European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Galaxies 500 starts simple and builds by Hillel Italie associated press a Lyric Sheet is not included with galaxie500 s album on fire. Bandleader Dea Wareham wants it that  Don t like writing Down lyrics that much said the guitarist Singer songwriter a native of new zealand. On paper i think lyrics Are something completely different. All they Are Are words that go along with the  so listen carefully if you want to sing along though Wareham does t think it s Worth the trouble. He s not telling stories or sending messages. Words about weather cars and the environment Are Only words he says nothing literally Worth writing about. It s not like Folk music it just helps us set the mood. Blue Thunder is about my car not about the weather. Snowstorm is about the weather but just As much about to. People say i m into nature because of decomposing Trees and leave the planet and that s not True too Many  the real Story can be heard from Wareham s own Brand of White noise a guitar that churns out chords As easy As a by and a wobbly Tenor that Breaks occasionally into an even Wobbler falsetto. Start simple and build is the motto. These songs quiet but never peaceful usually open with Wareham strumming guitar and gradually intensify threatening to explode at any time. I think we do have a distinctive sound. That s a criticism everything sounds the same. It just Means you have a sound you can Call your own. You can hear the influences. We had some German kids coming to us in Frankfurt and they said How did you get this sound?1 and then after we played they said we could t believe How easy it was it was distortion and Lisa Stansfield what s color got to do with it part psychedelic beatles part velvet underground Damon Krukowski left Naomi Yang and Dean Wareham of galaxies 500. Sustained  the members of galaxies 500 met in High school in new York but Only started playing together 2va years ago. Bassist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski were in Boston and Wareham was still in new York when he quit his old band. Few people including the members of galaxies 500, own a copy of the group s first album. Aurora records released it but Aurora records consisted of one Man operating from his Home in Boston. He did our single and he did our up and he did another single Wareham said. What s frustrating for us at this Point is when the first album gets reviewed in the Village voice and you could t get it in new  though their first record was called today the band proudly takes its name and music from the past. Galaxies 500 is a 1960s car that a Friend of Wareham s owned and the sound is Vintage 1967 part psychedelic beatles part velvet underground. On fire was distributed by rough Trade records and features nine originals plus a cover of in t it a pity off George Harrison s All things must pass album. Harrison a and Bob Dylan wrote it and Eric Clapton played Lead guitar but Wareham was unimpressed applying the faithful Start simple and build treatment. My Roommate had the record Wareham said. I m not really a fan of Eric Clapton who s All Over that record. It was a Long shot in the studio. We said let s just give this a try.1 " galaxies 500 is still a cult band even for galaxies 500. Wareham puts in time As a temp around Manhattan Yang has been studying architecture and Krukowski teaches. For now Wareham says their Only goal is to sell enough records to make music a full time Job. Yeah we d like to do that but i Don t think any of us see doing it in 10 years. We just sort of stumbled into it. We just played for fun and All of a sudden it sounded a Little better than it did before. I think our audience really has just got a sense of us. Things have changed a lot. It used to be that 50 people came to see us in Boston and now we re Selling out shows. It s no longer just critics and  galaxies 500 is scheduled to play at the bizarre festival in Germany in june Check the on stage pages in stripes Magazine for details by Robert Hilburn los Angeles times is Lisa Stansfield is White. And yes she does sing soul music very Well. So what s the big Deal that s what i want to know Stansfield 23, said during a recent interview in los Angeles. If you Are a soul Singer you Are a soul Singer. If you Are a heavy Metal Singer then you Are a heavy Metal Singer. What s color got to do with it i Don t go around thinking i sing soul music and i m White i just sing the Way i feel. You Don t hear that much about me being a White and singing soul music in England but i get the feeling that in America it s really a big thing. It s like god look at the color of her skin " Stansfield who lives in a suburb of Manchester in Northern England was responding to frequent Media descriptions of her As a Blue eyed soul Singer. She s especially annoyed at the thought that her involvement in Sou music is merely a commercial strategy. Pausing to Light a