3
Big Daddy does 80s hits in 50s style
By KARL PALLMEYER
Music Reviewer
T here are probably a few
other music fans out there who
would rather listen to Buddy
Holly, Elvis Presley, Dion, Bo Did-
dley, Chubby Checker, Bill Haley,
Gene Chandler, the Big Bopper,
Gene Vincent or Eddie Cochran
than Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson,
Prince, Phil Collins, Men Without
Hats, Michael Jackson, Culture Club
or Van Halen. Unfortunately neither
radio nor MTV give you much
choice. That's why Big Daddy is so
much fun.
The story of Big Daddy is one of
the strangest in rock history. In the
late 1950s, Big Daddy, then one of
rock 'n' roll's greatest acts, was
asked to play on a USO tour of
Southeast Asia. The tour was kept
secret since American involvement
in the war in Asia had not yet been
made official. Big Daddy was forced
to ride in an ox cart behind the tour
bus since the rest of the acts on the
tour would not associate with a mere
rock 'n' roll band. One day in Laos,
Big Daddy was captured by commu
nist rebels. The communists took the
band to heart because they had
Big Daddy
"Mean while ... Back in
the States"
Rhino Records
Album provided by Camelot Music
heard on American radio that rock
'n' roll music was a communist plot
to corrupt American youth. They
welcomed Big Daddy as comrades.
The band played for the captors
until 1980 when they were rescued
by an American CIA task force. The
task force, disguised as aliens for a
science fiction film being made in
Laos, freed the band and brought
them back to America. During the
debriefing at Camp David, govern
ment officials realized the band
would have trouble adjusting to the
music industry of the 1980s. To help
the band prepare for their
comeback, the government pur
chased sheet music of some of to
day's biggest hits and set up a re
cording studio at Camp David. Big
Daddy recorded their first album,
"Big Daddy," a collection of 1980s
hits done in 1950s style. Big Daddy's
second album, "Meanwhile ... Back
in the States," follows the same hila
rious formula.
O N "MEANWHILE ... BACK IN
the States," Big Daddy does
a version of Cyndi Lauper's
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" that
sounds a lot like Gene Chandler's
"Duke of Earl." Their version of Phil
Collins' "Sussudio" sounds like Dion
and the Belmonts' "Runaround
Sue." Their version of Willie Nelson's
"Always On My Mind" sounds like
the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace." I
not- going to say anymore. If I told
you about their interpetations of
Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the
Dark", Prince's "Purple Rain," Mi
chael Jackson's "Billie Jean" or Van
Halen's "Jump," it would spoil your
fun.
But seriously folks ... Big Daddy is
a joke. Big Daddy is the creation of
the twisted geniuses at Rhino Re
cords. Rhino is a small record com
pany based in California that spe
cializes in the old and the weird.
Rhino re-releases classic rock 'n' roll
albums by such artists as the Mon-
kees, the Turtles, the Bobby Fuller
Four, Richie Valens, the Box Tops,
the Chocolate Watchband, the Nazz
and the Troggs. Rhino also releases
"novelty" albums by such artists as
Dr. Demento, Gefilte Joe and the
Fish, Oy George and Kosher Klub,
Barnes and Barnes, Rodney Dan-
gerfield, the Three Stooges and Big
Daddy. Rhino has a good time with
their albums. A Turtles EP is pressed
on green vinyl and shaped like a
turtle. The EP by Gefilte Joe and the
Fish, rock's only senior citizen Jewish
Heavy Metal band, is shaped like a
Star of David. And Barnes and Bar
nes' "Fish Heads" EP looks like a fish
head.
There are only four record compa
nies I admire and Rhino tops the list.
If you are interested in Rhino's re
cords, you can beg, plead, con,
threaten or simply ask your local re
cord store to carry their albums. Or
you can write Rhino Records, 1201
Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
90404, for a Sears & Rhinobuck Cat-
alggue. You won't be sorry. □
Kline keeps changing
sHOtMeA-sHOtAted-tftfHued,
Movies are listed alphabetically. The Grove movies will be shown on listed date only.
The rating and theater code name are in parenthesis. The theater codes are:
GR — The Grove 845-1515
ME — Manor East 823-8300
P3 — Plitt Cinema III 846-6714
PO — Plitt Post Oak 764-0616
S6 — Schulman Six 775-2463
By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — His first four
films have been a tragedy, a Gilbert
and Sullivan operetta, a contempo
rary drama and a Western. No won
der the film world has trouble get
ting a fix on Kevin Kline.
That often happens with extrava
gantly talented actors, but Kline
even looks different in each film. He
was Meryl Streep's crazed, passion
ate lover in "Sophie's Choice", the
madcap Pirate King of "The Pirates
of Penzance", and then Harold Coo
per, the yuppie host to the college
reunion in "The Big Chill."
