Music Review
"Teenage Kicks:
UK Pop (1976-79)"
by John Amorose
staff writer
The British music scene was a
lonely place to be in 1976. The bright
est lights in the singles charts were
Swedish popsters ABBA (three #1
hits), whose startling dress, topped by
sparkling eyeliner and knitted bobble
hats, was cause for concern even in
the heyday of flares.
The most frequent visitors to the
playground of the young, however,
were actually Rod Stewart, The
Beatles, and Elton John; all of whose
teenage years were already a distant
memory.
The alternative scene was not much
better, with most home-grown musi
cians divided between playing self
indulgent bombast passing itself off
as "progressive," the tail end of glam
rock, or a grubby mix of R & B and
countrified rock that interested self
absorbed musicians much more than
any audience. If ever the time was
right for a return to guitars and tunes,
it was then.
Fortunately, all was not lost. Al
ready the first stirrings of punk were
beginning to make their presence felt
(though it was as yet confined to Lon
don), but there could still be found,
usually around college gigs, a varied
selection of brave souls who flew the
flag for the spirit of pop—who could
play their instruments, who wrote
verses and choruses instead of con
cept albums, and who trod the fine
line between credibility and selling
out.
The album "DIY Teenage Kicks:
UK Pop (1976-79)" is a tribute to
these forgotten artists who have seem
ingly fallen through the proverbial
cracks in the post-Beatles, pre-Sex
Pistols England.
The opening track, "So it Goes" by
Nick Lowe will always have a place
in British pop history as the record
that launched the DIY era; a blanket
ACROSS
1 Part of USMC
6 Pause mark
11 Quaker pronoun
14 Central Florida
city
15 Native Alaskan
16 Tiller's tool
17 One not
mentioned
18 Remove soap
19 New World nat
20 Be unwell
22 Results
24 Favorable
factors
28 Capital of
Morocco
29 Atmosphere
30 Before
34 View quickly
35 Of a sickly
complexion
36 Branch
39 Delta deposit
40 Computer
messages
41 Not guilty, e.g
42 Mcßain and
McMahon
43 Fairy-tale girl
44 Chest bones
45 Reduces
46 Nights before
47 All confused
50 In a debonair
manner
52 "I'm Flying"
musical
56 Luau fare
57 Sch. grp.
58 Angular cut of
glass
60 Used used
candles
64 Actor Chaney
65 "Aida" or
"Norma," e.g.
66 Two times
67 Put a stop to
68 Big name in
copies
69 Quaking tree
DOWN
1 Talk baby-talk
2 10 of dates
3 College cheer
4 Nice
5 Indira's
term for the British independent re-
At a time when an indie label was
absolutely unheard of, it was recorded
for the whopping amount of $45 to
launch the irreverent, charismatic Stiff
Records under the persuasive slogan
"Pure pop for now People."
The track itself is vintage British
"Pub-Rock." The guitar is pure and
twangy, the words arc catchy, and the
drum beat was written for toe-tapping.
This sound was to be the model for
the vast majority of late-seventies
pop.
Some other noteworthy cuts in
clude "Whole Wide World" by
Wreckless Eric, Stiff Record's in
house drunken eccentric. The piece
failed to chart but is now universally
regarded as a classic of the era.
Wreckless Eric's monotone and se
rene lyrics, immersed in a symphony
of picking guitars and banging drums
makes this the most impressive track
on the album.
The song "Dancing the Night
Away," by The Motors, makes you do
just that, get up and shake it. The
continual driving myriad of guitars
matched with a catchy chorus caught
the pent-up energy of the new day and
even made a respectable dent in the
charts.
I'll be completely honest: this al
bum is not for everyone. Some of the
songs scream early 80's pop, and oth
ers dabble in the early stages of
electronica. But for those true fans
of music, I definitely recommend DIY
Teenage Kicks. One must listen with
open-minded consideration of the
time period and its place in music his
tory.
The majority of the songs included
on the album are experimentations at
best. What really counts here is that
spirit of guitars and tunes; and, as so
often happens, it is left for those in
another time, another place to fully
enjoy their brief flowerings.
