Thursday, May 3,1990
The Battalion
Pages
ompany
Secures stuff
for students
Aggie Storage Box
uses military vault system
By HELEN WOLFE
'Uf The Battalion Staff
If it’s good enough for the mili
ary, the owners of Aggie Storage
Jox believe their unique storage
ancept is good enough for you.
| Owned and operated by Texas
A&M graduates Cindy Griffin ’85
r and Grady Wakefield ’86, Aggie
iJStorage Box uses vaults similar to
Hhose used by the military for
ft-ansporting objects.
I The vaults are movable and
Stackable, Griffin says, and made
lllo look like trailers.
The general idea behind Aggie
Storage Box was geared specif-
cally toward students, she says.
Made of fern-pine wood, the
vaults are delivered to a student’s
lesidence and left in a parking
pace for loading. The maximum
torage capacity is 4,500 pounds,
)r two rooms of disassembled
irniture.
Students then pack their be-
sngings into the vault like they
vould for a U-Haul trailer, she
lys. After students load the
[ault, they can call the company
• come get the unit.
“We normally pick up within
N hours of the call and store the
fault in one of our warehouses,”
Jriffin says.
The concept seems to be catch-
i|igon.
m u went well last year,” she
■ays, “and we’ve had more re
sponse from the dorms this year
lan last year.
“Probably 20 percent of our
business was from people in resi
dence halls (last year). This year,
that’s probably up to 40 percent.”
1 Griffin says students on cam-
bus can make their move easier if
pey will schedule them after 5
ym. Because the company does
cave the vault in a parking place
lat the student finds, starting af-
er business hours means closer
parking spaces. A referral system
las also been set up to get stu-
lents in the dorms to share
aults, she says.
Security is an important part of
ae Aggie Storage Box concept.
Griffin says the vaults are dou
ble protected because the units
re individually locked and the
larehouse is also locked.
If the student needs to get into
leir vault, an appointment must
made with one of the owners.
Itudents have to give the com-
»any a 24-hour notice.
The cost to rent a vault for the
immer (4 months) is $200.
This charge covers delivery
id pickup of the vault, ware-
louse storage, re-delivery and fi-
Jal pick up. However, if the
enter already has transportation
vailable, a vault can be leased for
|40 a month, Griffin says.
“If there is a problem, we can
vork out a payment plan in spe-
icial cases.”
On the service contract, Grif-
ins says students must give their
H>ermanent address.
“A letter is sent to them so they
tnow where their vault is and
lev reply with their new (local)
adaress and pickup date,” she
Says.
Aggie Storage Box may be
rowing, but there is enough
im for everyone.
The company has 250 vaults in
tieir warehouse, Griffin says, and
lother 150 can be built, with
aterials already available, within
. week.
Ready for the BIG time
Special F/X singer intent on group’s success
By DARREN SEGURA
Special to the Battalion
Friday night promises to be a typ
ical night at the Texas Hall of Fame:
a live band, a large crowd, many cou
ples and the swaying of cowboy hats
to the down-home Texas style of Joe
Orsak and his band, Special F/X.
Joe Orsak is a local musician who
graduated from Bryan High School
in 1981. He started out playing
Christian music with a twist of gospel
and bluegrass, and then tried his
hand at Christian rock.
But, Orsak always returned to
country because of nis love for the
music, which was inspired by his par
ents.
Orsak says his mother used to sing
Patsy Cline and Kitty Wells songs to
him in the kitchen when he was a
kid. His father bought him a little
itar at a garage sale for $5 when
was young. He says he’s been
playing ever since.
When asked about success, Orsak
says he has this reoccurring dream
in which he is on stage playing the
best song he’s ever heard, and every
one is dancing. But, when he wakes
up from the dream, he says he can
never remember the way the song
went.
Orsak says all that Special F/X
have played on stage so far is other
people’s music, but he has written
about 150 songs and right now there
are some songwriters and investors
in Nashville interested in his music.
“The first song is the most impor
tant,” Orsak says, “and that first rat
tle out of the box when you get in
stant recognition is how you have to
do it.
“We’ve been really close to mak
ing it big for a long time, but we’ve
never all been completely dedicated
to making it big in country music, ac
tually cutting a record and going on
the road until now.
“We want to start introducing a
few of our original songs and start playing
some showcase songs where each instrument
will have a small solo.”
