DECEMBER 2,1988 — THE DECREE — PAGt; 3
Ramones* punk album weird but fun
By MARK BRETT
When I walked into Schoolkids’
Records in Chapel Hill, I really had
no idea what I would buy. Past trips
had turned up a socially-conscious
new wave/heavy metal fusion band,
a new album by the Pogues (as far as
I know, the world’s only Irish folk/
punk fusion band,) and a Pink Floyd
album I didn’t know existed, among
others.
Anyway, as I walked in I heard
what soimded like a late-fifties dance
tune. You know the type: up-tempo,
so honest you could puke, singing
about teenage love; the kind of stuff
Tiffany screws up so badly. Kind of
an odd thing for a place that special
izes in progressive rock to be play
ing. I thought. Then I caught the cho
rus. “The KKK took my baby away/
They took her away/Away from me.”
I began to laugh, a little too loudly
probably, but who cares? I asked the
girl behind the counter who the group
was, and she told me that it was the
Ramones, from an album called
“Mania.” She then told me that
“Mania” was a “Best Of’ album and
that it included about 30 songs. I was
immediately sold.
And that was how I was intro
duced to the music of the Ramones,
the group mainly responsible for the
creation of punk rock, and a group
once referred to as a bubble-gum
band with guts.
The Ramones sing about ...well,
they sing about a lot of stuff. They
sing about alienation, pwlitics, the
Review
mindlessness of life in America
(those last two kind of go together,
though, huh?), and, yes, teenage love
(seen, perhaps, through a haze of
radioactive dust, but seen nonethe
less.)
Their style could best be de
scribed as “fast.” At times it seem s
that guitarist Johnny Ramone (every
one in the band takes on the last name
Ramone, just for the hell of it) can
only play guitar at 90 miles per hour.
It was music like this for which
dances like the Pogo, the Charlie
Brown, and the Myopic were in
vented.
This music is pumped full of raw
energy that really has to be experi
enced to be fully appreciated. It can’t
be expressed with words.
Song titles, however, can be ex
pressed with words and this album
has quite a collection. There’s the
medicated series; “I Wanna Ba Se
dated,” “Teenage Lobotomy,”
“Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,”
“Psycho Therapy,” and the ever-
popular “Somebody Put Something
in My Drink;” the nostalgia series:
“Do You Remember Rock’n Roll
Radio?,” “Rockaway Beach” (a
Beach Boys semi-tribute,) “I Wanna
Be Your Boyfriend” (a sickly-sweet
love ballad made somehow interest
ing,) a cover of “Needles and Pins”
that’s sort of...diseased, and the
immortal “The KKK Took My Baby
Away,” a song played so straight, so
sincerely that is still send me into
spasms (something extremely dan
gerous when I’m driving.)
Then there are the songs that
stand on their own; “Sheena is a Punk
Rocker” (an anthem if I ever heard
one,) “Blitzkreig Bop,” “Cretin
Hope,” “Bop ‘Til You Drop” (the
three of which might form the “Op”
trilogy,) “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”
(about your favorite right-wing con
servative actor-tumed-politician and
mine,) “I Just Wanna Have Some
thing To Do,” and many, many more.
Not all of the songs on this album
work, however. When the Ramones
veer off into songs such as “Wart
Hog” or “Animal Boy,” which rely
too heavily on guitar, they lose some
thing. The energy goes out the win
dow, replaced by a grinding guitar
sound that’s more suitable for Iggy
Pop.
These diversions are thankfully
few, and the album as a whole is a lot
of fun. So, if you’re tired of limp-
wristed efforts at doing bubble-gum
rock, and you’re ready for something
with a slightly weird flavor (like, say
cinnamon Gummy Worms,) check
out the Ramones.
At the very worst, you’ll come
away with a couple of cheap laughs
and a few dead brain cells.
Wesleyan Ensemble gives
classical concert recently
By TERRIE ROBERTS
The Wesleyan Wind Ensemble
performed in the Student Activity
Center on Nov. 15.
The Ensemble was led by Michael
McAllister and opened with “Fanfare
for St. Edmundsbury” by Benjamin
Britten. This piece was written in
1959 for the pageant of Magna Cara
and was first performed on the
grounds of Bury St. Edmunds Cathe
dral. The trumpets solo was per
formed by Dr. Dan Crocker, Milissa
Joplin, and Les Radford.
The second piece was “March for
the Prince of Wales” by Joseph
Haydn. This march was presented to
Exhibit brings Egypt to life
(Continued from Page 2)
tion process had ended and Ramesses
the Great was to begin his long and
illustrious reign.
