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Analysis By Toner Cvcnsoa
Dally Nebrkan Staff Writer
litzy, glossy and glamorous.
The Lucky Lady Lincoln's
newest nightspot strives
for all these impressions.
A dress code, slick video and
audio equipment and shiny brass
and polished floors make the
Lucky Lady a place for people to
dance, drink and be someone
else. The constant videos allow
people to transform themselves
into any of their rock idols on the
multi-screened dance floor. It is a
plastic pre-programmed paradise,
of neon tubes, lighting strobes
and spinning spotlights. It is a
spaceage adult Disneyland with
Star Wars lighting, doting wait
resses and gregarious bartenders.
The Lucky Lady is at the upper
end of local spots in drink prices,
but it is also at the upper end in
the diversity of entertainment.
Pool, video games, special con
tests, backgammon and dancing
are available. Bartenders and
waitresses carry whistles "to get
people rowdy," as one waitress
said. The after-game crowd Sat
urday didn't need any encour
agement to get rowdy; they were
intoxicated enough by either the
Huskers' victory, ice cream drinks
or draft beer to put the pounding
sound system and fully lit dance
floors to use.
A pleasant surprise was the
hot dogs, some of the best in
town, certainly better than the
Ladv
wears high-tech jew
els
aluminum covered missiles that
fly through Memorial Stadium.
The popcorn was salty, as is usual
with any place that is trying to
sell drinks, but the bar didn't
skimp. Drinks were strong and
generous. Everything was top
quality and geared to the masses
of people who filled the lower
level of Gold's Gaileria.
For warmth and intimacy, the
Lucky Lady is far from ideal. It is
a place to be awed by the sound,
screens and sheer size. It's a "neat"
place, probaby the place to be this
fall for the college crowd. Its large
size lend3 some diversity, but it
also tend to break up any gather
ing of friends. One could spend
an hour just trying to find them.
The men's room is classy, there
is even an attendant, whose job is
not exactly clear.' Maybe it's to
make you think he's important
enough for you to leave a tip.
Piped-in music and telephones
keep you in touch with the out
side world in this white-tiled rest
room. The Lucky Lady radiates a strik
ing, action-filled image; something
is going on all the time and every
one is doing something. There are
no dark corners to recede into.
Patrons seem to like being on
display as much as the high-tech
videos. Fast paced and
splashy, the Lucky Lady is a place
where laid-back and quiet are
nearly unknown and almost feared.
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Elaxk Sullivan &r;d Anns Bontaln enjoy themselves ct the Lucky Lady Losx&s.
Lack offreshness, principles doom new shows
Would you like the good news or bad
news first? Suit yourselves. I always prefer
the good stuff first, myself.
Sunday I scanned the TV Guide for
some hot series premieres. I noticed that
"Punky Brewster" was showing on NBC,
opposite "60 Minutes."
Mark
Holt
Seen "Silver Spoons?" How about "Dif
ferent Strokes?" "Webster?" Good. Then
you probably know what principle "Punky
Brewster" is acting on. First find a kid
usic of
with dimples, and stunted growth who is
a minority member or a feisty girl. Then
construct a show around it by hiring a
couple of grown-ups to set up one-liners
for them. It's kind of like the macho man
detective show where the leading guy has
the obligatory mustache and a name that
sounds like hardware, firearms or a large
metropolis.
I admire .the producers of this series.
To hire a miserable, unfunny, little girl
who couldn't act her way Out of soggy
tissue paper and use a script that sounds
as if the cast made it up as they went
along in an effort to make a quality show,
is an ambitious undertaking.
Gutsy as it may be, "Punky Brewster" is
drab, silly, and gives the hard-core couch
potato a welcome half-hour to visit the
refrigerator.
The evening wasn't all doom and gloom
though. I did manage to catch "E. R." I
guess this is what you'd call the good
news. Relatively speaking, I'm afraid.
