MOM play
s
by Alan Disbort
Features Editor
Mott the Hoople. They're as honest as a
rock n' roll band can be. 1 say that with a
certain amount of reservation and only after
having seen them recently in concert.
Finding it very hard to believe anyone
these days, I approached their recent album
The Hoople (Columbia) with my
expectations too high. Their albums have
never let me down. Each one stood apart
from its predecessor, a hard-to-equal string
of six fine albums (topped by Mott, regarded
by many as the best rock album of 1973).
So.where could they go? Mick Ralphs,
their lead guitarist, split the group after
Mott, leaving things in doubt. He was
replaced by the proficient, but less than
spectacular. Aerial Bender. The talk was that
lan Hunter, singer and figurehead of the
group, wielded too much power for Ralphs'
liking. With The Hoople, Hunter now
completely controls the direction of the
group.
It would be easy for me to say that they
failed to progress far with their new album. It
does sound as if The Hoople was a bit
hurried through its production, and the same
"rock n' roll's a loser's game" themes
predominate.
But, like I said, I trust Mott the Hoople.
They're honest. They don't want to be
separated from their audience. When Hunter
sings, "You're not the nazz You're just a
buzz Some kind of temporary..." in his
Hymn Jor the Dudes, he isn't chastising
anyone. Maybe himself. But certainly not his
audience.
Hunter doesn't want to fail. He wants to
please. And. perhaps more eloquently and
convincingly than any other rocker, he
realizes that stardom is all just a buzz. He
will eventually fail. All things must pass, so
to speak, but with no religious overtones.
But suddenly, through lots of promotional
work and critical acclaim, Mott the Hoople
Beer and other
by C. D. Gaines
Asst. Features Editor
Beer is beer and you can get it almost
anywhere in town, except on campus. You
can go out and buy a six-pack and take it
home. You can sit on the Franklin Street
wall and drink it. You can cry in it. Or, you
can choose one of fifteen places that exist for
your beer drinking pleasure.
Every bar is unique. Each offers its own
special touch. The following is a little list
noting each bar's special points.
Four Star Rating: Four stars go to
Town Hall for having the best location and
being the biggest place around. Town Hall is
also noted for its deli, live music every night,
and the nice paintings on the walls. Cat's
Cradle gets four stars for being the best place
to hear Arrogance and Miles Beyond. It also
haS-a talking parrot and unusual artwork.
Three Star Rating: He's Not Here, The
Cave and The Endangered Species. He's Not
Here for the balcony, the courtyard and the
jukebox. The Cave for being open until 2
a.m. every night and for the juke. The
Species for being the only place you can get
Watney's Red Barrel on tap, and for the
relaxed atmosphere.
Two Star Rating: McCauley's for being
the best bar in Carrboro and for the
bathrooms labelled "Pointers," and
betters." And to Holiday Inn's Tiffany's
Lounge for having ABC permits and being
across the street from Orange County ABC
Store No. 2.
One Star Rating: To every place else just
for being a bar and having beer. To PJ's for
wine and three-levels. To the Electric
Company for telling it like it is. To The
Scoreboard for the tilted bell tower and red
eyed Ram. To Clarence's for being next to .
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have arrived as stars. Despite a counter
attitude that Mott the Hoople are just "the
decadent chic for the week," they are one of
the few deserving of the bucks that the
record-buying public like to throw around.
The Hoople is just a slice of pop pie. It is
not a landmark album. In fact, as they will
undoubtedly go on to record many more
albums (hopefully), it will be looked upon as
one of their minor albums, like the Stones
Goat's Head Soup.
That's not necessarily a knock on them.
But, they have discarded their roles as
observers and reporters by trying TOO
HARD to be saviours. In concert, Hunter
opens the show by singing the first verse of
McLean's American Pie (music is going to
die, etc.). Then, the band launches into
Golden Age oj Rock 'N Roll from their new
album, with the words: The golden age of
rock n' roll will never die As long as children
feel the need to laugh and cry." Sadly,
Hunter wants to believe that, but he knows
it's a joke.
Hand in hand with the saviour-complex
comes the theatrical flair. The song
Marionette works completely and is a
shattering cut (who can resist a Cockney
voice ending a song with Oh God, these
wires are so tight..."?) On the other hand.
Through the Looking Glass fails, mainly
because Hunter has taken his theatrics into
the realm of histrionics (the thing I most fear
happening to this band).
Hunter, who wrote all the songs but one
(the forgettable Born Late '58) is a master at
phrase flinging, certain lines sticking out all
over the place, and when he's doing that on
this album, it works. Alice and Roll Away
the Stone will become classics.
OK. He's a big star. Until a year ago, he
had no idea what that meant. You're a star,
v What do you do? Prance around and not
think about it like Black Oak Arkansas? Or
think about it always like Mott the Hoople?
