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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1980)
When Billy Joel's name is mentioned, what do you think of? Is it that smooth-voiced singer? The witty songwriter? The incredible pianist? Well, no matter how Billy Joel is catego rized, one thing is for certain: this guy writes and plays good music. Billy Joel has all the sense of a street urchin, all the finesse of a Carnegie Hall pianist, and all the spunk of the toughest kid on the block. His material has ranged over the years from the cynical epics, ‘‘Piano Man” and “Captain Jack,” to the tender love ballads, like “Just the Way You Are” and “Until the Night.” He sings his songs with the conviction of a man who has done it all. Joel’s latest album, “Glass Houses,” is a departure of sorts from the successful formula that made “The Stranger” and “52nd Street” as popular as they were. Billy’s piano is no longer the central figure in the music. In this case, Joel has yielded the spotlight to some of his talented sidemen. The result is a different type of Billy Joel album that is more rock oriented than any of his previous efforts. “Glass Houses” opens with the sound of breaking glass, a kind of extension of the album’s cover, which has Billy poised, in leath er jacket, preparing to hurl a rock through a plate-glass window. Then the band launches into “You May Be Right,” an up-tempo song that features a guitar line that is reminiscent of the writing of the Cars’ Ric Ocasek. "You May Be Right” is a good choice to open “Glass Houses” because the song is a good indication of what is to come: more cynic al lyrics and hard-edged rock, tempered with intelligence. Liberty DeVitto, Billy’s long time drummer and partner-in-crime, shines on the opener. “Sometimes A Fantasy” features a staccato vocal that falls in line with the syncopated beat m UiJbL 2.C S ——-u provided by DeVitto and bass player Doug Stegmeyer. The solo in the middle is not piano but synthesizer, another interesting wrinkle that hasn’t been used to any great degree since “The Entertainer.” “Don’t Ask Me Why” is Paul McCartney pop with more guts to the lyrics. Billy uses his best pop vocal performance to relate the story of a one-way love affair: Review “I Don’t Want to be Alone Anymore,” with its reggae-like instrumental track, is probably the boldest departure to be found on the album. It has been getting some FM airplay, but the exciting thing is Richie Cannata’s sax. With just a short piece wedged in the middle, Can- nata manages to change the entire mood of the cut. But stuff like this is what has been sadly missing in today’s popular music. “Sleeping with the Television On” is a mod ern day social comment with driving rhythmn tracks and a novel vocal arrangement. The words are a study in contradiction and offer the listener more than the usual AM drivel: More social commentary for the ’80s. “Cetait Toi” is the albums weakest cut. With a French and English lyric, the song just doesn’t fit in. “Glass Houses” is full of surprises and most of them are very pleasant. If the new album is an indication of Joel’s post-“52nd Street” direction, it’s obvious he has not committed a big mistake like Fleetwood Mac did with “Tusk.” Billy Joel is definitely the man. — Geoff Hackett Hackett is a junior marketing major. choreographer, in a fantasy talk show sequence in the movie “All That Jazz, ” now playing at a local theater. “All That Jazz” deserves Oscar By KATHLEEN McELROY Forget “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Norma Rae” for the Academy Award Best Picture — “All That Jazz” deserves that Oscar. Period. “Jazz,” loosely based on the life of its director-writer- choreographer Bob Fosse, uses film technology — film and sound editing, unusual angle camera shots — to create visual artistry. Like its spirited dancing, the movie leaps, turns and bounces. The plot is about life and death, and how fictional Broadway director Joe Gideon is teetering between the two. Roy Scheider, who played the sheriff in “Jaws,” plays Gideon with the necessary restraint to pull off a role that could be easily overplayed. MOVIE REVIEW But the key to this movie isn’t the acting — which is excellent— but how methods other than dialogue are used to advance the plot. In the opening scene, Gideon, apparently after a hard night, uses Visine, Alka-Seltzer and uppers to pull himself together and finally declares “It’s showtime.” The scene is repeated again and again throughout the movie, with each declaration of “It’s showtime” a little less enthusiastic. The audience, without benefit of dialogue, can personally see Gideon’s self destruction. Fosse also realizes movies don’t need constant, useless back ground noises — sound and silence can create their own moods. Ironically, as part of the plot, a reviewer pans a movie edited by Gideon by saying, “Too much razzle-dazzle obliterates drama.” Most major critics of “All That Jazz” seem to say the same thing about it, complaining that the fast pace, the purposely uneven action destroy what semblance of a real drama there is in the movie. They’re all wrong. Life doesn’t come in neatly packaged dia logue with controlled settings — it’s jagged, it’s surprising. True, Fosse loves the extravagant production numbers, but these occur in Gideon’s hallucination scenes. Fosse’s choreography and costuming are as creative as the the movie itself. Fosse could have added dancing for the sake of dancing — which was done in the old movies — but each number is another insight into what Gideon thinks or what the others think of him. And, by the way, the lady in white is indeed the Angel of Death, so if you see the movie don’t spend the first half worrying about who she is. Records KTAM — 1240 AM Popular Hits 1. Another Brick — Pink Floyd 2. Ride... — Christopher Cross 3. Lost in Love — Air Supply 4. Born Again — Preston/ Syreeta 5. Too Hot — Kool & The Gang 6. Desire — Andy Gibb 7. How Do I ... — Linda Ron- stadt 8. Him — Rupert Holmes 9. I Can’t Tell You Why — Eagles 10. Off The Wall — Michael Jackson KORA — 98 FM Country Singles 1. Sugar Daddy — Bellamy Brothers 2. it’s Like We Never Said Goodbye — Crystal Gayle 3. Honky Tonk Blues — Char ley Pride 4. I’d Love To Lay You Down — Conway Twitty 5. Women I’ve Never Had — Hank Williams, Jr. 6. When Two Worlds Collide — Jerry Lee Lewis 7. Tennessee Waltz — Lacy J. Dalton 8. My Home’s In Alabama — Alabama 9. A Lesson In Leavin’ — Dot- tie West 10. Yippi Cry Yi — Rex Allen, Jr. Best Sellers United Press International Fiction The Bourne Identity — Robert Ludlum Princess Daisy -Judith Krantz The Devil’s Alternative — Frederick Forsythe Portraits — Cynthia Freeman Memories of Another Day — Harold Robbins The Bleeding Heart — Marilyn French Smiley’s People — John Le Carre Who’s On First? —William F. Buckley The Top of the Hill — Irwin Shaw The Dead Zone — Stephen King Nonfiction All You Need to Know About the IRS — Paul Strassels Donahue — Phil Donahue Free to Choose — Mil- ton Friedman The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court — Bob Woodward and Scott Arm strong How to Become Finan cially Independent in Real Estate — Albert L. Lowery They Call Me Assassin — Jack Tatum The Book of Lists No. 2 — Irving Wallace et al The Pritikin Program — Nathan Pritikin and Patrick McGrady, Jr. Ordeal — Linda Love lace Aunt Erma’s Cope Book — Erma Bombeck JIM KING, BOOKSELLER “Selling good books and atmosphere” FICTION, ARCHITECTURE, SCIENCE, WOMEN’S STUDIES, NATURAL HISTORY, POETRY AND MORE. SPECIAL ORDERS WELCOME. 693-1883 OPEN 10-6 MON.-SAT. 1-5 SUNDAYS WOODSTONE COMMERCE CENTER