arts
Stars sing out against South
Africa's system of apartheid
By RICH DE ATLEY
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES Bruce
Springsteen will join his former E
Street Band guitarist Steve Van
Zandt and at least three dozen other
artists in an anti-apartheid record
titled “Sun City,” due for release in
early October. J
Apartheid is. South Africa’s official
policy of racial segregation, which
permits the white minority to rule the
black majority.
The record will be distributed by
Manhattan Records, with profits
turned over to the New York City
based-Africa Fund, a non-profit, tax
exempt organization founded in 1966
by the American Committee on Afri
ca.
“Just as many of us sang out on
behalf of victims of Africa’s famine,
we are singing out also for those
hungry for freedom,” Van Zandt said
in a recent statement. Van Zandt
wrote “Sun City” after a month long
tour of South Africa to collect materi
al for an album.
Africa Fund spokesman Paul Irish
said Monday in a telephone interview
that the organization “is a means for
Americans to support the African
struggle for freedom and indepen
dence.”
The performers, collectively titled
Artists United Against Apartheid, are
an eclectic gathering including Pat
Benatar, Miles Davis, Lou Reed, Ed
die Kendricks, David Ruffin, Jackson
Browne, Kurtis Blow, Jimmy Cliff,
Bonnie Raijt, Bobby Womack, Nona
Hendryx, Peter Garrett, and Bono
from U 2.
Random
Classic music of many
By PAT GRANDJEAN
Collegian Arts Writer
Random Draw is not just an acous
tic folk band. It's also not just a jazz,
pop, rock or blues band. Because it is
impossible to categorize, it holds po
tential for greatness. Because it is
impossible to categorize, there is also
the potential for a lot of problems.
‘I like to make people scream. You can do that by
hitting people hard with something musical and
really exciting them, or you can be flashy, do the
WfTV thing. That doesn’t have a lot of depth to it.’
—Scott McPherson, Random Draw spokesman
Face it in these days when music is
more a form of commerce than art,
familiarity breeds sales rather than
contempt, and when we have MTV
and hits radio to tell us what sells,
who wants to see a band that can't be
pigeonholed? (Answer: Only those
who like to shake up their brains as
much as they do their bottoms.)
Random Draw performs music that
unifies not only different “genres”
but instruments, voices and decades
as well. In the course of an evening’s
set, it’s not unusual to hear the band
move from Motown classics like Mar
vin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is” and “I
Heard it Through the Grapevine” to a
Bonnie Raitt-styled version of “Run
away” to the Talking Heads’ “Life
During Wartime” and Bing Crosby’s
Depression-era theme song, “Buddy,
Can You Spare a Dime?” -
Along the way, the musicians also
manage to work in Joni Mitchell
(“Big Yellow Taxi”), Bruce Cock
burn (“If I Had a Rocket Launch
er”), Ray Charles (“Hit the Road,
Jack”), Little Feat (“Dixie Chick
en”), the Grateful Dead (“Turn On
Your Lovelight”), Bill Withers
(“Ain’t No Sunshine”) and Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen
Unlike the USA for Africa record
ing session, where the artists came
together for one taping, “Sun City” is
being recorded by participating art
ists at various sessions in Los An
geles, New York and London.
Manhattan will put out a seven-inch
single and a 12-inch extended play
record, which will feature four ver
sions of the song, including the star
studded version, a rap version with
Blow and Melle Mel, an instrumental
version, and a spoken : word version
interspersed with taped speeches
from jailed anti-apartheid leader Nel
son Mandela and Bishop Desmond
Tutu.
“It is important to stress that Art
ists United Against Apartheid really
see this as an consciousness-raising
effort, even more than a fund-raising
effort,” said Irish.
Characteristics of the songdiave not
been disclosed but one verse was
reported to go like this:
“We’re rockers and rappers united
and strong.
We’re here to talk about South
Africa.
And we don’t like what’s going on.”
The Africa Fund is registered with
the United Nations as a non-political
organization. Irish said the funds will
be divided into three parts, with one
third to aid freeing political prisoners
in South. Africa, one third for refugees
of apartheid in Africa and one third
for anti-apartheid education in the
United States.
“Sun City” is named after the con
troversial, Las Vegas-like resort in
Bophuthatswana, an integrated
homeland, or segregated community,
set aside for blacks.