cigarette she said there was one Magazine that said she s got a thick Northern accent so Why does t she sing with that Well. Mica Paris a highly regarded Black Singer from England is a real Cockney. Why does t she sing with a Cockney accent you see How silly it gets for the most part however critics seem enthralled with Stansfield s soulful approach in the her debut album affection. Rolling Stone gave the album four stars out of a possible five declaring it an Ideal blend of club land Energy and the passion of soul music a dance record you can listen  musician Magazine was even More enthusiastic Stansfield is the genuine article a vocalist of such pc undeniable ability that she not just a pretender British soul Singer Lisa Stansfield p. Has released an impressive debut  leaves every other English soul Singer seeming an utter  the Public is also caught up in Stansfield s music highlighted by the Silky seductive single All around the world the album has sold More than 1 million copies in the United states and an additional 2.6 million around the world. Stansfield said that her interest in soul music began As a youngster listening to her Mother s record collection. Most of my influences were soul singers. Diana Ross Chaka Khan Gladys Knight Dionne Warwick among the women she said. I also love people like Barry White and Luther Vandross " the dark haired Singer came across during the Early afternoon interview As far More poised and confident than most artists who experience widespread pop attention for the first time. The Success happened really quickly when it finally came but Ian Andy and i songwriter musicians Ian Devaney and Andy Morris have been working together for about six years and we be gained a lot of experience she said. There were a lot of letdown on the Way and that enables you to Cope with the things we Are facing  even before meeting her partners Stansfield was eyeing a singing career around Manchester i did these social clubs where people would shout for me to get off so they could Start the Bingo game she recalled with a smile. I was also on this to variety show with comedians and jugglers. They made me up As a Joan Collins look alike and i would sing a lot of people would look at those things and go of my god. I wish i had t done that i m so ashamed but i m glad i did All that it All helped me  the Best growth experience however May have been an album Stansfield Devaney and Morris made in the mid 80s As members of a group called Blue zone. We were really hungry for Success she said to made an album that we thought would soil rather than one we cared about. That was totally wrong but it taught us to think for ourselves and do what we wanted the next time we got a Chance to make a record. That s what we did with affection we wont into the studio and said we Are going to make an album we want to play at Home " Lisa Slan Sligold is scheduled to play in Gormney in the following locations Hamburg co Gross centrum Sopt 24. Hannover music Hall still 25. Berlin inc Sopt. 26 Stuttgart lion Rohallo soul 28. Dusso Dorl Philips Allu sept 29 Frankfurt Alto poor Sopt 30. Munich Douts chos museum oct 2. Erlanson Sta Thalle ocl 3 Mannheim Muson Sigil oct 4 for information Call Marek Liob Orborg concerts 069 5970246 we at Madonna i m breathless at first it seems a colossal mistake. After shooting straight up the charts with Vogue a pulsing insistent single with strike a pose lyrics and a fashionable House music beat you would think the obvious thing for Madonna to do would be to follow up with More of the same an entire album of throbbing synth driven dance pop. But if i m breathless Madonna s new album was intended for dancers its Ideal audience is closer to Fred Astaire than m. C. Hammer. Instead of House or hip hop what we get Are torchy ballads the scene setting he s a Man splashy show tunes like Stephen Sondheim s More and Jazzy Novelty numbers including the Kinky Hanky Panky. Admittedly i m breathless is not a typical Madonna album. On a certain level it is just an elaborate movie tie in advertising itself As music from and inspired by the film Dick  not Only do we get Glamour shots what s not record. Review of Madonna in her breathless Mahoney get up both with and without Dick Tracy himself but most of the album seems to have been Sung from the perspective of the 30s nightclub Singer Madonna portrays in the film. That May make sense from a marketing perspective but where does it leave us listeners won t an album s Worth of Madonna playing swing Era chanteuse Wear out its Welcome pretty quickly amazingly it does not. In fact it is devilishly Catchy despite its stylistic peculiarities. Part of that May have to do with the fact that apart from the Sondheim numbers none of the songs take their 30s-style trappings too seriously Madonna May Trot out her Betty Boop voice for the Jokey cry baby. But it is no More a True flapper tune than True Blue was a genuine girl