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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 1981)
sM CQ < a u * * L - X c. Q a. & .S E -5^3 'S CJ QJ ,•£ S >— ZZ •” ri L> 5-1 7*Z %_« Cw C! sli-sr's-byr ; -S ' _5 -3 S FOCUS ON: REVIEWS ‘Arc of a Diver’ is breezy Winwood returns with a splash By Kate McEiroy Battalion Staff Who is this Steve Winwood? Well, he's no spring chicken. During the reign of hard rock — approximately after the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper (1967) until about 1972 — Winwood was a driving force in the three British groups, most notably Traffic, that oftened smoothed rock music's jagged edge with haunting jazz melodies. So Winwood (influenced by late 50s American black music) was instrumental in developing that Chivas cool, I-don't-give-a- damn sound that America's Steely Dan has stylized. But, alas, Winwood seemed to fade into the woodwork as disco beats and other late 70s concepts (roller boogie!) domin ated, and rock music instead of being the popular music became just a fragment of it. But happily, one of rock's finest artists is back with a won derful album that combines his early 70s' sounds with the late '70s' pulsating rhythms — Arc of RECORDS A Diver. Diver ,for the most part, defi nitely fits Winwood's breezy style. Like the diver in the title track, Winwood succeeds when his music flows "so effort lessly." The first number, and so far the album's big commercial suc cess, is "When You See A Chance." No doubt the song's a hit because from the opening note, it feels as clear and re freshing as a dip in the pool. But the words aren't that comforting — "When you see a chance take it/Find romance fake it." These lyrics set the tone of the entire album — sort of a cynical pleasantry. The idea seems to be, in proverbial Aggie terms, to go for it — it's the attempt of the dive, not its splash that matters. The album's bitterness isn't ob vious because Winwood's music gracefully dominates the lyrics written by Will Jennings, George Fleming and Viv Stan- shill. This concept continues, of course, in "Arc of A Diver," which is now receiving substan tial airplay. Winwood's vocals are airy, constantly dipping into conversahon, and his music is just as mellow. In "Second- Hand Woman," which features University aids art lovers Continued from page 1 arts in Bryan-College Station, the community may never find its own artistic identity until it separates itself from the University. 'The people must think of themselves as a community," Christensen cautioned, "and not as a bedroom of the Uni versity. As a Bryan-ite that offends me." Although it is easy to com bine the efforts of the com munity and the University, one can't take too much credit for the accomplishments of the other. "This community kids itself if it thinks it has a good arts program," said Christensen. "This is a company town, and it's been satisfied to sit back and let the University take care of its needs." A large portion of work by the Arts Council is done apart from Texas A&M. Bates is cur rently planning for an artist- in-residence in the Mumford school district west of College Station. Previous artists have participated in the program in Mumford and Bryan. The series of outdoor concerts in College Station is its latest effort, and the Council is also working on a complete his tory of the City of College Sta tion. Christensen supports the work done by the Arts Coun cil, but goes a step further. "The Arts Council does as much as it can," he said, "but Bryan-College Station has an excellent facil ity for the arts in the Brazos Center. I don't see why more ad-hoc groups can't be formed and sponsored by banks and other businesses. I see no need for it (participation in the arts) to be so centralized." With recent budget cuts proposed for the National En dowment for the Arts, the pic ture nationwide may look rather bleak. Locally, howev er, the arts have some things in their favor. Unlike some communities of its size, Bryan-College Sta tion has an excellent facility for the arts in the Brazos Cen ter. The center is attractive, convenient and relatively in expensive to use. Although it is seldom utilized to the ful lest, it has tremendous poten tial for community participa tion in the arts. Bryan-College Station may not stand to lose as much as a result of budget cuts since it didn't have much to start with. Texas ranks 50th nation ally in state funding of the arts. Only about 2 percent of its funds are earmarked for arts support. "Hopefully things will be cut in proportion," said Bates, "but even if it's cut in half it will only go from 1 to 2 per cent." Whether or not the growing community of Bryan-College Station moves ahead in the arts is up to its people. The facilities are available, the money difficulties are sur mountable and the audience exists. All that seems to be missing a group of well- established citizens willing to work for a program of its own that will last. FOCUS Editor Cathy Saathoff Focus will accept any items submitted for publication, although the derision to publish lies solely with the editor. Deadline is 5 p.m. the Thursday before publication. a disco rhythm, the song's anti- hero becomes so bitter he's rude: "From a cut price lady to a second-hand woman/ You're society's slave babe/ You're an ugly rumor." The first side ends on a down- note. "Slowdown Sundown" is sort of an old Rod Stewart white man's blues song, complete with mandolin and a organ. The song doesn't fit Winwood's style especially since the lyrics, not the music, stand out. Ironic ally, the last song on the seceond side, "Dust," suffers from the same problem. But so- so Winwood would be master pieces for some of rock music's less-talented stars. "Spanish Dancer," which leads side two, rivals "Arc of a Diver" for musical supremacy. Tt'*; rompnicripnf of come of the early Traffic songs which were funky and cool instead of being slick and sophisticated like this number. And, for a change, Jen nings' words exemplify the ess ence of the song: "I can feel the beat like a Spanish Dancer/ Under my feat making the world go 'round." "Night Train" features the most mystical beat of the album. Though the words are asinine — "Paris to Spain/Countries in Pain ... Out in the dark/ All the wolves bark" — this is one song perfect for those tiny head phone stereos. Arc of A Diver is the first Steve Winwood album in a little more than three years, but it proves that talent, even when locked away like a treasure chest, will always emerge. COLLAGE Aversion to nudity kills art career MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A young art student who found nude models morally objectionable has had to drop her major at Memphis State University. The dean "told me there was no way I could major in art without drawing nudes," said Renee Burbridge, a 26-year-old sophomore. Soon after she voiced her objections, art depart ment faculty voted unanimously to continue the use of nude models in figure drawing. One instructor volunteered to teach Burbridge independent ly, but the department rejected the plan. 'These kinds of allo wances just can't be made for students," said Art Chairman Lawrence Edwards. He drew an analogy to English students objecting to certain books, or biology students refusing to dis sect frogs. Burbridge's objections were made on religious grounds. She said nudity in the classroom "was a disrespect to God, and it seemed to feed on the baser instincts. Why should Christian tax money be used to pay for nude models?" — Collegiate Hedlines Toothbrush doesn't excite Hartford U. HARTFORD, Conn. — Artist Claes Oldenberg got a large brush-off recently from the University of Hartford board of regents. The regents voted 3-2 to reject placing an Oldenberg sculpture on the UH campus, even though it wouldn't have cost the school anything. The proposed sculpture was a 23-foot-long tooth brush in red, white and blue. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded the school a $25,000 grant for the piece, and private donors matched that amount. But campus officials said the idea of spending that money on artwork while scholarship funds were lacking rubbed some people the wrong way. "I think it reflects a sense that the university should not appear to be investing a large sum of money in something like this when we are being financially prudent with faculty salaries and scholarships," said UH President Stephen Joel Trachten berg. Oldenberg's previous works include giant lips on the Yale campus, a 38-foot flashlight at the University of Nevada and a baseball bat spanning more than 100 feet in Chicago. — Collegiate Hedlines -O