Pago 10
Daily Nebrsskan
Monday, April 9, 1984
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By Mike Frost
Modern country music has gone, thus far, through
three distinct periods. Period No. 1 was dominated
by stars like Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, George Jones
and Hank Williams. The goal was to release strong
singles, to make it to the top five of the country
charts and to be asked to play on the Grand Ole
Opry.
The second era was dominated by Willie and
Waylon and the boys. They rejected previous notions
about country music; they didn't necessarily want to
be in the top five, and they didn't want to be in the
Country Hall of Fame. Rather, they devoted their
careers to making the kind of music they believed in
which, often, was not the music of the Nashville
powerbrokers.
Now, we are well into the third period. At the
center of this epoch is Alabama, a lively quartet
from Ft. Payne, Ala., who not only want to make
music they love, but and they admit this want
to be rich and famous country music superstars as
well.
Alabama played an energetic concert to a near
capacity crowd in Lincoln's Bob Devaney Sports
Center Friday night. The band is in the midst of a
120-city tour (they spent Thursday in Nashville,
Friday in Lincoln, Saturday in Iowa City, etc.)
promoting the release of their fifth RCA album, Roll
On. Despite the rushed schedule, three of the
members took time out to talk to the local press
Friday afternoon in the Cornhusker HoteL
Jeff Cook, Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry (a
fourth member, drummer Mark Herndon, opted out
of the conference) talked about what it was like to
be a country music band in the 1980s.
"A hit song is a hit song," said Owen, the most
prominent member. "(We) don't do a song and say,
OK, this song is for all kids, and this is for all the
older people. We do it because it's a hit record.
"We try to do positive music. We try to do a,
positive show," he said.
Despite this preoccupation with recording a "hit,"
the band still maintains a certain integrity.
"Our music is simple, it's real down-to-earth. We
try to be real progressive as far as stage shows,"
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(From left) Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry end Handy Owen at their Friday press conference in the
Cornhusker Hotel.
Owen said.
The three started performing together in 1969
(Herndon later joined the three, who are cousins)
under the name Young Country. The name eventually
changed to Wild Country "because we weren't young
anymore," guitarist Cook said.
Eventually they settled on Alabama.
"We wanted to change the name because there
were several groups called Wild Country, and Avon
had an aftershave called Wild Country," Gentry said.
The name can cause difficulties when they play in
states not named Alabama. "The first time we
played here, we played the fair. This guy came by
and he said 'Boys, I love your music but I hate your
football team " Owen said.
Continued cn Pcrta 12
Czech orchestra gives
grand tour of Bohemia
The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, which appeared
Friday night in Lincoln's Kimball Recital Hall, pro-,
vided a feast for both the eyes and ecrs. -
The Philharmonic, which is currently traipsing
around the country on an historical tour, was
founded in 18G5. It was originally conducted by
Antonin Dvorak, whose work was represented in
Friday's performance. Its full, precise style has long
been a favorite of international audiences.
The Stalker leaves writer wishin
Eeview
By Eric Peterson
The Stalker, a 1980 film by Andrei Tarkovsky,
extends over two hours and forty minutes; viewers
who plunge easily into science fiction and value its
symbols and metaphors for their own sake may
enjoy it.
Review
I veered, after the first few minutes, between
boredom and irritation. The Stalker shows tonight
at 7 p.m. in the Sheldon Film Theater as part ofthe
University Program Council's Foreign Film Series.
The beginning is promising the filming is par
ticularly interesting, in a monochromatic dark ivory
tone. People and rooms look strange and fascinating
in the flatness of the browns and dull whites. This
brown world returns at the end, after a trip into a
Zone which has no twilight but only an overcast and
dark afternoon.
The brownness is that of a world whose hope, the
Stalker finds out, has been lost. The few out-of-Zone
scenes we see the Stalker's home, a bar where he
meets two men he is taking into the forbidden Zone,
and a train and trainyard point out a deadened
planet, and ironically the only place that h.as color is
the one where nobody lives.