Draw:
(“Like A Rolling Stone”). Originals
crop up from time to time, as do other
reworkings of standard blues (“Sum
mertime”), folk (“If I Had a Ham
mer”) and pop (‘‘Over the
Rainbow”).
The covers don’t sound slavishly
faithful to the original versions but
are treated as though they are a part
of the band’s own repertoire. Random
Draw is a big band with great flexibil
ity: it boasts no fewer than four very
distinctive lead vocalists and a broad
based instrumental array that incor
porates lead electric and acoustic
guitars, bass guitar, saxophone and
woodwind instruments, drums and a
whole other smorgasbord of percus
sive tools (including the conga
drums).
One might fear that such a line-up
might lead to cacophony, but the
band members have a convincing
grip on their interrelationships and
how to keep their sound in balance.
This is not to suggest that Random
Draw ever sounds cautious. In fact,
the great thing about them is the way
they can expand and contract their
sound at will, almost like a rubber
band that gets stretched dangerously
close to its limits without ever snap
ping. Vocal performances may range
from subdued to raucous (“Life After
Wartime” buries all the competi
tion). No song may ever sound exact
ly the same twice, but the listener
always knows that the band is in
control.
Band guitarist/lead vocalist Scott
McPherson said the challenge in the
spotlight
Altman takes pride in his artistry
Arts Editor’s Note: Though Spot
light has often been used to show
case the talents of local musicians,
the Collegian is expanding this col
umn to encompass area artistic
endeavor in all fields.
By JOAN MORYKIN
Collegian Arts Writer
At first glance, his wiry beard
gives him a gruff appearance, but
after a few moments, that impres
sion is belied by a gentle smile
accompanied by his bright and fo
cused eyes. Harold Altman is a
world reknowned artist and the
hallmark of hik unique etchings and
lithographs are various park scenes
from around the world.
Altman’s rise in the artistic world
came in 1956. While teaching at the
University of NortK Carolina, he
submitted a few of his “doodles” to
a competition sponsored by the Mu
seum of Modern Art in New York.
There were about 5,000 drawings
submitted, and from those, the mu
seum chose 100. One of Altman’s
drawings was included.
“When I went to New York and
saw the exhibition, there was a red
dot on it indicating that a sale
had been made. When I went to
inquire as to who had bought it, I
discovered that the museum had
purchased it for its permanent col
lection,” Altman said.
That stimulated Altman to bring
a.group of drawings to New York
and show them to a few art galleries
the reactions were very good. He
then had a show at the Martha
Jackson Gallery, and received ex
cellent reviews accompanied by
good sales. The following year Alt
man did another show in another
gallery, and once again received
great reviews this time in the
form of a 120-line review in the New
York Times.
Altman said that he finally be
came interested in printmaking
during the summer of 1958 when he
was at the University of Wisconsin.
There was an empty print room, so
he bought a “how-to” book and was
soon creating prints which once
again received favorable reactions.
Harold Altman eventually started
teaching art at the University in
1962, and took an early retirement
in 1975.
“One of the things that perhaps is
unique about my work is that most
artists do not remain in one subject
area. I’ve deliberately limited my
subject to parks,” Altman said. He
added that he thinks it’s a'difficult
styles is united in group's spirited performances
future will be for the group to contin
ue to explore its outer limits while
remaining accessible to a local audi
ence.
“We’re real new at this,” he said.
“We’re gonna keep experimenting
and finding different ways to do cra
zier things. There are a lot of good
songs out there, and there’s no reason
they shouldn’t be played just because
new wave or disco is popular. It’s
better to try to introduce the whole
spectrum of pop music to public con
sciousness.”
Solos and “jams” are a big part of
the group’s risk-taking. Songs often
flow into each other by way of an
instrumental bridge that seems to
lead the listener down the yellow
brick road without a tour guide. Dur
ing these moments, one is keenly
aware of just how each band instru
mentalist tries to push the others.
These jams are less exercises in self
indulgence than they are a vehicle to
keep the audience off-balance but
not too far off-balance. Still, it’s hard
to imagine any other band that could
manage a non-stop transition from
“Ain’t No Sunshine” to “Not Fade
Away” to “Rocket Launcher” with
the aplomb these folks exhibit.
