The Return returns with new tape release
conpprt -7
- By John Payne
Senior Reporter
Lincoln’s favorite pop clamor, the Return,
will unveil its newly-recorded six-song tape,
“Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart,” tonight at
Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St.
In addition to releasing the tape, the band is
scheduled to give two performances, an all
ages concert at 6:30 p.m. and a 21-and-over
show at 9:30 p.m.
The band comprises former members of Out
of Habit and one original member of the Re
turn. Its sound is anchored in Replacements
tinged harmonies and the swirling guitars of
Dan Kaspari and Randy Watson. The Return’s
sound is pure pop — but often reveals the
band’s penchant for intricate melodies.
If tonight’s show is anything like what the
band captured on “Heart,” it should be quite
good.
“We spent an awful long time on it,” drum
mer Ted Alesio said of the recording. “It turned
out to be something pretty satisfying, and we’re
real happy with the end results.”
“Heart” is the Return’s first recording with
new bassist Bob Dale, a lineup change that
Watson says makes the band “rhythmically
better.”
Most of the group’s older material has been
scrapped, Watson said, so fans will be hearing
a lot of new tunes.
“In a sense we are breaking new ground,”
Alesio said. “We’re experimenting with some
different sounds and lime signatures, and I
think Dan and Randy’s songwriting styles are
developing.”
Watson described “Heart” as a concept tape
that took shape accidentally. The tape mines
the familiar field of adolescent angst: boy loves
girl, boy loses girl, girl won’t return boy’s
phone calls, boy eventually gets on with life.
“It wasn’t intended to be a concept tape,”
Watson laughs. “But the progression from song
to song just seemed natural.”
The Return began working on “Heart” last
June, laying down the rhythm tracks around
which the band would eventually structure the
songs. The six tunes yielded by the months of
studio work represent the band’s maturation,
Watson said. /— —
“The biggest thing we’ve had to do is just
curb our tendency to overplay,” Watson said.
“Especially because Dan and Bob arc such
good musicians. So we’ve done a lot of paring
down.”
Because band members used their own
equipment to record “Heart,” they were able to
work at a pace that suited them. Alesio esti
mated the band invested about $1,500 in the
recording.
“We’re all a little too perfectionist, which is
good. But it also led to a few arguments be
cause we wanted to get it done,” Alesio said.
“It’s just nice when you’re doing your own
recording, because you don’t feel hurried.”
The next step for the Return, according to
Alesio, is to circulate “Heart,” in hopes of
being booked for future performances.
%
“Right now, we want to get the word out that
we’re looking for gigs,” he said. The Return
also plans to start working on a new tape in the
coming weeks.
Opening tonight’s show will be folkadelic
tempo-changers Middle Monkey. Cover charge
is $2. Copies of “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart”
will be available for $5 each.
1. ‘Point Break’
2. Thelma and Louise"
3. ‘Jungle Fever"
4. “Bill and Ted’s Bogus
Journey’
5. “Dying Young*
6. “Naked Gun 2 1/2“
7. Terminator 2"
8. “City Slickers”
8. “Doc Hollywood"
10. “Only the Lonely"
Recent and requested:
("Crazy From the Heart"
■Courtesy of Blockbuster
Video
1. "Terminator 2"
2. “City Slickers"
3. “Backdraft"
4. “Silence of the Lambs"
5. "Naked Gun 2 1/2’
6. ‘What About Bob?"
7. "Doc Hollywood’
I 8. “Robin Hood: Prince of
I Thieves"
i 9. “Soapdish"
J 10. “F/X 2"
■ Rising quickly: Thelma
■ and Louise’
p ■ Billboard Magazine
I isa Pvttik/DN
Newvid
Continued from Page 9
other social drama to the screen.
Based on the 1939 novel by English satirist
Joyce Cary, “Mister Johnson” takes place in
1923 West Africa.
Maynard Eziashi is the title character, a
native clerk to an English colonial governor
(Pierce Brosnan of “Remington Steele”).
The intricate plot, lush scenery and atmos
phere should provide a thoughtful social drama
under the guidance of Beresford. Cary also is
known for witty dialogue and Brosnan for
charming performances. (Available 1/29)
“Mobsters” (R) Organized crime’s infa
mous leaders are immortalized on celluloid by
_
Christian Slater (Lucky Luciano), Patrick
Dempsey (Meyer Lansky), Richard Grieco
(Bugsy Siegel) and Costas Mandylor (Frank
Costello).
The young gangsters are propelled into the
big league when their prohibition-era bootleg
whiskey league becomes big business.
The story is close to nonexistent, however it
is stylish and pleasant to view. But it’s difficult
to buy these guys as heavy-hitting mob boys —
the leads arc in their twenties but they still look
like teenagers.
The rise of organized crime resting on the
shoulders of a bunch of would-be brat packers?
