iwon't be.
—PH (NME Dec 1)

1984 and all that

Arthur Lee (Gasbag, 24 November)is right. Nineteen Eighty-Fourwas
not aprophecy. The book was

written by Orwell as awarning.
Iknow I'm being boring, but thatwas the whole point of the bookand therefore the movie. Why was
the movie released in 1984?
Because that's how Sonia—wifeof the late George—wanted it.
Besides, it's anatty idea for Virgin
to release it in 1984. But it doesn't
matter when it was released. The
warning is still there. If you don't
think Orwell's vision is with us,
just take alook at security
surveillance cameras, the neverending Middle Eastern wars andDoublethink (who wants to staywarm in winter and support theminers' strike at the same time?).
JOHN TINGWELL, London SW5
But where does the NME comeinto all this?The Ministry OfTruth?
(NME, Dec 1)

Full of broadsheet

At least Ihave proof that working
for NMEcan damage your health,or to be more precise, can turnyour brains into friggin'scrambled eggs. As I
was browsing
through the Guardian the otherday, I
came across ashort "rock"piece written by none other thanyour very own Barmy Hoskyns.
The following is aquote fromthe aforementioned passage:"This American quartet is funkysuccessors (sic) to Led Zep's
throne whose superb Who
pastiche was recently asmash hit."This was areference to Van
Halen and their single "Jump",
would you believe. What theflipping heck he means bysaying they "is funky successors
to Led Zep's throne," who knows?
I
certain don't.
BERNIE 'CATALOGUE'TROUSERS,
Liverpool 9(NMESept 8)

I "MI
tole

A

COMMIMSMET FIRE

Miner disagreements

Justify your existence, Joe
Strummer. Even Wham! are doing
abenefit concert for the miners.
Your music may now be boring,cliched and meaningless, but
The Clash can still fill concert
halls and make money for theminers, not American tours.
IAN MACGREGOR (NMESept 15)

IT'XKIEU
TIEEC CMIL.IFCS

THE

NEW SINGLE

Frankly..,

Is Welcome To The
Pleasuredome this decade's
Frampton Comes Alive?
MWHITE, London N19
More The Dark Side Of Mooning,
Iwould suspect... (NMEDect)HISTORY OF ROCK 1984 I145

1984

MONIMBI MONTH

t`• g

'

ME LODY•M KER

S&
AIN
STORM
WAriON

Mol ïisse

Inesition
11141% «OSUMI 11%
ERCI ORINII

Coming next...
in 1985!

S

0THAT WAS 1984. It was really nothing.
Certainly, that's not it from our reporters on the beat. The
staffers of NME and Melody Maker enjoyed unrivalled accessto the biggest stars of the time, and cultivated afeel for therhythms of adiversifying scene; as the times changed, so didthey. While in pursuit of the truth, they unearthed stories
that have come to assume mythical status.
That's very much the territory of this monthly magazine. Each month,
TheHistory OfRockwill be bringingyou verbatim reports from the pivotal
events in pop culture, one year amonth, one year at atime. Next up, 1985!

NEIL YOUNG
ASEARCHING ENCOUNTER with the ungovernable songwriter. Who
is waiting for David Crosby to clean up his act before playing with CSNY
again. "The way Ilook at it, either he's going to OD and die or we're goingto play together sometime. It's pretty simple. They all know how Ifeel."

HEM
THE BAND RELEASE Fables Of The Reconstruction, and their enigma
persists. "Michael gets criticised because people say they can't
understand what it is he's singing," says drummer Bill Berry. "I'm glad
we made the decision never to include alyric sheet with the albums.
That would be like going to the movies and getting the script to the filmwith your ticket."

KATE BUSHNOW WITH A different dance teacher, Kate is ready for the new
direction of Hounds Of Love. "I've never seen any point in repeating
things you've already done before. Too many people sit and think, 'It'll
just come to me,' instead of getting off their arses and going for it."

PLUS...
JESUS AND MARY CHAIN!
LIVE AID!
TOM WAITS!

146 IHISTORY 01 ROCK 1984

FROM THE MAKERS OF UNCUTTHE HISTORY OF

Every month, we revisit long-lost NME and Melody Maker interviews
and piece together The History OfRock. This month: 1984.
"When you say it's going to happen now/Well when exactly doyou mean?...

+km year...

THE SMITHS MADE A MAGNIFICENT DEBUTGEORGE MICHAEL AND PAUL WELLER
SUPPORTED THE MINERSMICHAEL JACKSON BROUGHT THRILLER TO LIFE,
WITH HIS BROTHERS IN TOW... and U2, JAMES BROWN, THE FALL, ZZ TOP,NICK CAVE, VAN HALEN and many more sharedeverything with NME and MELODYMAKER

More from UNCUT...

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p.

" 01 I':

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