McPherson feels that, “Stringing
songs is fun for musicians. We like
finding ways of switching tempos and
keys it keeps the energy flowing in
a way that stopping-and-starting
songs doesn’t. And its nice to surprise
people.” He also believes that an
overemphasis on soloing and jam
ming can lead to trouble. “It’s fun to
stretch out, but you don’t want to lose
your audience. They might not toler
ate a band that’s too loose.” The right
combination of control and experi
mentation “gives you a chance to
catch people’s ears more. We’d like
people to have as good a time with us
as they do with other bands, but we’d
also like them to listen more closely.”
He’s well aware what the individual
Harold Altman kneels beside one of his recent works. This Lemont resident recently received the prestigious silver
medal of the Villa de Paris from the mayor of Paris. The former University professor’s works are now on display at the
Douglas Albert Gallery.
thing to do because when one works
in an area for 25-28 years, there is a
tendency for repetition. He feels
that each year his work has been
totally different.
Altman resides and works in
Lemont. His studio is an airy, high
ceilinged, 19th century Methodist
church which he acquired in 1968. It
is perhaps this quiet country atmo
sphere which eventually inspired
Altman to work with park scenes.
‘But Central Park is
almost nature itself,
individuals react to
—Harold Altman, artist
“(Park scenes) fully began to
intrigue me in 1962, perhaps being
in a country environment, and yet
not wanting to do landscapes, I
began to place a figure in nature,”
Altman explained.
His etchings and lithographs are
abundant with trees: trees existing
in parks, journeying through the
(Left to right) Ned Gerhart, Ed Nardl, Bill Stetz, Rene Campbell, Jeff Bennett and Scott McPherson compose Random
Draw, looking mean during a' performance at the Brewery. The band features elements of Jazz, folk and blues in its
musical mixture. In the course of an evening’s set, it’s not unusual to hear the band move from Motown classics like
Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet it Is” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” to a Bonnie Raitt-styled version of “Runaway” to
the Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” and Bing Crosby’s Depression-era theme song, “Buddy, Can You Spare a
Dime?”
band members contribute to the over
all sound. He praised acoustic guita
rist/vocalist Rene Campbell, a rookie
to the instrument and the bar grind,
for the speed with which she’s devel
oped her skills. Percussionist and
vocalist Jeff Bennett is the most
audience-conscious of the group,
while drummer Ed Nardi (a percus
sion major at the University and the
band’s expert on polyrhythmic strat
egies) and bassist Bill Stetz help
create ever more progressive music.
Ned Gerhart, who is a welcome talent
on the saxophone, helps bring some
elements of modern jazz into Random
Draw. Future plans include the incor-
various seasons of the year and
spiced with human figures.
The majority of Altman’s works
for 1985 are of Central Park in New
York City, which Altman says has a
special quality, quite different from
the formal European. parks. He
explained that European parks do
not co-act with nature, the paths are
not meant to be strayed from and
people don’t picnic in the parks and
play games.
“But Central Park is almost na
ture itself, individuals react to
it.. . it’s like the city’s personal
garden, it’s a strange garden,” Alt
man added.
With Altman’s works, each image
is placed to create subtle forces.
Trees are angled and flattened to
direct forces. Walkways, paths and
plots of grass are also specifically
positioned to create a harmony of
forces moving in various directions,
yet balancing each other.
George Mauner, the art historian,
has said of Altman,“The park is the
only bit of nature readily available
to the city dweller. It offers neither
the rich awesomeness of the wilder
ness nor the perpetual ease of the
suburbs, but only a temporary,
poration of bass clarinet, flute, trum- Monday nights and the Brewery on
pet and possibly even sitar and Fridays.
marimba; which would allow for the McPherson and his cohorts seem
expansion of their repertoire. unlikely to rim out of steam anytime
The members of Random Draw soon, and its the emotional reaction
would also like to expand their perfor- that they try to elicit from their
mance circuit. They are hoping to audiences that will keep them going,
play at West Virginia University and “I like to make people scream,” he
North Carolina State in November, insisted. “You can do that by hitting
and McPherson is working on adding people hard with something musical
stops at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and really exciting them, or you can
to the trip. “This is a college oriented be flashy, do the MTV thing. That
band,” he noted. “People at the cam- doesn’t have a lot of depth to it. But
puses are into more innovative mu- it’s great if the whole band can get so
sic, rather than the same old shit.” In hot it makes people scream. If you’re
State College, the band makes regu- exciting yourself and you’re happy, it
lar appearances at the Scorpion on makes others happy.”