You have a choice. I'll take Mott the Hoople
any day of the week.
love songs
the bus station. To the Hideaway for having
a nice garden to sit in. To The Shack for
being a stone's throw from the police station
and for being the site of a scene in Three in
the Attic. And to the Bacchae for being
under the Zoom-Zoom.
Food, game machines, and music are
likely to be offered in one form or another in
all these places. But some bars are specially
noted for one or more of these qualities.
First, for food.
Town Hall's Deli offers excellent
sandwhiches throughout the day and night.
And, the Endangered Species on Rosemary
Street has started serving lunches this
summer. They offer deli-style sandwhiches
and big pickles.
Pinball, foosball, and computer Pong can
be found in most bars. McCauley's, The
Scoreboard, The Bacchae, Town Hall,
Percy's Hideaway, and He's Not Here all
have separate rooms full of games and
machines to while away the hours while you
drink their brew.
Then there's the live music vs. jukebox
controversy. Many bar owners say live music
costs them more than it is worth- Well,
however the finances work out, live music is
great, and it's the best thing in the world for
dancing. So, if you want to boogey, head on
down to Town Hall or Cat's Cardie where
there is live music every night except some
Sundays. Tiffany's Lounge also features live
music every night except Sunday, and
Monday thru Thursday there is no cover
charge.
On the jukebox scene, He's Not Here and
The Cave have the best oldies. Look out for,
The Chiffons' Sweet Talkin' Guy, or Be-Bop-A-Lula
by the Everly Brothers, and
Chantilly Lace by Jerry Lee Lewis. It's just
like being at the beach, but without the
boardwalk.
Greeting Cards
Carolina Beer Mugs
Carolina Sweat Shirts
And T-Shirts
Summer study got you in a sweat?
LfQ
for your cold beverages
We have KEGS available
"Down the Hill" on the
5
lan "King of the
WEEKEND
Blazing Saddles With Cleavon Little,
Madeleine Kahn and Harvey Korman.
(Continuing at Plaza 2.)
Dark Victory Bette Davis's favorite film
role; she has a brain tumor and marries her
doctor. 1939. (Tonight, 8 p.m.. Biological
Sciences Auditorium, Duke!)
Duck Soup The Marx Brothers. "I
could dance with you till the cows come
home. On second thought I'd rather dance
with the cows till you came home."
(Wednesday, 8 p.m., Gross Chemistry
Building, Duke.)
Jeremiah Johnson With Robert
Redford. (Continuing at the Carolina.)
MASH With Elliott Gould, Donald
Sutherland and Sally Kellerman. Inspired.
(Tuesday, 8:30 p.m., Union free flick.)
Midnight Cowboy With Jon Voight and
Dustin Hoffman. (Friday and Saturday late
show, at the Carolina.)
A Night at the Opera The Marx
( (( if I
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Come by the
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for PARTIES, COOKOUTS,
PICNICS
2HEE3E!
SELF-SERVICE GAS
available 8 a.m. -12 p.m.
SERVICE IN YOUR CAR OPEN
0 a.m.-l 2 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 12 a.m. -11 p.m. Sun
way to University Mall 942-2626
, 4 - .-
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Dudes" Hunter
Brothers. Again! (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.,
Union free flick.)
The Paper Chase With Timothy
Bottoms and Oscar-winner John
Houseman. Very good. (Starts Wednesday,
at the Varsity.)
Le Peau Douce Francois Truffaut, more
serious than usual and not so lyrical; he
looks at adultery. (Sunday, 8:30 p.m.. Union
free flick.)
The Spikes Gang With Lee Marvin and
Ron Howard (of American Graf J it ti); a
Western. (Through Thursday, at Plaza I.)
The Super Cops Ron Liebman and
David Selby as Batman and Robin of
N.Y.P.D. (Through Thursday, at Plaza 3.)
Welcome to Arrow Beach Directed by,
and starring Laurence Harvey. (Through
Saturday, at the Varsity.)
What's Up Tiger Lily? Woody Allen
dubs an awful Japanese secret-agent flick
with a succession of one-liners. (Sunday
through Tuesday, at the Varsity.)
PRINTS. POSTERS. GRAPHICS, CUSTOM
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CHAPEL HILL. 942-7306 h
Office Supplies
School Supplies
Gifts
IIEJBI
"Someday I'm going to learn to fly."
If you've ever promised yourself a pilot's
license, now is the time to go after it. And
the Chapel Hill Flying Club is the place.
We have the:
BEST TRAINING PROGRAM
NEWEST PLANES :.,
NEW LOWER STUDENT RATES
in the area. You can learn to fly with the Chapel Hill Flying Club.
of people to prove it.
