European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The 70s revisit Doh no not again by Jon Pareles new York times slower than Sunspot cycles and As inexorable As the tides pop music nostalgia trails the present by about 20 years. Grease and Shana a brought a 1950s revival in the 1970s, and in the 1980s rockers from the dream Syndicate to Terence Trent do Arby revived the 1960s. With the awful inevitability of arithmetic the Dawn of the 1990s threatens to bring a wave of music and apologia fondly recalling the Early 1970s. In a bracing myself a it was bad enough the first time. The first Harbinger was the release of five volumes of Rhino records have a Nice Day super hits of the 70s five cd each with a dozen hits from late 1969 through 1971. Meanwhile various current rockers Are working on guilty pleasures an album of remakes of their favorite 1970s songs. Obviously there a More to come. For have a Nice Day rhinos compilers did t pick up the superstars. Instead they grabbed top 40 songs most of them by one hit wonders like the marmalade daddy Dewdrop and the tee set. And considering that the no. 1 singles in 1969 included the rolling stones Honky Tonk woman sly and the family Stone s everyday people the beatles get Back and come together and even among the teen fodder Tommy James and the Shon dells electronically Strung out Crimson and Clover the sudden decline in Quality in 1970 still comes As a Shock. Suddenly singing voices became nasal and whiny instead of cocky. Rhythm sections lost steam tempos slowed Down Horn sections and violins returned to the studios corny As before. Saccharine clogged lyrics All but replacing anger jubilation and hallucination. There were still occasional aberrant gems a Mungo Jerry s Jug band singalong in the summertime Norman Greenbauml a devoutly fuzz toned spirit in the sky a but they were outnumbered by the efforts of lame professionals who thought they had latched onto the new hit making formulas. Twenty years later they sound both timid and Clumsy nothing like the inspired Klut Zes who populated 1960s garage bands. Listening now to Early-1970s pop detritus is a reminder of How unstick pop was even at its most contrived. Despite All the studio abstractions of late-1960s Rock most would be pop hits were still made to sound like live recordings with one guitar or drum tone All the Way through and no sudden textural changes. But hearing the poppy family a which Way you Goin Billy again should convince even the most Rabid advocates of naturalistic recording that there Are worse things than the artifice of modern pop. Many of those top 40 songs also share a gloomy undertone melancholy and fearful vol. 4 of have a Nice Day Folksy hits like the nitty Gritty dirt bands or. Bojangles and the version of Woodstock by Matthews Southern Comfort reminded me that Quot Mellow Wasny to far from clinically depressed. Singer songwriters with More lasting careers in the 1970s a seals and Crofts Don Mclean Carole King James Taylor Elton John even Joni Mitchell at her worst a were less Kitschy but just As mopey. After All the shouting of the late 1960s, pop grew muted in the Early 1970s, unwilling to jangle any nerves. Top 40 pop Wasny to telling the whole Story of course. By the Early 1970s, Rock had begun the endless splits and sub splits that continue to the present. Am radio stations were for kids who did no to know any better and older folks who wanted background music pm radio stations were for the advanced tastes of students hippies and anyone else who wanted to feel  albums pulled away from singles As performers experimented with sounds and song structures some songs from which the 1970s never recovered like led zeppelins stairway to heaven weren t released As singles at All. Sales of singles went into a terminal decline. On albums genres started to solidify and break apart hard Rock Funk country Rock progressive Rock jazz Rock Singer songwriters Sweet soul. Most of those genres quickly found ways to become self indulgent and bloated whether it was the keyboard doodling of progressive Rock or the grit less twang of country Rock or the unasked for confessionals of innumerable Singer songwriters. Simultaneously Large record companies swallowed Independent labels cutting Back innovation for professionalism. And radio programmers who had been knocked off balance by the Happy amateurs of the 1960s regained control and discovered Niche marketing dividing the audience into targeted demographic groups a and starting the vicious Circle that causes musicians to trim their styles to fit Ever narrowing formats. One of the first category barriers was racial. Black musicians went virtually unheard on pm Rock radio stations in the 1970s, which defined their formats As album oriented Rock but were soon playing what the Black Rock coalition termed apartheid oriented Rock. It was pm listeners loss As some of the Best most influential music of the 1970s was made by Al Green Stevie wonder Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. Rhino has announced a series of 1970s Black pop compilations that should even the score yes there were some memorable songs in the Early 1970s creativity Dies hard. And yes every revival uncovers a few worthwhile artefacts although id hate to be the one doing the sifting. To me the Early 1970s a before Punk knocked the stuffing out of Rock and disco made people listen to the beat a was when Rock bottomed out. As that survivor of the 1970s, Rod Stewart Sang Quot of no a not again Quot pop a singles 1. Nothing compares 2 u a Sinead o Connor 2. Vogue a Madonna 3.1 Wanna be Rich a Calloway 4. All i Wanna do is make love to you a heart 5. How can we be lovers a Michael Bolton 6. Hold on a Wilson Phillips 7. Sending All my love a linear 8. Alright a Janet Jackson 9. What it takes a Aero Smith _ 10. Poison a Bell big Devo top albums 1.1 do not want what i Haven t got a Sinead o Connor 2. Please Hammer Don t Hurt pm a . Hammer 3. Janet Jackson s rhythm nation 1814 a Janet Jackson 4. Brigade a heart 5. Soul provider a Michael Bolton 6. Nick of time a Bonnie Raitt 7. Forever your girl a Paula Abdul 8. Violator a Dereche Mode 9. Affection a Lisa Stansfield 10. Poison a Bell big Devo country a singles 1. Help me hold on a Travis Tritt 2. Walkin away a Clint Black 3. Love on arrival a Dan seals 4. I be cr1ed my last tear for you a Ricky Van Shelton 5. I m Over you a Keith Whitley 6. See if i care a Shenandoah 7. . Barely Beatin broken heart a Highway 101 8. If looks could kill a Rodney Crowell 9. Here in the real world a Alan Jackson 10. I d be better off in a Pine Box a Doug Stoneback a singles 1. Poison a Bell big Devoe 2. Show me a Howard Hewett 3. Rub you the right Way a Johnny Gill 4. All Over you from def by temptation a Freddie Jackson 5. Hold on men Vogue 6. Get a life a soul ii soul 7. Alright a Janet Jackson 8. Girls Nite out a Tyler Collins 9. Always and forever a whistle 10. Love is like an itching in my heart a the Good girls a compiled by billboard air a a Norman Bridwell the creator of Clifford the big red dog will autograph select Clifford books at the following stars and stripes shopping Center bookstores a Hanau Wolfgang a tuesday May 15th from 1630 to 1730 Volgel Weh a wednesday May 16th from 1600 to 1730 Heidelberg a Friday May 18th from 1530 to 1630 Clifford books will be available at the discounted Price of $1.50 regular $1.95 during the autograph session. Done to miss this Golden Opportunity to meet the creator of the big red hero of 28 children a books that has been thrilling children for More than 25 years wednesday May 9, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17