Arts & Entertainment
Recession affects music in different ways
Record labels
await hazards,
opportunities
By John A. Skretta
Staff Reporter
The recession is having a gradual
but undeniable impact on both inde
pendent and major record labels,
according to representatives of sev
eral national record corporations.
Bob Merlis, Warner Bros. Rec-i
ords vice president and national pub
licity director, said the recording
industry “is kind of like a train that’s
already on course, and it would take
quite a while to slow it down.”
The recession would have to ex
tend through the next year before it
would have a significant impact on
Warner Bros, business plans, he said.
“A record that comes out today
was maybe in process for over a year,”
Merlis said. “Some bands take a year
to record an album, and a band that
was signed yesterday may not release
an album for a year.”
Merlis said record companies that
have the most to lose during an eco
nomic slump are “new labels that
started up several years back during a
boom time. Now, they’ve got to get a
staff together, organize, and release
albums, and they may be having sec
ond thoughts.”
“From my vantage point,” he said,
“we don’t have to deal with that kind
of agony.”
Merlis added, “We’re not above
any national situation.” Warner Bros,
consistently reevaluates its strategies
for optimal efficiency, he said.
“We’ve been around for a while,”
Merlis said, “and we know a boom
doesn’t last forever. After the last
recession, we reexamined our proc
esses and took action.”
Merlis said the nature of the re
cording industry is such that “every
thing is a calculated risk.” Currently,
Merlis noted, singer Chris Isaak “is to
the point of selling 100,000 records
every five days, and he’s on the verge
of atop 10 single. That’s what it’s all
about... That’s what it comes down
to — volume.”
Still, Merlis said that despite the
success of established Warner Bros.
artists like Isaak, Madonna ana raui
Simon, the recording industry is any- *
thing but recession-proof.
“I don’t want to rain on the indus
try’s parade,” Merlis said, “but it
(music) is also something you can get
for virtually nothing by tuniing on the
TV or flipping on the radio.”
“We don’t ever lake it for granted,”
Merlis said. “When it comes down to
paying the heating bill or buying a
tape, obviously you know which one
is going to be chosen. But, records are
a great value, and I don’t need to
convince anyone that they’re a good
entertainment value.”
Merlis said watching costs is the
only thing a record company can do
to effectively combat a recession.
“There’s really nothing else you
can do, and besides, one album could
be a sleeper that could generate mil
lions of sales,” he said. “Ten years
ago, Madonna was just a singles art
ist.”
Merlis said the only impact the
recession has had on Warner Bros, to
date is that “there’s more at stake,
because there’s less in the overall pot.
There are some areas in the southeast
with high military personnel concen
trations, and sales are down in those
areas, because no one’s there.”
Overall, however, “die music indus
try is something you just can’t pre
dict,” Merlis said.
The dawn of the recession means
it’s time for record companies to plan
conservatively, said David Hayes,
See RECORDon 9
Music sales mixed in recession
By John A. Skretta
Staff Reporter
Opinions varied among local
sources on whether the recession is
affecting sales in the music indus
try.
“Sales have been quite steady,”
said Rod Ferguson, co-owner of
Pickles Records and Tapes and
Compact Discs, 1637 P St.
“We’re not seeing lesser sales,
First off, because we’re pretty col
lege-oriented. When college is in
town, business is good,” Ferguson
said.
Ferguson said besides just at
tracting college students, music has
a good entertainment value.
“It’s a smaller ticket item, and it
makes people happy. It’s an escap
ist experience, where you can as
sume a different role,” he said.
The recession in Lincoln “is 95
percent a mental state,” according
to Ferguson. “People aren’t gener
ally making less money than they
were a year ago unless you’re
working on commission. If I were
selling cars, I’d probably be starv
• »»
mg.
“I just don’t think a recession
applies to us in the music business,
and I think, in general, music in
dustries have emerged from reces
sions quite strong,” Ferguson said.
On the other hand, John McCal
lum, owner of Twisters Music and
Gi fts, said the recession had a small
impact on January sales.
Gauging the full impact of the
recession on sales is relatively dif
ficult in music retailing, McCal
lum said, because last year’s sales
at this time are not directly appli
cable to current sales.
“It’s sort of like comparing apples
and oranges,” McCallum said, “be
cause there are not a lot of good,
big new releases this year at this
time as there were last year during
January."
“However,” McCallum added,
“I can tell you that for the month of
February, sales are almost 20 per
cent above our estimates. I think
that’s just a reflection, more than
anything, that people are loosen
ing up their purse strings and buy
ing with a bit more confidence.”
Although music is generally a
low-ticket retail item, McCallum
said he wouldn ’t go as far as saying
the music business is recession
proof.
“Our industry likes to say that
all the time,” McCallum said, “and
during the last recession, the music
and entertainment industry overall
emerged from it quite well.”
But to ciaim that music is free
from economic woes, “is a little
more blue sky than I think reason
and rationality would call for,”
McCallum said.