The Daily Collegian
Friday, Sept. 13, 1985
Collegian Photo / Scott Wllkeraon
pleasant release from the tensions
of the immediate surroundings.
Harold Altman, the urban artist,
has found in the city park the ideal
setting for the discreet, internal
dramas that constitute his art. His
figures move along the paths of
their Eden in short-lived respites
from their other, more demanding
lives.”
As an artist, Altman’s life has
been rewarded with much recogni
tion for his work. His work can be
found in many museum collections
throughout the world, and he has
received many grants, fellowships,
and awards. This year in France,
the mayor of Paris presented Alt
man with the prestigious silver
medal of the Ville de Paris. He
spends the winter months at his
studio in Paris.
However, one of Altman’s great
est rewards is his 23-month-old
daughter, Jessie Beers/Altman,
who appears to have inherited some
of his artistic talents and whom he
has included in several of his works.
Altman recalled that he and his
father used to draw together when
he was a child, and he seems to be
upholding the tradition.
Furst's art is impressive while Bushman's
work suffers from a basic lack of intrigue
By ELIZABETH A. FRANK
Collegian Arts Writer
Outside In, the current show at Chambers Gallery,
features prints and drawings of interiors by Donald Furst
and portrait lithographs by D. F. Bushman.
Furst’s work, which investigates space and form, is Furst is skillful at taking subjects that often turn into
more appealing than the caricature portraits of wild, c ii c hes or “S and H Green Stamp Living Room Art” and
punk and rock women that dominate Bushman's draw- depicting them sensitively. His subject matter and man
ings and prints. ner of articulation attract the viewer. He expresses subtle
“My paintings and prints are an attempt to express the emotions in his work that give it depth. The viewer walks
mystery present in the mundane. I’m fascinated by light away with a feeling, a memory, that keeps a piece in mind
and shadow, interior and exterior, calm dignity and sly j on g a ft er having seen it.
humor, the known and the unknown,” Furst said in an _ . . , . . , . . _
nr*ici’« ctntempnt Bushman’s prints consist of overlapping, unclean
His color landscape intaglios, Landscape V, Landscape str ° kes thatare appropriate to his subject matter, but the
VI, and Numen II are particularly lovely Delicate wisps quality of his portrait canca ures have no lasting
of trees in brownish grey cover a field in Landscape V, ** viewar - Bushman’s titles te it all.
and violet brown trees on a hillside are featured in , Lucr f ? 7 S ,l X ’ Drugs “C*? 0 ? 'LTSa
Landscape VI. Both landscapes suggest a barren and ° f f rock ’n’roll woman who looks st e reot y p,cally strung
haunted, yet emotionally moving, sense of winter. Qui- oat ° n sex - dru S s and and r Oll has beads and
etude is a winterscape in black and white that exudes a ather t ornaments around her neck, wild frizzy hair and a
sense of peace. A dark background of trees on snowy heart drawn on her face
ground surrounds a house set in the woods. Numen II is a The titles are over-descriptive: Angie Vagrant in the
study of trees on a slope in spring green and white. - East Lane, Debbie— Enigma of Decadence, Rita Di.
The tree motif used for all of these prints allows the Sultry Exhibitionism and Felice Absence of Morality
witness to experience several viewpoints on the same leave nothing to the imagination. The tough mama,
subject. By grouping the prints together the viewer gets “bad” woman stereotype predominates,
different perspectives on similar landscapes. Although His other prints feature displays of gourmet or fancy
each print is complete in itself the four prints complement foods and elegant place settings. Pike Pate Dubonnet and
each other and enrich the experience of the viewer. Dom Perignon, Caviar are two examples. Plates, silver-
Exploring bedroom interiors through mirrors on old- ware, wine glasses and wine bottles and pike, pate or
fashioned bureaus is the subject of two prints. Looking caviar are more aesthetic subjects. But that is not
carefully at the mirror in “Confluence” reveals a nude enough. While more interesting than the portraits of the
man by the side of a bed. A pair of hands belonging to a women, they are not particularly intriguing. The viewer
body under the covers is clutching the sheets. does not feel compelled to take a second look. The shallow
“Pendant” shows the inside of a room reflected in the quality of subject matter in Bushman’s work leaves the
semi-circle of a mirror on a rectangular bureau. The the viewer feeling empty.
