20 -— Wednesday, May 24, 1989 - North Shore Nev's Piercing muses NEW ARTIST A KNOCKOUT PIERCE IS piercing; Webber is collected; Breit new Cana- dians serve up debut offering; Creedence is revived one more time. **** Pierce Turner — The Sky And The Ground, Beggars Ban- quet 1989 Out of the piles and pounds of plastic pressed daily in the name of entertainment, every once in a while an unknown quantity grabs you by the ears. You always hope when you take a risk on a new ar- tist or group tnat he, she or it merits the hype. Strangely, the record company isn’t hyping this young Turner person. The cover art is one of those low-budget monochromes reserved for the new label sign- ups, working on a tight budget ana one shot away from the delete bins. But Turner's a knockout. A New Yorker by way of southeast MICHAEL BECKER record review lreland, Turner possesses a lyrical insight light years beyond his bio- logical years. He reminds of a young Peter Gabriel cross- gendered with Marianne Faithfull. The music is graceful, emotionally full, classically structured and damned addictive. Turner's vocal phrasing comes chopped into offbeat mantra packages. individual words and strings of words are syllabically strung out at will. For example, in Time Flies (When You Don't Know What You're Doing), ‘‘genius” takes an seven syllables and in / Set You Up To Shake, ‘‘voice" is worth eight syllables. Each song begins simply enough, with an often child-like melodic foundation, and gradually builds in complexity as it takes on new ideas. To the point: The muses are working overtime for this man. ** Andrew Lloyd Webber — The Premiere Collection, The Really Useful Group 1988 Oh, these songs keep pushing in on the grey-matter nodule. [ can’t Contest decide if they’ re really so kitschy that they’re impossible to ignore, or simply supremely savvy expres- sions of musical genius. Is it Rick Astley dressed up for the theatre or is it Beethoven gone Broadway? Whatever, I can honestly say ''ve only seen the big-screen in- stalment of Jesus Christ Superstar, . yet most of the tunes on this best-of compilation have been crashing my cranium for years. A sign of ineluctable mass con- sciousness saturation? Perhaps. It’s all here and original, folks: Phantom Of The Opera (The Phantom Of The Opera), Don‘t Cry For Me Argentina (Evita), Superstar Jesus Christ Superstar), Memory (Cats), Take That Look Off Your Face (Tell Me On A Sun- © day). The good bits leave you with misty eyes. The not-so-good bits, the songs tailor-made for B-grade has-beens surfacing now and then on fate night TV talk shows to plug the gaps between skin cream ads, can be thankfully programmed out on the CD version. Die hards will glimpse Webber creation and nuptial partner Sarah Brightman in concert at the Or- pheum, with a 70-piece orchestra, May 25 through 28, at the North American premiere of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. ** The Breit Bros., BMG 1988 Three Breits and a DeSouza make for some radio-play-smart songs, smacking of an Eagles with watered-down country inclina- tions, and travelling down the middle of the well-worn pop ‘n‘ ballad road. Aithough a debut offering, the McKerrow, Ontario lads possess an easy sense of songsmithing. Workouts with people like Long John Baldry, Dalbello, the Spoons and Rational Youth have given these guys valuable experiences. Coming from a musical family of seven kids hasn’t hurt the Breits much either. The cosmic linkage of twin existence (singer Gary and drummer Garth) keeps the cre- ative juices flowing in synchroniz- ed fashion. The Breits offer inoffensive, in- stantly accessible, uncomplicated music. And it’s Canuckian, eh? FY inner DONNA, PINKOWSKI left beside Manager Debra Warwick. Donna lost 19” in 14 sessions winning a 1 month package worth $99, plus a bottle of champagne. Anyone can lose inches in the FIRST week! Workouts take less than an hour and they'll leave you tefreshed. Now longer hours! M-Th. 9-9, F 9-8, Sat. 10-4, Sun. 11-3 BODY FIRM MODERN IMAGE PLAZA 190 Marine Dr, North Van. 106 SESSIONS 54.995 To be used in 3 weeks 986-3476 