Thursday, Jan, 27, 1983 / Kaleidoscope / 7
Concerts
January
28 Rick Derringer
12 Billy Squire
Agora
Freedom Hall,
29 Adam Ant
Atlanta Fox
Johnson City
12 Alabama /sold out)
February
2 George Jones/
Greensboro Coliseum
18 Ozzy Osbourne
Merle Haggard
Charlotte Coliseum
Greensboro Coliseum
4 Tom Petty and the Heart-
18 Alabama (sold out)
Asheville Civic Center
breakers/ Nick Lowe
Atlanta Omni
19 Alabama
5 BowWowWow
Agora
Charlotte Coliseum
19 Aerosmith
5 REO Speedwagon/
Red Rider
Freedom HaU
20 Stray Cats
Atlanta Omni
Atlanta Fox
6 Tom Petty
23 Pat Benatar
and the Heartbreakers
Atlanta Omni
Charlotte Coliseum
8 KISS
27 Diana Ross
Charlotte Coliseum
Asheville Civic Center
11 Billy Squire
March
6 Diana Ross
Knoxville Coliseum
Greensboro Coliseum
11 Pat Benatar
13 Roger Whittaker
Greensboro Coliseum
Greensboro Auditorium
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(DeLuca
Record Review Joe Jackson: Night and Day
Sally Fingerett
By Kari Howard
I’ve reconciled myself to the fact
that a lot of you busy students out
there actually don’t have time to
read an entire review. I have found
a simple, but eloquent solution:
FIND TIME! No, not really. The
other possible solution is a star
rating system.
A brief explanation:'
* - Awful, just awful.
•* - Better, but struggling.
••• - Good, but nagging flaws.
**•* - Excellent, but not perfect.
- So rarely given, go out and
buy the record or see the movie im
mediately!
Kari Howard '
Rating: ***
Did you know that underneath the
sophisticated and pohshed veneer of
New York City lies a volcano of
primitivism that both warms and
threatens the city? Now, before im
ages of death and destruction race
through your mind, note the key
words here: volcano of primitivism.
Not lava. There is not-repeat not- a
Mount St. Helens lying under Fifth
Avenue ready to erupt. Rather,
there is an underlying primitive
vitality to the coolly glamorous city.
In NIGHT AND DAY, Joe
Jackson’s compositions eloquently
express his reactions to this ironic
combination. His impressions of the
city are keenly felt in the orchestra
tions, which are sophisticated but
sohdly based upon earthy Latin
rhythms.
The impact of combining vibrant
bongos with a shiver of cool,
metallic xylophone is startling in
Breaking Us In Two. Its crisp,
almost staccato, melody punctuates
and emphasizes the simplicity of the
lyrics. While the beat of the lazy
bongos stresses a yearning for reviv
ing lost passion-”You want to do
things I can’t do/ Always something
breaking us in two”-the frosty icing
of xylophone is almost dispas
sionate but strangely refreshing.
Overriding both is a strong piano in
strumental, which succeeds with its
strength in merging the two.
Unfortunately, nothing could
possibly reconcile the differences in
Real Man. Whereas Jackson had
previously experimented successful
ly with bringing two disparate
elements together, here the contrast
is too absurd. The problem is the
lyrics. The first stanza is beautiful;
when Jackson Worriedly questions
identity with “Girls that wore pink/
And boys that wore blue/ Boys that
always grew up better men/ Than
me and you,” it is touching. The
sublime degenerates to the
riduculous by the third stanza: “So
don’t call me a faggot/ Not unless
you are a friend/ Then if you’re . tall
and handsome and strong...” You
get the picture. The warmth of the
previous lyrics and rhythms is
dispelled.
The poet revives' himself,
however, and winds down the album
with the eloquent Slow Song. Con-
tedning the same theme of a night on
the town of New York as the popular
Steppin’ Out, its opening lyrics are a
bright flicker of genius: “Music has
charms they say/ But in some hands/
It becomes a savage beast.”
Beautiful. Here, the exciting com
bination of hot and cold is handled
perfectly. While the soft melody rip
ples over the senses, the Latin
rhythms slowly overtake them,
building up to a passionate crescen
do: “And I get tired of D. J.’s/ Why
is always what he plays/ I’m gonna
push right through/ I’m gonna tell
him tool Tell him to/ Play us/ Play us
a slow song.”
The volcano that powers NIGHT
AND DAY is hot, but it is merciful
ly cooled down by Jackson’s chilly
sophistication. Hot and cold njay be
as different as NIGHT AND DAY,
but Joe Jackson proves that the two
can be brought together.
ONCA T.V.
Dialogues
The UNCA Public Affairs Pro
gram series “UNCA Dialogues'” will
present contrasting viewpoints
about American defense policy on
Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. on Thoms Cable-
■vision channel 9.
Laurance Pezzullo, Breman pro
fessor, Bill Sabo, professor of
Political Science, and Sally
Baumann, professor of French will
discuss Arnerican defense poUcy,
presenting conservative, liberal and
moderate viewpoints.