Play Meter

country roll. Everyone has his or her
own opinion, but to some this lady is
Country Music. At any rate , she
certainly has made her contribution
and this one could be one of her
greatest; not just to music , but to the
women of the world . " .. .it's just
wham bam and thank you mam ... "
Get the picture? Get the record; 10
out of 10, country.
Being With You- Smokey Robinson
Tamla/T54321
The last time he had a hit was
over a year ago. The song was
"Cruisi n' " and at the time everyone
thought Smokey was back to stay .
But the follow-up single and the
subsequent album were disappoint -
ments and everyone forgot him
again . Well , it 's time to remember-
again . William Robinson , Jr. is back
with the title track from his latest
Tamla release . The song is like a
breath of fresh air and is a great way
to get into the Spring of 1981 . And it's
wha t's known in the radio biz as
great ammunition to start the Spring
ratings sweep ; 10 out of 10 on Pop
and R&B charts.
U nc hain e d M e iody - Heart -
Epic/ 19 51010
The Wilson sisters, fresh from
their re -make success with "Tell It
Like It Is", which was a studio
version, is now out with a live cut
from their latest lp . It 's another
remake and a butcher job at that.
Gett ing to the " heart " of the
matter- it stinks. The song is a
ballad , a classic- and wasn 't meant
to be screamed . If this record hits the
charts it'll only prove what most
people think anyway- kids will buy
anything that's noisy. I can't find it
my "Heart" to give this a rating .
I Can 't S tand l t- Ciapton & His
Band- RSO/ RS1060
This could be said about the song
I just reviewed , but not about this
one . What E.C . has here is one of his
more commercially viable records in
recent memory. Nice guitar work
(natch) highlights this up -tempo
blues tune from the just released
Another Ticket lp. The theme is a bit
redundant , but hasn't it always
been? Good time blues-rock at its
best ; 8 out of 10 or better.
The r ecords are ra ted as follows:
10 out of 10 - Top Ten peak ; 9 out of
10 - Top 20 peak; 8 out of 10 - Top
30 peak; 7 out of 10 - Top40 peak;5
or 6 out of 10 - somewhere in Top
100; 4 or less- forget it, loser, break
in half.
•
PLAY METER NEWS UPDATE: MAY 1, 1981
AMOA mum on juke royalties
continued from page 1
(and that would rise to 8¢ per record
under the C RT's recent rate ruling),
Droste termed it a "double burden
on them ." The association has
computed no figures on the dollar-
impact, he said .
However, the averages derived
from the most recent Play Meter
Industry Survey show a total of $576
annual impact on the average
operator- buying 3.3 records per
week for the average of 42 boxes per
operation and paying the new
mechanical rate of 8¢ per record .
The Recording Industry Associa -
tion of America (R IAA) has appealed
to federal appeals court the CRT
decision to raise the mechanical rate .
The C RT ruled on December 19 that
the mechanical royalties rate of 4¢
per song (8¢ on a 45 rpm record)
would go into effect July 1. RIAA has
contended that the increase will
depress record sales, affecting the
recording artists as well as the
record industry. AMOA entered the
federal court appeal as a party to
argue the operators' case in this
matter.
AMOA has spent approximately
$100,000 to wage its legal fight during
the past year, Droste confirmed .
At late February, the funds were
"near zeroing," said Droste.
On the question of whether to go
back to the Congress for new laws in
copyright royalty matters, there has
been no official AMOA position, he
said - noting however that some
members and state associations
have urged lobbying for new
legislation .
These issues may be discussed in
the Board of Directors' April 12
annual meeting in Monterey ,
California . However, no agenda was
provided to PLAY METER when re -
quested of the executive office .
Rock-Oia 'effective' vs. copiers
continued from page 1
"This legal victory was particularly
significant inasmuch as Video
Games ' lawyers had earlier
attempted to block the injunction by
filing a protective motion and
summary brief with the court."
The State Court in Frankfurt
injoined the German firm from the
further distribution and sales of the
game under the name Space Castle ..
One source told PLAY METER
that the ruling marked new ground in
the battle of manufacturers over
proprietary rights in video games,
and that it was a landmark against
"the anarchy in this business."
It was believed to be the first time
an American manufacturer had won
a judgement in an European court
over disputed game rights.
A similar issue had come to light
during the British show during
January. Williams Electronics had
been successful in banishing an
alleged copy of its video Defender
from the show floor by court order.
An out-of-court settlement was
made in the Rock -Ola matter at late
February, in which Video Games
Gmbh agreed not to contest the
court order. In addition , certain
guarantees were extended to Rock -
Oia as well as payment of damages
for an undisclosed amount of money ,
the Chicago manufacturer divulged.
Dr. Rockola said, "With swift legal
action in Frankfurt, Rock-Oia has
very convincingly demonstrated that
it is very dedicated to protecting its
proprietary interests, as well as
those of its franchised distributors,
and those of the industry in
general- because this benefits the
coin-op industry generally. "
He continued, "We have been
very effective in persuading seven
other European importers and
distributors to withdraw other
copies of Star Castle from the
market. " Legal action was in process
in Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and
Canada, Dr. Rockola indicated , to
protect the rights to the game .
He told PLAY METER, "Unless
the industry comes to terms with this
severe problem, this industry will die
on the vine," due to the high costs of
game development as opposed to
the copying problem avowed by
manufacturers.
Rock-O ia made its first video
game with Star Castle under
Cinematronics licensing for the
export market . In the offing are two
new games from the Chicago manu-
facturer known for jukeboxes.
Despite the copying hassle, said
Dr. Rockola, Star Castle sales
abroad are "very good ." He
estimated , however, that the
number of unauthorized copies that
were being produced daily in Europe
topped 1 ,000 for this game alone.
- by Ray E. Tilley
9