MUSIC LIST
I The Big Wheel Preservation Hall, Victoria Street. 9.30pm. Free. See Fri 27. I Strategy Lord Darnley. West Port. 229
I Gyroset Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 I708. £1 after 9pm.
’ 7 4341. 10pm. Free. More epic rock. with hooks. Glasgow :ogosmo Music Box. Victoria Street. 220
1708. 9.30pm. Free.
WEDNESDAY 9 Glasgow
I Julia Please Fixx, Miller Street. 9.30pm. Free. Excellent band. and well past time that someone should have signed them. Go along and give them some
I The Wake/I Scream/The Orchids Fury Murrys. Maxwell Street. 10.30pm. Another showcase organised by Tower Studios and McEwan‘s Lager. with a strong line-up of indie orientated bands. The Wake‘s last single ‘Plastic Flowers‘ was their best for ages. not sounding anything like New Order! The Orchids used to be called Gentle Tuesday. and
seem to have a good idea of howto encouragement. construct a halfdecent pop song.
- I Loo-Aka-Bop Boston Bean Co. St James Centre.5560111.8.30pm.Free.SeeWed I The Styng-Rites (to be confirmed). 2
I Lisa Scott Band Lord Darnley. West Port, 229 4341. 10pm. Free.
I Ambition Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free.
I Brechtian Device Cavern. Cowgatc. 226 5641. Chiming. melodic. poppy rock. Their demo shows a lot of talent.
THURSDAY 10 Glasgow
I Billy Mclsaac Riverside Tavern. Waddell Court. 9pm. Free.
I Straight Men McNee‘s Bar. Eglinton Toll. 9pm. Free.
I Anaconda Platinis. West Nile Street. 9pm. Free. Come back this time next year. and they‘ll all still be here — playingthe same songs to the same people.
Edinburgh
I Run Rig Playhouse Theatre. Greenside Place. 557 2590. The nigh-legendary Gaelic folk-rockers who. despite packing out just about everywhere they play up here. still have a hard time south ofthe border. After seeing them turn in an impressive set at Murrayficld I take back every snide remark. Start of a Scottish tour. I Roman lla Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. 7.30pm. Played a well-received showcase gig here a few weeks ago. Their sound has developed a fair bit from the Killing Joke-inspired days when they were known as Plague of Fools, but no quantum leap. I G-Spot Tornado Bermuda Triangle. Coasters Complex. West Tollcross. 228 3252. 9pm. £1.50. Dress smart. See Sat 28. I Hold The Frame Preservation Hall. Victoria Street, 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free. Tight and professional-sounding rock group, originally from Aberdeen area. leaning towards the Simple Minds end of the spectrum. I Los Supremos Canny Man‘s. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. , Free. I Zero Zero Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. £2.50 at door; £2in advance. The only real surprise about Zero Zero is their lack of a record contract. considering their slick heavy metal. which has attracted a legion of fans up and down the country. Scotland‘s HM hopes for the future. I Horses, We Free Kings, Swamp Trash The Alice House. Assembly Rooms. George Street, 225 3614. 7pm. £5. Benefit for Scottish Miners‘ Relief Fund. raising money to help mineworkers and their families who have been facing hard times since the 1984/85 Miners‘ Strike. Good cause, good line-up. I Christmas Revel College of Art. Lauriston Place. 229 931 l. Students and guests only. Only Swamp Trash are so far confirmed for this year‘s revel (Theme: 20.000 Revellers Under The Sea). but / others are being approached. Disco by é Thunderball Club. Art College tend to put " - on quite good do‘s. I Brechtian Oevlce Blues Basement, Broughton Street . 556 7147. See Wed 9.
Venue. Calton Road, 557 3073. 7.30pm. Now putting a lot ofdistance between themselves and their psychobilfy past , Styng-Rites have a new LP. produced by cx-Revillo Eugene Reynolds. out soon. I Lothian Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free. Heavy metal.
I The Volunteers Canny Man‘s. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free.
I Native Strangers Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341 . 10pm. Free.
I eon Ton Roulez Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free.
TUESDA ,8, , _ Glasgow
I Opal October Fixx. Miller Street. 9.30pm. Free. it is a dreadful name — the music can only be better — go along and find out for yourself.
Edinburgh
I Willy Logan Canny Man‘s. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free.
I AFTER ALREADY GIVING success to Hipsway and Danny Wilson earlier this year, the American record buying public seems to be taking to The Silencers and Millions Like Us-two bands with Scottish connections who have made practically no impression in this country. The Silencers have featured in the College Radio Charts, while their debut single ‘Painted Moon’ made No 91 on the Billboard national chart. Making more of an impact are the duo of John O’Kane (Airdrie’s only Michael MacDonald soundalike) and his Londoner musical counterpart, Jeep. Their single, ‘Guaranteed For Life’ is shooting up the Billboard Hot Hundred like the proverbial bullet, clocking in at No 72 this week, and looking like it will become a major hit. I COMING TO PLAY Glasgow and Edinburgh before the end of the year are The Jazz Defektors, a Manchester band who do not even have a record deal in this country, but have just reached No 2 in the Japanese charts with their album. Watch out for more details. I MORE RECOMMENDATIONS this time for Skin Games, whose single ‘No Criminal Mind’ (Epic) should, but probably won’t, be a massive hit. If you missed the band when they played Edinburgh and Stirling earlier this month, then look out for them when they return to play Glasgow later this year. I FOR ANYONE harbouring the illusion that the indie charts are better than the main charts- choke on this for a demonstration of injustice: Mandy Smith’s last single reached No 21, while Goodbye Mr Mackenzie’s excellent ‘Face To Face’ peaked at No
o sr ANOREW’S oar was nova) like this In my young day. Scottish Televlslon mark Scotland’s national day on the 30th by showing a recording of Run ng playing live at the Mod.
25. Fortunately Goodbye Mr Mackenzie will not be going cap in hand to Messers Stock, Altken and Waterman to remedy the situation.
ALBUMS
I Eurythmics: Savage (RCA). Any band who would release a single like ’Beethoven' (kicking off the LP here), would have to be a pretty perverse crew and, sure enough, Lennox and Stuart are determinedly going their own way, intent on pleasing nobody but themselves. That’s what they’ve always done, though with the frequency that their records hit the top end of the charts you’d be forgiven for thinking that they see themselves as some Stock-Aitken-Waterman hit factory.
‘Savage’ will persuade you otherwise. The first thing that catches the ear (or rather doesn’t) is the lack of chart-sounding tunes. ‘You Have Placed a Chill on My Ileart’ and ‘Shame’ have beautiful melodies. but follow the tenor of the LP: raw and harrowing. Eurythmics are in a dark mood, stinging from betrayal all around: from lovers, friends, the media, and the only possible light at the end of the tunnel is to return to the tray, to the arms of others, risking the hurt over and over again. It’s that desperate. Taken altogether, and with Annie Lennox’s personae split schizophrenically across both sides, ‘Savage’ takes form as an acknowledgement of human frailty and dependence.
And if ’Brand New Day’, an ’Age Of Aquarius’ twenty years late, is supposed to resolve the conflict it doesn’t work. The song is weak, and
30 The List 27 Nov - 10 Dec 1987