Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i!M y :- Sf: JBm Rick Jarr By Leroy Williams Gamecock Staff Writer Rick James. Prince and Twennvnine featuring Lenny White burst into Carolina Coliseum Sunday night and treated the crowd to a diverse mixture of funk, rock and punk. VYIUTK'S TVVKNNYMNK, a relatively unknown band, opened the five-hour concert. Clad in a red and gold cm snirt (no, not irom hero i and a winged cap. he and his four-member band played a few jazzy-sounding numbers mixed with a few White solos on the drums. They ended the fiftyminute set with their hit single "Peanut Butter." which sent the near-capacity Coliseum crowd into a rocking frenzv. Next to come on stage was Prince, the multi-talented composer whose songs are for the most part extremely, il not entirely, suggestive. Prince and his fivemember band brought a hardrocking but danceable sound to the Coliseum that it hasn't seen in a while. 4Coal N is true i By David Baker Gamecock Pilm Critic Stunning 111 its mood, simplicity and downright good-naturedness, Michael Apted's Coal Miner's Daughter. based on the autobiography by Loretta Lynn with George Vescey, is likely to be fnnnrl irrocictihlA ovon hv audiences who loathe country music. "Virtually devoid of and expuisite depress to the musical biogr simo/v not hi no in 'Cnai m w 4/ ? the viewer to dislike." VIRTUALLY DKVOII) of the towering miseries and exquisite depressions that are inherent to the musical biography genre, there is Simnlv nothing in Coals Minnr'.c Daughter for the viewer to dislike. At the showing I attended, I saw nothing but smiles flashing back toward the screen. Th/> Kn?ino in A IIV }'IV Ull V I.A III lilt decaying mining town of Butcher ffoller, Kentucky, around the time when n year-old Loretta Webb <Sissy Spacek) first se's eyes on Doolrttle Lynn (Tommy Lee i PH' jMj| ??|P^ 1 nl IHH Fiue hour con les sends DRESSED IN A bizarre-looking outfit of black leotards and hightopped spiked shoes, he played a soulful guitar in the songs "Soft and Wet" and "Why Do You Want to Treat Me So Bad?" Prince really excited the ladies in the audience when during his number, "Still Waiting," he took off his black jacket, revealing nothing more than a pair of bikini briefs. "I'm just a freak." Prince told his niidu'iu't" When Prince and his band lel't the stage it was apparent the crowd had not had enough, and yelled for an encore Prince seemed to expect this encore, teasing the audience with a little infrrulnrfinn Ihnn aninu intn hit current single. "I Wanna Be Your Lover." AFTKK A LKNCITIIY intermission. the much-awaited act of Kick James and his Stone*d'.M City Band took the stage in a shower of sparks and booming explosions to the tune of "Fire it III) " the Pill nf IntY-ioc' lotncl liner's D, to life exp Jones), a hotshot Jeep-drivei who's just out of the army. LoretU sees in Doolittle (she calls bin "Doo") a life better than the on< she's living -- more exciting, at an} rate - and Doo sees in Loretta th< kind of old-fashioned country gir he's always wanted to get hitchec to. BEFORE YOU can say "He; tfae towering miseries ions that are inherent aphy genre, there is f Miner's Daughter' for Loretta, I love you more than m; Irish Setter," Doo is whiskinj Loretta away from her parents broken-down shanty and into i home of her own. Six years am four children later, Doo, havini recognized his wife's rhusica talent, starts pushing her toward < singing career. The remainder of the picture is, cl'inHorH r'irtc.trt.i'i/>hnc ctr\i'\r kill .HUIIUMIU '?S? 1 !?" .? 1 "? ? thanks to the extraordinaril; unpretentious performances c Spaeek and Jones, it wavers fror freshness only at the very enci 11 ffiBB fij BIIPH ^yvHHpjP^^^^fc s __ ? ~ia |&^?^9^H?^MK^2HH|tjH cert with Prince a Coliseum album. It was clear that the audience witnessing this entry was expecting a jamming, funky performance, and they got it. After this rousing opening, James and his 11-member band played another song from his latest "James seemec crowd in the palm not only perform front of him, but pe audience. " LP called Love Gun, and got the crowd to go off on his first hit, "I'm High For Your Love." James seemed to have the large crowd in the palm of his hands. He did not only perform for those directly in front of him, but performed for the entire audience. JAMES MKLLOYVKI) out and aughter' erience when Loretta suffers a nervous i breakdown. 1 ? HUT KVKN the failure of this t small seetion of the film is no faull 3 of the performers or of the 1 director. It fails merely because j Robert Altman has beaten them ti the punch with his classic Nash ville. y Apted, an Englishman whe never had heard Loretta Lynn sin? before he was approached to direci the picture, has accomplishec wonder with the setting up on the various milieus in which Loretta'5 story takes place. TIIK DETAIL of the Butchei Holler scenes is exhaustive. Thi dusty, crumbling buildings and tin 1 f 1. nmruiativuiiuu letter ui tuc pcupH are as realistic-looking as can b< V imagined. And by placing then i? both against the majestic beauty o the Kentucky forests, Apted ha: a made them seem almost pic J turesque. You'd expect to se< S similar scenes in paintings an< <4?iir> IM ilit- in'pii'hMOii era a The tiny, single-tower radii stations the Lynns visit to ge u Loretta s songs on the air an ( captured just as impeccable as th< y ' buildings in Butcher Holler and, ii f the later scenes, Apted shows u n (he trappings of wealth through th ' See 'Coal' page 13 |jj | ' l-i'ivj^rfSf f iM3^V| -?*fr " ;"'v ?gg| ^ nd Twennymne i crowd in Dlaved a slow sone called "Hollywood" which had the ladies in the audience swooning. Decked out in a black body suit-type garb, James took the Stone City Band into a field for which they are well known with the song "Mary Jane." It seemed that at this moment the / to have the large of his hands. He did for those directly in ?rformed for the entire already thick Coliseum smoke cloud got thicker as the band sang the praises of marijuana in this particular number. The song was highlighted by an especially smooth flute solo. lotwnp nilA\iFnrl /\iit utfain nnH iiainco liiLiiuvv^u uui u^uui?uuu? did a number especially for the ladies entitled "Spacey Love," during which James teased the females in the audience in a style 1***> t i MfEWIMi m m ..m > ?vgv; 'J * . *03gBr^''' . HHnK.. ,>jy&?' ' s e Sis say Spacek as Loret f 'Coal Miner's Daughter.' Dave Keller - GAMECOCK to frenzy remimsceni ot singer Teddy Pendergrass. James went a little further, however, by throwing three dozen roses into the crowd and even calling on one smitten young lady to sit on the stage. J A M ES MOM E NT A RI L Y disappeared from the stage, returning in a prison uniform for the performance of "Busting Out," the title cut from his second album. He then took off the suit, and broke into "You and I," involving the guys and girls in the audience in a singing match. Following this song. James and Company left the stage, while a stagehand came on stage and led the crowd in an encore. James and the band came back onstage to perform one final number, "Come Into My Life," exciting the crowd one last time. James ended the concert by telling the crowd that he was glad to be in Columbia, obviously, the crowd was glad to be with Rick James. |HHHH|^n^n|^H9B^H^S JHBMBMBWBHBBEH .iiSWIHasiS MiiBHi ta Lynn in Michael Apted's