group number. In fact it is obvious that she is having fun with the styles she has appropriated. For instance she sings i m going bananas in a thick Carmen Miranda accent and hearing her mock brazilian pronunciation of mesh Glenah is almost Worth the Price of the album in itself. Likewise she gives now i m following you a charmingly offhand performance that ends up with her playing Ginger Rogers to Warren Beatty s Astaire interestingly this one is not from the film. It also helps that Madonna s singing has matured significantly Over the years. Although it is tempting to think of her voice in terms of Light breathy dance hits like Holiday or like a Virgin the fact is that Madonna has always strive for a broader Brassier sound. It did not always work out of course her version of love Don t live Here anymore on the like a Virgin album remains an embarrassment but with breathless she seems to understand both what her voice can do and How to get the most from it. That May explain How Madonna manages to maintain her musical identity throughout the album. Instead of playing musical dress ups the Way Linda Ronstadt and Carly Simon have Madonna tailors these tunes to suit herself Why do a bad Job of imitating Sarah Vaughn or Mabel Mercer when she can do a better Job of being herself thus he s a Man has As much soul As swing to it something to remember seems As Akin to live to Tell As Lover Man and Back in business sounds less like a jazz tune than a Jazzy one. Any of the three would seem at Home in next month s top 40. Of course we All know that Madonna could not really be herself without generating a certain amount of controversy so there is also the expected bit of Hanky Panky. With a chorus that boasts "nothin1 like a Good Spanky and and Libs like Pooh my Bottom hurts just thinkin1 about it it will certainly raise its share of eyebrows. . Considine Baltimore Sun John Pizzarelli my Blue heaven there is a Breezy gentle hipness to John Pizzarelli s singing and guitar playing. His latest recording my Blue heaven has some real gems crafted with care by one Heck of an All Star band of musical stonecutters Milt Hinton on Bass Connie Kay on Drums Dave Mckenna the Rock of Gibraltar among piano players John s dad Bucky on guitar and Clark Terry on trumpet and flugelhorn. The crowning achievement on the 16-Cut cd is an 8-minute version of the Gershwin classic lady be Good in which everybody cuts Loose. Listen in particular to the interplay Between Terry and Pizzarelli then the interplay Between John s vocals and picking. He has a Knack of singing and playing in tandem that matches notes so closely you d swear some reverb was added to his vocals. It s amazing. Ken franckling up Page 16 the stars and stripes monday May 28,1990 the chills submarine Bells ten years after their formation the chills Are suddenly the Darlings of the Independent music scene the flavor the month As Lead Singer Martin Phillipps puts it. The attention is Well deserved since the release of submarine Bells the new zealand group s first album on a major record Label. Packed with sparkling pop songs submarine Bells has a hypnotic understated Quality reminiscent of fellow College radio favourites the fee lies or Rem. No guitar solos no Rock anthems just Bright clean songs that flow seamlessly together. Although the cd sleeve carries three editorials opposing driftnet fishing nuclear arms and underground nuclear testing in polynesia the songs avoid direct politicking. Phillipps opts for More personal abstract themes music in the afterword on heavenly pop hit the dangers of cynicism on familiarity Breeds contempt. Phillipps 26, wrote All 12 tracks on the cd version. He comes across not As an angry Young Man but As a sad determined one. We re Here to stay in this crooked game that monday May 28, 1990 we re expected to play for no return he sings on tied up in chains. And soon you learn for All your pain you re tied up in chains your parents made " Phillipps is a True songwriting Talent who for too Long has been a secret outside his native new zealand. Submarine Bells makes one eager to see what he will do next. Brian Rooney up Lionel Cartwright i watched it on the radio Lionel Cartwright is coming into his own in country music with this second album. The title Cut is a nostalgic glance Back at his youth when he would listen half the night to his transistor he d be on the front Row for baseball games hear the beatles and Byrds the grand Ole opry a Midnight preacher and the National Anthem. This is a terrific song with exciting instrumentation. The fans must like it too because it s already a top 10 hit. Cartwright continues the yesteryear theme with old Coal town another look at his Days As a kid Cartwright also delivers ballads with conviction two above average tunes in this Mold Are in the Long run and say it s not True. Cartwright will enlarge his following with this album. Jim Lewis up the stars and stripes Page 17