DECEMBER 7,1990 — THE DECREE — PAGE 5
Primus deserving of 'best new artist’
By MARK BRETT
Poor Milli Vanilli. Better than
Dylan and Elvis, and they get their
Grammy stripped from them, just
because they have no discernible
talents beyond making fools of
themselves on national television.
The real joke of all this, of
course, is that the music was gar
bage, no matter who sang it.
‘Milli Vanilli,” whoever they re
ally are, produced a record of
corporate rap-reggae, written ac
cording to some mathematician’s
demographic survey of American
tastes to give it the widest possible
range of acceptance and all the
emotional substance of a Frosted
Flakes jingle. They didn’t deserve
the Grammy m the first place.
Grammys are supposedly
given out according to musical
merit, not popularity, but that
doesn’t seem to be the case.
Maybe if the record companies
would stop their self-defeating
policy of pushing only “safe”
music that sounds basically alike,
some fresh new blood might get
in, and we’d have artists winning
Grammys who really deserve
them.
One such artist, a should-be
nominee for Best New Artist of
1990, is Primus, a three-man
“funk-metal” band from San
Francisco. Primus is serious, de
lirious, and quirky; their style can
best be described as Rick James
meets Metallica under the influ
ence of the theme from “Baretta.”
Understandably then, their debut
album, “Frizzle Fry,” is intensely
goofy, deadly serious, blatantly
surreal, and above all chaotic.
The album opens with “To
Students get involved
(Continued from Page 4)
Overall, I commend each and
every one of you for your efforts
during the last week. Whether you
were involved as actual sponsors
or participated as a member of
the audience, each of you are to
be commended for your partici
pation. The possibilities for future
offerings at Wesleyan at endless
if we can maintain this level of
excitement and participation.
Pam Gourley,
Director of Campus Activities
Yellow ribbons awkward
as symbol for patriotism
Dear Editor:
Assuming that yellow ribbons
symbolize concern for the safety
of soldiers and civilians on both
sides whose lives and safety are
jeopardized by our military
building up Saudi Arabia, it is a
good thing that they have ap
peared on our campus.
Two points should be consid
ered. First, a symbol can mean
what people want it to mean, but
we should remember that when
Tony Orlando sang, ‘Tie a yellow
ribbon ‘round the old oak tree,”
he was asking that it symbolize
his gklfriend’s desire to resume
their relationship after his incar
ceration in prison for, if'I re
member correctly, murder. He
was pleading for reacceptance and
forgiveness.
It is odd that our culture has
so easily accepted yellow ribbons
as a symbol for the hope of a safe
return of, first, hostages in Iran
who had been convicted of no
crime, and second, for our troops
in Saudi Arabia, who have neither
committed a crime nor been in
carcerated. Reacceptance and
forgiveness do not enter into ei
ther situation.
Second, and more important:
the troops in Saudi Arabia are
part of a volunteer army. Thus
they are disproportionately from
groups low on the socio-economic
scale and from racial and ethnic
minorities. It is a good thing, of
course, to wish for their safe re
turn.
But if one believes that their
mission in the Middle East is
proper, that it is worth risking
lives for cheap oil, the Kuwaiti
ruling dynasty, or the “new world
order” that Mr. Bush has yet to
define clearly, the proper action
should be to volunteer oneself or,
at least, call for the reinstatement
of the draft. Thus the burden of
death and pain can justly be
shar^. Putting yellow ribbons on
trees seems futile at best and, at
worst, hypocritical.
If one believes the mission in
Aiabia to be reckless and irre
sponsible, then the yellow ribbons
are appropriate, but to protest
against Mr. Bush’s policy is also
necessary.
R.L. Watson
Professor of History
Defy the Laws of Tradition,” an
apt beginning with a lot of pinging
cymbals that come to an abrupt
end with a sickening tape drag,
sending the listening scurrying to
his stereo’s “eject” button. That
tape owner’s survival instinct
immediately shuts off, however,
when the red song starts a second
later, gyrating into oblivion.
From that moment on, the lis
tener is off-balance, never quite
knowing what to expect next. The
wild chaos of ‘To Defy” is fol
lowed by the controlled chaos of
“Ground Hog’s Day,” a song
narrated by (I think) a Ground
Hog. The guitars swing off into
appropriately portentous gusts
here, only to jerk back into tight,
heavy riffing for “Too Many
Puppies,” a song protesting war.
‘Too many puppies,” singer Les
Claypool drones, “with guns in
their hands/Too many puppies in
foreign lands.”
Next is “Mr. Knowitall,”
which includes the wonderful
lines, “They call me Mr.