All rights reserved
wardrobe
6 Vehicle
7 Musical medley
8 Computer
choices
9 Have to
10 Suffered
humiliation
11 Solicit a ride
12 Old Testament
book
13 Beer stimulant
21 Renters
23 Lummox
24 Out of fashion
25 Intelligible
26 Kazakhstan
range
27 Disgraces
31 Make joyful
32 Foreigners
33 Gets glamorous
36 Breathing
37 Rise up
38 Weighty
41 Sneak peeks
43 Transmission
45 Grant or Majors
47 Beatles' label
Wag the Dog an entirely
smart, thought-provoking film
"Why does the dog wag its tail?
Because the dog is smarter than the
tail. If the tail were smarter than the
dog, the tail would wag the dog."
Such a metaphoric riddle about power
and control opens the film Wag the
Dog, Barry Levinson's brilliant "com
edy about truth, justice, and other spe
cial effects."
Faced with a plummeting presiden
tial approval rating eleven days be
fore election (due to the publicity
surrounding his alleged harassment of
a "Firefly girl"), the president's staff
(Robert DeNiro and Anne Heche)
takes desperate measures to cast pub
lic attention away from the scandal
and to portray him in a patriotic, de
pendable light.
With the assistance of a renown
Hollywood producer (Dustin
Hoffman), they chaotically work to
convince the public of the president's
integrity, no matter how contrived the
situation.
This film provides nearly two hours
of purely intelligent dialogue in this
satiric depiction of the powers of gov
ernment to manipulate and "perform"
48 Grand
National Park
49 Group of trees
51 Heart
connection
53 LePew of
cartoons
Features
by Kristi McKim
features editor
Calendar Notices
send to:
behrcoll3 @aol.com
54 State with
conviction
55 Stout's Wolfe
59 Careless
61 Rim of a cup
62 Arctic surface
63 Bo's number
for the people. Mocking the reality
of democracy, Wag the Dog provides
a humorous, seething portrait of the
ways in which political approval are
manipulated via the sensational
manufacturing of the "truth."
As film producer Stanley Moss,
Dustin Hoffman provides an as
tounding performance, as he conveys
the illusions of the Hollywood indus
try through his material needs, not
for money or commodity, but for "the
credit" of the production. The ma
nipulative Moss truly comes to life
through Hoffman's charismatic act
ing.
Forever frustrated with there be
ing no Oscar category for Best Pro
ducer, the over-confident, flamboyant
Moss yearns for glory. As Moss,
Hoffman exquisitely portrays the
ever-laughable, yet sometimes pitiful,
dilemmas of this man.
In the role of Conrad Bree, presi
dential aide, Robert DeNiro provides
one of his best performances. Believ
ing that his "country and job are one
in the same," DeNiro's Bree coolly
deals with fast-paced, high-tensioned
situations.
As the self-assured, sarcastic Bree,
DeNiro's character provides a humor-
,
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Thursday, January 22, 1998 - The Behrend College Collegian - Page 9
ous and significant foil to Hoffman's in contributing to the political state-
erratic Moss
In her role as presidential staff
member, Anne Heche successfully
Mocking the reality of
democracy, Wag the Dog
provides a humorous,
seething portrait of the ways
in which political approval
are manipulated via the
sensational manufacturing
of the 'truth.'
portrays Winifred, the quick-thinking,
hard-nosed political advisor with a
real drive for success.
Her wit and wisdom added a nec
essary dimension to the film; her per
formance with DeNiro and Hoffman
provided for a refreshingly-funny,
believable trio of actors.
Supporting this triumvirate of ac
tors is a star-studded cast, including
Denis Leary, Woody Harrelson, Craig
T. Nelson, Kirsten Dunst, and Willie
Nelson.
In addition to the strong cast, this
film's score is particularly effective
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ment of the film. Often, the film's
scene and the "corresponding" music
works in contrast to each other, per
petuating and contributing to the sar
castic patriotism which pervades the
dialogue and theme of the film.
The photography, also is unbeliev
ably effective for its contribution to
the movie's politics. Exquisite use
of montage (in which the characters,
American flag and public are juxta
posed), combined with the powerful
soundtrack, provides incredible force
to the film's consciousness of "real
ity" in the larger context of commer
cialism and media sensationalism.
Wag the Dog's primary strength lies
in its transcendence of genre
bounds—this film is at once comedy
and drama. While the satirical dia
logue and action are entirely come
dic, within that humor lies a more
strikingly dramatic presentation of
political manipulation and power. Not
often does a film successfully fulfill
the steepest requirements of both
genres, and thus, Wag the Dog is an
exceptionally sophisticated work of
art.
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