DTHOmnibusThursday, March 9, 19897
6DTHOmnibusThursday, March 9, 1989
Area concerts
ock, rap and reggae make a month of music madness
R
By JAMES BENTON
Omnibus Editor
and ELLEN THORNTON
Assistant Omnibus Editor
Regardless of what your music
tastes may be, there seems to be
something going on in the area to
accomodate your tastes in music.
During the next few weeks, con
certs in the Triangle and nearby
areas will feature blues, reggae,
soul, rock and rap acts.
The Triangle area will get a taste
of blues March 12 when Robert
Cray performs at 8 p.m. at the
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium with
John Hiatt and the Goners.
Cray, who has been performing
professionally since 1981, hit it big
in 1987 with his album Strong
Persuader. That album, featuring
the songs "Because of Me" and
"Smoking Gun," sold more than one
million copies. His present album
is titled DontBeA fraid of the Dark.
With Strong Persuader, Cray
became successful with pop radio
stations and Music Television
(MTV), gaining heavy rotation on
the cable station. But he was only
slightly successful with black radio
stations.
Cray's success as a blues artist
in the '80s is uncommon in a
market dominated by rock and
roll, which was founded on a
strong base of blues in the mid
'50s. And Cray's music has been
criticized by blues purists for being
more than little more than '60s
soul with a touch of blues guitar
thrown in.
But if you are a fan of Cray's
or like blues music, this concert
should be for you. Tickets for the
concert are $18.50 and are still
available.
Renowned reggae singer Yellow
man will appear in concert at the
Cat's Cradle Friday March 17.
Yellowman is a legend in the
world of reggae and is widely
noted for his spicy, erotic style of
reggae which includes spinning
tales of his sexual proficiency. His
career started in 1979 when he
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won a talent contest. Yellowman
has recorded more than two
dozen albums, some with titles like
Yellowman Rides Again, Dont Burn
It Down and Yellow Like Cheese.
Tickets for the concert are $9
in advance or $11 at the door on
the night of the show and can be
purchased from Schoolkids
Records in Chapel Hill or Poindexter
Records in Durham..
If your favorite radio station
just hasn't played Poison's "Every
Rose Has Its Thorn" enough times
for you, youH get the chance to
see it performed in person at 8
p.m. on March 20 in the Smith
Center. Poison is on tour promot
ing their platinum album Look
What The Cat Dragged n,featuring
hit singles "Cry Tough" and "Talk
Dirty To Me." The album reached
platinum status in April 1987,
partly because of Poison's exten
sive touring with Ratt The band
has also enjoyed success on MTV,
with the "Talk Dirty To Me" video
reaching number one on MTV's
viewers choice poll "I envision
everything I hear. I can feel the
music when we're playing and see
us getting across the energy that
we possess. We want to go down
in the Guiness Book of World
Records as the world's most spec
tacular, entertaining live band.
That's what Poison is all about,"
says lead vocalist Bret Michaels.
The Smith Center still has a good
number of tickets left for the
concert. The $17.50 tickets can be
purchased at the Smith Center or
by calling 1-800-543-3041.
it's not just another rap concert.
The Greensboro Coliseum will be
the site of the Easter Jam at 8
p.m. March 25 featuring Guy and
Tone-Loc, whose single "Wild
Thing" recently reached number
two on . Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
The single did not reach number
one because of a lack of airplay
on some pop radio stations.
"Wild Thing" sold more than two
million copies in eight weeks,
making it the best-selling single
since U.SA For Africa's 1985 single
"We Are The World" and the most
successful rap single since Run
DMCs "Walk This Way," which
peaked at No. 4 in 1986.
Guy is a three-member New
York band which debut album Guy
made them one of the best new
groups of 1988. Songs like "Groove
Me," "Teddy's Jam" and "A Piece of
My Love" kept the airwaves hot
last year and are continuing to do
so in 1989.
Group member Teddy Riley has
been extremely busy. Besides
performing with Guy, Riley writes
and produces other acts. His work
showed up often in 1 988 with acts
such as Keith Sweat, Heavy D. &
The Boyz and Al B. Sure!
Also scheduled to appear are the
group Today, which broke
through last year with the single
"Him or Me" and rap acts MC
Hammer and Sir Mix-a-Lot, who
became successful partly because
of their presence on the Black
Entertainment Television show
"Video Soul." MC Hammer's dance
moves in the video to his uptempo
"Pump It Up" have been copied in
clubs all winter long. Sir Mix-a-Lot
has recorded several records in the
past but gained success with the
single "Posse on Broadway," an
epic rap tale of a night spent
cruising Seattle's streets in a
Mercedes limo with his "posse"
(group of friends).
Tickets for the show are $15.50
and can be purchased from the
Greensboro Coliseum box office or
by calling 1-800-543-3041.
An evening of Jack Daniels' shots
at an after-hours club in Dallas,
Texas, inspired Edie Brickell to be
a singer. After several shots, she
jumped on stage to sing with the
band. Soon after, in 1985, Brickell
put together her band, Edie Brick
ell and the New Bohemians.
Brickell, rhythm guitarist Wes
Martin, lead guitarist Kenny With
row, bassist Brad Hauser, drummer
Matt Chamberlain and percussion
ist John Bush will perform their
contemporary electric folk rock
grooves at Raleigh's Memorial
Auditorium at 8 p.m. on March 27.
The Dallas band is on its second
trip through the area promoting
its one and only album, Shooting
Rubber Bands at the Stars, which
features the hit single "I Am What
l Am." On its first trip to Raleigh,
the band performed two sold-out
shows at the Rialto Theater.
"The band has really taken off
since then," said Rob Ragsdale,
operations manager for Pro
Motions Concerts. Locally, Brickell
has received a lot of attention.
Radio stations like WXYC have
placed Brickell's album on medium
to heavy rotation. The album has
also sold well at record stores.
Schoolkids Records' clerk Matt
Steigerwald said that sales of the
album are booming, although they
have lessened since the early days
after its release.
Brickell explains the title this
way: "The title? It's about when
you feel alone and things are hard.
You were too scared to act on
your feelings, but then one day
you got lucky as hell. You had the
tiny desires all your life, and finally
they light these great big fires."
Brickell wrote nearly all the
lyrics and also did the illustrations
for the cover. Her concerts are
characterized by her shyness and
insecurity on stage, Ragsdale said.
"She's real shy. She crosses her legs
and just stands there the whole
time. It's an extremely good
show," Ragsdale added. There
are still tickets left for the concert.
Tickets are $14.50 and can be
purchased at the auditorium and
all Ticketron outlets. Call 755-6060
for ticket information.
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Edie Brickell & New Bohemians will perform at the Raleigh
Memorial Audirorium March 27.
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Rapper Tone-Loc will "perform in concert with Guy in the Greensboro Coliseum March 25.
. Poison, who once opened concerts for Ratt, will perform as a
band in their own right March 20 in the Smith Center.
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' Geffen recording artists Tesla will open for Poison In the Smith Center.