Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Knack sou Kilt fl2?I70 +1 guT ^ f ^ e hhbAMHHHH p HBHHBBRBHHH *> wr* bSHEHB^BKBH s l' >mNkr. Jtev i JHB * ' m^gW .*k vWl r ** a- T.^: SB M m r?? ?u.. i/??i. VJCt HIC KMIdtn. The Knack (Capitol) By Lehman Stiles Entertainment Editor ! This is the #1 album in the country, and it has gone gold faster man anyming on uapuoi since ' Meet the Beatles, and it doesn't deserve any of it. In the strange society of contemporary music, having the Knack's Get the Knack is like having expensive coffee table books: oh so necessary and ultimately meaningless. rpu: ^ A 11 a A i V r _i 1 i ins is iiul iu say mat ine i\nacK ' are particularly bad musicians; on < the contrary, they play with i energy and raw power without J being overbearing, and the lead { guitar is handled very well. But we U, 1 1 _I1 I I- *? I nave nearu an mis Deiore, wun groups from the Who to the Cars. The Knack simply follow along in footprints much too large for them. |Album Review | Unfortunately, all of that mat ters very little when it comes to discussing the Knack's success. An absolute blitz of publicity has done more to sell the Knack than their music has; Capitol has packaged them to look suspiciously like the u,w. ? l~.. ..w: * ? 1 -. ? tuii y ucdiics, UI11 UlcJ Ltiiy UI1 irrational and mercenary gesture. Even the wildly competitive music business itself has expressed displeasure at such putting on of airs. But the ad campaign is iiigciuuud, UIIC IMU.M clUilllll. 111(3 Knack are being sold as the "right" group; vaguely new-wave, but comfortably rock-and-roll, their music insinuates itself into almost every respectable rocker's collection of favorites without doing anything to deserve it. It is disturbing to see this, that what the 1<T n Q r?Lr rnnrDconf to t?*iuva i vpi V/Otm lO 111U1 C 1111portant to a great many people than the music they play. Somewhere out there, a lot of supposedly with-it music lovers are not as enlightened as they think they are. In the antitradition of Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, The Knack tries to express their tortil roH ovrmrionnAP ? ?I 1-* y-1^ 1 a tuivu ituccn wiiii iiuuicsil'lll [' sex in an appropriately witty style. But the problem is that Costello does that already, and he does it so well that no one else need try. Oblivious to the fact that their songs lack any of the scary subtlety and hidden emotion of the King, the Knack concentrates on making them sound dirty and confessorial enough to cover up. But the veneer is thin at best, and HHn inds good < ucy uccii u V/f^ntunllv t ho cr?roc?rt r?f urittv hrases and double entendres reaks down to reveal the lothingness behind. In fact, the album's best cut, the ingle ,4My Sharona," is made so lot by good lyrics or good music >ut by an absolutely blistering ?uitar solo that puts anything else recorded this year to shame, otherwise the song is a panoply of .1 1 * ll A. it- - icw-wuve uevices wunoui me Lension behind them that characterizes true new wave. The rest of the songs on Get the Knack are notable only in their sameness, to one another and to most every my-girlfriend-hates me-I'm-gonna-kill-myself punk complaint song ever recorded. The Knack even include the obligatory tenderness numbers, which say, "Look, Ma, I've got feelings,"a sentiment that we could just as well do without. Yet, through all this, as we mentioned, the Knack is quite competent little band, and their record deserves at least one listen. Despite the fact that the album is a *ross cashing-in of trendy new (DOWNTOWN DUTCH SQIJAF WELCOt CAROUt Come where fashion have the latest styles special occasion appa famous brands here sue Yves St. Laurent and Ca sportswear. Izod Lacos Braemar Shetland ere' Corbin slacks. Be sure to open a COUNT" on your first v application below and b I.D. card to our credit ofi t ?* < i APPLI 1 "GAME ( s Name ! I Address I Previous Address.. I | Phone I [ Nome of nearest r I Nearest relative's a I | City I J Date I I 1 1 mumm mmtam mamm wm?m mrnam mmtm mmmm tmmm Park 2 hours FREE run rlohuf versold? wave popularity, of tired confessed sexuality, writer Doug Fieger knows his way around a chart, producing that chordy echoing sound characteristic of new wave. And Berton Averre's lead guitar work is simply dazzling in spots. But alas, one can never ignore the rather presumptious nature of this music. "We are the Knack," it says,"and you are going to like us." The very title of the album commands "Get the Knack!" The Knack has jumped straight from the Land of the Unknown to supergroup status, without justification, without exceptional i talent. There is something wrong| with that. Pprhanc t Hoc o ar>niicQfinnc i rn M. v*?aMj^U v??vuv UVVUvJUVIVllO ut V unduly harsh; perhaps we should accept Get the Knack for what it is and ignore how it got there. But one has the gnawing feeling that without publicity, like so many one-shot disco queens, the Knack would fade into K-Mart's bargain bin, mere evidence of the fact that you can fool all of the people some of the time, even image-weary music lovers. IE COLUMBIA MALL WOODHILL M \AE STUDENTS sIA AND TO LC conscious students shop. We whether it be casual attire or rel. You'll find your favorite h as Austin Reed, Don Robbie, twin 1/loin ?? -J I v 11 | IM^III. VJCllll UIC03 ?>|IM (.!> dnu te knits and v-neck sweaters, /v-neck sweaters. Berle and "GAMECOCK CHARGE ACisit to Lourie's. Just fill out the ring it along with your Student ice downtown. CATION FOR A LC COCK" CHARC:F A r:i.. K.uy Social Security elative ddress State lignature n the Municipal Parking Builc mKmmaMmmmmniwmmKaamsammamKmmKamtmmaammmmmmaMmmmmm SUB CI Eat A Bi< FpM PriViT THE ROLLS OF RI 1,m}u'fiari I WE'VE GOT THE TOP^r iMt L COPIER WITH ALL THE EXTRAS BUT AT THE ECONOMICAL. PR | OUR EXTRAS INCLUDE: Spotless l egoi and Letter Size Copi< two-Sided Copies Copies on Col' Labels Your Letterhead 933 MAIN STREET Big SwfrBd 799 3807 milll ?S ^v*S AM. 1 / J -y ^ %m * mi. ?w? * 5 j??" CCOUNT %. \ . i>: > '!$; i -J 1 \ % x\ V V. No \ Zip ling with any transaction at Lou Inter 1 / ^ r m &< 3 One y 7BS-OB13 ^PRODUCTION | INE ICE OE Per Copy ?s deductions CCollation ored Paper Cardslock Hours Mom Thurs ... 8:30-7:00 Friday 8:30 6:OO Saturday ...10:00 5:00 1 ! x ii i !! i rie's downtown.