Page 12
The Battalion
Thursday, May 4,1989
Reviews
Sinister Front 242 album
designed for dancing
By Chuck Lovejoy
ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR
Now that the semester is all but
over, spring has finally pushed
this semester’s wacky winter
weather back north where it be
longs. - >
But now we have spring fever
to deal with, and the best way to
cure it is with some good music.
One recent release is perfectly
suited for those who are euphoric
that they made it through the se
mester alive, whether they’re
graduating or not.
Front 242’s Front by Front is
an album that is sure to further
lift the spirits and cure the listless
feeling of spring fever. This fifth
album (of original material) by
the Belgian quartet is their best
yet, and it already has charted
three dance-format hits.
The curtain rises on Front by
Front with the sinister track “Un
til Death (Us Do Part),” setting
the tone for a masterpiece of digi
tal recording technology. The
compilation resonates with com
puter-sampled voices, sounds and
intriguing synthesizer noises.
But the album is not com
pletely computer mush, as seems
to be the case with most dance
bands today. Instead, the veteran
band uses the technology to high
light their musical intelligence,
forcing the samplings into a back
seat behind the songs’ melodies
and themes.
For instance, on “Circling
Overland,” mumblings and whis
pers abound, but the band all but
silences them when the catchy
chorus rolls around, and a gruff
human voice takes precedence
with, “One, one, 20, 29 — to
night, the stars are shining
bright.”
This chorus brings to the sur
face another interesting facet of
the band — their lyrics. The “Cir
cling” chorus seems to be a date,
although one really cannot be
sure, as the lyrics .are not printed
in the package. Half the fun of
the set is trying to decipher the
song’s words. * v
But the interesting phrase-
twists don’t stop there.
“Headhunter,” the album’s
tightest song (it is already a night
club smash) contains the passage
that is the album’s most sinister:
“I’m looking for this man to make
us rich and famous/I’m looking
for this man to sell him to other
man,” which is followed by the
screamed instructions, “One, you
lock the target/Two, you bait the
line/Three, you slowly spread the
net/And four, you catch the
man.”
Religious overtones prevail on
the most interesting song on the
album — “Welcome to Paradise.”
But buyers beware: the song is
not included on the LP format,
only on the cassette and CD ver
sions.
“Welcome to Paradise” is al
most hilarious in its sincerity as
phrases such as, “Hey poor, you
don’t have to be poor anymore-
/Jesus is here —Hallelujah!,” are
chanted over driving synthesizer
rhythms. The catch phrase of this
decade (and maybe the future) is
also voiced when the music stops
and a piercing voice screams, “No
sex until marriage!”
Another example of the
group’s social awareness occurs in
“Terminal State,” a song concern
ing a disease outbreak (most
likely AIDS) which is spreading
like wildfire. The mood of the
song is exemplified in the chorus:
“See it gaining ground/Digging in
the wound . . . We’re in the dol
drums.”
But despite the quartet’s excur
sion into social awareness, Front
by Front is still an album in
tended for the dance floor.
The CD booklet contains two
charts, one listing the time and
BPM (beats per minute) of each
song, and another that lists the
tracks broken down into index
numbers, which list where each
song’s different passages start.
These aid DJs in mixing songs for
club play by allowing them to
move directly to the portion in a
song they desire without having
to search for it.
Another example of the work’s
dance intentions is a trio of songs
that are mixed together in the
middle of the album. The triad
begins with the album’s peppiest
song, “First In/First Out,” the
group’s third club hit this year.
Lines such as, “You like to party
— move the body,” personify the
song. “First” is followed by the
double shot of the powerful
“Blend the Strengths” and
“Headhunter.”
The album’s last sounds are the
most puzzling, making the lis
tener reevaluate what seemed to
be a trip intended purely for fun.
Sure, the album hints at social
problems, but the band members
refrain from making a statement
about what they think about the
situation of the world.
This practice is abandoned
during the last few seconds of
“Welcome to Paradise,” the set’s
last song. Instead of the full
phrase concerning the poor and
Jesus, it is shortened to the cryp
tic declaration, “Hey poor —you
don’t have to be Jesus.”
What does the phrase mean?
