Pago 12
Thursday, March 22, 1934
Daily Nebraskan
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Tictoc epitomizes peppy pop tVMe
By Msry C. KclHy
Poppy, happy, peppy, party music best describes
this first effort by Canadian-based Tictoc.
Although I still have not figured out Where the
Picnic Was, I have discovered four fine new musi-
4
' Records
f Hea,
Hear the music of Terl Ruhlman March 22
cians. Ray Borg, vocals, synthesizers, percussion;
John DeFino, guitar, Tcvan Kaplan, vocals, drums,
percussion and Serge Poreta, bass guitar, key
boards, are the four that compose Tictoc.
Tictoc's musical style could be classified as a cross
between Kojasoogoo and Duran Duran. Tictoc epi
tomizes "just what New Romanticism ordered in the
contemporary formula of pop tunes today."
Whatever label you want to slap on it, Tictoc plays
fun stuff. Whirling synthesizers, smooth vocals and
steady, pounding percussion throughout the album
whip up an invitation to dance that a contemporary
tune addict cant refuse.
Enjoy! Enjoy! Tictoc's organ-pipe, Merry-go-around
carousel input is amusing. Where the Picnic
Was makes you feel like bopping.
Tictoc's leading vocalists sound similar to the lead
singer of Spandau Ballet: smooth, strong and rich.
Recline circus synthesizers on Twenty Questions"
sound like prancing ponies let loose for the first time
at a carnival ,
"Cry on Cue" contains a dynamic beat and snappy
lyrics wound loosely around a theme of pain from
the loss of love. "Critical Path" begins with a high
pitched tinking, plinkering (a sound that is recur
rent throughout the album) and caeca into a smooth
story line about the paths we travel in life. Innova
tive rhythms and unique synthesizer-quitar blends
support this song. "Anything Everything" takes a
melancholy look at our lives that are filled with
chance. Kiddie pop organ music underscores this
cut.
Several of the songs, "Open For Suggestions," "In
My Room" and "Crown of Snakes" portray an impend
ing doom, regretful that happier days are past.
These songs are slow, brooding and distant with
whimsical, whining guitar solos and lonely synthes
izer sounds.
Note the album title, mure the Picnic Was. It may
hint at an overall theme concerning how the good
old days are gone with childhood. This album theme
suggests that this is where we are now and we must
deal with it, but that's not so bad.
I would venture to say that RCA Records has
plugged a good new group and its first LP.
In this often-too-serious world of meaningful
music, Tictoc presents a pack of light pop tunes that
are fun, entertaining and enjoyable to listen to on
Where the Picnic Was.
12C3 N St.
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Barroom sax wails from vinyl
By Stew U&sncson
"Out we jumped in the warm, mad
night, hearing a wild tenorman bawl
ing horn across the way, going 'EE-EE-YAH!
EY-YAHP and hands clap
ping to the beat and folks yelling, "Go
go go!" . . . the tenorman had it and
everybody kneu) he had it. "
From On The Road, Jack Kerouac
The scene: The Zoo Bar on a Friday
night. A small line of people waiting to
get in has formed outside. It's snowing,
but dancers inside are sweating as if
the month was August instead of March.
The tiny dance floor is packed with
people bopping to a dance beat. Some
have resorted to dancing on the tables
because of the crowded space.
On stage are Johnny Reno and the
Sax Maniacs blowing and wailing the
crowd into a frenzy with their '50s
rockabilly beat.
Since their first appearance last Octo
ber, the Sax Maniacs possibly are the
hottest band in Lincoln.
With the release of Johnny Reno's
first album, Bom to Blow, the old ques
tion again must be asked: Can a great
bar band carry the energy and spon
taneity from the bar into the recording
studio?
Nothing, of course, can beat the
excitement of a live performance. But
none of us can afford to have a live
band play in our homes all day, which
is why we have records.
Born to Blow is the next best thing to
actually being at the Zoo and hearing
The Sax Maniacs live.
To try and capture the excitement
found during his live performance,
Reno has picked the five songs that
work the crowd into the state of musi
cal delirium. The EP begins with Reno's
bread and butter song, "Mellow Saxo
phone," a great song on vinyl but, natu
rally, better live.
"Rock'n'Roll Romance" is Reno's onl
original composition on the album.
This is the main problem with this
record: A lack of good, original mate
rial. The problem is that most of the
great rockabilly songs have already
been written, and Reno does best when
he adds his distinct saxophone sound
to the old classics. "Rock'n'Roll Rom
ance" is the weakest song on the album
because both its lyric content and
Performed live, "Harlem Nocturne"
isn't the band's fastest number and it
doesn't work the crowds into a frenzy.
However, it is the best song on the
record. This instrumental piece shows
why the saxaphone has long been
rock'n'roll's favorite horn.
Both the song and the instrument
epitomize sex. The saxophone is simply
the sexiest instrument ever made, which
is a big reason for its success in rock'n'
roll. On the first notes of the Sultry "Har
lem Nocturne," listeners can close their
eyes and imagine the excitement when
the sax wailed into the night from the
dark little bars and when the saxo
phone and rock 'n roll were just being
discovered.
August writers . . .
Continued from Pags 10
April 9: Phil Donahue's talk show
' goes on the air, 1966. Program talks
about sex.
April 10: Donahue celebrates 15
years on the air, 1981. Donahue talks
about sex.
April 11: Joe Cannalilli attends his
1,687th consecutive, Chicago Cubs
game. "I drowned my little brother
when I was six," he says. "I deserve
this."
April 12-17: A lot of people died,
some were born, a few were married,
and one poor child was named after
Millard Fillmore.
April 18: St. Fool appears in a vision
at a Cambridge rugby party and blows
bubbles in a pitcher of ale.
April 19: Evidence of pre-historical
heavy rock band unearthed, 1924. Ac
cording to one critic, Pharoah's Mar
row "threw boulders, stones, pebbles
and anything they could get their
hands on." Evidence indicates King
Tut, the 13-year-old Egyptian ruler,
thought it was "far out."
April 20: The day seemed to go by
really fast, 1966.
April 21: A tiny cult, convinced that
Al Jolson was the new messiah, form
ed, 1927.
April 23: Coat rack invented by Eddie
Little, 1901. Wife mistakes it for an ear
swab, dies. 1902.
April 24: The Environmental Protec
tion Agency quarantines the entire
state of Pennsylvania after meltdown
occurs at a circus peanut plant near
Lancaster, 1962. China declares war
on the United States.
Apru zo: Kea polyester pants are
discovered in Nebraska, 1969. Presi
dent Nixon requests that state secede
from the Union.
April 28: School prayer amendment
passes, 1986. The ghost of St. Fool flat
ulates in a Milford, Neb., elementary
school, leaving an odor of circus pea
nuts in the classroom and an impres
sion of his buttocks on a cloakroom
door. Scientists have not been able to
refute the legend.
April 29: Husker Bob is born, 1939,
the United Nations requests that Ne
braska secede from the planet.
April 30: The Chicago Cubs play an ,
?J.J:tree bal1 &ame 1 9G8- Joe Ccnna-'
lilh dies, saying, "At last, I am forgiven."