Knowitall, I am so eloquen^er-
fection is my middle name, and
whatever rhymes with eloquent”
This song is followed by “Frizzle
Fry” itself, which has a droning,
sing-song quality that works well
with its topic: a creature that de
stroys belief, faith, and innocence
(sort of like puberty).
Side Two begins with “John
the Fisherman,” the song that best
melds the funk and heavy metal
sounds Primus deals with. In “The
Toys are Winding Down,” the
guitars and drums work together
to produce a droning, clock-work
rhythm that grinds into “Pudding
Time,” a wildly gyrating rave-up
that seems to be about deserts (the
mind boggles).
Next is “Sathington
Willoughby,” a song about some
authoritarian legislator, which
seems to share a dimensional
space with “Spegetti Western,”
about what you do when you’re
an unemployed member of the
middle class (this entails a lot of
TV viewing, apparently). Finally,
we have “Harold of the Rocks,” a
really odd song about a guy
named Harold.
“Harold” ends with another
wrenching tape drag, and leads
into a short instrumental reprise
of “To Defy the Laws of Tradi
tion.” Thus the listener, after be
ing jerked and pummelled merci
lessly by the sheer standard-
breaking brutality of the rest of
“Frizzle Fry,” finds himself gen
tly deposited once again on the
shores of “normalcy,” blinking
and confused, but changed. For
better or for worse.
With these words, your
humble reviewer steps down from
this position. I’m headed for the
real world, where I plan to
stumble around blindly for
awhile. I leave you with these
thoughts: Look beyond the sur
face of the ordinary; things are
not always as they seem.
When encountering the
strange, look beneath its surface,
too; things there may not be what
they seem, but at least they’re in
teresting. And, finally, above all,
have fun; if you don’t you’re do
ing something wrong.
Concern more talk than action
By TERESA PITTS
I have discovered that there is
a truth to the statement about be
ing all talk and all action. Many
people who claim to be environ
mentally conscious rarely adhere
to the beliefs and suggestions they
preach about.
I noticed this several weeks
ago when I went to an “environ
mental” shop with a friend. He
bought a recycling button, but he
doesn’t recycle. He thinks that
recycling is a good idea, but he
doesn’t take the time to sort his
trash and take it to recycling con
tainers. I guess he thinks he’ll
spread the word and hope that
others will recycle. But how can
you expect others to recycle when
you don’t?
Also, while I was in the store I
saw a lady purchase an environ
mental tee-shirt with the logo
“save the planet” Ironically, she
was carrying plastic bags con
taining purchases from other
stores. Some concern.
Being environmentally aware
Who has instructions?
(Continued from Page 4)
trying to program it to do what
she had bought it to do, but evi
dently forgot to buy the Ph.D.
who could figure out what the
instructions said and the magni
fying glass to read what the VCR
was flashing at her.
Having learned a lesson from
her, I bought a VCR which has
on-screen programming so I can
at least see the words which I still
cannot understand. I was okay,
though, until one time I tried to
unprogram what I decided I didn’t
need to tape. My VCR and I have
never bonded since. Every
Wednesday at 11:30, no matter
what I’m watching, the VCR
takes over and changes the chan
nel and starts flashing for me to
put in a tape.
Anyway, back an the floor
with my new blinds and unintel
ligible instructions, I grabbed the
hammer and some nails and
nailed the suckers up. I don’t care
if they ever work; I threw out the
instructions.
Now I’m trying to follow this
recipe which tells me to pulverize
(do not grind) six cumin seeds
bought only at night with peso
obtained from authentic Mexican
cooks.
seems to be just a trend for some
people. For example, I was flip
ping through a magazine which
had a page touting tips about pre
serving the environment and pic
tures of clothes with eco-sayings.
However, on the same page was
an advertisement for a disposable
camera. Either the environmental
issues aren’t being taken seriously
or they’re being seen as a fad.
Some celebrities are starting
to show some environmental
concern. Many may genuinely be
interested in the environmental
problems, but others seem to be
showing their concern for the en
vironment in order to receive
good publicity.
For example, actress Bette
Midler is supposedly involved
with environmental causes and a
year ago played “Mother Earth”
in a TV special about Earth Day.
Later, I read that she loved shoes,
pocketbooks, and belts made from
reptile skin. Maybe she is un
aware that protecting the envi
ronment involves all facets —
even reptiles.
I think we must realize that
our environment is a serious issue
and that pwple must be genu
inely concerned with preserving
it. You cannot preach about envi
ronmental problems and then wait
for others to start coixecting them.