Anyone’s guess is as good as
'•Loverboy’ proves boring effort;
iyJ
studying for finals more enjoyable
By Todd Stone
REVEIWER
“Loverboy”
Starring Patrick Dempsey, Barbara
Carrera, Carrie Fisher and Kate
Jackson.
Directed by Joan Silver.
Rated R.
★
Now Playing at Plaza 3 Center
Just when you thought the movie
industry had run out of ways to ex
ploit the teen market, along comes
“Loverboy.”
I was beginning to think it was
safe to go back into a movie theater,
but then, someone dropped this
bomb.
The film is about the sexual ex
ploits of Randv (Patrick Dempsey),
who has spent his last two years par
tying and earning incompletes while
in college. His frustrated father re
fuses to pay for his education any
longer, and Randy must enter the
world of the minimum wage at the
local pizza parlor. Randy quickly re
alizes that being in college is much
better than working in a pizza place.
As luck would have it, Randy has
an affair with a woman (Barbara
Carrera) from Beverly Hills who
owns her own clothing stores. She
gives Randy $200 for delivering her
pizza, and a little more, and tells all
her friends about him.
Soon, many wealthy women are
asking for Randy to deliver their piz
zas. At first, Randy isn’t sure if it’s
the right thing to do, but he decides
the tips he receives for his “services”
are his only way to get back to col-
lege.
Throw in a girl who Randy sup
posedly cares about and parents who
suspect that Randy is a homosexual,
and one has the foundation for the
movie.
The film has all the predictability
of any mundane teen film. Will
Randy get the girl he cares about?
Will Randy earn his father’s respect?
Will Randy get to go to college
again? Pondering these questions
will not strain one’s intellect, just
one’s patience.
Another problem with “Lover
boy” is its message — it’s just not be
lievable. Randy betrays the girl he
loves, and gets paid for it — but
somehow it’s OK because he always
loved her, and he was unfaithful
only so he could return to college.
Further, Randy’s father has a sur
prise change of heart and decides to
start paying for his education again.
Since money is suddenly no longer a
problem, Randy begins to return the
money he made from his “delive
ries” back to the women he accepted
it from. Then, all of a sudden,he
isn’t such a bad guy. Randy decides
that he really “delivered” because he
cared about the women and their
problems, and not because he
needed the money. I love happy
endings.
The film was directed by Joan Sil
ver, who also directed the charming
film “Crossing Delaney.” Why she
involved herself with this project is a
mystery.
Why did any of the actors get in
volved with this film? Patrick Demp
sey, who gained popularity in the
film, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” has a
bright future ahead of him. He must
have had some time to kill until that
But fc
future comes along, and it mosl
likely will despite this movie.
Kirstie Alley appears in thefilmail
a doctor who has an unfaithful k|
band. Unfortunately, even heratil
ing talents couldn’t rescue thebadtgbn th
cript and the weak character she nilhf-tov
given. Carrie Fisher’s appearance:: they r
the film was quite forgetable, whie| kolacl
Kate Jackson merely reprises herlthe £
“Scarecrow and Mrs. King” act aBured
Randy’s mother.
The only thing I found positivein
the movie was the appearance ofVk ion o
l ayback. l ayback, who played Mel ^nool
on the CBS sitcom “Alice,” didn'tdo
anything great in the movie —ljua
thought he was dead, so it was nice
to know 1 was wrong.
For those who want to see a good
teen film, try “Say Anything.” The
film is natural, honest and fun.
“Loverboy” is contrived, monou-
nous and boring. If you are going to vhen
spend five dollars, buy a polka clas-i nickel
sics album or a book about the hv “W
genic uses of baking soda. Either one bring
of these, or even studying for finals open
would be much more entertaining. ‘‘Sinci
it was
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night
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‘Army ’ leader raises money for historical causes ri
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bob Hardy is at home, and at
peace, among the tombstones. He
touches them gently and talks softly,
all the while looking out over a valley
lush and green, dotted with the
white of flowering dogwood after a
spring rain.
It is all out there in the valley, and
on the hills, down red dirt roads and
across barely flowing bayous. It is in
old stores that are gone and houses
that are only memories and it is in
the graves beneath his feet.
It is family, and Hardy is going
back to a place he never has left —
southeast Walker County — and it is
here he says he found the reason for
the New Army of the Republic.
