Play Meter

The best of the scarce
Unfortunately, the new material
continues to be as scarce as snow in
New Orleans. There is just a bit-
and we've scrounged up as many as
we could. So, I'd lik~ to lead off with
the best of the lot.
I Missed Again-Phil Collins-
Atlantic/ 3790
He's new, sort of. In case the
name skips past your recall , he's the
drummer and lead singer·songwriter
par excellence of Genesis, the 1980s
purveyors of orchestral rock. With
this initial release from his debut solo
lp, Collins changes musical
directions somewhat. I think the
change is temporary, but a
refreshing one all the same. The
sound is new! Replete with a
scintillating brassy sound, the only
things recognizable are the vocals
and maybe the drumming. Look for
lots of appeal to teens and young
adults, leaning male. Which, of
course, spells a sure 9 out of 10 hit for
Phil.
favorable exposure certainly hasn't
hurt the big man from Texas; 10 out
of 10 posstbilities.
What Are We Doin' In Love-
Dottie West- Liberty/ 1404
If you don't · en to it you'll never
know that Kenn Rogers sings with
Dottie. And if you don't listen, you'll
never realize the true beauty of it.
Their voices blend so well together,
and the time is righ for Dottie to
have her first crossover Top 40 hit-
with a little help from her friends-10
o ut of 10 on highest chart.
Living In s ide My self-Gino
Vannelli-Aris AS 0588
A new label, but the same G ino.
And that's good. The melody is there
once again on this tender love ballad
with typical introspective lyrics. As in
the past, the synthesizers of brother
Joe lead the way and provide the
perfect intense backdrop for the
artist to sing his song and melt the
ladies' hearts ... again. Give this a 10
out"of 10.
Bette Davis Eyes-Kim Carnes-
EMI America/8077
Jackie DeShannon wrote it and
Kim Carnes' gravelly vocals in the
mode of early Bob Dylan carry the
song. The lyric is as peculiar as a
song with a title like this could be.
The beat supplied by the bass drum
and the whipping sound of a
synthesizer are the hooks along with
the unusual, yet interesting lyrics. A
good summer record; girls will get
into this one; 9 out of 10 to be sure.
Lonely Together-Barry Mani-
low-Arista/ AS 0596
From the same album which
brought us "I Made It Through The
Rain"-Barry-the current kingpin
of the romantic ballad scores big
once again with a lushly orchestrated
song of an aching heart. Written by
Kenny Nolan ("I Like Dreamin"'), it's
a natural for Manilow. Great lyrics
and a perfect arrangemen t
compliment each other on this good
as gold hit record: 9 out of 10 at least.
Say You'll Be Mine-Christopher
Cross-Warner Brothers/ 49705
I thought for sure after all the
Grammy notoriety and platinum
album status, Chris would complete
a new lp before now. But, keeping up
with the norm , the record company
has decided to drain the debuj album
of a fourth single. Whenever an lp is
depleted this far, the results are
usually disastrous. But the song is
catchy enough to sell as a single,
Nicolette Larson is easily recogniz·
able on background vocals, and the
Watchi11g T he Wheels-John
Lennon-G effe 4%95
The third cut is the deepest, once
again. O ne of the more personal
songs fro m the Double Fantasy lp
will be the third consecutive hit. It's
lyrically about the time in his life
when he was "house mother" to his
son. The outlook is one of "I don't
care what you think- I'm me" ...
which is certainly a long way from "I
don't want to spoil the party," but
equally as effective; 10 out of 10.
Lately-Stevie Wonder-Tamla/
T54323F1
It's a torch song from the word
"go." Stevie's smoother than silk
vocals highlight this song from the
Hotter Than July lp. The back-
ground instrumentation is simple yet
effective. Basically it's piano, and
string bass throughout. A true piano
bar ballad: a beautiful love song.
Could go Top Ten, so I'll venture a 10
out of 10 guess.