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AMERICAN HOTEL &

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AKRON, O.

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ON RECORD

by Michael Mascioli

Ex-Joy of Cooking lead singer/guitarist Terry Garthwaite seems destined for the smash success that band never had. Terry, her first solo release on Arista, shows her to be not only a slick contemporary rocker but a blues/jazz stylist in the tradition of say, Helen Humes, whose clear, youthful voice she brings to mind.

Her music and lyrics are easygoing, the vocal arrangements and instrumentation expert, and the rhythms infectious.

If pressed to pick outstanding cuts, I would single out "Angel of

Photo courtesy Arista Records Terry Garthwaite

Love" and "What More" among her r&b numbers, and "Robbin's Nest" and "Pass on By" as exquisite among the jazz. But left to my own devices, I just begin at song one, side one, and listen through to the end, skipping nothing.

With a conspicuous talent firmly tucked under one arm and Arista Records (which has a great track record for molding big stars-consider Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow and Patti Smith) under the other, Terry Garthwaite has a soaring future ahead. It is only a matter of time...

David Bowie, who changes performance personas faster than a tree drops leaves in the fall, having gone through glitter, heavy metal, and staged extravaganzas, has adopted an almost Spartan style unadorned concert appearances, sparely designed album jackets, and with Station to Station (RCA), an unpretentious yet worthy successor to his ground-breaking Young Americans.

In the six cuts, Bowie shows a partial reversion to his former rock concerns (particularly in "TVC 15") while retaining his own brand of white-hot soul, best exemplified in his current hit "Golden Years.".

A large part of the new Bowie's attraction lies in his vocalizing. He long ago abandoned "good" singing, but only on his last two LPs, without any junk rock behind him, has he been able to fully explore his potentialities. The effect is even more pristine since. the solid Young Americans back-up vocals are nowhere to be found.

None of the songs disappoint, though the title tune "Station to Station" is given more time than it merits. Ranking right up there with "Young Americans," "Changes," and "Space Oddity" are "Golden Years" and "Stay." and the refrain of "Word on a Wing" ("And I'm

trying hard to fit among your scheme of things") clings stubbornly in mind.

"F.U.N.K..../I was born with it/I will die with it." That understatement of the year is voiced by Betty Davis on her appropriately-titled Nasty Gal LP (Island). This broad (yes, broad!) makes Joplin, Midler, and Patti Smith sound like three of the Five Little Peppers.

Her music is a blend of savage soul and raw, uninhibited sexuality ("I'm yours, I'm over 21. . ./Do whatever you want to me"). If this were visual materials, it would be less Viva erotica than Dripping Twats pornography.

The most interesting cut is "Dedicated to the Press," on which she presents a witty defense of her. shoddy reputation: "Extra, Extra, Have you read about me/Well they say I stick out my tongue quite lecherously/Well I really don't know what they're talkin' about/I just can't seem to keep my tongue in my mouth/That's all folks."

Amid growls, moans, and bellows, her smooth but merely adequate singing on "You and I" (coauthored by her ex, jazzman Miles) is a cool oasis in an otherwise steaming inferno.

I can't envision playing Nasty Gal for anything but an infrequent, radical change of pace. . .musical slumming, so to speak. It does have an appealing vulgar energy, but label it "Danger-Approach with Extreme Caution."

Not one track on Loggins and Messina's Native Son LP (Columbia) carries the impact of their better, earlier efforts-like the warmth of "Danny's Song" or the vivacity of, say, "Vahevala," The musicianship is, as always, outstanding, but the tunes themselves are unmemorable... And what is one to make of lyrics like "When I was a child/So wild and free/Sometimes I'd stumble/,Or fall from a tree/But I didn't worry/And I didn't care/I knew that my daddy/Would always be there"? C'mon fellas!

The only high point is a snappy little (unintentional) double entendre in "It's Alright": "The Arabs

Photo courtesy Columbia Records Loggins and Messina

sell us our petroleum jelly/A little dab at a time/If doctor's diagnosis is. prostate inspection/You better grab your behind/And I guess it's all right/There's always Mazola/So keep yourself a bottle at home." What on earth have these boys been up to?

(Continued on Page B14)

GAY NEWS May 1976 Page B13