Some of the songs he writes, Orsak says,
cause they want to go ahead and cry
and get it out of their system.”
Ever since he was a kid, Orsak says
he just knew that all he wanted to do
was sing. He says he tried to sup
press the urge, but finally realized
that the desire to be a musician was
just so overwhelming that he
couldn’t be himself without singing.
Orsak says he believes he has a
real good chance of making it big
since he lives in Texas. “Country
music originated in Texas and I feel
blessed to be able to play in this state.
ly sta
hall
the U.S. that has a dance hail in ev
ery town. A lot of the original musi
cians such as Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb
and Hank Williams Sr., got started
here, as well as some of the newer
artists such as Willie Nelson, George
Strait and Clint Black.
“It’s just like they say in business:
Three most important things in
making it big are location, location
and location. Next to Nashville,
Texas is the best place to be for
country music.”
ays h
he’s
The members of Special F/X are (clockwise)
Keith Prescott on Bass, Ray Hadaway on steel
gutiar, Joe Orsak as lead vocals, Randy Mead-
are inspired by his own personal life, but in
many of his songs, he puts himself in other
people’s situations.
“1 love country music because it’s about
Photo by Opry Productions
ows on drums, Gerald Kinard on fiddle, Cherise
Prescott as vocalist and (not pictured) Manuel
Lopez on piano.
people and relationships and everyone loves
to hear about themselves,” Orsak says, “espe
cially if they are sad songs.
“So many people love country music be
music, yet he’s opened for big stars
such as Steve Wariner, Keith Whit
ley, Allen Jackson and Garth
Brooks.
He says he has the feeling that
someday things are gonna break big
for him and that it’s just a matter of
time before it happens. He lives by
the Bible verse, “As a man believith
in himself, so shall he be.”
Orsak says there are so many peo
ple who have dreams and never fol
low through on them. “I’ll find, a
way,” Orsak says, “no matter what it
takes, because this desire I have is
not a preference, it’s a conviction.
“I’m either gonna be dead broke
on some street corner doing what I
love with a guitar on my back, making noth
ing, or I’m gonna make it big. .
“And if you don’t believe me, then look me
up in 10 years.”
Rebellious O’Connor finds strength in new release
By JOHN RIGHTER
Of The Battalion Staff
Sinead O’Connor
I Do Not Want What I Haven’t
Got
Chrysalis
The music industry is a strange
one.
It would have been hard three
years ago to predict the recent suc
cess of Sinead O’Connor. Not that
The Lion and the Cobra wasn’t one
of ’87’s best releases, and O’Connor,
with her “take-all” attitude and
scary-sexy features, wasn’t one of the
most captivating and original new
comers to pop up on the music scene
in the innovative ’80s.
The apparent problem with
O’Connor was that her strengths
would undoubtedly end up being
her weaknesses. The “attitude,”
tough looks and unorthodox-vocal
range of blind fury to passionate
ethereal didn’t seem to mesh with
the conservative, consistent philoso
phy of the major labels.
Also, an attitude that led O’Con
nor to shave her head when a Chrys
alis Records’ executive suggested
that she display a rapport and dress
more befitting of a young lady
seemed to echo the familiar sound of
passion and stubborness over
growth and reality.
That O’Connor spent the majority
of her time between albums working
and “hanging out” with New York
rappers seemed to only reassure the
lack of stability and commitment to
her music. O’Connor appeared to be
a whim, an over-passionate teenager
who pulled deep and long from a
lifetime of misfortunes and disap
pointments and packaged them
around the typical mysticism and ro
manticism of a young female for
The Lion and the Cobra.
I Do Not Want What I Haven’t
Got is all the more satisfying because
it dissolves every problem aforemen
tioned. Although I admit a prefer
ence for the mysticism and unbal
ance of The Lion and the Cobra, I
respect the progress and deviation
of / Do Not Want..., an album, void
the previously-released “Jump in the
River,” that seems to totally alienate
itself from the more upbeat and uni
versal The Lion and the Cobra.
I Do Not Want., is a self-cleansing
introspection, a regular Drano-fix in
melancholy rage. Although the
mood is somber and the tempos
more subdued, O’Connor’s anger
and hostility is actually more appar
ent in I Do Not Want., than on her
debut.
