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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1985)
Page 12 Daily Nebraskan Monday, September 23, 1985 Mis Is LMe'irtaiHfflS " "" -rr-nrm-r- 1 KZUM 'He By Mike Grant Staff Reporter The next time you're fiddling around with your FM dial and a station gives you an uncontrollable urge to put on your 10 gallon hat and cowboy boots and do the Texas two-step, you'll know you've probably tuned into the KZUM lleyride. KZUM is Lincoln's public access station. Welsch, Fell book funny but lacks 'Nebraskaness ' By John Rood Staff Reporter This book has jokes. Nebraskans like' jokes. This book has cartoons. Nebras kans like cartoons. And most of all, it's red and white. Nebraskans love red and white. Book Review "You Know You're A Nebraskan..." is , a collection of humorous "when" punch lines compiled by tamed Lincoln resi dents Roger Welsch and Paul Fell. Welsch is an author, ioikonst, nisto rian, humorist, lecturer, singer, musician, farmer and UNL professor (on a one-year leave) who is quite worthy of his self-proclaimed title, "(Hantain Nebraska." But Welsch fans beware. His latest venture tries not to inform, but to amuse! And does so successfully. Laughter is "an important part of the pioneer tradition," Welsch said. "We need to celebrate the ordinary things about our state like the gor geous wheat, not that stuff around the Niobrara River that some call scenery," he said. "I dress the way I do to cele brate this part of our culture. Most honest people wear overalls. I've met ' j:u i. i ; ..: more uisiiuiieai peupie in a una. Paul Fell, art director and editorial cartoonist for the Lincoln Journal, does a very good job illustrating each cap tion. For a native of Massachusetts, he draws some pretty mean bib overalls, seed corn hats and dumbfounded farm er expressions. Regretfully, only a fraction of the jokes deal with specific Nebraska top ics (Gov. Bob Kerrey, the Huskers and so on). Welsch and Fell could have taken out these few pages and released the book retitled in Kansas, Iowa, or any other rural-agricultural state. I By Deb Pederson Senior Reporter If you like reading about the hottest ounds and who's making them in a iew wave package with a witty style, jheck out SPIN, the music magazine of Bob Guccione, Jr. Magazine Review The first issue of SPIN came out in May and sold out the first two weeks on he streets, Guccione said in the June issue. "That we printed 12 copies not withstanding (seriously, we distributed 350,000), SPIN has been received as the breath of fresh air it promised to be, Guccione said. "There is no mystery to that. We simply approach music with all the love we have for it. All along, I said SPIN would share the excitement of discovery with our readers. And that's exactly what we do." In a telephone interview from New York, SPIN marketing manager Diana Holtzberj said the magazine is a hit. "We only print negative mail in our letters section, just for the fun of it, but we really have to scrounge to find the negative letters in the flood of fan mail John Schmitz has hosted the show for nearly six years, playing a rocking combination of western swing and honky tonk. "A friend at KZUMinew that I was into this kind of music and convinced me to put a show together," Schmitz said. Most of the music Schmitz plays is from a private collection of more than 200 albums. Schmitz describes western swing as ' Roger Welsch relaxes with a copy of wasn't offended by the stereotypical could make a comfortable living as a "hick" characterization and theme, staff writer for "Hee Haw." And Fell just a little disappointed by the b6ok's could draw those little animals that lack of original Nebraskaness. dance around when Buck and Roy pick Is it corny? Let's just say that Welsch and grin. that we get," Holtzberj said. Circulation has increased 50 per cent in six months, she said. "When we started, we guaranteed our advertisers a circulation of 100,000," she said. "Now we guarantee them a circulation of 150,000. We actually dis tributed 350,000 of our first issue and . now we're distributing 410,000. And there's more positive forecasts." Guccione expects a lot from his staff, Holtzberj said, but if the popular ity of the magazine shows anything, it's that he's doing something right. Holtzberj described the SPIN staff as "an unorthodox group of intelligent, crazy and wild people." The writers range from 20 to 70 years old and have written for newspapers and magazines from the New York Times and the London Times to Village Voice. And celebrities like David Lee Roth sometimes write for SPIN, she said. The staffs adventuresome nature is the key to SPIN from the Under ground column by Andrea 'Enthal to perceptive in-depth interviews. But this is no music