page 20
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, march 29, 1978
Oorts and
Andrew Gold's second album is not a musical treasure
By JeffTaebel
Now that he has his initial hit single
under his belt, Andrew Gold should be
ready to move on to bigger and better
things. Pictured in a white suit, stepping
out of a starry sky on the cover of his sec
ond album, All Tlx is And Heaven Too,
Gold seems to be commenting on the
"heaven" of his recent success.
Unfortunately, there is nothing heaven
ly about the music on this album.
album.
review
Gold sings and plays his own songs, as
well as co-producing the album with Brock
Walsh. He also has the help of the infamous
Greg Ladanyi, who is Jackson Browne's
sound engineer.
Gold also draws on some of Browne's
personnel for instrumental backing, with
Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar of The Sec
tion on drums and bass. The ever-popular
session guitarist Waddy Watchell adds some
subdued playing on a few of the songs.
However, since Gold is singing his own
songs and playing lead guitar, piano and
percussion on a few of the tracks, he estab
lishes himself as the dominant star of his
own show. His sidemen rarely get a chance
to breathe, let alone show their stuff.
The album opens with a bouncy little
number called "How Can This Be Love?"
which sounds like it would be a good vehi
cle for an act like The Captain and Tenille.
This number, like most of the others on
the album, is produced so it sounds like it
is coming over an AM radio, even when it is
playing on your home turntable.
The second song on the side is called
"Oh Urania (Take Me Away)." Gold's ex
cellent falsetto wanders around on this
meandering melody, making it sound like
he borrowed bits and pieces from other
songs to fill it out. The clarinet solo and
the vocals that follow will remind tl rt lis
tener more than a little of Gilbert O'Sulli
van. Despite what the title might imply, the
third song on this side, "Still You Linger
On," is not the comedy number of the set.
Instead, it is Gold's self-styled showcase,
on which he sings and plays all the instru
ments. The song has a set of lame lyrics
with catch lines like "Baby, baby I miss
youBaby, baby I miss youBaby, baby I
do."
The next tune, "Never Let Her Slip
Away," starts out with a drum beat that
sounds like it was taken from the fox-trot
setting of a combo organ percussion sec
tion . This song includes an appearance by
John David Souther, as so many seem to
these days, but a cameo appearance cannot
save the tired melody.
The side's closing selection, "Always
For You" is by far the best piece on the
album. Although the song's lyrics are
nothing memorable, Gold's vocals are pow
erful and he adds sensitive piano work as
well as a blazing guitar solo in the middle
of the song.
Tilings slow down again on side two.
The opening song, "Thank You For Being
A Friend," exhibits Gold's propensity for
writing incredibly sophomoric lyrics. Lines
like "if it's a car you lackI'd surely buy
you a Cadillac" can really jump out at you.
The next two songs are the strong
points of the second side. The first song,
"Looking For My Love," again features
Gold on all instruments. Gold creates a
haunting backdrop for one of his more
refreshing melodies on this cut and ends up
with a pleasant overall effect.
This number is followed by "Gene
vieve," which is the most upbeat selection.
This song is satisfying if for no other rea
son than to see Gold work out for a
change, after sitting through a side and a
half of his rather stodgy love songs.
The last two songs on the album, "I'm
On My Way" and "You're Free" finish
things on a nondescript note, leaving the
listener with a somewhat empty feeling,
which, I must admit, is better than leaving
a bad feeling. However, if Andrew Gold
doesn't exhibit any more diversity or ori- This And Heaven Too, he may soon be a
ginality in his songs than he does on All very lonely boy indeed.
to aunt mMB
j
(Jt
Photo courtesy of Asylum Records.
'Barney Miller9 shows glimpses of quiet desperation
By Pete Mason
Entertainment Editor
Just because a television show is labeled
a "comedy" does not mean it's funny.
There are numerous examples, past and
present. Consider, if you will , My Mother
the Car, Gilligan's Island, Me and the
Chimp; all turkeys mercifully snuffed out.
Today we have Three's Company,
Alice, Good Times, Baby I'm Back, and a
few other pretenders, all hiding behind the
guise of comedy and miraculously surviving.
television.
revi
Then there's Barney Miller.
Comedy is a subjective thing. What's
funny to one may not be to another. Some
people laugh at dead baby jokes. It's all a
matter of taste.
Barney Miller is my cip of comedy. It
ma be because I appreciate the arts of
absurdity and exaggeration, both evident
at Barney Miller's precinct.
Barney Miller is a cohesive show
There is a wonderfully whacky balance in
the cast of characters.
