5th April 1986
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Record Mirror 5th April 1986 |
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| Page 1 · Page 3 · Page 10 · Page 30 · Pages 32 & 33 · Pages 34 & 35 · Page 37 |
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Front Cover Features Tippa Irie - "I'm not really a ladies man". Other features - Fine young Cannibals, Faith Brothers, Redskins, Tom Waits, Balaam And The Angel. LIVE: Big Country, Sputnik, Pogues, Husker Du. |
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Contents page 10 SINGLES Reviewed by roger morton 30 LIVES hüsker dü, circus circus, pogues, big country, sputnik, blue in heaven |
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SINGLES "RECORD AND RECONSIDER" BIG COUNTRY 'Look Away' (Phonogram) The Status Quo of Eighties' swagger rock stick with the formula, surprise, surprise, and come up with a sure fire Janice Long hit, surprise, surprise. This is real pro stuff. That ever galloping beat parts the dust for a spaghetti western intro. Stuart reins in the guitars for a verse of love-lorn yearning, and then highland flings the band into the hard-sell, pulse pumping chorus. A great song, a proud song. I think I might hate it. SIMPLE MINDS 'All The Things She Said' (Virgin) The sleeve says it all, really. Only half of Jimbo's make-up caked face peers out, and we all know what has happened to the other half. The once alive and kicking side of Jim Kerr's ego is again proved to be quite dead and neret'd. It must be to release this predictable, meandering track from 'Once Upon a Time'. No amount of Robin Cash vocal-aid can make up for the ever widening gaps in SM productions. And as the gaps get wider, Jim gets wider and becomes an easier targer. Which reminds me... perhaps all the Amnesty International support is sometthing to do with fear of a prison diet. Reviewed by roger morton |
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Page 30 BIG COUNTRY, PLAYHOUSE, EDINBURGH "Here we go, here we go, here we go". The Big Country faithful were out in force tonight, filling the playhouse to capacity, ready to salute their heroes. People whooped with joy, jumped up and down, punched the air and a girl next to me nudged her mate and said, "Oh that Stuart's awfully nice". Big Country could have done a version of 'Ace Of Spades' and got away with it, such was the blind adoration of their following. Surrounded by a stage set which Hawkwind would have been proud of, the band moved through the standards, throwing in the odd new song for good measure. 'Fields Of Fire' is still a wonderfully powerful song, but it's a shame that Big Country haven't moved on more since 'The Crossing'. Where the band's music was once interesting and innovative it now plods perilously on the wrong side of boring. Stuart Adamson, Bruce Watson and Tony Butler jumped up, down and around enthusiastically while the crowd lapped up every chord change, but there was something missing, something hollow about this performance. 'Remembrance Day' (a new song), 'Where The Rose Is Sown' and 'Steeltown' were all played competently enough, but practically the entire set suffered from a common denominator of tedious similarity. 'Look Away', which may be the next single, was a slight change, but it's the sort of sluggish stomp rock that Slade have made their hallmark. But it wasn't all bad. 'Chance' provided some welcome light relief as it fell like manna from, well Dunfermline. More songs, more axe-wielding, more jumping in the air, and then it was time for the audience to get into the time-honoured ritual of screaming for an encore, "Beware of American actors with nuclear weapons", said Mr Adamson and 'Flame Of The West' followed, greeted by thunderous applause. Big Country cannot be accused of being a second generation Led Zeppelin because there is considerable eveidence to suggest that they actually care about a number of issues. One of the problems of major success is that it tends to result in a loss of vision, which is a great shame since their debut LP promised so much. I admire the band's stance, I tip my hat to them for entertaining the paying customer, but I have to say that their music hardly touched me at all. Review by Patrick Small; photo by Karen McConnell. |
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Pages 32 & 33 A GOSSIP COLUMN (LIP) (first new paragraph on page 33) The gremlins got well and truly into the works at Big Country's opening date in Newcastle. Seems the poor old mixing desk couldn't cope with all those 15 minute guitar solos and just gave up the ghost. But, being the stoics they are, they carried on regardless and played for two hours (sounds like hell on earth to us) then announced that everyone was invited to a free repeat performance in April... |
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Pages 34 & 35 CHARTS MUSIC VIDEO 4 (no change) - THE SINGLE FILE, Kate Bush, PMI New entry at 17 - LIVE, Big Country, Channel 5 COMPACT DISCS 7 (prev 8) - ONCE UPON A TIME, Simple Minds, Virgin 10 (prev 7) - HOUNDS OF LOVE, Kate Bush, EMI Compiled by Spotlight Research |
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Page 37 RM / PM - The world's most upfront live guide Wednesday 2 SHEFFIELD City Hall (735295) Big Country Thursday 3 MANCHESTER Apollo Theatre (061-273 3775) Big Country |