The Zone was created when a meteor from outer
space perhaps a visitation tjf the gods, one
speaker says lands in the countryside, and people
StSix disappearing soon after. The police cordon off
the area and try to keep the curious out for their
own safety, but rumors of a chamber in which any
wish can be granted draw many seekers who never
return; or rather, one seeker named Porcupine did
return, became enormously rich, and died within a
week by hanging himself. An army sent in by the
(presumably) Russian generals also results in the
death and disappearance of all the soldiers who
penetrated the Zone. ; ' :' ' '"
The Stalker is a young man who considers the
Zone his home and seems to understand it better
than anyone else; he pays a writer and a physicist to
accompany him into its depths, and their main
function seems to be to walk in front of him to run
the gauntlet of the Zone's hazards; the science
fiction equivalent of land mines recurs as the film
progresses.
Everyone has experienced books or films in which
the main character, who is supposed to be sympa
thetic, does not appeal at all. The reader or viewer
has to be careful at that point to discover whether
, the obnoxious character really is supposed to be
sympathetic. Even though the Stalker's cheating
and power manipulation are in part revealed near
the end, his sure understanding of how obstacles in
the Zone need to be negotiated indicates a certain
supposed trustworthiness. Despite the Stalker's
momentary falterings, he prevents his own and his
companion's deaths numerous times.
However, his Zen-like philosophy seemed insuffer
able from the start. The Stalker speaks several times
ofthe virtues of weakness and suppleness, hope and
outward foolishness - but does not convince. That is
the major problem in The Stalker: the distance
between what the film seems to ask viewers to
accept and what is in fact convincing or strongly
expressed. The writer's big moment comes, as he
talks in a big room full of little sand dunes of
the cross he bears the critics, his family, his read-,
crs nobody understands, What h ciesrly sup
pOspd is fee axi agonizing moment of self-searching
only comes across as absurd self-pity. When the
Stalker's wife says even a bitter happiness with him
is better than a dull, gray life, I wanted to ask why
this woman was kidding herself. Even cn the simpl
est plot level, it's too easy that the searchers get into
the Zone, in a dangerous way which is supposed to
be suspensefuL, and isn't. The principal metaphor of
the film is the wish room, which turns out to be
intolerable no one would want their last wish cr
their real wish granted. Yawn. If this idea were more
debatable, the film would be hard put to deiaon-
strate it. -" - - --
Even if the relatively small Kimball stage seemed
cluttered, the sound the Czech Philharmonic pro
vided was far from that. The word "big" or
perhaps more suitably, "grandiose" must be
chosen as the operative adjective. The several dozen
violins seemed to miraculously blend into one tech
nically perfect instrument. Even the different families
of instruments the brass, the strings, the per
cussion, the woodwinds seemed at points in
Friday's presentation to be singing as one instru
ment. -; , ,-- " r ..
The ensemble was under the skillful baton of Jiri
,' Belohlavek. Although he is not as theatrical as some
more prominent conductors, Belohlavek, who has
been with the Czech Philharmonic since 1970, was
clearly in control.
; Belohlavek provided a brilliant program. AH the
pieces were by Czech composers. Therefore, not only
was the evening one of exquisite music, it was also a
chance to appreciate Czech culture.
The first piece ThelJoldau by Bedrich Smetana is
part of a six-piece orchestral look at Bohemia. The
Moldau's musical allusions to life along the Moidsu
River make it a capable representative of the six
, pieces.
Bhuslav Martina's Symphony No. 4 reflects among
.other influences, some the composer's fascination
.with jazz. Although there is no jazz riff per se, the call
: and response between the string and woodwind
,-. instruments is reminiscent ofthe esrly jzsz sound.
........ FGiinef CZeciT Philharmonic conductor Antonin
Dvorak's Symphony 'No.3 in G llapr was the
evening's final piece, and in many ways, the hrh?:i;t
zs well Dvorak's skillful use of recurring musical
themes helped distinguish the piece. . .
The cumulative effect of the three pieces brought
the capacity crowd to its collective feet. The orchestra
rewarded their thunderous ovation with a short,
furious piece by Mozart. Unfortunately, conductor
. Belonlaveks accent garbled the title as he announced
it. Audience members quizzed each other (";;'- -
did he say?") As the orchestra began, the audience
: Hushed and sat enraptured, as they had all evenln
to the moving sounds of the Czech Philharmonic
' Orchestra. -......