version of "Peo ple" magazine. The interviews focus on the inspirations and motivations of musicians' work, capturing the essence of creating geniuses in action. ideplays';swmg "jazz played with country instruments." It's a lively, raw sound with a beat that resembles rock 'n' roll and pre dates it by 20 years, he said. Schmitz became interested in west ern swing after hearing the now-defunct Midwest Ramblers' renditions of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys' songs. Wills was the main innovator of western swing and was what Elvis Pres ley is to rock 'n' roll. Schmitz said western riding has t ' "Si .Vr ' M O An example is punk poet Lydia Lunch's headlong clash with Pat Benatar in the September issue. Lunch's devil's advocate approach with Benatar brought out the sparkle and the vulnerability of both. In the October issue, Edward Kiersh painted a tragic portrait of David Cros by's downfall because of drugs. Kiersh closed the article with Neil Young's song "The -Needle and the Damage Done," which Young performed at Live Aid: I sing this song because I love the manI know that some of you won't understandOh the damage doneVve seen the needle and the damage doneI watched the needle take another man A little part of it in every man. What makes this article unique is the timing SPIN didn't wait for Crosby's death but showed his death in the making. Besides personal insight, SPIN gives musical insight. Works by Eurythmics, former Roxy Music members and Duran Duran mem bers, to mention a few, are explored. Andrea 'Enthal probes basements, garages and bars for off-track under ground sounds ranging from the hard core, like Moving Targets, to the psy ' - ' v. f .;.. .:'.,V. ;.,. V :. '.' shown an . upsurge. in interest in the past decade since groups: like Com . mander Cody and Asleep at the Wheel have revived the music. Local groups . like the New High Flyers and the Sandy Creek Band often play western swing, he saicj. ' The other part of the show, honky tonk, owes much of its influence to its patron saint, Hank Williams, who revo lutionized country music with a blend of country, pop and blues. Modern . V .- r t . ' "V " - l his new book and his dog, Slumper. I strongly encourage readers to fol- ' And if you think Green Acres is the low the clever editorial cartooning of place to be, or know someone who does, FellintheLincolnJournal,andtoread go out and buy "You Know You're A the many great works of "Captain Nebraskan...." Shucks, y'all might Nebraska." rightly enjoy it. chedelic, like Australian group Scien tists. And recent releases are reviewed in the SPINRecords and Singles sections. A word of warning SPIN is not for the faint-hearted, conservative reader. It takes full advantage of First Amend ment rights of freedom of the press with its "colorful" language. I person ally could do with fewer four-letter words. But SPIN does have humor and humaneness. Dylan Thomas classic to air Wednesday night "Under Milk Wood," the classic play by Welsh poet and prose writer Dylan Thomas, comes alive on Nebraska ETV Network Wednesday at 8 p.m. The evocative play an impression of a spring day in the lives of the people of Llareggub, a fictitious Welsch fish ing village situated under Milk Wood has no plot, but has many charac ters who dream aloud, converse with each other and speak in choruses of alternating voices. The cast of the 00-minute adaptation tonk country punk" bands like Jason and the Scorchers owe much of their vitality to honky-tonkers like Williams. "I: don't' watch a lot of MTV, but I think people are definitely looking for new music. Something different," Schmitz said, "that's how I would explain the interest in western swing and honky tonk." The KZUM Heyride is broadcast every other Friday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. i x Andrea HoyDaily Nebraskan My favorite part of the magazine, other than the ih-depth profiles, is the TOPSPIN section, in which Guccione himself writes wonderfully witty and frank letters to his readers, as demon strated earlier in this article. I admire a publisher who prints his faults and struggles along with his triumphs. Discovery is the essence of SPIN'S magic discovery of current music, discovery of fresh journalistic ground and, perhaps, our rediscovery of mus ic's role in our lives. includes the late Richard Burton as the First Voice, Elizabeth Taylor as Rosie Probert, Peter OToole as Captain Cat and Glynis Johns as Mysanwy Price. Other cast members are Sian Phillips, Vivian Merchant, Angharrad Rees and Victor Spinetti. "Under Milk Wood" combines humor and pathos and is remarkable for its lyrical power and intricate patterns of sound and meaning. It is a kaleido scope of human life, celebrating the glory of procreation, growth and death.