December 1980
CREEM
Regarding the Punk vs. Heavy Metal Debate, I have this to say: All of the following artists are represented in my music collection: AC/DC, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, the Who, the Clash, Elvis Costello, the Cramps, Devo, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols.
CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
Ahh, 1979—what a year. In contemplating the earlier years of the decade, I’ve often found myself forced—by word-of-mouth or historical imperative or getting around to it or sheer dumb luck—back to that banner year, a year that saw more “A” records released than any other in the 70’s. Also very few great ones, but never mind.
ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS
It’s official, of course, that John Lennon’s Double Fantasy, consisting of six of Yoko Ono’s songs (including her disco song “Kiss Kiss Kiss”), and six of househusband John’s, will bear the label of Geffen Records (dist. by Warner Brothers).
THE BEAT GOES ON
J. Kordosh
DETROIT, MI—What’s more exciting than seeing the Kinks in live performance? Why, seeing the Kinks after a live performance. Like the proverbial barrel of monkeys, these whimsical rockers just keep on entertaining. They probably can’t be stopped.
THE HERMIT TREMBLES: PETER NOONE LOOKS BACK
John Mendelssohn
On a warm, smoggy Saturday morning on the verge of September, this journal’s man on the West Coast called on Peter Noone, who, from farther than an arm’s length away, appears not to have aged two weeks in the decade and a half since he led Herman’s Hermits to the very apogee of adolescent acclaim.
Features
MOTELS’ Check-out Time
Dave DiMartino
Martha Davis feeds her family.
Creem Profiles
LENE LOVICH
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)
Features
CANDY STRIPERS ARE GO
Rob Patterson
Zen rudism and the art of Cheap Trick.
Teacher’s Pets From The Black Lagoon
Rick Johnson
Wimp rock with never die.
CREEM DREEM
GRACE JONES
Rock ‘n’ Roll Calendar
CALENDAR
JOHN COUGAR X-R7’S ENTIRE MIDWEST METROPOLIS
Richard Riegel
Renegade Stories Down Thru The Years: CINCINNATI, OHIO, October, 1976: As I’m unpacking the latest shipment of promo records from MCA, my ever-hopeful attention span locks onto the title of one “Johnny Cougar.” Chestnut Street Incident, it’s called, and the cover art, which features Mr. Cougar’s pouting, pompadoured visage stark against a moody gray background, strikes me as a direct cop of Lou Christie’s Lightening Strikes, one of my all-time top ten LPs.
Letter From Britain
DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUMBLINGS
Penny Valentine
Who remembers what turned them on to rock 'n' moment, what record—stranger Still Why?
Rewire Yourself
TV Strikes Back
Richard Robinson
Truth is stranger than fiction in the TV wasteland.
Stars Cars
THE KINGBEES
Features
SURPRIIIISE! Your Mom Likes The B-52s!
It was raining. Monday night, and the B-52's were playing Harpo's, an old movie theater on the east side of Detroit.
CREEMEDIA
Mitchell Cohen
Some paths should never cross. When Milena (Theresa Russell) plants her formidable leg in a doorway to prevent Dr. Alex (Art Garfunkel) from leaving a party, it’s all over for the curly-top research psychoanalyst; he had the right idea earlier, when he quipped that if they never met, they could imagine it would turn out perfectly.
DRIVEN SATURDAY
Edouard Dauphin
“The second before she screams will be the most frightening moment of your life.” Maybe. If you’ve never seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, ridden New York City subways or glimpsed Bun E. Carlos without his clothes on. The “she” is Angie (Police Woman) Dickinson, playing, if you can believe it, a sex-starved hausfrau. The film is Dressed To Kill, latest horror concoction from director Brian De Palma, a man who has ripped off Alfred Hitchcock so many times he ought to be arrested for grave desecration.
Confessions of a FILM FOX
Why do you think they call it Holly weird? It could be because of the gentlemen like CHiPs star Erik Estrada who reportedly forced his wife of less than a year to have lesbian relationships, take drugs, have sex with a gun stuck in her mouth, and worst of all, watch his crappy show.
Records
INTERSTELLAR UNDERDRIVE
Jeff Nesin
One morning about two years ago the clock radio woke me with the drive-time jock in mid-ramble.
Sat. Nite Of Living Bozos
ROBOT A. HULL
ROCK•A•RAMA
Michael Davis
PERE UBU—Final Solution/My Dark Ages (Rough Trade 45):: Those of you who’ve bumped into the Ubumen’s latest stuff and wonder where they’re coming from should definitely check this single out. These are the major tunes from 1976 that didn’t make the Datapanik In The Year Zero 12” and they’re both amazing.
Extension Chords
Shapes Off Things Today
Allen Hester
Flashback, writer’s, chemically-inspired, one each: The first band I was ever in.
Backstage
BACKSTAGE
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down