“I have talked to a lot of other
retailers in other areas,” McCal
lum said, “and no one had real
boom sales in January. But the jury
See SALE on 10
Uncommon quartet I
bound to improvise j
By Michael Stock
Staff Reporter
Their concert programs carry
the warning: Contents subject to
change. Why?
“We might suddenly come across
the most exciting thing we’ve ever
played,” Kronos Quartet member
David Harrington said.
Saturday night will find the
Kronos Quartet offering and im
provising its repertoire to audiences
in Kimball Hall. The show will
feature works from classic com
posers such as Bartok and Ives, and
the modem works from Terry Riley
and John Zom.
The past 12 years have found
the Kronos Quartet emerging as a
pioneering voice in music. Shat
tering the image of the string quar
tet, Kronos wears its leather and
Lycra with pride.
The band’s lineup features David
Harrington and John Sherba,violin,
Hank Dutt, viola and Joan Jeanre
naud, cello.
Kronos’ name originates from
the short-tempered Titan from Greek
mythology who was overthrown
by his son Zeus. Founded by Har
rington in Seattle in 1973, the band
moved to San Francisco in 1977.
Just before Kronos set out to suc
ceed, Harrington and Dutl hired
Sherba and Jeanrenaud.
The band since has attracted
international attentions, touring
extensively, giving more than 100
concerts a year throughout the
United States, Canada, Europe,
Japan, South America, New Zeal
and, Hong Kong and Australia.
“Our music is handmade, it’s
very carefully considered ... I
never liked the role of what they
call a 'classical musician.’ I never
liked the feeling that the music I
was involved in had less sex appeal
than rock ‘n’n roll or jazz — or had
less blood in it than other music,”
See KRONOS on 10
Kinison to perform signature routine
of obnoxious comedy at Lied Center
By Robert Richardson
Senior Reporter
OH! OHH! OHHHHHHHHH!
That infamous, painful scream of
the short, loud and obnoxious Sam
Kinison will ring throughout Lincoln
tonight as Kinison brings his latest
comedy routine to the Lied Center for
Performing Arts.
In a phone interview with the Daily
Nebraskan, Kinison explained his
comedy and his life in general.
The heart of his comedy is topical,
sort of like Headline News with a
long-haired twist.
“It’s very observational. I watch a
lot of the news,” Kinison said. “I read
the papers. I don’t like to pick up on
the little stuff that isn’t going to be
news next week but (I’ll pick up on)
anything big. Of course like the Middle
East and the gulf war.”
When Kinison does something, he
does it big. Until 1979, the 36-year
old Kinison was a Pentecostal preacher.
He decided he wanted to make people
laugh. And so he found an improvisa
tion club in Houston that let amateurs
perform on Monday nights. He stayed
for about five months and then moved
to Los Angeles and waited to be dis
covered.
“Itwasn’tlike I left the church and
drove to a night club,” Kinison said,
‘it was close to a year involved with
working up the courage to actually
start going out to nightclubs and
working out.”
It took about five years for Kinison
to reach his peak. Then Rodney
Dangerfield invited Kinison to be on
his annual comedy special. For Kini
son, that’s when everything changed.
The Illinois native skyrocketed to
national attention with television
comedy specials and a cameo role as
a history teacher in the movie “Back
to School,” starring Dangerfield.
But being a national funny person
is taxing. Kinison, who is no stranger
to national scrutiny, frequently runs
into flak from gay/lesbian and femi
nist groups who don’t laugh at his
jokes.
But Kinison said that he really
does have opinions behind some his
humor.
“I’ve found that if I really believe
what I’m talking about, if I have a
point of view, then it’s a lot easier to
maintain what I’m saying throughout
the jokes,” Kinison said.
Lincoln, like other cities Kinison
has visited, has at least one group
protesting the comedian’s perform
ance. Queer Nation Nebraska will be
outside to greet Kinison with protest
signs when he performs at Lied.
“I don’t know what they’re pro
testing about. They don ’ t want people
to have a good time,” Kinison said.
“They don’t want people to see a
show. Regardless of what my politics
are or what they think the point of
view of the show is, it’s up to the
people that want to be entertained.”
Kinison said he doesn’t want to
corrupt anyone; he just wants to make
people laugh.
“You can tell the citizens of Lin
coln I’m no threat,’’Kinison said.
“Come out of your homes. I will not
harm you.”
Kinison’s show opens at the Lied
Center, 12th and R streets, tonight at
8 p.m. Tickets are still available.
Academy Award picks
offer some surprises
Once in a while, the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
likes to throw pompous movie critics
acurvcball.
The 63rd annual Academy Award
nominations, announced Wednesday,
contained a few surprises for those of
us who thought we had it all figured
out.
