Play Meter

Issue: 1980 December 31 - Vol 6 Num 24

By Pat Matthews
MUfiC
pro~r()rnmit1
Program Director
WQUE New Orleans
The return of a Beatie,
among others
1980 has come and is just about
gone. It's been an interesting year , to
say the least. Comebacks in the
music industry were numerous .
Label switching was in the forefront
moreso than in recent memory. And
it was the year for the new artist- !
think this more than anything
highlighted the first year of the new
decade, musically speaking, and
that's healthy!
WHEN WE GET MARRIED-
LARRY GRAHAM- Warner Bro-
thers/ WBS 49581
From the album "One In a Million
You ," which spawned the very
successful single of the same name,
it's Larry Graham, the "new golden
throat" of soul with alight, dreamy
tune all about what's on a lot of
young girls' minds these days . So
much for the lyrical content. The
vocal arrangement conjures up
memories of the Pla tters and a lot of
other soulful vocalists from the late
fifties and early sixties. Could be a
"sleeper". 9 out of 10 on highest
chart.
I'M HAPPY THAT LOVE HAS
FOUND YOU-JIMMY HALL-
Epic/ 9-50931
This is a good record . And it
person, the song may end up being
just what the title implies; 7 out of 10
outside possibility.
continues the skein of new artists
which began, as we said earlier, in
1980. What this record has the most
of is a commercial sound. Excellent
vocals fronting a toe tapping backing
arrangement make this a sure-shot
winner for this new star on the
horizon: 9 out of 10 for sure.
SONG FOR YOU - CHICAGO-
Columbia/11 -11376
When I first heard the latest lp
from these prolific musicians, I liked
"Thunder and Lightening" as the
single choice. It was a mid-charter
and I reviewed it as such in an earlier
column. As I also said to my wife , this
new single had definite possibilities.
Well , of course, it 's positively the
new 45 rpm release and it remains to
be seen how well it'll do. Abou t the
song : it's a pretty enough -an
acoustic ballad sung beautifully by its
writer , Peter Cetera . Cetera has
been in Chicago from the beginning
and has penned a number of ballads
for the group. Notably, "Wishing
You Were Here" from a few years
back. The vocals are strong, the
acoustic guitar and synthesizer lend
support, but there 's something
missing. That missing ingredient is
obvious. There are no horns! Quite
an adjustment for the ears: Chicago
without horns. Even "Colour My
World" had a flute to carry the song
to the end. The song is good enough ,
though, so I give it a 7 out of 10.
TURN AND WALK AWAY-
THE BABYS- Chrysalis/ CHS 2467
A new album and a new single.
That's good news for their fans or for
people yet to be exposed to them, for
that matter. This one's done up in
typical Babys' style. The brash
mellowness of John Waite 's vocals
lead the way for searing guitars and a
heavy back beat. Seems to be in the
same mold as the mildly successful
"Back On My Feet Again" from a
year ago. Could go as high as 7 out of
10.
NO BIG DEAL- AMBROSIA-
Warner Brothers/ WBS 49590
Here's quite a switch from the
mellow , somewhat soulful initial
offerings which have preceeded from
the ultra -successful "One Eighty" lp.
This time out it's Ambrosia at their
rock' n' rollin' bes, a side of this
group seldom heard by the average
radio listener . And to this average
=
I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT-
=
=
The records are rated as follows : 10 out of 10 Top 10 peak ; 9 out of 10 Top 20 peak; 8 out of 10 Top
Somewhere In Top 100· 4 or less
Forget it loser
30 peak; 7 out of 10 Top 40 peak; 5 or 6 out of 10
'
'
'
break in half.
=
=
=
EDD I E RABBITT -Eiektra/E -
47066-A
In the spirit of Buddy Holley ,
Eddie 's keeping himself very visable
now that he's made the big crossover
to Pop with "Drivin' My Life Away".
This one's in the same tradition as
the aforementioned super success,
except this one's a bit more electric
and there's no windshield wipers to
clear the rain. The thing I find the
most amusing is that there's nothing
in this song, audibly, that is Country,
but then again, most of Anne
Murray's stuff isn't either and she is
still considered a Country artist-
and so is Eddie Rabbitt. Give it a 10
out of 10 on highest chart.
JUST LIKE STARTING OVER-
JOHN LENNON - Geffen Re -
cords/ GEF 49604
Who would have thought a
former Beatie would be the other
artist on a new label that up until now
only had Donna Summer on it? Not
me for sure. But , this record is not
merely a record or a song, it's an
historical event! It marks the first