Check them out at the Town Pump Thursday night with special guests, Real World. **** Creedence Clearwater Revival — Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, Fantasy Records 1976 Zowie! I’m rudely unfinished and pre-pubescent again every time J blast the neighbors with this one. Only this time the flashback comes packaged in a digital CD rainbow. Creedence was one of those bands that either grabbed you by the crotch and heart in its heyday, or left you violently il! and ill at ease with all that bayou sap and white-guy expropriation of other- wise perfectly realized black music. There is no middle ground. Enjoy this pristine version of the band’s brilliantly basic music. John Fogerty’s sax-voiced killer yowling on / Put A Spell On You alone is worth the price of purchase of this collection. FACTORY REBATE ON JENN-AIR $i66C GRILL-RANGE Earth Girls isn’t easy to watch EARTH GIRLS are easy. Comedy is hard. During a set of wildly colorful credits, a spaceship (looking like a cross between a giant hot dog and a Studebaker) plummets uncon- trollably towards earth. Meanwhile, in the valley, nail technician Valerie Dale (Geena Davis is having one rough day. Forgoing the cuticle convention, she becomes a blonde in a lacy teddy as a surprise for her fiance Ted (Charles Rocket). He, in turn surprises her by bringing home a nurse. Not surprisingly, she throws him out, trashes the house and sings a ballad (surprisingly well). But her mundane problems are shrunk to insignificance with the splash-landing of a spaceship in her swimming pool. Three furry extra-terrestrials, Mac (real-life mate Jeff Goldblum), Zeebo (Damon Wayans) and Wiplec (im Carrey) hop out to greet the world’s oldest valley girl. After a meal of calorie-reduced Pop Tarts, she introduces the technicolor trio to her best friend Candy (Julie Brown), a makeover expert at the Curl Up & Dye. A quick mega-Nair job reveals three Cute guys ready to party. Actually, Captain Mac is more interested in getting intergalactically involved with Valerie than in joining the others on the dance floor. Valerie is attracted but what about the phone bill? More impor- tantly, will Mac be thinking of the film’s title? The actors are all pleasant, but the script gives them little to do. There are some easy laughs as the aliens repeat lines they have picked up from T.\/,. commercials 4Are we limp and hard to manage?” asks Mac gravely), but the film seems content with famil- >*200 2 =y FACTORY £¥£ fia an ba Olfer good til June 30 Kivhite quantities last. iar topics like yuppies and some dated references. On the plus side, there is a wild dance-off as well as co-star Julie Brown's musical salute to blondes. One thing's for sure, a film needs mose than a catchy tile to get off the launch pad. Hairspray *** (RCA/Columbia Video) Rated G This is a nostalgic look back at the days when the ozone was in- film review tact and hairspray came in aerosol cans. Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lane) is a typical teen in Baltimore, 1963. Her two passions are feathered hair-dos (her teacher calls them hair-don’ts) and a local American Bandstand-style program hosted by Corny Collins. When she is accepted as a regu- lar dancer on the show, the rotund rocker finds both love and rac- ism. Her sky-rocketing popularity with viewers only strengthens her resolve to integrate the dance floor, When a cast features Sonny Bono, Deborah Harry and Divine with a cameo by Pia Zadora, you know messages are a low priority. NORTH SHORE VIEWS West Van Odeon: Field of Dreams, K-9, Dangerous Liaisons Park Royal: Cousins, See No Evil/Hear No Evil, Road House Park & Tilford: K-9, Criminal Law. Field of Dreams, Scandal, Heathers, How | Got Into College | Indoor grilling with downdraft ventilation | Convertible cooktop with choice of optional grill-range accessories . a Large self-cleaning oven 4 Cartridge optional JENN-AIR | AVAILABLE AT THIS PARTICIPATING JENN-AIR DEALER: COLONY HOME FURNISHINGS 1075 Rooseveit Cres., North OPEN EVERY DAY (2 iis behind the Avalon Hotel) Fr.99 Sun. 124 AMPLE FREE PARKING Van. 985-8738