Ground School starts soon. Call Chief Flight Instructor Terry
967-6339 or come by Horace Williams Airport.
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Friday, May 24, 1974
Gatsby: flash
by Peter Hardy
Film Critic
When Paramount bought the rights to F.
Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel The Great
Gatsby, the big mistake they made was
deciding to sell it as a great romantic story,
highlighted by '20s fashions. Those attracted
by the gigantic advertising campaign may be
frustrated by the strange, ambiguous love
story. Fitzgerald's tale of a man who
destroys himself trying to recapture a past
love is simply not the stuff from which great,
popular movie romances arc made.
After all the fashion push and the "Gone is
the romance that was so divine" ads, a viewer
is likely to forget that what he's seeing is a
film of a literary classic, one that has held
onto its popularity and fascination for fifty
years. Even on these grounds it is
unsatisfying, but while those unfamiliar with
the book may find the film baffling, admirers
of the novel should find it highly interesting
The selection of Jack Clayton as director
may have been another mistake, and it was
certainly a strange choice. Clayton is a little
known Englishman who, as far as I know,
hasn't made a film in seven years. Still, I had
high hopes because the few films of his that I
have seen are generally brilliant, and three of
them The Innocents. The Pumpkin Eater
and Our Mother's House are among my
all-time favorites.
It may be that Fitzgerald's novel is
impossible to film properly; earlier versions
with Warner Baxter and Alan Ladd were
failures. Action is the cinema's strong point,
and Fitzgerald's story seems to be
inseparable from his somewhat flowery
writing style. His writing brings across
moods and intimations that just don't come
out when you merely film a scene. For the
film Gatsby to equal the effect of the book, it
would have to be rethought completely in
cinematic terms.
So, we get a movie of bits and pieces, and
our fascination comes from a kind of
"suspense: Will the director pull this scene
off? Sometimes he does, sometimes he misses
badly, and most of the time he almost makes
it, but not quite. Good moments are Nick
Carraway's first glimpse of Gatsby and the
sequence leading up the final tragedy. Most
of the scenes with Tom Buchanan's mistress,
Mvrtle Wilson, are overcharged.
SUMMER SPECIAL 1
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Baked Potato
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$1.00 OFF ANY LARGE PIZZA
$.50 OFF ANY MEDIUM PIZZA
GOOD THRU JUNE 15
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The Tar Heel
not true life
Robert Redford was, I think, a good
choice for Gatsby, but, like the movie, his
performance seems fragmented. I remember
certain little bits that he got right and many
where he didn't quite make it. To be fair,
Gatsby may be an impossible character to
portray, since so much of what is seen of his
character comes from literary methods that
should be changed completely for film.
The real casting disaster was Mia Farrow
as Daisy. Perhaps she is better than Ali
McGraw would have been, but she is still
awful. She does manage to look attractive in
a monkeyish way, but her attempts to
capture Daisy's animated, almost mystical
charm are forced and awkward. We should
see gradually that Daisy is not worth
Gatsby's love; in the movie we can tell from
the first time we see her.
This flaws the film seriously, not only
because Farrow is on the screen too much,
and pulls the movie down whenever she is.
but because it renders the story incredible.
Why should this extraordinary man spend
eight years trying to win her back? Dozens of
actresses could have played this role better.
I thought somehow that the novel's
narrator, Nick Carraway. would not be so
important in the film, but Sam Waterston as
Nick provides the movie's greatest strength.
He is decent, humorous, sympathetic and
always likeable; he's the only character in the
film we are really drawn to. Bruce Dern gives
a solid, thoroughly unattractive
performance as Tom Buchanan and Karen
Black over-acts dreadfully as Myrtle Wilson.
In the novel, one of the more intriguing
characters was Jordan Baker, the lady
golfer, but as portrayed by Lois Chiles, the
Raquel Welch look alike from The Way We
Were, she is stiff and boring.
The cinematography by Douglas
Slocombe is impressive and only
occasionally overly-opulent, while Nelson
Riddle's music is often so heavy-handed it
ruins what's going on in the movie. The sets
and costumes are all very flashy but the
much heralded party scenes have little real
vibrancy and seem rather sad (which may
have been what Fitzgerald thought of them
himself). The really sad thing is that the
people who see and enjoy The Great Gatsby
for its fashions and party scenes are falling
into the same trap many of Fitzgerald's
characters did mistaking flash for true life.
Steak
$2.09
with
coupon
Reg. $2.29
Good Till June 15th
Krotw PUza, Next to Plaza I & II Theatres
Moo. Thurs. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Fri. & Sat. 11 ..m. . 10 p.m.
Sunday 12 p.m. - 9 p.m.
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with
coupon
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Good till June 15
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And we have a club full
Tickle at 968-9386 or
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