Every Pharaoh was expected to
serve the gods well in order to bring
prosperity to his people. One of the
most important tasks he would un
dertake was the building and mainte
nance of the temples where religious
rites were held.
In his first years of rule Ramesses
continued the work of building
temples, statues, and memorials. He
was mostly occupied with complet
ing and expanding upon work which
other pharaohs, and especially his
father had begim.
The Temple of Abydos, begun by
Seti, was partially unfmished at his
death. Ramesses II was to complete
the temple and renew worship serv
ices. He also ordered new statues
carved with his likeness. The Temple
of Kamak, the Luxon Temple, and
the Temples of Abu Simbel are also
tributes Ramesses built to himself for
future generations.
Abu Simbel was, among other
things, Ramesses’ tribute to Nefer-
tari. She had been at his side from the
beginning of his reign. Ramesses’
temples at Abu Simbel demonstrated
what a large role she had come to
play in his life.
Perhaps the greatest single work
of the entire exhibit is The Colossus
of Memphis. The 24' 7" tall colossus
weight an amazing 57 tons! Over 30
conservators worked 16 hours daily
from June 1986 through January
1987 to reassemble the three large
pieces and many smaller fragments.
In preparation for its journey to
Memphis, Tennessee, on the Missis
sippi, Lloyd’s of London insured the
precious treasure. Conservators dis
assembled the statue into three pieces
and packed it into wooden crates
(adding yet another four tons!.)
An Egyptian army honor guard
escorted the heavy transport trucks
which took the colossus from Mem
phis, Egypt to Mediterranean shores
at Alexandria. There, under the close
supervision of Antiquities Organiza
tion officials, the wooden crates were
packed in a steel case and placed
aboard the Acquia. A military band
and a naval escort into international
waters provided a befitting royal
send-off as the colossus departed for
the port of Marseilles, France on
February 5, 1987.
The colossus incredible journey
continued as it was transferred to the
Express for its Atlantic crossing
bound for Savannah, Georgia. It ar
rived on U.S. shores in late February,
and early in March, two huge trucks
caravaned to the Memphis Conven
tion Center.
As in Memphis, the Colossus of
Memphis required special housing
upon its arrival in Charlotte. A total
of $2,225,000 in tinderwriting sup
port enabled the exhibit to run to the
Mint Museum. All exhibition and
educational programs at the museum
are financed by funds raised each
year by the Board of Trustees.
While the treasures on display in
the Ramesses exhibition are insured
by Lloyd’s of London for $35 mil
lion, the #2.25 million in local under
writing is assurance against operat
ing loss by the Mint. There has been a
daily average of 5,100 visitors to the
Mint since the shows opening in Oc
tober with approximately 500 people
filing through eveiy 30 minutes. An
audio tape is available, however, and
once inside the galleries there is no
time limit on the visit.
the Prince of Wales as a token of
thanks for Haydn.
The next piece was “First Suite
for Winds” by Theodore Dubois.
According to the program Dubois
“was a prolific composer of works for
chamber winds.” This piece was led
by the flutes, Judy James and Bobbi
Albert.
The first half of the program
ended with Polonaise by Ludwig van
Beethoven. This work was first per
formed, along with others by the
composer, at a tournament at Lax-
anburg which was held in honor of
the Empress Maria Ludovica’s birth
day on Aug. 25, 1810.
The second half began with
McAllister making a few comments
on the piece “Deux Airs” by Jean-
Jacques Rousseau. He let the audi
ence know that the ensemble thought
that Rousseau became a philosopher
after his poor beginning in comfws-
ing.
The next piece, “Invocation for
Solo Trumpet and Winds” by Robert
Starer, was commissioned by the Co
lumbia Broadcast System for a Jew
ish High Holidays telecast and pre
miered in September of 1962. TTie
ensemble featured Dr. Daniel
Crocker as their principal trumpeter.
The next piece, “Serenade Eb,
op.7” by Richard Strauss, was stated
in the program to be a “widely known
as a delightful work... which skill-
fiilly exploits the varied tone colors
of the orchestral winds.”
The evening ended with the
pieces “Zapfenstreich Marsh” by
Ludwig van Beethoven and “Hands
Across the Sea” by Jolm Phillip
Sousa.
Gene Cotton
i
• ••
In Conterf
Dec. 2/ 9 p.m.
Student Activities Center
Gene Cotton has recorded 13 al
bums and had numerous hit singles.
He has appeared on "Midnight Spe
cial," "American Bandstand with
Dick Clark," "Merv Griffin,"
"Mike Douglas," and other TV
specials.
He spends much of his time
performing on college cam
puses.