It’s a little farfetched, but hey, that’s Holly
wood. (Available 1/30)
UPC’s Spring
Recruitment
• 1
ricK up your
chair/ executive
applications at:
200 Nebraska Union or
300 Nebraska East Union
Applications due Feb. 12.
Informational meeting Feb. 4 at 7:30
in the City Union <room posted)
Artists squeeze city’s sound
into bold, wide-ranging album
-
“Juice”
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
S.O.U.L. Records
The sound of the cinematic inner city has
come to vibrant life only a few times on records
before. The soundtracks to both “The Harder
They Come” and “New Jack City,” for in
stance, stand out for their originality, diversity,
and up-to-the-minute hipness.
Claiming a rightful place among those al
bums is the original soundtrack to “Juice,”
Ernest Dickerson’s film about the pleasures
and perils of the city as viewed through the
wide eyes of a young man. It is an exceptional
collection of tracks by artists who capture that
perspective deftly.
The soundtrack’s gangster tales have a dark
side, offset with an element of cheeky inno
cence that is brilliant to behold. Naughty By
Nature’s call-to-arms, “Uptown Anthem,” builds
on their trademark sound of tough rhythms and
piano breaks, creating a strange mix of poig
nance and foreboding. Similarly, M.C. Pooh’s
credo “Sex, Money, & Murder” has some vi
cious lines, but they’re delivered through Pooh’s
snot-nosed nasal, so they have a wit native only
to arrogant teenagers.
On the same level, the album’s best track,
“Juice (Know the Ledge)” finds Erik B. and
Rakim sampling a simple flute melody under a
pulsing groove and Rakim’s forceful delivery.
Rakim spins the story of a gangster who hopes
to know his limits, or “know the ledge” (knowl
edge—get it?) before it’s too late.
On the more sensitive side, a number of
tracks are about nothing more serious than
teens in love, such as Teddy Riley’s solid
reworking of Heavy D’s “Is It Good To You”
and Rahiem’s ditty about lovers’ indiscretion,
“Does Your Man Know About Me.” The songs
elevate themselves over more common R&B
slop through lovely melodies and smart pro
duction, courtesy of the Bomb Squad’s input.
Tracks that ride the new musical wave of
forceful soul with a street attitude balance the
collection. Both Salt-n-Pepa’s “He’s Gamin’
On Ya” and “People Get Ready” by the Brand
New Heavies are tailor-made for the club scene
— not gritty enough to bum you out, not sugary
enough to classify themselves as pop songs, but
booming, nonetheless. They bring the collec
tion around full circle, and make the record
something appealing to varying musical tastes.
Sometimes you listen to soundtracks and
wonder exactly where that song was in the film.
With the “Juice” soundtrack, you really donr*
care.
Just pop in the tape, cruise down the avenue
and gel with the picture. No pun intended.
— Paul Winner
Evita
Continued from Page 9 _
at its peak during the “Rainbow Tour” number.
Tom Curtright’s lighting design was also
incredibly successful. The “Charily Concert”
scene places the audience on the wings of the
stage rather than in the audience, an effect
accomplished primarily through lighting.
“Evita,” as a whole, is a gripping evening of
musical drama.
“Evita” continues its run of 8 p.m. perform
ances Thursday through Sunday and Feb. 6
through Feb. 8. The Feb. 9 performance will be
at 2:30 p.m. The Lincoln Community Play
house is located at 2500 S. 56th St. Student
tickets are $6.50 for Thursday and Sunday and
$7.50 for Friday and Saturday. Tickets at regu
lar price arc $16 for Thursday and Sunday and
$18 for Friday and Saturday.
Reed
Continued from Page 9
“No Chance: Regret,” he is confessing more to
himself than to anyone else: “If I was in your
shoes/so strange that I am not/I fold up in a
minute and a half.”
Vocalist Little Jimmy Scott, who sang at
Pomus’ funeral, chimes in on the wonderful
"Power and Glory: The Situation," before the
languid “Dreamin': Escape" is ushered in.
Many of the tunes, especially “Magician:
Internally," gather pace before hitting full force,
reminiscent of old VU tunes like “Heroine.”
Since his days with the Velvets, Reed has
been among his generation’s most literate
songwriters, delving into the seamy topics most
of his peers have avoided (“New York,” “Street
Hassle"). But while his music has always prod
ded the American conscience, it has never had
much of a soothing effect, ail of which makes
“Magic” even more rewarding.
“What’s good?” he asks, before resolving
that, “Life’s good — but not fair at all.” For
anyone who has been through the “loss” that
Reed is talking about, and is still looking for the
“magic," his words will ring true.
—John Payne
Janovy
Continued from Page 9
should be brought to the people.
“We have let science get out of our intellec
tual control, so that politicians are making
decisions without any knowledge of the gen
eral nature of what they’re doing,” he said.
Consequently, Janovy said he hoped that
more young people would be drawn to the
sciences and that people in general would have
at least a feel for what was going on in the
scientific world.
This way, he said, human beings might have
the information they need to make the deci
sions that affect life all over the planet.
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