O’Connor has that rare, magical
quality of creating an emotional at
mosphere that does not rely on fast
rhythms, invectives or screams, in
stead encompassing her vast vocal
and emotional range against a back
drop of surreal minimalism.
The strength of the album’s hit
single, “Nothing compares 2 U” (a
Prince-penned number), and several
other outstanding tracks, such as
“Three Babies” and “I Am Stretched
On Your Grave,” is that they rely al
most entirely on O’Connor’s lyrics
and vocals, limiting the conventional
“band” to subdued backup.
That O’Connor succeeds so well
in conveying her passions and ha
treds without the support of a musi
cal aura (e.g. fast and loud) only
strengthens the power of her songs.
There lies a certain sincerity and re
spect within the bold nakedness of a
cappela.
I imagine it was this logic and con
fidence that led O’Connor to end /
Do Not Want., with the a cappela ti
tle track. Although the song drags, it
underlines O’Connor’s direction.
I guess I like The Lion and the
Cobra better because of its mystical
romance, hell-fury and simple inno
cence. I Do Not Want., is not as vi
brant nor as original as The Lion
and the Cobra, but it is a strong fol
low-up.
Hardcore duo creates
ethereal tones on EP
By JOHN RIGHTER
Of The Battalion Staff
Dos
Numero Dos
New Alliance Records
It is quite appropriate to follow
a Sinead O’Connor review with a
likewise analysis of the latest Dos
release.
Dos is a duo project of former
Minutemen and current Firehose
bassist Mike Watt and former
Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler.
Watt and Roessler rely solely on
their two basses to create a dark,
subdued atmosphere of low, quiet
bass tones empnasized by Roessl-
er’s almost a cappela vocals. The
bass-only background works so
well because it perfectly tempers
the album’s ethereal nakedness
with a quiet, almost subliminal,
rage.
Unlike Watt and Roessler’s de
but, the six-track EP is not a semi
nar for bass players, but an actual
project devised to explore the
possibilities of a bass guitar as a
primary instrument. Being a fan
of the bass, especially in an age
content to bury the instrument’s
prowess within a sea of guitars
and over-miked drums, I love the
arrangements and direction ex
plored by Watt and Roessler
within Numero Dos.
That two former-hardcore bass
players are behind the album’s
grace, simplicity and beauty
makes it all the more appealing
and interesting.
The lazy sexuality of the Billie
Holiday cover “Don’t Explain”
and the highly emotional “I
Worry, My Son,” a song about an
estranged, but optimistic mother-
son relationship, are standout
tracks worthy of a mainstream
audience not reached by the
small-time New Alliance label.
For bass-player enthusiasts and
minimalist seekers, Numero Dos
is a prize worth digging long and
hard for (which is what you’ll
have to do, unfortunately).
AroundTown
Live Music
Information is provided by the individ
ual nightclubs and is subject to change.
FLYING TOMATO
At Northgate at 303 University Drive.
All ages admitted. For more information,
call 846-1616.
Friday — Sneaky Pete. Rock. Starts at 8
p.m. No cover.
Wednesday — Sneaky Pete. Rock. Starts at
8:30 p.m. $2 cover.
FRANK’S BAR AND GRILL
In College Station at 503 E. University
Drive. All ages admitted. Alcohol served.
Call 846-5388 for more information.
Friday and Saturday — Sabdu. Jazz. Starts
at 9:30 p.m. No cover.
GALLERY BAR
In the College Station Hilton at 801 E.
University Drive. Only ages 21 and older
admitted. Call 693-7500 for more informa
tion.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday — D.A.
McDowell. Jazz pianist. Starts at 5:30 p.m.
on Thursday and Friday, 7 p.m. on Satur
day. No cover.
Wednesday — D.A. McDowell. Jazz pia
nist. Starts at 5:30 p.m. No cover.
KAY’S CABARET
At Post Oak Mall. Ages 18 and older ad
mitted. Alcohol served. For more informa
tion, call 696-9191.
Thursday — Hank Townsend. Farewell
performance. Blues/Rock. Starts at 9:30
p.m. No cover.
Friday — Rhythm Addicts. Blues. Starts at
9:30 p.m. $2 cover.
Saturday — Road Kings. Rockabilly. Starts
at 9:30 p.m. $2 cover.