Children are selective in TV
By LAURA WILKINSON
Associated Press Writer
AMHERST, Mass. A psycholo
gist who has watched 2,000 people
view television says that contrary to
popular wisdom, it is adults,' not
children, who sit motionless for hours
in front of the tube.
“We simply almost never saw a
child mesmerized by the television as
the popular literature claims,” said
Daniel R. Anderson, a consultant for
Sesame Street, a long-running public
television children’s program.
Parents, accustomed to seeing ac
tive children with short attention
spans, can recall only the moments
they see their youngsters transfixed
before the television, he said.
“Parents always grossly overesti
mate the amount of time children
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different shapes of a couch, window and door create
interesting geometrical lines.
Looking closely through a “keyhole” in the miniature
print, “Night Vision,” the viewer the observes a couple on
the bed, embracing. The viewer gets a sense of love and
affection between the people in the scene.
spend watching TV ... ” said Ander
son, a University of Massachusetts
professor who uses videotapes to stu
dy television-watching.
Children will look away from a TV
set an average of 150 times an hour,
compared with 120 times an hour for
adults, his studies have shown.
While children sit in front of the TV,
they constantly turn away to play
with toys, quarrel with siblings, talk
to parents and leave the room for
more interesting play, he said.
Anderson, 40, who has devoted 15
years to studying the development of
children’s attention spans and learn
ing abilities, said a student’s question
years ago made him doubt his own
assumptions about the viewing habits
of children.
“I said that as children get older,
they get less distractable," Anderson
said. “A student asked the question,
‘lf young children are more distracta
ble than older children, why do they
just sit and stare at TV, not being
very distracted?”’
Anderson couldn’t find any studies
that would answer the question.
“The paradox in all of the psycho
logical literature on development
during the pre-school years is that
children are quite intellectually ac
tive and are eager to learn and are in
control of their learning experi
ences,” Anderson said.
After discovering that children are
selective in what they watch, Ander
son found that children are most apt
to turn their backs on nonsensical
speech, big words and scenes they
can’t easily follow.
Anderson was hired by Children’s
Television Workshop in New York to
994
994
994
Top hits listed
The following are Billboard’s hot
record hits as they appear in next
week’s issue of Billboard magazine.
Copyright 1985, Billboard Publica
tions, Inc. Reprinted with permis
sion.
HOT SINGLES
I.“ Money For Nothing” Dire
Straits (Warner Bros.)
2. Kool & The Gang (De-
Lite)
3. “St. Elmo’s Fire” John Parr (At
lantic)
4. Don’t Need Another Hero”
Tina Turner (Capitol)
5. Lose My Number” Phil
Collins (Atlantic)
6. Wham! (Columbia)
7. Life” Prince & The Revolu
tion (Paisley Park)
8. Power of Love” Huey Lewis
& The News (Chrysalis)
9. Sheila” Ready for the World
(MCA)
10. You Up” Madonna (Sire)
11. “Dare Me” The Pointer Sisters
(RCA)
12. “Invincible” Pat Benatar
(Chrysalis)
13.“ Take On Me” A-lla (Warner
Bros.)
14. All My Love For You”
Whitney Houston (Arista)
15. 01’ Night” John Cougar
Mellencamp (Riva)
16. of Love” Aretha
Franklin (Arista)
17.“ Dancing in the Street” Mick
Jagger & David Bowie (EMI-Ameri
ca)
viewing
help improve shows, such as Sesame
Street.
Edward L. Palmer, vice president
and senior-research fellow at Chil
dren’s Television Workshop, said An
derson produced a video
documentary showing children
watching segments from the pro
gram and trying to recreate the
scenes with toys.
The tape taught the workshop’s
researchers lessons about which de
vices attracted and which distracted
three- to five-year-old viewers, Palm
er said.
"Part of what rivets children’s
attention is the intelligibility of what
they are watching," Palmer said.
“Children are attracted by what
they can understand. When we tried
to rouse their attention by having
several people talking excitedly at
once, we were turning them away.”
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The Daily Collegian Friday, Sept. 13, 1985—19
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