Boogie Shoes
“Greatest Hits, Vol. 1”
Symbiotic Records
Grade: A
“Greatest Hits, Vol. 1” is the first
effort from the Boogie Shoes, a band
from the City of Winds. I can easily
say this album is one of the best pre
miere albums I’ve heard in a long time.
No, these guys probably won’t be
getting on MTV or The Edge anytime
soon, but if you’d like a combination
of The Urge, Beastie Boys, and the old
Red Hot Chili Peppers-style of music,
I highly recommend picking this one
up.
The first single off the album,
“Passin’ Back and Forth,” features the
Boogie Shoes’ horns, Furious’ amaz
ing bass, and the lyrics of lead men
Mister D and Master B. There is a lim
ited edition blue vinyl single of the
song, available through Symbiotic
Records, which also includes the track
“Power.”
Other tracks include “Loop-de
Loop,” a song which exemplifies the
band’s funky sound, where the horns
are reminiscent of The Urge’s “Violent
Opposition.” “I Know It Well,” “With
the Thumb Out” and “Gum” keep the
album moving and heads a bobbing.
Little inserts such as “Big Daddy
Cann,” “Jeepers Cripes” and “Two
Quarter Booty” make the, album that
much better.
I guarantee that if you listen to this
album, you will like it. If anything,
“Loop-de-Loop” makes for a good
party track, and “For Your Mind” is
good to chill out to. Buy this album,
and you’ll understand the power of the
Shoes.
— Patrick Miner
The Heads
“No Talking - Just Head”
MCA Records
Grade: C+
After the Talking Heads broke up,
lead singer David Byrne went on to do
solo work, some of which has done
well and some of which hasn’t.
■ But this leaves the unanswered
question: Whatever happened to the
rest of the band?
Well, the album “No Talking —
Just Head” answers that question. Chris
Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina
Weymouth arejstill around, but with
out their neurotic leader, they just don’t
seem as powerful.
To replace Byrne’s absence, the
remaining band members (who are now
calling themselves The Heads) drafted
whatever vocalists they could find to
sing with them on this album.
The result is kind of like surfing the
radio or listening to a compendium
with a ton of different artists. The one
thing it doesn’t come across as is an
album.
, There are a lot of good singers here,
too. The list includes little known but
impressive singers like Gavin Friday
(who doubled with Bono for the “In
The Name of the Father” soundtrack)
and Shaun Ryder (formerly of The
Happy Mondays and now of Black
Grape).
The album also includes big names
like Andy Patridge (of XTC), Maria
McKee, Gordon Gano (of the Violent
Femmes), Johnette Napolitano (for
merly of Concrete Blonde), Ed
Kowalczyk (of Live) and Michael
Hutchence (of INXS).
Not a lot of the songs are great,
though. Try and blend Napolitano’s
growling voice with a band accustomed
to backing a guy whose voice can best
be described as a twitch. On her two
tracks she either dwarfs the Heads or
is lost in their instrumentation.
When Hutchence gets his chance,
he and the Heads vibe in an interesting
way. It’s not INXS leftovers, nor is it a
stale Talking Heads recap. They both
sort of go into a sound neither of them
is tied to.
It gets really funny when Shaun
Ryder steps up to the microphone. The
Heads are stuck trying to keep up with
the disco fever pace that Ryder sets.
Kowalczyk takes perhaps the most
boring song he could write, “Indie
Hair,” and gives it to the Heads. They
can’t do much with it, either.
Gano’s “Only The Lonely” is al
most like something the Femmes would
record a few hours after a concert. It’s
sluggish, lethargic and generally unex
citing.
Luckily, both Partridge and Friday
do something different than the stan
dard for the album, which seems to be
other singers trying to capture the feel
of David Byrr^
Partridge’s “Papersnow” is some
where between an XTC number and a
Dukes of Stratosphere song, but with
some Talking Heads thrown in. The
result is pleasant.
Friday closes the album out with -
“Blue Blue Moon,” which is fitting. His
track is probably the best offering on
“No Talking—Just Head.”
—Cliff Hicks
America Online can block
firm's e-mail, judge says
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The
nation’s largest online service,
America Online, can block un
wanted electronic mail sent to its
subscribers by a marketing com
pany, a judge ruled.
AOL had blocked five online
. sites which served as clearinghouses
for unsolicited, commercial mail
ings. The sites were sending 1.8
million e-mails a day to America
Online subscribers, causing a flood
Of complaints.
A Philadelphia company that
sends promotions on behalf of busi
nesses, Cyber Promotions Inc., con
trols three of the five sites and went
to court over the block.
U.S. District Judge Charles
Weiner ruled Monday that Cyber
Promotions has no First Amend
ment right to deluge AOL subscrib
ers with e-mail ads. AOL is a pri
vate company and its e-mail com
puters are not public forums “in
which Cyber has a right to speak,”
the judge said.
The ruling covers only the three
Cyber sites blocked by AOL.
“This decision is a win for our
members, who have consistently
and loudly complained that junk e
mail is annoying, costly and often
inappropriate,” said David Phillips,
an AOL lawyer.
Although junk mail sent through
the U.S. Postal Service is perfectly
legal and costs nothing to recipients,
the rules have yet to be defined for
cyberspace, where unwanted e-mail
can costs recipients paying for com
puter time.
■
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