8
Daily Nebraskan
Wednesday, March 16, 1933
6
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Sow Woiv Wow
on the warpath
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When The Going Gets Tougli
The Tough Get Going
Bow Wow Wow
RCA
At least two groups of people out
there know who Bow Wow Wow is. One,
MTV viewers, unless they're deaf or
devoid of all savvy, can hardly have missed
noticing that "I Want Candy" is one
seductive little tune. Two, record bin
browsers, especially males who lust in
their mind, can hardly have missed notic
ing that Annabelle Lwin is one seductive
little lead singer.
For the rest of you hecks, let me give
a brief bio. Bow Wow Wow is the band
Malcom McLaren built. McLaren was the
original designer of the seminal Sex Pistols
and is considered by some to be a Calvin
Klein of the new-music business. He dis
covered a 16-year-old wood nymph named
Lwin, put her together with some of
Adam's former swashbuckling Ants,
dressed them like they were the halfbreed
orphans of the French and Indian Wars,
wrote them some fast, catchy tunes and
had a sensation on his hands. In the last
two years, Bow Wow Wow has put out
some videos, two LPs, two EPs, a live
double album and accrued success with
each release.
Though this may seem like heavy
production, it's actually heavy promotion.
Several songs are repeated in the assorted
vinyl. But, as is only decent, the subset
of songs found on the studio LPs don't
overlap in a chainlink Venn diagram of
Bow Wow Wow's music. When Vie Going
Gets Touqh The Tough Get Going is the
third such album.
Let's get one thing said from the start.
There's no song on the album as instantly
infectious as "I Want Candy." That said,
let's move on to a second point. Vie
Tough Get Going may be the band's most
encouraging work to date.
Here's how I figure it. McLaren's gone.
Mike Chapman is producing and the
credit for all 12 of the album's songs is
given to "AshmanBarbarossaGorman
I Lwin," an alphabetic list of Bow Wow
Wow's four members. The music's good.
McLaren isn't missed much.
Ergo, Bow Wow Wow isn't some prod
ucer's package, like the Monkees. Then
again, maybe it was. But it isn't now.
The band can stand on its own eight feet.
So there's no "I Want Candy." The
song's hand-jive beat, as toe-tapping as
it was, was stolen. So the band sounded
more diverse on the album Want Candy.
So it could be favorably compared to
Blondie or Tom Tom Club on songs.
Everywhere on The Tough Get Going,
Bow Wow Wow sounds like Bow Wow
Wow, a fine sound that has always been
distinctively its own.
The strength of Bow Wow Wow's
music is the musical strength of each of
Bow Wow Wow's members. The music's
a tribal orgy of rollicking drums, hulaing
bass lines, ecstatic crooning and a pyre of
guitarwork. The songs all pertain to mating
instincts, but none are any shallower than
anything McLaren ever wrote for them.
Besides the musical integrity, there's
another sign of integrity I spotted right
off the cover. Unlike previous LPs, Lwin's
got clothes on. Her mohawk's grown out
on top, but overall Vie Tough Get Going
shuns gimmicks and relies on its songs.
From the careening, slightly distonal
"Roustabout" (I saw my honey, he looked
so funny Wearing a unfirom and attached
to a ball and chain) to the airy, wafting
song, complete with 12-string and viola,
"Man Mountain" (He don't weep, he
don 't sleepHe don 't even wash his feet),
it's a mixed bag of ballad and rocker,
not so much between songs as within
songs.
Warpath whooping and galloping drums
matched against noble-savage imagery in
"Quiver" (Smoking my peace pipe and
thinking Why is my bearskin so freezing)
make for another catchy tune, one that
best illustrates that Bow Wow Wow hasn't
lost its wit or flair for double entendre.
Though the first song, "Aphrodisiac"
(Don't do nothing just relax Take your
clothes off this is a hijack), is maybe too
contrived and manneristic and sounds like
it might as well have been on an earlier
album, by the end of side two, the band's
maturity is unmistakable and Bow Wow
Wow is totally at home in its element.
The last song and a half, "Tommy Tuck
er" (Vie Lord made Tommy famous
Now he sings for everyone) and "Love,
Peace and Harmony," are so natural and
exuberant that their lyrics dissolve into
chants that're tougli not to join in with.
For a band whose four musical con
tributors are so distinct and distinguish
able, it's wonderfully astounding how
effectively their contributions come to
gether in a unique, versatile style that's
so compatible with its new-wave John
Fennimore Cooper image. MTV viewers,
record bin browsers and hecks, keep
your ears to this trail.
- David Wood
'Showman' mark
Nick's Lowe point
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The Abominable Showman
Nick Lowe
Columbia
This sort of thing happens in every
artist's career. The Rolling Stones had their
Emotional Rescue, the Beatles their
Magical Mystery Tour and Styx every
album they ever made. And now, Nick
Lowe, the self-acclaimed Jesus of Cool,
the man who couldn't make a bad record,
has his Abominable Showman.
Not that this is that bad of an album
when compared with most of the tripe
passing as pop music these days. However,
ever since Nick Lowe burst on the Amer
ican scene, first with the Brinsley Schwarz
group, then with his occasional solo
career, we've come to expect more from
him.
He usually delivers, too. His Columbia
releases (Pure Pop For Now People, Labour
of Lust, Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure
and last year's Nick the Knife) were
sparkling examples of how popular music
could be both thoughtful and melodic.