Last weekend, at the second an
nual East Texas Folk Festival, Hardy
took on his role as chifef of staff of
the New Army. As chief of staff, he
will be recruiting new members and
trying to raise money for the Sam
Houston Memorial Museum.
Hardy is a retired banker who for
years headed Huntsville’s First Na
tional Bank. But always, in the back
ground, there was southeast Walker
County and New Waverly — all
those streams and hills and valleys
and pine trees and finally, all those
cemeteries where his family rests
and where he says he will go.
In the early days of Texas, the
Hardy branch of his family and the
Winters branch came as farmers.
Hardy isn’t sure where some of
the Winters family is buried. There
is a small park, created and ded
icated by the state, on Farm Road
2778, just yards from the San Jacinto
County line and in it are plaques tell
ing of his ancestors.
The plaques tell the stories. Old
John Freelan Winters had fought
with Sam Houston in the War of
1812 and when it was time to march
against the Mexican Army, he
wanted to go.
When Hardy visits the memories
and ghosts of his past, he travels red
dirt roads to places like Gourd Creek
and Hawthorne, to old Waverly, to
Elmina. He talks of old logging
trams that brought the pines out of
the forest to the mills, of tracks'that
crisscrossed the land and ^created
small towns now gone. His grandfa
ther, who engineered a tram, dying
under a pine log.
Several years ago he inherited
some of the original family land and
it was then he realized what had
been lost. At one time, it would have
been hard for him to have walked
off Hardy land. It seemed to run
forever.
A fellow banker, John Birkner,
asked Hardy to join with others in
creating the folk festival. Birkner, a ;
vice-president at Huntsville National
Bank, made it clear the fight was
going to be a hard one.
Hardy agreed, but when Birkner
asked him to lead the army, he hesi
tated.
“I was retired,” he says. “I had
plans. But then at some point I had
an aunt visit me and our history
came up. We were talking about the
family and the land. All of a sudden
I got interested.
“Suddenly it dawned on me the
kind of contribution they had been
asked to make, and they made it.
Here were these people who had
given up jobs, their crops, home and
families to make history and all I’m
being asked to do is a little job,”
Hardy recalled.
He called Birkner back and he
said “yes.”
“I had a lot of help,” he said.
Terry Scott Bertling, former Item
editor who is now managing editor
of the El Paso Herald-Post, wrote a
story about a New Army qf the Re
public being formed to save Sam
Houston’s past. Her story was dis
tributed statewide by The Associated
Press.
“We got contributions from all
over the state. My wife, Gwen, and I
started sending out letters to every
one we could think of.”
The army and festival raised
$65,000. Of that $6,000 was held
back to fund this year’s mailings and
re-enlistment efforts. Hardy doesn’t
know how army recruitment will go
this year.
“Last year the fight was to save the
museum. Now that the Legislature
has agreed to fund it, and Clements
agreed to support it, we doni
the
has
have that selling point,” Hardy says
Most museums need funding ov«
and above base budgets that comi hand-
frorn government or grants, mainl' only
to operate special programs, and'
Hardy says the army can play a cm custoi
ical role in providing those pro: “W
grams. |be wo
Fat
ige si
ecipc
opt
pies, i
dies a
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are th
In
This year any current members
can re-up in the New Army by par
ing 10 percent of their original en
listment fee, plus $10, if they bring
in a new member. Otherwise, it’s full
price. Enlistments go for anywhere
from $25 to be a private up to
$ 1,000 to be a general.
Regardless of how many people
sign up this year, Hardy intends to
continue leading the army.
“I was treated awfully nice by thir
community,” he says. “When I loot
back at my family, my ancestors did
a lot more than I’ve ever done. This
is what I can do now. The army isa
way of doing what’s best for Hunt
sville.”
And, when he walks the hills and
valleys around New Waverly, when
he stands among fading stones is
small cemeteries and drives red din
roads lined with mail boxes that tell
him his blood goes on, it’s probabl'
best for him, too.
From a dirt farm on top of a hill
atop unmarked and unfound graves
to a checkbook New Army with a
cause, Bob Hardy has come fullcit
cle without ever leaving home.
says.
Around Town
Live Music
Brazos Landing
Brazos Landing is at Northgate.
