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iracj. Wenolc says four ai tin a new fac-
ulty will be directing plays, one will
be a full-time designer and one will
be a full-time costumer.
In addition to the increasing en
rollment, the type of student will also
change in the fall, Wenck says.
"In the past, since we had no de
partment, most of our students were
people that would change majors
after they had been here a while
and discovered us," he says. "But
now that we've got the department,
and we've put in some scholarships,
people are choosing A&M out of
high school. You know, coming as
freshman and majoring in theater.
So a lot of our majors starting this fall
will be freshman, like in other de
partments. "
Wenck says the new department
has nothing but opportunity for
growth because right now it's so
"CbbuIture?, crontrai~y to what tsoorns
to be the local idea, is not something
you bring into the community," he
says. "It's something the community
builds for itself.
"So you don't get culture in a com
munity by bringing in outside plays
and outside concerts — that's cultu
ral awareness. The best way to be
come a cultured community is to do
plays and to develop your own mu
sical and artistic and dramatic base. •
"It may still be that our local cul
ture is too much beer and the Hall of
Fame and not enough Aggie Play
ers and Stage Center and Commu
nity Orchestra (other local art pro
grams) but all those programs are
getting stronger and stronger.
"I think we'e getting there — I
think this area is not nearly the cul
tural wasteland that a lot of people
think it is." □
Two supergroups' new albums lizzie
ByKARLPALLMEYER
Music Reviewer
I TS BETTER TO BURN OUT THAN
to fade away."
Neil Young sang that line
about Johnny Rotten a few years
ago. Neil was saying that Johnny
Rotten had passed on in the true
rock 'n' roll spirit. The Beach Boys
should listen to Neil Young.
The Beach Boys have a hallowed
position in rock 'n' roll history. The
band's singles from 1962 to 1966 are
brilliant. Although their lyrics
weren't much —surfing, cars and
girls —their music, especially the
vocals, was innovative and differ
ent.
Brian Wilson, the genius behind
the Beach Boys, suffered a nervous
breakdown in late 1966. Rock 'n' roll
was changing too fast and Wilson
felt he couldn't keep on top of it. The
songwriting fell to other band mem
bers. They were good at copying
Wilson's style, but they couldn't take
it any further. When Wilson started
writing again he never recaptured
his brillance — he could only copy
what he had done before.
Today the Beach Boys spend most
of their time giving concerts. It's nice
to hear the' old songs about youth
but it's sad to see fat old men singing
them. Every other year the band
tries to recapture their . former glory
by putting out an album of new
material — a lot of musical garbage
that buries a few moments of bril
lance. Their newest album, "The
Beach Boys," is no exception.
It contains one good song, two fair
songs and seven bad songs. "Where
I Belong" is the album's best song,
and the best Beach Boys' song since
"Sail On Sailor" in 1971. Written by
Carl Wilson, this song achieves
what the band has tried to do for the
past 19 years. "Where I Belong" is
just another love song, but it is a
great love song. The lyrics are ten
der and sensitive while the music is
tasteful and appropriate.
"Getcha Back," which has been
getting lots of airplay, isn't too bad. It
has the body of a Beach Boys' song
but it lacks the spirit. "I'm So Lone
ly," one of the few new songs written
by Brian Wilson, is almost a master
piece but, once again, something is
missing.
The album's worst song is "Cali
fornia Calling." This shameful com
bination of three of their greatest hits
("Surfin' U.S.A.," "California Girls"
and "Help Me, Rhonda") uses some
Valley Girl-style lyrics to try to make
the song sound contemporary. Most
of the other songs are just as bad.
The Beach Boys try to bring them
selves up to date by using synthesiz
ers and drum machines, but this
only forms a background drone.
They aren't using their voices like
they used to. In the good old days
the Beach Boys would use their
voices to harmonize in many varied
and unique ways, but now they just
drone along with the synthesizers.
For the most part the Beach Boys
are history. I don't know if I can jus
tify a whole new album every other
year for an occasional good song.
Maybe they should give it up. As
long as we can still go to the beach
or the lake or even the pool with
"Endless Summer" on the jam box,
we shouldn't have to ask for any
thing more from the Beach Boys.
EN AT WORK'S FIRST LP,
"Business As Usual," took
the country by storm in
1982. The storm lasted well into 1983
when the band released "Cargo."-
Two years later the effects of the
storm have died down. "Two
Hearts" is not an album to start an
other storm.
When we first met Greg Ham,
Colin Hay, John Rees, Jerry Speiser
and Ron Strykert, these men from
Australia surprised us. Their music
was a combination of rock, blues,
reggae, ska and few other styles.
They used guitars, bass, keyboards,
percussion, saxes, flutes and other
instruments in a unique fashion.
They sang about paranoria, Austra
lia, love, war, robots, society, cover-
sation, growing up, social classes,
stardom and Vegemite sandwiches.
"Business as Usual" was a fun al
bum. It was also one of the top sell
ing albums of 1982 -and 1983. The
band tried unsuccessfully to repeat
the formula with "Cargo." That al
bum had a few fun songs as well as
several songs that compared the
complexities of love to the complexi
ties of international politics. "Two
Hearts" has so many of these iove-is-
politics songs that it's depressing to
listen to the album.
"Two Hearts" is the product of the
"new" Men At Work, minus Rees
and Speiser. Ham, Hay and Stry
kert, who were its songwriters, have
worked with session players to pro
duce the new album. Gone are the
unique instrumentations. Gone are
the fun lyrics.
Only three of the ten songs on the
album deserve mention. "Everyth
ing I Need," the song you hear on
radio and MTV, shows the decline of
Men At Work. The music is another
bland love-is-politics song and the
video is boring. The videos from
"Business As Usual" were very in
fluential in the selling of the album
and the development of rock videos
to come.
"Maria" is definitely the best song
on the album. It is about a country
girl who sails across the sea to find
her dream. As typical in these sto
ries, her dreams are crushed as she
ends up working in a factory. The
song has a slow Italian feeling with
accordions in the background while
a sitar is used for lead passages. Al
though not a happy song, "Maria"
has a unique sound.
The last song on the album both
ers me. "Still Life" is a nice song, a
song about love never fully realized,
but it doesn't sound like Men At
Work. "Still Life" would be more at
home with Journey, Kansas, Toto,
REO Speedwagon, or any other typ
ical American pop band. Maybe
Men At Work is trying to sound like a
typical American pop band — that's
what bothers me.
Rock history is full of one-hit won
ders. Several bands have released
an album that shattered the charts,
they racked up tons of awards and
then they faded away only to be re
membered in trivia contests. With
"Two Hearts," Men At Work has
placed themselves in the one-hit
wonder catagory. □