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Black and white defines
E’s outlook and new album
“A Man Called E”
Polydor Records
Although you can’t judge a book
by its cover, sometimes you can, as
the debut album by E substantiates.
The cover is black and white print.
For the most part, the music on “A
Man Called E” is pretty black and
white as well — plain and simple.
E, a self-professed patron saint of
the depressed, subscribes to the pop
ethic of album-making — keep it
plain and it won’t offend anyone. At
least that’s the indication from listen
ing to the LP’s 11 tracks.
However, inoffensive music is
preferable to offensive music (for most
listeners), and E probably won’t scare
anyone off or make any enemies with
his new work.
E’s songs arc all similar to pop
songs in 4/4 lime that reach a hook in
the proper number of bars and end
before getting excessively monoto
nous.
The strength of “A Man Called E”
is in those pop hooks. “Hello Cruel
World,’’“Nowhercsvillc” and “Pray”
all have a catchy sound that should
bring E some success.
E’s lyrics are occasionally inter
esting as well. In “Hello Cruel World,”
he paints the picture (in black and
white of course) of cruel world,
“Norman Rockwell colors fade/All
my favorite things have changed/What
the hell, hello cruel world.”
E’s voice is also a positive compo
nent of the LP. He sounds like a well
seasoned singer. Maybe he’s just a
well- seasoned smoker, but either way,
he ends up sounding quite a bit like
Andy Summers of the Police.
The problems with the album are
few. First, the running time is only 32
minutes. This seems strange, because
E claims in the liner notes to have
“hundreds and hundreds” of songs.
Why don’t 30 more minutes of those
hundreds of songs appear on this al
bum?
Second, if E wants to portray a
Charlie-Brown, always-bummed-out
image, he blows it by including the
love song, “Are You & Me Gonna
Happen?” that stands out as remarka
bly up-beat compared to the rest of
the work.
All in all though, this album is
easy to digest, much like tofu — also
a plain white substance. However, a
little more spice and a few extra in
grcdicnts would have made it better.
Unless you’re on a low-cal musical
diet, this album might leave you a
little hungry.
— Carter Van Pelt
McFerrin
Continued from Page 6
gaged the audience in a sing-along of
“John Jacob Jinglchcimer Schmidt,”
followed by a gripping rendition of
“ Round Midnight.”
Then came MeFerrin’s lour de force,
a 5-minute trip through every song in
“The Wizard of Oz,” complete with
movement and snippets of dialogue.
The crowd roared its approval.
After intermission, McFerrin dedi
cated Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7
in A Major to the memory of Leonard
Bernstein. Bernstein helped McFcr
rin learn how to conduct this piece. It
was the first piece McFerrin ever
conducted and the last piece Bern-'
stein conducted before his death.
McFerrin’s musical knowledge was
astounding as he conducted this piece
and the entire concert w ithout a score.
For an encore, he introduced the
orchestra to vocal music, having its
members sing their parts on Rossinni’s
“William Tell Overture.”
He told the audience, “I want to
publicly thank the Nebraska Cham
ber Orchestra. I hope you realize what
a treasure you have right here.” The
orchestra lived up to the compliment;
it was truly in lop form.
MeFerrin’s performance ripped
down barriers between musical gen
res as he demonstrated that the same
excitement can come from the world
of Mozart and the world of Bobby
MeFerrin.
Fifth
Continued from Page 6
mailer) that helps lo enlighten, enli
ven or to engender awareness is rcvo
lutionary in some sense.
That is a broad interpretation, but
that is what I am after, because they
arc the narrow, rigid interpretations
of any idea that becomes repressive.
Currently, there is much discus
sion of the freedom to form and ex
press ideas through whatever medium
one might prefer, and this is good.
Yet until now the Fifth Column
has unnecessarily restricted itself to
packaged media: primarily sound
recordings, but also the printed word
and painted image.
Of all the media, it seems that the
most freedom is lost through packag
ing, production and presentation in
the ease of music.
When one creates qiusic by and
for oneself or directly for a small
group, the strongest feelings are
brought forth, for the sounds and
emotions arc direct and unchannellcd,
and it is this kind of pure experience
that is both evolutionary and revolu
tionary.
