I The Eurythmics: We Too are One (BCA) Afterthe bittersweet success of ‘Savagc‘ (arguably The Eurythmics‘ finest hour). this album marks a return to the anthemic songs of ‘Revenge‘ and ’Be YourselfTonight‘. ln that respect. ‘We Too. . .‘is accomplished indeed. The drawback is the safety and cleanliness that this entails. Despite the optimism of the title track. and the subtle sarcasm of ‘King and Queen of America‘. it is not until ‘(My My) Baby‘s Gonna Cry‘ that there is any indication ofthe album‘s potential — this cynical. angry duet between Annie and Dave is easily the highpoint. By anyone else‘s standards. a remarkable record. but for The Eurythmicsit‘s very much the sound of water being tread. (James Haliburton)
I The Young Gods: L’eau Rouge/Bed Water (Play it Again Sam) This is quite possibly the music Stravinsky would have composed had he accessto a sampler. The orchestrations and heavy dance beat are fused in a way that puts The Young Gods at the forefront of those bands lumped together as ’hardcore/avant-garde dance music‘. While not directly influenced by them. they are certainly the musical soulmates of bands like Foetus. Laibach and Front 242. Only the omnipresent Roli Mossiman could really have produced ‘L‘eau Rouge‘. making sense of the disorder to combine obsessive lyrical imagery with equally intense musical pilfering. lfthis album is afair indication ofThe Young Gods‘ abilities. their Scottish dates in October will be unmissable. (.lames llaliburton)
ALBUMS .
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ROCK35 M2241 FOLK42 CLASSICAL43
lISTINGS
[MUSIC PREVIEW
MUSIC LIST
m1! Gloria in Excelsls
In the space oi a year, Gloria Estelan has made the transition from one-hit wonder (Miami Sound Machine’s "Doctor Beat’ made the Top Ten in 1985) to one ol the biggest names in the British charts.
Flred by the success at the ballads "Anything ForYou’ and "Can’t Stay Away From You’ In the singles chart, Esteian can now claim two at the ten biggest-selling albums in Britain this year, the most recent, "Cuts Both Ways’ entering the album chart at Number One and staying there lor live weeks.
Her previous album, also entitled "Anything For You’, had ilopped miserably in Britain on its lirst release, but astute repackaging and re-releasing underthe title "Let it Loose’ resulted In sales at a million. Her current single, "Dye Mi Canto’, needless to say, is riding high.
While that more or less summarises the Gloria Esteian story in this country, the history at Miami Sound Machine actually goes back to the early 1970s, when Emilio Estelan termed a band called the Miami Latin Boys. In 1975, he heard the 18-year-old Gloria sing tor the lirst time, and a few weeks later she guested with the band, playing at a wedding in Miami.
Emilio insisted that she join the band, and his persistence persuaded Gloria to give In -- not the last time lor the tuture Mrs Esteian. Miami Sound Machine, as they later became known, went on to record their lirst album in 1976 for the small Audio Latino label,
which was to be their home until CBS signed the band in 1980. These records made a huge impact in Latin America,
although their appeal in the USA was limited to the Hispanic communities.
Alter teething problems with CBS, when corporate A88 policies prevented the band developing in the Estelans’ prelered direction, the band eventually hit on crossover success with "Doctor Beat’ and the album from which it was taken, "Eyes oi lnnocence’ (recently reissued in the UK), building on the success with American hits "Conga’ and the stunning ballad "Words Get in The Way’ irom the "Primitive Love’ album, released in 1986.
In the wake oI "Anything For You’ and "Cuts Both Ways’, Gloria Esteian was recently given the prestigious BMI Songwriter oi the Year award, and she has recently enjoyed yet another American Number One with the single "Don’t Wanna Lose You.’ Photos at her posing proudly in iront at Miami Sound Machine Boulevard are testimony to her success -- Gloria Esteian in 1989 is not only a pop sensation, but one with a long history and certain longevity. (John Williamson)
Gloria Esteian and Miami Sound Machine, Edinburgh Playhouse, Monday 2, Tuesday 3.
V FOLK
Province of Ulster
The North at Ireland is represented in a series at concerts over the next lortnight, lirst in song by Jane Cassidy and Maurice Leyden, then by the Donegal Fiddlers.
"The Province 0i Ulster’ is the title of a radio and stage production combining poetry, song, story, music and local history. Part oi a series on Northern lrish documentary Iolk history devised and performed by the husband and wile team oI Cassidy and Leyden, it is presented in Edinburgh on the Wednesday 4 and Glasgow on Friday 6.
At one time a regular vistor to Scottish Iolk clubs, singing with guitar and keyboards, Jane Cassidy spends more and more time as a writer/broadcaster with Radio Ulster and UlsterTV. Maurice Leyden is the authority on Beliast songs, and his deeply researched collection will be published in November. Aline singer, he also works in the area of oral history and social documentary, and his humour and intelligent presentation put the songs in a resonant context.
Ireland’s genius oi the bow, Tommy Peoples, and top iolk band Allan owe
Jane Cassidy
their Iiddle sound to an old tradition that is strong still in the bills at Donegal. Close to Scotland and strongly altected by the Scottish snap in reels and strathspeys, the Donegal style is driving and pungent and very much alive. The Donegal Fiddlers, over here to play the Aberdeen Alternative Festival, lit in concerts in Glasgow’s Riverside on Wednesday 11 and Edinburgh’s Demarco Gallery on Thurs 12. (Norman Chalmers)
Roots Rocking
From punk . . . back to punk again? Alastair Mabbott caught up with The Mekons’ Jon Langford on the way.
Others floundered, succumbed to the fashions of the Eighties and fell by the wayside. exhausted. Few have shown the longevity ofThe Mekons, still here twelve years after they captured the mood ofthe moment with the epic single ’Never Been in a Riot‘.
Since 1983, they‘ve been getting back to their roots, in a way, playing a music that‘s brought together British folk influences and country and western, but always music underpinned by their love ofthe roots of rock.
Their eclecticism seemed to reach some kind ofa logical conclusion in last year‘s slick LP So Good it Hurts (which will be forever loved for providing us with the wondrous song
30 The List 29 September— 12 O
ctober 1989