time the recently very private John
Lennon has ventured into a
recording studio since October,
1974. Well , that was for the release of
the now classic " Rock' n' Rolllp and
if the initial single release from this
new " Double Fantasy" album, a two
record set is any indication of what's
on the rest of the lp, John is picking
up his rock' n' roll ways just where he
left off.
The song starts off as a ballad
sounding a lot like the Guess Who's
" Laughing" then moves into a
definite Beach Boy-ish good time
sound. Redundant chord triplets on
the piano keep this simple song
going. Initial reaction has been great
and this will probably be Lennon 's
biggest hit ever. Trust me: 10 out of
10.
Tom Fox heads
UBI marketing
Thomas P . Fox has recently joined
United Billiards, Inc . as head of sales
and marketing .
He brings with him a financial
background of serving as vice
president of marketing and
advertising for The Iron Bank in
Morristown, New Jersey from 1969
to 1973; vice president, business
development for Midlantic/Citizens
Bank from 1973 to 1980.
A graduate of Upsala College, Mr .
Fox is married, has three boys and
resides in Sparta , New Jersey .
Bessell is Coinco director/Sydney
ST. LOUIS-Ronald Bessell has
been appointed managing director of
Coin Acceptors, Incorporated's
(Coinco's) beanch office in Sydney,
Australia, which is a new post,
announced Claude Trieman, presi -
dent.
A native Australian, Bessell will be
responsible for establishing and
managing Coinco's Sydney branch.
Prior to joining Coinco, he was
operations coordinator for Coca-
Cola Export Corporation, Fountain
Beverage Division, in Silverwater,
New South Wales.
Bessell, who holds a management
certificate from Banks town T echni-
cal College , lives with his wife, Robyn
Anne , and their two daughters ,
Belinda and Bronwyn, in a suburb of
Sydney.
Ron Bessell
D. Gottlieb tags serv1ce staff
The appointments of George
Offshack as technical services
manager and Bruce Minus as field
service engineer have been an -
nounced by Richard Finger, Gottlieb
director of engineering.
In commenting on the promotion,
Gil Pollock, Gottlieb V.P. of
Operations said, "George Offshack
is well known to every Gottlieb
distributor and to literally hundreds
of game operators around the
country through his intensive series
of service schools conducted during
the last two years. His appointment
will be greeted with enthusiasm by
those who have benefited from his
schools in every major market area ."
Finger concluded, " We are also
very pleased with the appointment of
Bruce Minus, who came to us with
broad experience in Solid State and
Electro-Mechanical technology. He
will continue to conduct schools on a
regular basis through Gottlieb
distributors after the AMOA Show.
A. Hankin handles Atari Down Under
Effective October 10, 1980, A.
Hankin and Company of Newcastle,
NSW, Australia will serve as an Atari
distributor for Australia.
A. Hankin , currently operated by
Peter and David Hankin , has been in
the games business in Australia for a
little more than 23 years. As well as
acting as a distributor for video
games, they also manufacture
pinball games. Their latest pinball
game is The Empire Strikes Back,
the theme of which is based on the
current hit movie.
In making the announcement, Sue
Elliott, Atari's international sales
manager, who visited the A. Hankin
facility earlier this year, stated: "We
would like to welcome A. Hankin and
Company to the Atari distributor
group . They will help us to serve our
Australian operators more com-
pletely, and we look forward to our
association with them."
Atari's coin-op products are now
being distributed in Australia by both
Leisure and Allied Industries and by
A. Hankin and Company.
Mountain Coin buys Phoenix arm
Mountain Coin Machine Distribu -
tors has announced its recent
acquisition of Statewide Coin
Machine Distributors in Phoenix .
Elden Kingston , owner of Mountain
Coinm stated that the purchase of
Statewide , added to distributorships
in Denver, Salt Lake City , and
Albuquerque, has "achieved our
goal of being able to supply the best
of coin operated games, music , and
vending, along with excellent backup
service and parts to all of our
operators in those and surrounding
areas ."
He said Sam Pacino has been
retained to serve as division manager
in Phoenix. " Sam 's years of
experience and knowledge of this
industry will be a tremendous asset
to Mountain Coin," said Kingston.

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