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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1984)
Pago 12 Thursday, March 22, 1934 Daily Nebraskan us '4 D D D D D D D D 0 0 D o 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. 475-1407 r THANK YOU FOR CARING GIVE BLOOD fx American Red Cross Sfih AMMIBSAEV BALE Fop You 09 of? regular prico Sat. March 24th G lYion. March 26th ( Added discounts on selected styles & sizes. footloose 1219 "P" St. 476-6119 .sir 1 .-J t i LJ LJ LJ LJ LJ LJLJ LJ tJLJ I f LJLj LJ LJ LJ LZ2 LU LT Bring in this ad and receive 1 token FREE! SPRING BREAK SPECIAL! (Tonight! 10 Tokens for only $1.00!) Present your UNL ID. between 9.00 am 10:00 am and get a FREE cup of coffee D D D D n D iHOT DOGS 4-$1.00 Q HOURS: D 9 a.m.-l 1 p.m.M-Th. 9 a.m.-l a.m. Fri. 10 a.m.-l a.m. Sat. 12-12 Sun. wm 1 o urn u in in cz v Expires 33184 We have the latest in games including Mach 0, Pole Position, and Soace Ace 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."