Lowe pulled this off with some expert
production (besides his own efforts,
Lowe has made a name for himself produc
ing Elvis Costello and Paul Carrack),
expertise musicianship (Rockpilc featured
guitar maestro Dave Edmunds; Lowe's
latest ensemble, Noise to Go, features
Carrack, Graham Parker alumnus Martin
Belmont and vocalist Carlenc Carter,
Lowe's wife) and excellent songwriting.
The writing, more than anything else,
is what sets Lowe apart from the rest of
the crowd. Lowe's use of the English
language is brilliant. His puns are subtle,
his use of metaphor is satirical, yet on
the surface, his songs sound just like a
pop selection.
There are moments on Abominable
Showman when Lowe prominently dis
plays this virtue. In "Raging Eyes," he
uses the romantic phrase "Her eyes are as
green as an M-16." "We Want Action"
starts off like a protest song, and quickly
shifts gear, Lowe at one point proclaiming,
"We want some action, a bit of feminine
distraction."
Lowe also satirizes parenthetical song
titles with his "(For Every Woman Who
Ever Made a Fool of a Man There's a
Woman Made a) Man of a Fool." Lowe's
songwriting also shines on "Time Wounds
All Heals" and the Rockpile-esque "Cool
Reaction."
Except for these brief moments, Lowe's
wit, for the most part, fails him on Vie
Abominable Showman. Too often, he
sounds as if he is trying to imitate the
sound made famous by Squeeze. Chris
Difford and Glenn Tillbrook have re
ceived a great deal of praise for their song
writing abilities (whereas Lowe's talents
go largely ignored), and Lowe seems to
be consciously imitating their style. "How
Do You Talk to an Angel," "Wish You
Were Here" and "Chicken and Feathers"
all sound like East Side Story out-takes.
Lowe has also introduced orchestral
accompaniment (another Squeeze device)
into his music, unfortunately, not with a
great deal of success. In addition, Lowe's
voice, which on past efforts sounded
spunky and likeable, now sounds smug
and restrained. It's almost as if he wasn't
really trying.
Knowing Nick Lowe's dry sense of
humor, The Abominable Showman may
be intentionally bad. However, that is
purely speculative, which doesn't make
this album any more excusable. But,
given his past track record, he'll undoubt
edly do better the next time. Enough said.
- Mike Frost
David Dowie back
and at his best
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Let's Dance (Advance Tracks)
David Bowie
Emi America
No, no, no, don't get hot and sweaty
yet. The new Bowie album is not out. This
is just a "sneak peak" at what the new rec
ord has to offer.
Let's Dance marks Bowie's debut with
EMI America - the home of such names
as the J. Geils Band, the Michael Stanley
Band, George Thorogood and the Destroy
ers, Kim Wilde and Stray Cats - a move
which could be profitable for all concern
ed. The tracks on this promo piece include
the title cut and a remake of the theme
from the movie "Cat People" on one side,
and a long version of "Let's Dance" on the
other.
Jf radio stations finally break out of
their image of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust or
a Young American, this album could be
one of the hottest of the year. "Let's
Dance" fits in very well with the current
radio trend in British dance music. It even
sounds better.
Aid "Cat People" could certainly be a
giant smash with the right air support. It
features Nile Rodgcrs both as producer and
guitarist. It's Rodgcrs' musical contribution
and Bowie's vocals that make this song
hauntingly infectious.
If this record doesn't get a lot of air
time, it will still be one of the best works
that 1983 has, can or will offer.
When the album hits the stores April
14th, run - I repeat - run to the nearest
outlet and grab it.
Randy Wymore
'Adventure'amust
for Faithful! fans
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A Child's Adventure
Marianne Faithfull
Island Records
Marianne Faithfull is tired. She is tired
of many things in her life, but somewhere
from this fatigue comes the energy to
perform at an acceptable level. Acceptable
to whom may be the question, but her
newest release, A Child's Adventure, is
not a tired attempt at making music.
It is, however, a heartfelt attempt to tell
a few stories and make a few evaluations
on being tired.
A Child's Adventure is, in more ways
than one, Faithfull's opinion of life. Her
life hasn't been the most pleasant of all
in history, and a lot of the material
obviously draws from her experiences
and opinions they have formulated. One
of the most notable things about this
album is the references to substance
abuse. Faithfull's past can unfortunately
vouch for her knowledge of the subject.
Faithfull started her singing career at
the age of 15 back in 1964. I can't say I
remember her popular British success that
set her up with a personal and profes
sional relationship with the Rolling Stones.
She was soon enjoying a high degree of
commercial success that let her express
her political viewpoints, as many per
formers were in those days. Faithfull's
popularity waned in 1967, but her con
tinuing relations with Mick Jagger kept
her in good hands. With the years going
by, Faithfull's singing career led to acting
jobs. By the beginning of the '70s, she
had traded in Jagger for her problems
with alcohol and drugs. Few people heard
from Marianne Faithfull until 1979.
The album Broken English was released
then, and Faithfull had definitely done
good. Her original approach captured the
ears of many who had never enjoyed her
music before. The next release came in
1981 with Dangerous Acquaintances,
and now Faithfull has produced the
newest work with guitarist Barry Rey
nolds. As stated before, this album draws
heavily on the theme of some of the
more unfortunate things in lite, like
variour substance abuse.
Continued on Page 9