European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Entertainment Sinead of Connor Irish Singer has special Talent for striking the wrong chords re Iabry melt Manf Hundred of Ahnne Calk Nui by Larry Mcshane the associated press Joe Pesci and Madonna blasted her. The Bob Dylan crowd booed her. Angry protesters steamrolled her records a which by the Way Are tumbling Down the charts. It has been a Long three weeks for Sinead o Connor and the hands that ripped up the Pope. The Irish Singer has been taking hits instead of making them. Quot it seems like such an overreaction Quot said Elaine Schock o Connor s publicist. Quot you have to think about what she really did she Tore up a picture of the Pope. Was it the anger on her face what was it that caused All this Quot mostly it was Sinead herself. It All started oct. 3, when o Connor hundreds of phone Calls quickly poured into Abc two weeks later a generally Mellow crowd at the Bob Dylan tribute drove her in tears from the stage with their jeers. O Connor has said she holds the Catholic Church responsible for the child abuse she suffered because of its religious Dogma a an explanation that has not appeased those incensed by her action. Quot i think it was just the irreverence of it. Why is she blaming the Pope for her Mother abusing her As a child it s ridiculous Quot said Bill Fugazy of the National ethnic coalition of organizations. Last week the organization used a steamroller to crush More than 200 Sinead albums. The remains were to be shipped to Sinead. Fugazy in t the Only person ripping sinbad o Connor shoots front the hip when she latches on to a cause. Vijh a vow. I think there is a better Way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that Means a lot to other  Madonna capped an appearance on saturday night live by tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul ii before a National television audience. Quot fight the real enemy Quot she announced before ripping the photo. The repercussions were instant. O Connor. Oscar Winner Pesci appearing a week later on sol produced a reassembled version of the Pope s picture during his monologue. Quot she was very Lucky it was t my show because if it was my show i would have gave her such a smack Quot Pesci said to cheers. Even Madonna a who just released a 128-Page Book of erotic fantasies a defended the Pope Quot i think there s a better Way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that Means a lot to other  o Connor s response Quot there s no comment. And there won t be Quot said Schock who is hopeful the juror will die Down. It Only rekindled at the Dylan Bash Sinead s first Public appearance since sol Quot i must say that is. O Connor brings out the worst in Many of us. She came onstage with her own Agenda and an attitude Quot columnist Liz Smith wrote about that fiasco. A rolling Stone cover Story did t help either. O Connor in an interview defended convicted rapist Mike Tyson and labelled his victim Desiree Washington Quot a disgrace to  she also advocated marijuana use. The controversy has t even helped record sales. Her album am i not Yoor or debuted three weeks ago on the billboard charts at no 27 it has since dropped to no. 47. Bad press in t new for o Connor although her past flaps fell into the Quot just say no Quot category she refused to appear with Andrew Dice Oay on sol refused to attend the cram mys because they glorified commercialism and refused to allow the Star spangled Banner to be played before a new Jersey concert the last act prompted Frank Sinatra to declare that sin6ad needed a kick in the posterior. Quot for her Sake we d better never meet Quot Sinatra said after the August 1990 incident they never have although a face to face with Frank would t Surprise anyone at this Point cavalcade of stars Honor Dylan a music in a Bob fest j by Jon Pareles the new York times it looked like a Benefit concert Kin to live Aid or farm Aid. For nearly four hours on oct. 16 at Madison Square Carden stars of various magnitudes played one or two songs each before an audience of 18,200 people whose tickets had Cost $80 or $150. Television cameras swooped on cranes Over the stage for a telecast in 68 countries along with pay per View Cable outlets in the United states while Rock radio stations across America broadcast the music. Currently the tribute has not been made available to an in fact Columbia records celebrates the music of Bob Dylan or Quot Bob fest Quot As Neil Young called it during the show was Only a Benefit for its producers world concert network and its performers. But by the end of the show when Dylan himself arrived on stage a and Sang in it s alright a i m Only bleeding Quot Money does t talk it swears Quot a Bob fest had reminded a Good part of the world How Many Boh Pylan remarkable songs and strategies Dylan had contributed to Rock. His lyrics from minutely observed Domestic dramas to wild eyed visions irrevocably changed what a song could mean. His music Shook up one tradition after another a celtic Ballad pop love song electric blues country gospel a and carried it into a turbulent Uncertain exhilarating new Era. Dylan also taught rockers that change and ambiguity and Enigma could All be part of a Public Persona that they did t have to play by just one set of rules. Dylan released his first album Bob Dylan in 1962, and he has recorded for Columbia for most of the past 30 years though Asylum records released planet Waves and before the flood in 1974, his next album is to hark Back to his first with the Singer accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. And when he took his turn on stage the 51-year-old Dylan chose to be a Lone Folkie picking a guitar and puffing the Harmonica on the Holder around his neck. His voice was Small crabbed and quaver daring listeners to make out a mumbled song to Woody from his first album but then biting into the images and the syncopated vocal lines of it s alright a i m Only bleeding. Next he shared my Back pages with Eric Clapton Tom Petty George Harrison Roger Mcguinn and Neil Young at once acknowledging and shrugging off the effects of age and experience As if to say the 1960s Are Over but not their repercussions. It was an old fashioned concert the reported $5 million budget was apparently spent on people and equipment not special effects. Musicians performed on a modest stage set suggesting a mexican farmhouse with a red tiled roof with hardly any histrionics much less dance routines rapping or video backdrop. But the songs have aged Well. As Stevie wonder pointed out before he Sang Slowin in the wind Dylan s lyrics have lasted because they keep adapting to new meanings As the decades Wear on new lines pop out of songs suddenly appropriate to a new situation. Inevitably however the older songs Are receding from current pop. At the concert songs were often applauded not for their first lines but when their titles arrived As when Tracy Chapman Sang the times they Are a Changin one thing the concert proved was that Dylan songs make just about everybody sound Good. He has written love songs and apocalyptic prophecies tall tales and benedictions sermons and harangues and questions. Dylan who has done his share of railing against mass Media a Quot propaganda All is phony Quot As he put it in 1965 a taught generations How to Hijack popular music with their own messages. And As he participated in his own Mega event even w Ith his record company getting top Billing his songs retained the Power to Jolt and destabilize. Quot i got nothing a to five up to Quot Dylan Sang on that Friday night. He s right 12 stripes Magazine november a 1992