9
Arts & Entertainment
Station’s new format
to serve up ‘palatable’
hard rock, classic hits
By Jill O'Brien
Staff Reporter
Finding 106.3 on your F\1 dial is
easier than finding the radio station's
building tw o miles south of Old Cheney
Road.
Although the radio waves issuing
from 4949 Yankee Hill Road still are
as easy to find on the dial, their sounds
have changed.
Harvey Tate, the radio station's
president and chief executive officer,
said Mix 106 was reformatted in early
March.
Instead of playing w hat Tate called
“adult contemporary music," the new
station, KIBZ, “The Blaze." features
a combination of hard rock and clas
sic rock, he said.
The radio station eliminated the
adult contemporary formal to intro
duce new songs, new albums and new
hard-rock artists.
Tate described the new formal as
“ new music which is very palatable
and is not heavy metal."
Gabe Baptiste, operations director
and program manager of KIBZ, said
the new station plays songs by Nir
vana, Pearl Jam, Mctallica, the Black
Crowes and other artists like Led
Zeppelin and Pink Floyd — classic
artists who influenced the 1990s
generation of rock ‘n' roll.
“We play everything that comes
under the guidelines of energetic rock
'n‘ roll,” Baptiste said.
According to Baptiste, songs that
fall under the guidelines are tunes
you can sing in the shower— melodi
ous songs.
“It doesn't have to be popular when
we start with it," he said, “because
nothing ever is w hen you first start,
but it does have to have those mark
ings.”
Baptiste also is a disc jockey for
KIBZ.
Talc’s radio career, which goes
back to ld47. mainly has been in the
album-oriented rock (AOR) field.
After the Nixon era. AOR remained.
Tale said, but only as an echo of the
‘60s and early ‘70s. The best AOR
became lost in the system when it was
forced to submit to a standardized
radio formal.
Today, album-oriented rock sta
tions rarely play anything new1, he
said. Some album stations follow a
safe format by refusing to play a song
until it becomes a hit.
Tate said he started to w onder what
had happened to the great rock n' roll
that never had been introduced to the
public. His search for the lost rock
inspired the format for KIBZ.
See RADIO on 10
Cadillac Tramps bringing
‘psychobilly’ to Duffy’s
From Staff Reports
The band that gave birth to “psy
chobilly” returns to Lincoln tonight,
as the Los Angeles-based Cadillac
Tramps makes its first appearance at
Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St.
The band, which opened for the
Beat Farmers in September at P.O.
Pears, is touring in support of its self
titled debut on Doctor Dream Rec
ords.
Although the band formed in 1987,
the Cadillac Tramps is actually the
product of California’s punk scene of
the late ’70s. The most obvious influ
cnees arc ihc Blasters, Los Lobos and
X—L.A.’sgrcat musical triumvirate
of the early ’80s.
The Tramps gained a strong fol
lowing in Orange County, Calif.,
working alongside fellow L.A. bands
like Social Distortion and T.S.O.L,
but its sound is more than leftover
punk.
Vocalist Mike Gaborno, guitarists
Brian Coaklcy and Jonny Wicker
sham, bassist Warren Renfrow and
drummer Jamie Rcidling blend their
collective punk-rockabilly roots with
a renewed interest in Motown soul.
The band calls the mixture — espe
cially in its live form — “psycho
billy.”
Cover charge is S5.
Courtesy ot Twentieth Century Fox
Vincent Gambini (Joe Pesci, right) drops a bombshell in “My Cousin Vinny”: Judge Chamber
lain Haller (Fred Gwynne, center) is perplexed when the inexperienced defense counsel puts
his own fiancee Lisa (Marisa Tomei, left on the stand ... as a hostile witness.
My Cousin Vinny funny, brilliant;
Pesci’s performance steals the show
“My Cousin Vinny”
By Gerry Beltz
Staff Reporter
If you’re looking for a satirical
version of an old “Perry Mason" epi
sode, then look no further. “My Cousin
Vinny” (Plaza 4, Edgewood 3) is in
town with a favorable verdict.
The story unfolds with Bill Gam
bini (Ralph Macchio of the “Karate
Kid”)and Stan Rothcnslcin (Mitchell
Whitfield of “Reversal of Fortune”)
getting arrested for murder in a small
Southern town because of some fairly
bizarre circumstances. They need a
good lawyer, but for a reasonable
price.
Enter Vinny (Joe Pcsci of “Goo
dfcllas”), the lawyer of the Gambini
family. He, along with his fiancee
Lisa (Marisa Tomci of TV's “A Dif
ferent World”), comes rolling into
town with the drive and desire to
succeed.
