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Talkin' Trash
BABY TALKS DIRTY -
THE
KNACK - Capital 4 8 22
Ab o ut th e o nl y thing th at ca n be
said which is different than wha t's
been said before about this newly
successful quartet is th at th eir music
is becoming increasingly "in fecti o us" .
Th e beat . vocals , and overall instr u-
mentation on th is first single fro m the
new album ("but the little girls under-
stand " ) sounds a lot like " My
Sharon a" . which can' t be all bad.
Unless th e sky caves in fo r The
Kn ac k . thi s o ne will be first o n all th e
cha rts and number one on all
mothers' " I won't allow that song in
my ho use" list. Nin e out of ten - at
least .
CALL
M E - BLONDIE- Chrysa lis
CHS 2414
Th e movie " Am erican Gigo lo" is
taking th e co untry by storm , so why
shouldn 't the them e song as w ell? It
will , believe m e . But I think th e so ng
is good enough to stand o n its own .
It 's dri ving and th e lyrics are powerful
in th e se nse th at th ey fortify th e story
lin e of th e film . It' s interesting to note
th e progress of th e songwriting
talents of Deborah Harry since th e
ea rl y " pre -success" days of Blo ndie
to thi s latest effort . Th e clincher to
th e popularity o f this song is
" hum -able" melody . All th e way to
th e top - a ten ou t of ten or I'll go see
th e movie three times .
OFF TH E WALL
-
M ICHAEL
JACKSON - Epic 9 -!:D838
Y o u'd think after two ultra -
successful singles and an over -played
fl ip side ("W orking Da y And Night"),
it would be tim e fo r a new album.
N ot sol It's tim e to release the title
cut. And I have to admit , it's a
sma sh . Qu incy Jon es certainly out-
did him se lf with th e productio n on
th e "Off Th e W all " lp On ce again ,
Jackso n's voca ls are unbeatable and
th e
instrumentation / arrangement
are un surp assed. And to to p it al l off ,
th e tun e is p en ned by Rod Temper-
to n of H eatwave (" Rock With Y o u" ,
" Boogie Nights" . " Th e Groove lin e" ,
" Always And Fo rever" to his cred it as
well) . An ot her sm ash! T en o ut of ten .
natch .
SET ME FREE - UTOPIA - Bears-
ville BSS 4 9 180
Fo ll owing ho t o n th e hee ls of
th eir fastest selling lp in recent
m em ory ("Adventures in Utopia " ),
it's T odd Rundgren and th e boys with
a rea ll y "co mm ercia l" tun e. It's an
up -beat ea r-ca tch er that sounds like a
co mbin atio n of T odd and th e Beac h
Boys. alth o ugh th ere's a nice sax riff
that ends vaguely in the middle of the
song . But it's good rock 'n'roll and
cou ld be th e ca tal yst for a T op 40
co m eback fo r this verv qifted si nqer-
song
writer - producer - musician .
Seven out of ten or better .
RIDE LIKE THE WIND - CHRISTO-
PHER CROSS - W arner Brothers
WBS 491 84
With a li ability nam e like Chris
Cross. yo u had better be good. All
th e ingredients seem to be here.
Produced by Michae l O 'Martian with
background vocals supplied by
Michae l M cDona ld of th e Doobie
Broth ers, Cross has bee n successful
in the p ast and th ere's no reaso n to
doubt hi s success now . An exce llent
horn arr angem ent und erli es this
rath er co mm ercial prod uct. Should
be a winn er first tim e around for
Chris . Eigh t o ut o f ten .
WOMEN - FOREIGNER - Atlantic
3651
Th is o ne is probably th e m ost
overlooked cu t o n th e " H ead
Games" album . Perh ap s th e m ost
unu sua l feature of thi s tun e is its
rath er unusual way of starting eac h
lin e o f th e lyri c with th e word
"women" . Mu sica lly , ho wever . it's a
straight ahead fo ur-chord roc k and
ro ll wi th a co uple o f nice key
changes . Th e title. hence th e lyri cs .
is th e key here . This is one o f th ose
songs you just won't be able to stop .
Nin e ou t of ten . at least.
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
30 peak; 7 out of 10 = Top 40 peak; 5 or 6 out of 10 = Somewhere In Top 100; 4 or less = Forget It, loser,
break in half.
..