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Thursday, January 25,1990
The Battalion
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by Scott McCullar © 1990
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Unpretentious, fun funk leads
America back to dance floor
By CHUCK LOVEJOY
Of The Battalion Staff
With all the serious, even morose,
songs receiving radio airplay lately,
it’s no wonder Technotronic is fast
becoming one of the hottest musical
outfits around.
Yvu see, the basic., message of
Technotronic, a Belgjum-based syn
thesizer ensemble with a diverse
membership (including a former
model from Zaire), is “get on the
floor and dance.”
With the popularity of their latest
(and first) album, Pump Up the Jam
— The Album, Technotronic seems
to do a good job of getting America
back into the discos.
It’s no wonder, either, that fun,
simple music of the Technotronic
genre (dubbed “house” music) seems
to be growing in popularity. For ex
ample, witness the disco revival at
nightclubs everywhere during the
last six months and the success of
such insipid songs as Jive Bunny and
the Mastermixers’ “Swing the
Mood.”
Only so many preachy, depressing
songs can be tolerated on American
radio.
But in the last three months alone,
huge hits by Phil Collins (“Another
Day in Paradise”) and Janet Jackson
(“Rhythm Nation”) have dealt with
socially conscious topics. In the proc
ess, they have covered the FM dial
with gloom in the same fashion as
did Tracy Chapman w ith “Fast Car”
and Suzanne Vega with “Luka.”
There is even New Kids on the
Block’s song “This One’s for the
Children,” which starts off with lead
Kid Jordan Knight whining, “This is
a very serious message — so please
listen.”
Or try Michael Bolton’s “How Am
I Supposed to Live Without You” or
the Cure’s “Lullaby” or Cher’s “Just
Like Jesse James.” Somber stuff.
Granted, these are talented per
formers, and nearly every song men
tioned is a strong one, but it’s bad
enough that it’s rainy and bleak
without having to turn on the radio
and have every other new song pre
ach, cry or wail at you.
And yes, it’s a good thing artists
are using their talent to try to make
Earth a better planet, but singing
songs that would sadden even Pee
Wee Herman isn’t the only way to
achieve that goal.
And then there’s Technotronic —
heavy, danceable synthesizer
rhythms, ethereal keyboard flou
rishes, catchy lyrics and not an ounce
of sorrow.
A perfect example of the standard
Technotronic message is found in
“This Beat is Technotronic,” the al
bum’s theme song (similar to Soul II
Soul’s “Jazzie’s Groove”): “There’s a
dance floor/Get on it/This Beat is
Technotronic.”
OK — it’s not Shakespeare, and it
isn’t going to change the world, but
what a relief.
That must be exactly what the
American public thought when they
made the group’s monotonous first
single, “Pump Up the Jam,” a top-
five hit. Although enjoyable, the
song repeats some version of the
phrase “Pump up the jam” (“Pum
pin’,” “Pump it up,” “Pump it”) more
than 80 times. And yes, I counted^
The rest of the album fares much
better, especially with the sizzling
second single, “Get Up! (Before the
Night Is Over),” and the supersonic
rap “Tough.”
Only in carefree music such a^s
Technotronic’s could you find the
“Get Up!” chorus: “One, two -— I’m
a part of you/Three, four — S'o get
your butt on the floor/Five, six —
Know you dig the mix/Seven, eight
— let it shake/Get down!”
Or take “Move This” for example,
where vocalist (the Zairian model)
Felly seems to speak directly to the
people on the dance floor with the
line, “Shake that body for me.”
The first side of the album doesn’t
stray much from the successful
“Pump Up the Jam” mold, but the
second side finds the group in a
more imaginative mode.
“Move T his” contains one of the
group’s most creative synth lines,
second only to the wild bass runs and
record-scratching (a holdover from
1984 rap music) of “Raw,” the al
bum’s finale.
Curator of Texas shrine
will remember Alamo
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Even
more than most native Texans,
Steve Beck really will remember
the Alamo.
“It has been an honor to serve
the citizens of Texas and the Ala
mo,” said Beck, 37, as he pre
pared to wind up 4!/2 years as the
shrine’s curator. “It really has es
tablished a sense of humility in
me in regard to what the patriots
did here.”
Beck left the post this week to
return to his native El Paso,
where he will work on a master’s
degree in sculpture from the Uni
versity of Texas at El Paso. He
will act as consultant to the Mu
seum of the Revolution in
Chihuahua and to the Mexican
government.
But also on his list is a return to
San Antonio to research a book
on the subject never far from his
mind.
The idea to write about the
Alamo’s architecture came dur
ing a just-completed restoration,
which unearthed new doors, new
niches and the original threshold
to the sacristy.
Those findings have modified
the curator’s ever-evolving im
pressions of the Alamo.
“It has a great deal more integ
rity as far as how the Spaniards
designed it and the Indians built
it,” Beck said.
“The building was more for
mal than we thought,” he said,
referring to the discovery of
handmade terra cotta tiles on one
side of the sacristy.
Since he took over the job,
Beck says he has seen positive
changes in the way the complex is
viewed by visitors.
“I believe now when people
come to the Alamo they have a
more objective sense of what hap
pened,” he said. “It has more of a
sense of power.”
The restoration, begun in No
vember 1988, and funded by the
Daughters of the Republic of
Texas, was done to measure the
strength of the Alamo’s time
worn limestone walls.
“It was done to ensure the ar
chitectural integrity of the shri
ne,” Beck said, noting the struc
ture will be stable, “conservatively
speaking, for at least another cen
tury and c
a half.
“I wanted to make sure the
shrine would stand just as
proudly as it did during the mis
sion period and the Battle of the
Alamo,” he said.
He recalled rarely being of
fended by the daily waves of tour
ists who pour into Alamo Plaza.
“Millions of people who pass
through this building have a
great deal of respect; gentlemen
take their hats off,” he said.
As he spoke of his work, visi
tors milled around the tranquil
grounds, walked through the
shrine and whispered as they felt
the cool, slightly damp walls.
March 2 is Texas Indepen
dence Day and one of the most
joyous, colorful times to be at the
Alamo. But what Beck will re
member most is the somber cere
mony each March 6, to mark the
day in 1836, when the building fi
nally was overrun and 189 de
fenders killed.
The ceremony seems to stir
surprisingly vivid memories to
those who gather, even though
they are recalling an event which
occurred more than 150 years
ago.
TECHNOTRONIC
Pump Up the Jam — The Album
SBK Records
Also placed on side two is “Come
Back,” perhaps the perfect example
of the “house” sourta: an instrumen
tal with a myriad of sampled sounds
and voices, funky bass lines and re
petitive keyboard rhythms and
chords.
Unfortunately, the group also
seems to include a reference to the
origin of the house sound — acid
(LSD) — in “Get Up!,” in which Felly
says, “Pump it, stomp it, jam, trip on
this.”
It is that line (and the monotony
of a couple of songs) that are the
only annoying things on an other
wise fun album.
All the world needs is another
musical group telling kids to do
drugs — the rest of the music indus
try has enough problems to write
songs about already.
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• speakers
• pool tournament
• dancing and more
sleep over and enjoy a
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In«cenetive (in sen' tiv)
n. motive; spur; stimulus; encouragement
(L. incentivus setting the tune)
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Qualify as an undergraduate who does not hold a 4 year
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1990