Of course, he’s never been in a
courtroom before, let alone tried a
murder case. Vinny describes it best
as his “first foray into the trial proc
ess.” He has been practicing personal
injury law for about six weeks and has
taken the bar exam justas many times.
Anyway, he’s the only hope Bill
and Stan have got.
Add one tough country judge named
Chamberlain Haller (Fred Gwynne of
“The Munsters), who is a stickler for
correct courtroom procedure and gains
an extreme dislike for Vinny, and
you’ve got an extremely funny movie.
Maechio and Whitfield do fairly
well in their roles as New York young
sters up to their necks in trouble, but
we don’t get to see much of them. As
it turns out, their roles in this film are
minor, even though they arc the de
fendants.
Gwynne is terrific as the no-non
sense judge. His low, grave voice is
just right for this role. Whenever he
shows up on the screen you can be
sure for a good laugh or two.
Also turning in a wonderful per
formance is Tomci as Vinny’s cagcr
to-plcasc fiancee. At first, one might
expect her to be a typical bimbo side- .
kick, but she ends up almost stealing
the film from the rest of the cast.
The film, however, belongs to Pesci.
He has made an excellent transition
from his chilling, Oscar-w inning
performance in “Goodfcllas" to the
unorthodox antics of Vinny.
Directed by Jonathan Lynn
(“Clue"), “My Cousin Vinny" is a
riot from start to finish. The court
room scenes arc especially hilarious,
between the mix of Gwynnc’s strict
following of courtroom procedure and
Pcsci’s sarcasm toward anyone who
opposes him. They definitely arc the
best parts of the movie.
Also worth mentioning is the brief
subplot of Vinny’s attempted collec
tion of a debt from one of the local
townspeople in which he risks gelling
the snot beat out of him. h is an
absolute hoot as Vinny uses his cross
examination training to befuddle his
adversary.
Go sec this movie. You will not be
disappointed.
‘London’ album disjointed, disappointing
Rfr/ie44/4
‘‘Walking in London**
Concrete Blonde
I.R.S.
Johncuc Napoliiano, ihc acciden
tal feminist and driving force behind
the Los Angeles trio Concrete Blonde,
once screamed that she was “still in
Hollywood.” A punk-rocker at heart,
she was at her best in those days,
lamenting broken relationships and
Sou them Cal i forma ’ s d i rty, dead-end
existence.
But that was six years and four
albums ago, and Napoliiano (who since
has moved to the U.K.) is about as far
away from L.A. as she could possibly
be. And alter listening to Concrete
Blonde’s latest release, “Walking in
London,” folks arc likely to be a little
dumbfounded. How could this oncc
great trio fall so far, so fast?
“Walking in London,” the follow
up to 1990’s "Bloodletting,” is a dis
jointed, disappointing work, save a
couple of tracks.
As for the rest, they sound like
studio throwaways, from the ridicu
lous opening cut, “Ghost of a Texas
Ladies Man ” a kind of half-ass "Radar
Love,” to a soupy cover of James
Brown’s "It’s a Man’s World.”
Longtime fans had to be encour
aged by the group’s lineup, which
reunited original drummer Harry
Rushakoff (who was replaced on
“Bloodletting” by former Roxy Mu
sic member Paul Thompson) with
Napolitanoand guitarist Jim Mankcy.
Add to that backing vocals by Wall of
Voodoo alumnus Andy Prieboy —
who helped out on “BUxxllctiing” —
and “London” looked promising.
Bui as Napolitano goes, so goes
Concrete Blonde, and make no mis
take — this is entirely her album. It’s
not surprising then, that “Walking in
London" comes oil as pure sell-in
dulgence. This is most apparent on
“City Screaming,” with Napolilano
thumbing her nose at her former L.A.
home: “Is that a shot or a car?”
And for those who fell in love with
Napolilano’s lough-as-nails delivery
on 1989’s “Free" or the band's self
tilled debut, there are moments here
that will make you cringe.
The worst of the lot is the man
bashing “I Wanna Be Your Friend
Again," which is so overwrought with
simplistic thinking it could have been
the theme song to “Thelma and Lou
ise.” A hideous sample is even thrown
in, wherein two lovers make Small
talk over the phone as Napolilano
says what is really on the woman’s
mind: “You’re not line/You cat, sleep
and think him 24 hours a day.”
Still, “Walking in London” is not
without some fine moments. The
playful “LesCoeurs Jumeaux"(Twin
Hearts) is reminiscent of Free’s “Happy
See BLONDE on 11
r
Courtesy of BMI