MAMA’S PIZZA
At 1601 S. Texas Ave. in College Sta
tion. All ages admitted. For more informa
tion, call 696-0032.
Sunday — Mama’s Boys. Rock. Starts at 9
p.m. No cover.
TEXAS HALL OF FAME
On FM 2818 in Bryan. Alcohol served.
For more information, call 822-2222.
Friday — Special F/X. Country. Starts at 9
g .m. $5 cover.
aturday — T.B.A.. Country. Starts at 9
p.m. $4 cover.
FRONT PORCH CAFE
In Bryan at 4410 College Main. All ages
admitted. Alcohol served. For more infor
mation, call 846-LIVE.
Thursday — Blue Rhythm. Blues. Starts at
9:00 p.m. Cover.
Friday — The Vanguards. Rock/blues.
Starts at 9 p.m. $5 cover.
Comedy
Saturday — One Touch. Brazilian. Starts
at 9 p.m. $5 cover
Tuesday — Acoustic Stage. Starts at 9:00
p.m. No cover
TIPPY’S
At 1803 Greenfield Plaza in Bryan. Ages
21 and older admitted. For more informa
tion, call 846-7203.
Thursday — Paul Torrez and the Cadil
lacs. Rock. Starts at 9 p.m. No cover.
Friday — Blue Rhythm. Blues . Starts at 9
p.m. No cover.
Saturday — Starvin’ Marvin and the Dex-
atrims. Rock. Starts at 9 p.m. No cover.
WAIVERS .
At Northgate at 103 Boyett. Ages 18 and
older admitted. Alcohol served. For more
information, call 846-8863.
Thursday — Road Kings. Rockabilly.
Starts at 9:30 p.m. $3 cover.
Friday — Subculture. Farewell perfor
mance. Dance. Starts at 9:30 p.m. $3 cover.
Saturday — Street Pizza. Reunion show.
Punk. Starts at 9:30 p.m. $3 cover.
Monday — Stormy Monday blues jam.
Open stage blues. Starts at 9 p.m. $ 1 cover.
Tuesday — NME. Rock. Starts at 9 p.m. $1
cover.
Wednesday — Lippman Tarn. Open stage
night. Starts at 9:00 p.m. $1 cover if under
21, no cover 21 and older.
Information is subject to change.
GARFIELD’S
Located at 1503 S. Texas Ave. Reserva
tions recommended. Ages 21 and older ad
mitted. Call 693-1736 for more informa
tion.
Thursday — Comedy with David Bublitz
opening and Chuck Montgomery headlin
ing. The show from the Houston Comedy
Workshop is hosted by Jason Porter. Starts
at 9 p.m., doors open at 8 p.m. $4 advance
tickets, $5 at the door.
Information is subject to change. Ad
mission restrictions may apply.
CINEMA THREE
Located at 315 College Ave. Call 693-
2796 for more information about matinee
showtimes.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rated PG.
Showtimes are 7 and 9.
The Guardian. Rated R. Showtime is 7:15
and 9:15.
Q & A. Rated R. Showtimes are 7:05 and
9:30.
POST OAK THREE
Located in Post Oak Mall. Call 693-2796
for more information about matinee show-
times.
The First Power. Rated R. Showtimes are
7:25 and 9:25.
Opportunity Knocks. Rated PG-13. Show-
times are 7:15 and 9:15.
Crazy People. Rated R. Showtimes are 7
and 9.
SCHULMAN SIX
In Bryan at 2002 E. 29th Street. Call
775-2643 for more information about
“dollar movies” and weekend matinee
times.
Spaced Invaders. Rated R. Showtimes are
7:30 and 9:50.
The Little Mermaid. Rated G. Showtimes
are 7:05 and 9:25.
Tango and Cash. Rated R. Showtimes are
7:20 and 9:55.
Nightbreed. Rated R. Showtimes are 7 and
9:30.
House Party. Rated R. Showtimes are 7:15
and 9:45.
Steel Magnolias. Rated PG-13. Showtimes
are 7:10 and 9:40.
MANOR EAST THREE
In Bryan in Manor East Mall. Call 823-
8300 for more information.
Pretty Woman. Rated R. Showtimes are
7:15 and 9:45.
Ernest Goes to Jail. Rated PG. Showtimes
are 7 and 9:30.
Wild Orchid. Rated R. Showtimes are 7:05
and 9:40.