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In the span of six years, the
musical tastes in Britain nave
gone from punk to pop pap. The
latest musical trend favors the
lightweight dance bands—the
Culture Club currently standing
in the midst of all the hype.
The Culture Club continues
the trend, but also adds their
own unique trademark—strong
vocals, provocative lyrics, pun
chy horns, and third world
rhythms (salsa, reggae, and
dub).
Boy George fronts the band,
lending tough vocals to the in
nocuous musical rhythms.
George and bassist Michael
Craig formed the band two
Gandhi: man and myth
By Pat Wenger
The movie was over, the
credits were rolling, but no one
was leaving.
This was one audience reac
tion to Gandhi, the three hour
biographical of one of the most
remarkable men since Jesus
Christ.
Even during intermission the
movie goers milled slowly and
quietly to the concession stand
and lavatories. When people did
speak it was in lowered tones as
if in church.
The Christian parallel doesn’t
end there as Gandhi himself,
though a Hindu, respected and
admired Christ’s teaching. Not
only did he admire Christ but
he lived like Christ.
As a passive, non-cooperator,
he practically single-handedly
won the independence of India
from the in 1947.
Episodes about his struggle
include imprisonment, fasting
nearly to death and unconscion
able treatment suffered by
an intellectual, passive and
civilized human being.
The story opens with a young
dandified Gandhi, a British at
torney, on business in South
years ago after George’s short
lived stint as lead singer with
Bow Wow Wow. Drummer Jon
Moss and guitarist Roy Hay
joined soon afterwards to round
out the rest of the Culture Club
sound.
Featured on their debut
album “Kissing To Be Clever”
(Virgin) is the enchanting top
forty song “Do You Really
Want To Hurt Me”—a mawkish
ballad that was recorded in a
single take.
' Boy George may look like a
wimp, but his strong vocals in
ject a sense of urgency into the
album, from the energetic over
tones of “I’m Afraid of Me” to
the racial undertones of “White
Boys Can’t Control It.”
In trendy old Britain, where
this year’s superstars may be
next year’s forgotten heroes,
the Culture Club is likely to
lead the current crop of
lightweight dance-oriented
bands for a few years or until
the “next big thing” comes
along.
Their energetic initial UP
“Kissing To Be Clever” pro
vides the Culture Club with a
powerful weapon to fight off
Britain’s next trend (whatever
it may be).
Africa, a colony of the British
Empire. He suddenly meets up
with apartheid treatment of
minorities and finds himself
forced into low class travel.
Eventually Gandhi is successful
in winning some relaxation of
the civil laws solely through
non-violent measures and he
returns to his native India to a
hero’s welcome.
He is taken into the Congress
Party working for India’s home
rule, and soon separates from
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The Reel World
the leading elite by represen
ting the common man, whether
Moslem or Hindu, by leading a
buoycott against importation
and use of British cloth which
caused much of India’s poverty
The English rise from inten
= mmm
By Michael Markle
Pyromania indeed! Def Lep
pard, the rock brigade boys
from Sheffield are back again
with ten scorchers on their
third album “Pyromania”
(POLYGRAM). Heavy metal’s
youngest (average age 21)
professional-level band have re
tained producer Robert John
“Mutt” Lange for their latest
album. Lange, who also slides
the knobs for the infamous
AC/DC, has taken the raw
essence of the Def Leppard
sound and transformed it into a
tionallv ignoring Gandhi to irra
tional brutality before they
finally, peacefully, leave India
as Gandhi originally said they
would.
Ben Kingsley, 38, a 15 year
stage veteran of the Royal
Shakespeare Company,
prepared well for his role and
hybrid of heavy metal and mid
tempo hard rock.
There are a few out-and-out
rockers on the album, but the
majority have been scaled
down to a tasteful medium
tempo speed, utilizing fat chord
progressions and formidable
riffs. Def Leppard has slowed
down the tempo, but still main
tains a brisk, healthy pace that
prevents them from depending
on the heavy-handed dirges that
are characteristic of many
heavy metal bands (i. e.
AC/DC).
“Photograph,” the most ac
cessible song on the new album,
relies heavily on the guitar
interplay between Steve
“Steamin’’ Clark and new
member Phil Collen (replacing
former guitarist Pete Willis),
with ethereal back-up vocals
that guarantee it a place on the
A.O.R. hit list.
“Rock! Rock! (Till You
Drop) is the token rock anthem
song that should be a great
show-opener when Def Leppard
goes on the road.
“Too Late For Love” features
a catchy lead guitar riff that
feeds off the wailing vocals of
lead singer Joe Elliot.
.The title of the album,
“Pyromania,” says it all—these
guys are out to set the world
aflame with their own brand of
blistering hard rock.
Albums courtesy WTPA FM 104
felt a bit mystical about his
selection by Richard Atten
borough for the Gandhi part in
John Briley’s screenplay. He
knew he would get the part.
Before Attenborough even
selected Kingsley, also known
as Krishna Bhanji due to his In
dian heritage, Kingsley was in
India, adopting a vegetarian
diet and absorbing the
meditative vibes of this ancient
culture.
After getting the part he lost
weight, shaved his head, learn
ed to spin cotton thread, took up
yoga and appears on the screen
as the unmistakable image of
Muhatma Gandhi.
The plot and the acting were
spellbinding and although the
spell is painfully broken near
the end of the movie, the au
dience chooses to linger on.