July 1985
MEET REO’S KEVIN CRONIN
Here’s your opportunity to win either a 6or 12-string Collector’s Series Acoustic guitar from Ovation Instruments...the prize guitar to be awarded by REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin. The lucky winner will be flown to an REO concert and presented their guitar.*
Send all your hot ’n’ heavy love letters, vicious hate mail, warped comments, and tamper-proof food products to: MAIL Dept., CREEM Magazine P.O. Box P-1064 Birmingham, Ml 48012 POLLING FOR DOLLARS Fresh from reading your Readers Poll issue, I can understand your not wanting anything to do with it.
Creem Profiles
GEORGE THOROGOOD
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)
Rock 'n' Roll News
Being For The Benefit Of The Vietnam Veterans Of America Dept.: A recent gathering of some of Michigan’s finest oldsters (musicians from the ’60s), billed as the Guitar Army, brought in the bucks for the VVA and entertained a soldout crowd at Harpo’s in Detroit.
The Beat Goes On
Robert Lloyd
HOW BROWN WAS MY RAWHIDE? SACRAMENTO, CA—Sacramento is not exactly a hothouse for the nurturing of Young Raw, Rock ’n’ Roll Talent. But consider, friend, all that frontier history lying around, glowing practically—inspiration for the asking.
REO SPEEDWAGON DO’WANNA B’WANAS!
Kevin Knapp
After nearly a two year absence, these multi-platinum Wagoneers were just two weeks into the first leg of a tour supporting their most recent LP
IRON MAIDEN: WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, EDDIE?
Karen Schlosberg
Heavy Metal. Now—wait.
BEING OF GENERAL PUBLIC INTEREST
Richard Grabel
As the mainstays of the Beat (known in America as the English Beat, to distinguish them from a California power-pop band that had first dibs on the name the Beat), Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger always seemed on the verge of pop star success.
Features
THE WIT & WISDOM OF PRINCE ROGERS NELSON
Bill Holdship
P.T. Barnum won’t you please come home?
Rock ‘n’ Roll Calendar
Calendar
Eleganza
AS GAIL WARNINGS TURNS, AND HOW TO DRESS
John Mendelssohn
Extremely generous financial compensation is far from the only benefit that accrues to writing this column.
SECRETS OF DAVE!
D. DiMARTINO
CREEMEDIA
Cynthia Rose
He’s James “Sonny” Crockett, the cop who spends his working time in Cerruti silk suits, T-shirts and espadrilles (minus socks). Dumped by a comely ex-wife, he now parks his black Ferrari in front of a houseboat anchored in Miami’s most scenic marina, an accomodation he shares with an alligator named Elvis.
Stars Cars
TOMMY LEE
CREEM DREEM
FIONA
MEDIA COOL
Keith A. Gordon
MADONNA by Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal (Leisure Books) With both authors having backgrounds as rock writers or publicists, it’s no wonder to us that they’ve come up with a pretty scary book here. It’s all about the beautiful Madonna, who is evil incarnate.
Video Video
GERRY’S KIDS
Billy Altman
In typical Second City fashion, the Gerry Todd Show was based on a juxtaposition of hopelessly incongruous elements.
Records
RECORDS
Mitchell Cohen
Pretty soon, it will be an established practice for earnest rockers to start off albums by announcing the circumstances of their birth.
45 REVELATIONS
Ken Barnes
If I had to pick my favorite recordmaker these days, I’d say Tom Petty. Springsteen (main rival) may tackle weightier issues, with more powerful impact at times, but Petty has a lightness of touch I find more appealing, and song for song his records simply sound better.
ROCK • A • RAMA
Dave DiMartino
FISHBONE (Columbia) I’ve been waiting for years for some hep young blacks to take up that leering torch passed by our greatest rock ’n’ roller ever—Mr. Chuck Berry, of course, who’d you think I meant?—and the hour may have come to this Fishbone disc.
FROM ZAPPA TO ALCATRAZZ
Billy Cioffi
YAMAHA COMPUTER ASSISTED MUSIC SYSTEM (YCAMS) (Yamaha International Corporation) With the refinement of the MIDI as well as the gigantic leaps in digital technology, electronic instrument companies have leapt feet first into the world of computers.
Backstage
Backstage
Where the Stars Tank Up & Let Their Images Down
CREEM Contents