Detective Hams (Ron Glass) is a
pseudo-suave. morie -conscious black
whose sole arm. n would seem, is not to
protect and serve as much as to follow in
the steps of Joseph Wamhaugh and write
the great American police neve!.
Wohohowiesc (Max (,ai) , p0ish
defensive, and hunter thar be ari..n'
else belie ve
Yerr.ana Ja V Wi - fa.r,te .r,ar.
acter, is incredibly laid back, totally un-ruffle-able
and is a master of the under
statement. He wastes so little energy he
should be honored by a presidential com
mittee. Fish (Abe Vigoda) was so loveable a
character with his weak kidneys and un
bridled cynicism that he got his own show.
He was replaced by Dietrich (Steve Lan
desberg), a melancholy philosopher who
knows something about everything, or so
he would have you believe.
In a transitional show (when Fish was
retiring and taking in his street kids)
Dietrich visited Fish's home. One of the
children presented Dietrich with a box and
asked him if he could identify the animal
contained therein.
Dietrich: "Sure. I've always been very
interested in living things and their
relationships to the environment and our
planet's ecology. Our treatment of plants
and animals will affect the balance of
nature in the future. We should know all
we can about nature so as not to upset this
balance. That's why I've taken such an in
terest in all living creatures, (opens box)
What the hell is that9"
In the midst of all this diversity, Barney
(Hal Linden) maintains a semblance of
sanity. It would seem to be a hard job
because every working day at Miller's
precinct is an exercise in neurosis.
Barney Miller, if nothing else, is a
statement on the pressures of urban
living. It would seem to support the theory
that urKan existence is an abnormal exis
tence and those who survive it come out a
little out of synch with the rest of the
world.
The cops in Barney Miller's precinct
have known this for ages which is why
the all seem so world-weary. They see
the world through different eyes than the
re-t f us. and what the see prompts them
to a certain cynical humor that brightens
their perspectives and keeps them on the
outside of a rubber room. In this sense
Barney Miller is very real.
Everyone who comes in the precinct
office is trying to cope. The parade of vil
lains and victims is never-ending, and after
a while it becomes hard to discern which
is which.
No matter how kooky, every visitor has
a desparate quality about him, whether
he has been stopped from jumping from a
20-story building wearing wings "made to
the exact configurations of a lark" or
arrested because his puppet has been
making obscene comments to female
passersby. Everyone of them is trying to
escape an intolerable environment by
any means necessary.
Barney Miller is an exception to a rule.
Urban comedy, with its absurd, neurotic
qualities has not been too successful on
television. Calucci's Department, a fore
runner of Bamey Miller about life in a
big-city welfare office, lasted only eight
weeks. The major criticism : it's humor was
too urban. The same criticism was leveled
at The Paul Sand Show and it too died.
The fact that Barney Miller survives,
even thrives, in the ratings, would seem to
prove that either audiences have become
more sophisticated or that, as far as the
critics are concerned, urban comedy is
"in." Barney Miller has gotten nothing but
glowing reviews.
But it wouldn't matter to me what the
critics said about Barney Miller. If they all
hated it. I'd still have to say it's the finest
comedy on television.
School of Music sponsors
vocal, instrumental recitals
The schedule of today's UNL School
of Music student recitals includes public
performances by two juniors and two
seniors. The recitals will begin at 3 30
p.m. and are free.
Three women will perform in Kimball
Recital Hall. Patti Bell, an oboe player,
will present Sonate d mnll for flute, Ohe
and Basso continuo by Teleman and Fan
taisie Pastorale by hugene Bozza Her
accompanists will be Janece Bevans on
flute. Bruce Mclean on cello and Holly
Berquist on piano
Danna Stevens, trumpet player, will
perform Valsc by (laude Dehusss -Snell
and Credo b John Barnes C hance Lynn
Nesrmth will He her accompanist
Connie Feese, a soprano. Xos Souvenirs
and I. a Chanson Bien Douce by Lrnest
Chausson. Der Hin auf dem Felsen, Op
129 by Franz Schubert and O My Blackc
Soule by Benjamin Britten. Kathy Knebel
will play the piano and Marlin Palasek will
play the clarinet for Feese.
Diane Parker is the sole performer on
the program in the Choral Room (119)
of Westbrook Music Building. She will
play flute selections Fantasia for Flute
and Piano (1961) by Walter S H'artley.
Tri. Opus 40. for Flute. Viola and Cello
by Albert Rmissel and First Sonata for
Flute and Piano (1951) b Bohuslav
Martinu Her accompanists vull be Mary
Indermuehle on piano. Ron Arden on
Tla and Pan! Bedell n cello