Probably the biggest surprise of all
was the nomination of 1990’s biggest
moneymaker, “Ghost,” as Best Pic
ture. “Ghost” was an ethereal wet
weepie, a fun summer film — but
Best Picture? I think not, although I
really liked it.
Also nominated in the category
were “Dances With Wolves,” “Awak
enings,” “GoodFellas” and “The
Godfather, Part III.”
Another surprise was Julia Roberts’
^^^Naughton
nomination as Best Actress. The
Academy rarely nominates comedic
performances, especially in the Best
Actress category. Roberts’ spirited
performance as a Hollywood hooker
who lands an uptight East Coast busi
nessman was a lot of fun to watch —
but again, few critics, myself included,
thought she’d be nominated for it.
Roberts may be thought of as an
unlikely choice to win here. She’s up
See AWARDS on 10
1. PICTURE: "Awakenings " “Dances With Wolves," “Ghost," “The Godfather Part III," GoodFellas " 2. ACTOR: Kevin
Costner, "panoes With Wolves’ Robert De Niro, "Awakenings" Gerard Depardieu, "Cyrano de Bergerac", Richard Harris,
The Field , Jeremy Irons "Reversal of Fortune 3. ACTRESS: Kathy Bates, Misery", Anjelica Huston "The Grifters", Julia
M Woman'. Meryl Streep, “Postcards From the Edge", Joanne Woodward, "Mr & Mrs Bridge." 4. SUPPORT
ING ACTOR: Bruce Davison, Longtime Companion", Andy Garcia, "The Godfather Part III"; Graham Greene "Dances With
Wolves' Al Pacino, “Dick Tracy", Joe Pesci, “GoodFellas “ 5. SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Annette Benmg “The Grifters",
Lorraine Bracco, GoodFellas", Whoopi Goldberg “Ghost ”, Diane Ladd Wild at Heart ”, Mary McDonnell "Dances With
Wolves 6. DIRECTOR: Kevin Costner, “Dances With Wolves", Francis Ford Coppola "The Godfather Part III" Martin Score
ese GoodFellas Stephen Frears, "The Grifters Barbet Schroeder "Reversal of Fortune." 7. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Woody ,Ajlen. Alice Barry Levinson, "Avalon", Bruce Joel Rubin “Ghost", Peter Weir Green Card", Whit Stillman, “Metro
politan 8. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Steven Zaillian, Awakenings Michael Blake, '‘Dances With Wolves' , Nicholas
r]^o£I^2idr^aJin.oCOrcese p°odFellas Donald E Westlake The Grifters", Nicholas Kazan. “Reversal of Fortune ’ 9.
FILM: Cyrano de Bergerac, France ‘ Journey of Hope Switzerland "Ju Dou,’ People s Republic of China, "The
Nasty Girl Germany “Open Doors, Italy 10. ART DIRECTION: Cyrano de Bergerac," "Dances With Wolves " “Dick
^ra5y’.u"Th« Part 1,1' Ham,et" 11 CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Avalon "Dances With Wolves,” “Dick Tracy " "The
Godfather Part III Henry & June .12. COSTUME DESIGN: "Avalon " “Cyrano de Bergerac," "Dances With Wolves," "Dick
racy, Hamlet 13. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: American Dream Berkeley in the Sixties " "Building Bombs “Forever
UCWT*DW Be.c^Tra2s of the Abraham Lmcom Brigade Waldo Salt A Screenwriter s Journey " 14. DOCU
5?, iJg! 7,?RT rGBJE7,T: Down Tomorrow Chimps So Like Us Days ot Waiting "Journey Into Life The
£ Ll,,e,t0^lm^mbef 15’ F,LM EDITING: Dances With Wolves," “Ghost ’ The
• 7 SfiSr°C,Ob0r 16’ MAKEUP: Cyrano de Bergerac," Dick Tracy,” "Edward
?^hnfrhnld a r7' MUS£C OR,G,^AL BGGRE: RandV Newman Avalon , John Barry Dances With Wolves" Maurice Jarre,
£ ; D| I'r£ ! :^ av??a W!',ia?1s A|one 18. MUSIC ORIGINAL SONG: Blaze of Glory" from "Young
i ^ P|^ Car ai From ‘he Ed9e'; "Promisu Me You II Remember" from The Godlather Part III"; °
uatpnSinRtMpiMJT £0r,A uSoon0r or La,er 0 Always Get My Man)’’ from "Dick Tracy.” 19. ANI
Fll U-rw,??h.fnrT*‘nlfrRocm \Gna?dD^y 0ut Grasshoppors (Cavijllette)' 20. LIVE ACTION SHORT
- £eaf R?t?’ Jhe,Lunch Date, Senzem Na7 (What Have Wo Done7)"; “12 01 p m." 21. SOUND
Dances With Wolves, Days ot Thunder, Dick Tracy," "The Hunt tor Rod October," “Total Recall 22. SOUND EFFECTS
EDITING: “Fla»lmers." “The Hunt for Red October ” "Total Recall"