Everyone is admitted. Beer, wine
and mixed drinks are served. For
more information, call 846-3497.
Friday — Spy vs. Spy. Reggae
from Austin. $5 cover.
Saturday — The Brew. Jazz/B
lues. $4 cover.
ers. For more information, call
696-9191.
Thursday — Hank Townsend
and Mark Lee. Easy Listening.
No cover.
Friday — For Cryin’ Out Loud
w/ White Bread. Rock/Comedy.
$2 cover.
Saturday — Starvin’ Marvin w/
The Dexitrims. Rock. $2 cover.
p.m. Ends Friday.
Say Anything. Rated PG-13.
Showtimes are 7:15 p.m. and
9:30 p.m.
Field Of Dreams Rated PG.
Starts Friday. Two Screens.
Schulman Six
In Bryan at 2002 E. 29th Street.
Call 775-2643 for more informa-
Cow Hop Annex
Next to the restaurant at North-
gate. Those 18 and older ad
mitted. Alcohol served to legal
drinkers. Call 696-5522 for more
information.
Friday — The Texas Twisters.
Classic rock ’n’roll. $3 Cover.
Saturday — Sneaky Pete and
The Neon Madmen. Rock. $3
Cover.
Wednesday — Sneaky Pete.
Solo acoustic. $ 1 cover.
The Zephyr Club
In College Station at 913 A Har
vey Road in The Woodstone Cen
ter. Those 18 and over are ad
mitted. Beer, wine and alcohol
served to legal drinkers. For
more information, call 693-1989.
Saturday — X-It. Rock.Cover.
Movies
All movies and showtimes are
provided by the theaters and are
subject to change.
tion.
Dead Calm Rated R. Showtimes
are 7:20 p.m. and 9:55 p.m.
Lean On Me. Rated PG-13. Show-
times are 7:10 and 9:25 p.m.
Leviathan. Rated R. Showtimes
are 7:15 p.m. and 9:35 p.m.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adven
ture. Rated PG. Showtimes are 7
and 9:45 p.m..
Mississippi Burning. Rated R. 7
p.m. and 9:35 p.m.
Working Girl. Rated R. Show-
times are 7:05 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Cinema Three
Plaza Three
Emiliano’s
In Bryan at 502 W. 25th St. Beer,
wine and set-ups served. Call 775-
9539 for more information.
Saturday — Yayo Castillo y
Rumours. Spanish and Variety.
$6 cover.
Frank’s Bar and Grill
In College Station at 503 E. Uni
versity Drive. All ages are ad
mitted. Beer, wine and liquor are
served to legal drinkers. Call 846-
5388 for more information.
Saturday — Don Pope and
Friends. Jazz and Variety. $3
Located at 315 College Ave. in
the Skaggs Shopping Center. Call
693-2796 for more information.
She’s Out of Control. Rated PG.
Showtime is 7:20 p.m. Ends Fri
day.
K-9. Rated PG-13. Showtimes are
7:10 p.m. and 9:10 p.m.
Criminal Law. Rated R. Show-
times are 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Speed Zone. Rated PG. Showtime
is 9:20 p.m. Ends Friday.
976-Evil Rated R. Starts Friday.
In College Station at 226 South
west Parkway. Call 693-2457 for
more information.
Rain Man. Rated R. Showtimes
are 7 p.m. and 9:35 p.m.
Major League. Rated R. Show-
times are 7:10 p.m. and 9:50 p.m.
Loverboy. Rated R. Showtimes
are 7:20 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.
Manor East Three
In Bryan in the Manor East Mall.
Call 823-8300 for more informa-
Kay’s Cabaret
At Post Oak Mall. Those 18 and
over are admitted. Beer, wine
and liquor served to legal drink-
Post Oak Three
Located in the Post Oak Mall. Call
693-2796 for more information.
Chances Are. Rated PG. Show-
times are 7:10 p.m. and 9:20 p.m.
Ends Friday.
Dream Team. Rated PG-13.
Showtimes are 7 p.m. and 9:25
tion.
Pet Sematary. Rated R. Show-
times are 7:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Dangerous Liaisons. Rated R.
Showtime is 9:45 p.m.
The Rescuers. Rated G. Show
time is 7 p.m..