The next Fifth Column will ex
plore these ideas more fully in two
weeks.
Tomatoes
Continued from Page 6
actress and best supporting actress,
respectively.
They were both great, but the larger
parts and outstanding performances
in the film truly belong to Masterson
and Parker.
Masterson portrayed stubborn Idgie
with toughness and tenderness. Parker s
Ruth was gracious and ladylike, but
had a streak of spunkincss a mile
wide. The two young actresses worked
very well together, each enhancing
the other with a strong performance.
The supporting cast was also good,
with legend Cicely Tyson turning in a
solid performance as Sipscy, the cook
at the cafe. Big George, the strong
handyman and longtime friend of Idgic,
was played by Stan Shaw. This subtle
performance means Shaw is someone »"
to keep an eye on in the future.
Author Flagg has a cameo as a
marriage counselor, and television
watchers will recognize Evelyn’s friend
Missy as the mayonnaise woman from
commercials.
“Fried Green Tomatoes” is an
excellent portrait of true friendship
and a fine example of solid story
telling.
Tower
Continued from Page 6
of changing the tapes, “but some
body’s got to do it.”
He picks a tape that fits his mood
that day, he said, and away he goes.
About four feel from the tape sys
tem is a spinet-sized organ with a
built-in cassette recorder for record
ing new tapes for the machine. Al
though he wasn’t sure, Klein said he
thought that no new tapes had been
made since 1984.
Anyone interested in recording a
tape to be used by the Bell Tower
would have to contact the facilities
management department during busi
ness hours, he said.
Keeping the Bell Tower in tune
adds some diversity to his job, Klein
said.
“It’s better than taking care of
elevators,” he said, “It’s something
different.”
I THE FAR SIDE By GARY LARSON
1_i__ Imii» ■
“Bad guy cornin' in, Arnie!... Minor key!
Register With Selective Service. /£%
It's Quick. It's Easy. And It's The Law. ■I”k'_
Calvin and Hobbes - by Bill Watterson
V4UAVS THE OUR
TEACHER I REPORT
HAH^NCs OJT? J, CARDS y
CUR V '(CU \CNON,
RETORT ) OUR GRACES.
GRADES? 7 OF CDJR9E,
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GRADED’ I WDtXMWHK?
DON'T WE EVEN GET k TEN
PWCncE SEMESTERS?
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ACROSS 29 Private eye. at
_ . . „ times
1 Browning s - Rp|.
Ben Ezra" 33 Rell9'°us
6 Author Ferber
10 Ripens 35 Letter sign-off
14 From another 39 All-out bet
planet 43 Hold back
15 Go kaput 44 Weird
16 Stubborn one 45McGuffey
17 In a line product
19 He helps 48 Abbr on an
20 Ancient sect envelope
21 Left port 49 Plunger's loss
23 Toddler 53 Kind of bridge or
24 Vestibule brow
25 Tentmaker-poet 55 Torment
57 Traveling bags
61 “Terrible" ruler
62 Baseball rarity
65 Network of
nerves
66 Eye part
67 Part of AWOL
68 Patella's site
69 S-shaped
molding
70 British sand hills
DOWN
1 Headland
2 “It's a Sin to Tell
3 Compartments
4 Importunes
5 Cove
6 Decadent
7 Podium
8 Nothing
9 Pub drinks
10 With full force
11 Culpability
12 Church bigwig
13 Gone to pot
18 A grandson of
Adam
22 Make bubbly
25 Antiquated
26 Secure a ship
27 Malarial fever
28 Joshes 41 Eggs 56 Historic Norman
30 Went awry 42 Army V I P town
31 Knowledge 46 Pass by 57 Honeysuckle or
32 Self 47 Kind of call cucumber
34 Warns 49 Dodge 58 Gfa*
36 Mother of Zeus 50 Port 58 Verve
37 Gossip 51 Furious 60 Buy a C D.
38 Fit of anger 52 Raiah's 'ady 63 Col s command
40 Before, to Keats 54 Handle 64 Word of assent
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE
Courtesy of Polydor
“A Man Called E,” by E, is a new release from Polydor Records.