Page 4
The Battalion
Tuesday, July 2,1991
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Actor Landon
dead at 54
Summer releases bring raw
emotion back to rock’n’roll
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Michael
Landon, the boyishly handsome
actor who battled cancer with the
same affability he brought to roles
in "Bonanza" and "Little House
on the Prairie," died Monday. He
was 54.
Landon, who also starred in
the TV series "Highway to
Heaven" and whose career was
jammed with writing, producing
and directing credits, died shortly
about 1 p.m., said Ronne Schmidt,
a receptionist for Landon's attor
ney and friend. Jay Eller.
Schmidt said details of
Landon's death, including where
he died, were not being released
immediately.
Landon was set to start work
on the new CBS series "US" when
he was diagnosed with liver and
pancreatic cancer on April 5.
"I think eveiy little moment
gets more important after some
thing like this," a stoic but conge
nial Landon said after he learned
he was terminally ill. "It's not like
I've missed a hell of a lot. I've had
a pretty good lick here."
He joked that he didn't want
to lose nis trademark curly locks
during cancer treatments. "I cer
tainly hope I don't lose my hair,
since everybody has been review
ing my hair for 35 years."
Bom Eugene Maurice Orowitz
to show business parents Eli
Orowitz and Peggy O'Neill in New
York City, Landon spent much of
his childhood coping with a sui
cidal mother and fignting in and
being kicked out of school.
He graduated second from last
in a high school class of 301 stu
dents.
A national high school cham
pion javelin thrower, with a record
toss of 211 feet, seven inches,
Landon was offered several dozen
collegiate scholarships, selecting
the University of Southern Cali
fornia.
Forced to drop out of school
after a ligament tear, Landon took
a variety of odd jobs.
Authors rank
rock’n'roll’s
worst spins
NEW YORK (AP) - Joey
Bishop, country-western singer, is
bad. John Travolta, pop crooner, is
worse. And Joel Grey doing
Cream's "White Room" ... well,
life's not always a cabaret. But
would you believe the Grateful
Dead, Bob Dylan and Lou Reed all
made worse albums?
That's what Jimmy Guterman
and Owen O'Donnell say in their
new book "The Worst Rock'n'Roll
Records of All Time."
While Grey (No. 36), Bishop
(No. 33) and Travolta (No. 18) did
make three of the worst 50 albums
ever, they had plenty of company,
the authors say. Dylan, the Dead,
Reed, the Doors and Elvis Presley
are all in the pair's 10 worst album
list.
The King, in fact, tops the list
with 1974's "Having Fun With
Elvis on Stage," a 40-minute col
lection of his stage banter. "Elvis
Presley made some truly horrible
records that stand today as vivid
arguments against barbiturates,"
write the authors.
By Rob Newberry
Violent Femmes
Why Do Birds Sing?
Slash/Reprise
Gordon Gano and the Milwaukie coffeeshop trio
return to the alternative scene with their latest Why
Do Birds Sing ? My reply: who cares why the birds are
singing - I'm too busy laughing as I listen to Gano's
vocals.
Gano is a master at mixing humor and deep
thought into clever statements. His delivery always
stresses the humor - his nasal whine always makes
the funny parts stand out a little more. But there's no
denying the intellect behind these songs.
First case in point: "Girl Trouble." Gano can
write a heartbreak song like no one else - as I sit back
and realize how right he is, I laugh at my self and him
for making something so big out of relationship
troubles. "Have mercy on me, I go girl trouble up the
ass...Don't tell me no jokes. I'm not gonna laugn." I
don't know anyone who can keep from chuckling
when Gano chants that line.
The disc opens by poking fun at Gano's musical
influences in "American Music." He satirizes the old
fifties "Blue Moon" tunes and all their prom date
connotations, and he also jibes all those artists (him
self included) who've maae an issue out of their own
drug use.
It's hard to pick a favorite. I like both those tunes,
but "He Likes Me" is a contender, too. Gano de
scribes his all-too-typical feelings about his ex-lover's
new boyfriend: "Your old true friend doesn't like
your brand new friend...You're so free, and I am
history."
And I’ve finally heard a band pull off a cover of
a Culture Club song. Leave it to the Femmes - their
acoustic rendition of "Do You Really Want to Hurt
Me?" hits the mark (of course, Gano had to improve
a little on the lyrics, but he can do that).
The music behind the tunes is as raucous as ever.
Brian Ritchie's driving acoustic bass and Victor
DeLorenzo's jazzy snare licks provide the classic
Femmes accompaniment - they're one of the few
bands who can make a more or less acoustic mix
sound as full as an orchestra.
No question about it, the new Femmes record is
a treat, following in the footsteps of early works like
Violent Femmes and 3. Any Femmes fan must have it,
and anyone else who gets it will soon be one.
Dots Will Echo
Dots Will Echo
High Street Records
The more time I spend listening and playing -
sometime living, it seems - music, the more I find that
I appreciate the raw sounds of a new band. R.E.M.’s
Murmur is perhaps the classic example, and while
Dots Will Ecno may not be another R.E.M. (not yet, at
least), their self-titled debut puts them in some great
company.
The disc opens with the six-minute jam "Every
thing in the World." Kicking off with very basic
rhytnm guitar riffs, the tunes add crisp drum parts
and some of the nicest harmonies I’ve heard from
newbandsina while. The vocals are slick; these guys
sound incredibly professional. But the result is never
too produced, and the tune grabs me and has me
bouncing rhythmically before the first 30 seconds.
The songs just keep coming. "Sandra" and "Rain"
are masterful songs - tne first is an upbeat tune about
astrange event with a female acquaintance, the last a
soothing cry of rebirth set to an almost tribal drum
beat.
On to "Someday," with opening harsh rimshots
and acoustic guitar rhythms — the tune ends up
sounding like the Police attempt fifties doo-wap.
Next up is the band's title song (not usually a cool
thing in my book), but "Dots Will Echo" is an upfront
bash of honest questioning. And the harmonious
chorus melts the distortion on the guitar into a pure
emotional rush.
I can’t really get over how young and raw this
band sounds. The songs all have some overdubs and
mixing, but you can hardly tell - when drummer
Steve Meltzer and bassist Bob Albanese join guitar
ist-lead vocalist Nick Berry for a harmony, I could
swear they're all jamming through the song in some
garage studio. The band advocates the not-too-
technical: from the liner notes, "Dots Will Echo uses
whatever cheap junk they can get their hands on,
exclusively."
Frankly, Dots Will Echo has got me excited that
the rut in guitar-based, raw rock'n'roll may be com
ing to a close. And if not, at least this one band knows
how I'm feeling.
Nerd House
by Tom A. Madison
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