See You In the Morning. Rated
PG-13. Showtimes are 7:20 and
9:45.
Stylish rendering of old tunes
makes Ross a hit in New York
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Steve Ross performs the music of
Cole Porter and Noel Coward with a
wit, style and sophistication that
those two masters of song would ap
preciate.
Most nights you’ll find him be
hind the piano at L’Omnibus de
Maxim’s, the Madison Avenue wa
tering hole modeled after its famous
Paris namesake.
Maxim’s, with its elegant charm, is
the perfect setting for someone who
plays and sings the songs of not only
Porter and Coward but other musi
cal geniuses such as Gershwin,
Rodgers and Hart, Aden, Kern and
Sondheim, too.
It was one of those types of num
bers — “Don’t Go in the Lion’s Cage
Tonight” — which became the first
song Ross sang in public, warbling in
what he calls his “cracked baritone
voice.
Before the rock era took over,
Ross dabbled in classical music and
played in little dance bands in the
Washington area. But then Manhat
tan beckoned, and Ross didn’t say no
to jobs in small clubs in New York
anything else. I kept doing the sonf
that I liked to do.”
Audiences really began discover
ing Ross in the late 1970s when lit
played a now-disappeared dub and
restaurant called Ted Hook's
Backstage, located just west ol
Eighth Avenue in the theater dis
trict.
Wi
With his slicked-back hair and im
peccable tailoring, Ross evokes an
other era, a time when men dressed
for dinner, wore tuxedos to opening
night at the opera, drank martinis
instead of mineral water and had
seen every hit Broadway musical at
least twice.
Ross has been a part of the New
York cabaret scene since the late ’60s
when he arrived from Washington,
D.C. But his love of music, partic
ularly popular music, started much
earlier. As a child, Ross remembers
listening to Beatrice Kay who sang
songs of the Gay ’90s, old-fashioned
ditties like “Heaven Will Protect the
Working Girl” and “She’s Only a
Bird in a Gilded Cage.”
“They were real numbers,” Ross
recalls. “The seeds were being plan
ted even back then for that kind of
vaudeville performing. The cabaret
stuff that performers do now is
really an outgrowth of what vaude
ville was. There’s the idea of build
ing a number or getting to an end
ing.”
ith his slicked-back
hair and impeccable
tailoring, Ross evokes
another era, a time when
men dressed for dinner,
wore tuxedos to opening
night at the opera, drank
martinis instead of mineral
water and had seen every
hit Broadway musical at
least twice.
Audiences also discovered RoS
passion for obscure good songs. A !
enthusiastic sheet music collector,!'*
searches everywhere for new ON
material and has resurrected man'
an unknown Porter or Coward raij
ity. The title of his new album, “Mo*
of Every Day,” is a rare Cowar*:
song. Now people bring him song*I
new and old.
How does Ross pick the songs b*!
sings?
“The words have to work first,’ I*
says. “When it’s just me and the a •
ano, I want to have good words
can’t make it on a high note. I’m n<*|
Pavarotti. So the words have to b
important.’
and teaching voice to students.
At first, he didn’t sing. But when
he discovered nightspots were more
eager to hire a singer than just a pi
ano player, he would.
“I started singing funny little
songs, patter songs,” he says. “So I
started taking lessons and still do, to
keep me on the straight and nar
row.”
Even then, he was carefully culti
vating his image as urban sophisti
cate.
“I always wore my little tie and I
always sang Cole Porter songs,” Ross
says. “People said, ‘Keep doing that.’
And fortunately that kind of music
came around again. I didn’t know
In 1981, Ross became the
performer in 40 years to playtheA
gonquin Hotel’s famed Oak Roort
He stayed for four years. Since the'
he hasn’t given his passport a re
London. Venice. Hong Kong. A"'
tralia. Even Kenya, where he wowf*
them in Nairobi. Now he’s ready 1 *
hang his hat in New York for ;
while. It’s the city that suits himbf*
Its possibilities are endless.
“The essence of romance is po#
bility,” Ross says. “That’s why N e '
York is such a romantic place. An 1
thing can happen: you cross lb f |
street, something comes to town,) 05 !
go into a place. That’s why I car
leave this city. Anything can happ°
here.”
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