Elliot Gould and Marcia Strassman are
the only name-brand stars in this latest
nutty-folks-inhabit-hospital-comedy
drama. (E. R. stands for emergency room,
by the way.) Not since the days of
"MASH" have viewers been treated to
such a combination of keen humor and
gripping drama. I'm lying. "E. R." has pro
vided itself with the very flexible back
drop of an emergency room, but fails to
deliver any more than what every other
show in the genre already has done.
The plot involves a few neat characters
and some good lines, but it's conceptually
plagiaristic and lacks the freshness of its
charismatic predecessors. Gould even
resembles the glib doctor he played in the
original "MAS'H."
While good writing can potentially dis
guise all these aforementioned shortcom
ings, the producers of "E. R." still went
with "the public likes what it's seen be
fore" idea. The result is a semifunny series
'with no identity of its own.
Now, no one's a bigger fan of humor
than me. I still laugh when Tom and Jerry
beat each other and -I watch "Monty
Python" religiously. But in the hands of
writers who don't know exactly where
they're going or what they're doing, the
yuks can be laughable. "Punky Brewster"
and maybe "E. R." are just such shows.
Their days are numbered.
M
80s reflects spirit 01 optimism, diversity
Seven out of 10 Lincoln com
mercial radio stations play some
variation of contemporary rock'
music the music many Lincoln
listeners prefer over all others.
And the variety offered in the
rock of the '80s may be the reason
for their choice.
Joanne
- Young
Elvis Presley's records domi
nated radio in the '50s. In the
'60s, the Beatles had 36 records
in the top 20. But Elvis wasnt far
behind with 30.
The 70s still had the British
sound in the limelight with Elton
John coming up with 17 records
in the top 20 of the decade, and
Elvis Presley and members of the
Beatles still hanging in there on
the list of the top 1 0 artists.
But in the '80s, Elvis and the
Beatles have finally surrendered
their, dominance of the past 30
years but to whom?
Michael Jackson hit his stride
in the past couple of years, cul
minating with his Thriller album.
But KFRX Program Director Tracy
Johnson doesn't credit Jackson
with the staying power of Elvis
and the Beatles,
"Michael Jackson has been in
credibly popular "Johnson said,"
but now is getting a little burned
out. You can't keep topping things
like Thriller. '
KFRX, the station that draws
the largest audience, plays a con
temporary hit radio format that
Johnson said is based on variety.
Music today is more diverse, he
said, with dance, new wave, tra
ditional and slower music reflect
ing the different age groups.
Many of the popular artists
have been around for awhile
Chicago, Elton John, Michael Jack
son and brothers, Hall and pates,
the Pointer Sisters and the Cars.
Stations playing the contem
porary hit records can expect to
draw an audience ranging in age
from 10 to 50.
"People in their 30s and 40s
grew up with top 40 radio, so they
can identify with that type of
music," Johnson said.
If the music of the '80s can be
characterized, most people say
it's upbeat and driving match
ing the more upbeat attitude of
the people.
Drugs, war and the women's
movement were laced. through
the musk of the late '60s and the
70s not exactly a party atmos
phere. Twenty years ago, in September
1964, the number one song was
"The House of the Rising Sun" by
the Animals. In the same month
of 1974, "I Shot the Sheriff" by
Eric Clapton was number one.
The Beatles, Beach Boys and
Supremes were among the hotter
groups in the '60s. That decade
also brought us such meaningful
songs as: "Do Wah Diddy Diddy"
"Fun, Fun, Fun," ''Gone, Gone,
Gone," and "Run, Run, Run."
In the 70s, it was Elton John,
Chicago and the Carpenters top
ping the charts most often. The
Beatles were still on the charts
but not as a group. Frank Sinatra
made it to the top 100, as did
Frank Zappa
But in the '80s, there's more of
a spirit of optimism along with
the variety. The Sept. 1 5 Billboard
Top 10 reflects the diversity with
John Waite, Cyndi Lauper, Prince,
Lionel Ritchie and Iluey Lewis
and the News in the top five slots.
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