Now he appears full-bearded as
the reluctant gunfighter Paden in
"Silverado," co-written and directed
by Lawrence Kasdan, who worked
with Kline in "Chill." , .
A suave, witty actor who appears
equally at home in comedy and
drama, the 37-year-old Kline still
had the beard during a brief visit
here for the "Silverado" opening.
He's currently starring in a revival
of George Bernard Shaw's "Arms
and the Man" in New York, where
he won critical raves as the calm
center of a histrionic storm directed
by John Malkovich. The beard also
did duty in the unreleased "Violets
Are Blue" with Sissy Spacek.
In "Silverado" Kline seems per
fectly at ease racing flat-out over the
plains and blasting away at the bad
guys. Part of that came naturally.
"I have no fear of horses," he says.
"In fact, when we were preparing
for 'Silverado,' I learned to roll out of
the saddle, stand up on the horse,
also the croup mount — jumping
into the saddle from the rear — and
hoping that the horse doesn't decide
to kick."
However, all the horse tricks were
reserved for Kevin Kostner, who
played Jake, and Kline didn't get to
show off.
"I hate guns," Kline adds, "but I
overcame my feelings and trained
with Arvo Ojala, who has taught
Western actors for years and is, I be
lieve, the other gunfighter in the
opening shot of 'Gunsmoke.-' I
learned to do all kinds of twirls, but
again Larry said, 'That's for Jake.'"
Kline, Kostner, Scott Glenn and
Danny Glover spent four weeks in
training together for their rigors in
"Silverado."
"Larry was smart to put us all to
gether, just as he had done for 'The
Big Chill,' cast," Kline says. "The in
trinsic quality of both pictures is
friendship and fellowship, and es
tablishing the bonds early worked
for them."
Kline grew up in St. Louis watch
ing "The Cisco Kid," "Zorro" and
"Hopalong Cassidy" on television,
but he admitted that his education in
the classic Westerns was lacking —
"I had to rent copies of 'Red River'
and John Ford movies like 'She Wore
a Y ello w Ribbon' □
Back to the Future (PG,P3)
A new Spielberg film about a kid
who gets transported back to the 50s
and sees his parents as high school
sweethearts. Great Film. See related
story on De Lorean time travel car.
The Black Cauldron(PG,ME)
New Disney film.
Butch Cassidy and
The Sundance Kid (Mon.,PG,GR)
Robert Redford and Paul Newman
star in this classic.
Casino Royale (Wed.,PG,GR)
This comedy is a spoof of James.
Bond movies. Peter Sellers stars as
agent 007.
Cocoon (PG-13,P3)
Ron Howard directs this science-
fantasy adventure about people in an
nursing home who want to regain
their youth. Good movie.
E.T. (PG.S6)
This tear-jerker starring our friend
from outer-space is back.
Fright Night (R,S6)
The PR reads: There are very good
reasons why you should be afraid of
the dark. Three teenagers suspect that
the newcomer to town (Chris Saran
don) is a vampire. One of the stars is
Amanda of "All My Children" fame.
Frisco Kid (Thu..PG,GR)
Gene Wilder stars as a rabbi and Har
rison Ford plays a cowboy in this com
edy-adventure.
The Heavenly Kid (PG-13,S6)
A guy dies and comes back as a
young kid's guardian angel.
Mad Max
Beyond Thunderdome (PG-13.S6)
Mel Gibson and Tina Turner star in
this Road Warrior sequel. Max is a
little mellower, but there's still a lot of
action. It's worth it to see Tina.
The Man With One Red Shoe (PG,S6)
A Tom Hanks film that looks prom
ising. Remake of the french film "The
Tall Blond Man With One Black
Shoe."
National Lampoon's
European Vacation (PG-13,PO)
A second movie in Chevy Chase's ad
ventures. I hope it's better than the
first.
Pale Rider (R,S6)
Clint‘Eastwood is back in the saddle
after a nine-year absence.
Rambo (R,P3)
Sylvestor Stallone in First Blood II.
The Rescuers (Sun. ,G,GR)
An animated Disney, film.
St. Elmo's Fire (R,PO)
Sort of a Big Chill for the college
crowd. Mixed reviews.
Sesame Street
Follow That Bird (G,ME)
A favorite for kids.
Silverado (PG, ME)
A great new western with an impres
sive cast. (Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn,
Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Ke
vin Costner, Brian Dennyhe, Danny
Glover, Jeff Goldblum and Linda
Hunt to boot).
Weird Science (PG-13,PO)
This new film looks remarkably simi
lar to another new film, "Real Gen
ius." But this one looks better. Stars
Anthony Michael Hall ("Breakfast
Club," "Sixteen Candles").