Sounds, September 17, 1977

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Sounds

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Not quite avant Garden Party


Jon Savage

Garden Party
Crystal Palace

Cross-cultural exploration. Or: an attempt to transcend the boundaries of a cultural ghetto — but have the walls been erected for a good reason? How so? I mean I wouldn't go to one of these normally, don't like the distance / anonymity of massive outdoor events, know little about the bands in their present state bar Elvis, feel the whole "Garden Party" schtik reeks of rock as hi-society...

OK, we're finding out now that hi-society takes many forms and today is a chance for a lot of people to get to see groups they otherwise wouldn't and haveanicedayout etc., but, oh hell, I couldn't help feeling the contradictions beneath the sunny day. The fact is that the music biz and the audience is so vast now that there are now at least two/three well defined segments of the audience, safe behind their walls, which co-exist in the charts/ shops/ press, each with their own code, attitudes, ways of reacting. When they're brought together, confusion results. Natch, these segments are in different stages of their life-cycle.

The day is thankfully shiny but sharp. From the enclosure the crowd is a wash of blue, always blue, with splashes of red and white. Denim. A few lost-looking punx. No aggro. A streaker, yet! The music between sets is mainline "rock": Thin Lizzy, Little Feat, Led Zeppelin etc.

For Brand X review — see Dave Fudger feature, next week.

Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes file on next, very flash (in contrast to the low-key crowd) in their assortment of brightly-coloured suits. Very natty. The music is fat, full, glorious, as flashy as their suits... what they do, they do very well. They present classic R&B/ blues/ soul with a horn-section base; a bar-room band, dance entertainment. (But of course it's an open-air festival, so nobody dances.) They please the crowd with some adequately slick choreography and some songs that tug at hidden nostalgia nerves: "It Ain't The Meat, It's The Motion," "I've Got To Get You Off My Mind," Springsteen's "The Fever," and their one classic, "I Don't Wanna Go Home."

Southside isn't great looking, but sweats and burns, jack knifes... people smile and shout "Yeah!" My attention wanders... to thinking about what would happen if James Brown or KC And The Sunshine Band were on the same bill. The a capella intro to "Listen, We're Having A Party" (it's of course indicative that we have to be told) gets everyone moving. Reaction, over one encore. No Ronnie Spector.

Elvis Costello is angry. Does he deserve the blanket coverage? Well, today he really got to me. So intense, so bitter. Seemingly nervous at his first big date, he didn't appear enamoured with the audience... his tactic was to confront. Me, I'm used to finding confrontation stimulating but not so the audience — he short-circuited them. He refused to pander (another attitude difference) playing several new songs, including "I Don't Wanna Go Down To Chelsea," "The Beat," with the haunting, quirky line to a self-obsessed generation (me too) "I'm thinking about your mothers...," "Radio, Radio" — "You better listen to the voice of reason."

Anger, yes... his gestures accentuate the biting lyrics, fast high-pressure sound: stabbing, pointing fingers, hurriedly declaimed announcements, shoulders hunched into a ball. Dylan anger. He's easily good enough to have his cake and eat it: songs that hook you into the lyrics, like "Less Than Zero" — words about Oswald Mosley matched with a chorus that's remained in my head for days. The Attractions mesh perfectly, image/sound wise: short undyed hair, drainpipes, Question Mark & the Mysterians best two-note organ. At the end of "Mystery Dance" he rushes to his amp, yanks out the lead in disgust, dives off to feedback... Word is that he's blown it, that the sound wasn't good at the back; we shout for an encore after everyone's stopped. The day comes alive. A great set, but for some he's the new upstart, they want him to fail...

Santana burst on to the stage in a riot of colour and presence, with razar-sharp percussion and shiv smoothness rip through two numbers fast. Fast. Before anyone knows what's happening. For a moment it looks as though things are going to catch fire, but the interminable solos start... Look, they play beautifully, play their asses off, but the audience doesn't react... about 25 people jump into the pond and wriggle in front of the stage, but that's it. A confusion, between what the band is and what the audience expect from them: the early days of the Latin-American street band with a rock base that bowled Woodstock over into dancing are forgotten. What's remembered instead is the mystical/techno-flash period — when you sit and gape. They're trying to cut the frills, get back, no preaching, but the audience doesn't follow, doesn't dance, just sits... And then the solos go on — meantime I think of airport lounges, supermarket mesmerise music...

Oh yes, they play "Black Magic Woman," "Let The Children Play," "Dance Sister Dance," a version of "She's Not There" which works, and receives a standing ovation on their second encore... Oh yes, they did well. But vindicate the hippie generation, as it was set up, they did not. What they played and how the audience reacted reinforced something that is fossilised, without changing it. They had to work very hard to get any reaction at all...

Depression. A mass-fashion life-cycle: a few people throw stones into a pool. They make ripples disproportionate to their size. These spread, fan out over the pool's surface, a large area, growing ever fainter before dying at the edge...

Post '67, people fought and died for the change they wanted — to an extent, they won their battle. Fossilisation/sterility mostly ensues. Today you came up against it, so you couldn't ignore. Most likely it'll happen to punk, just the same — but there's still a hopeful area of doubt...


Tags: Crystal Palace Garden PartyLondonThe AttractionsThe BeatI Don't Wanna Go Down To ChelseaRadio, RadioMystery DanceLess Than ZeroOswald MosleySantanaSouthside Johnny & the Asbury JukesBrand XCrawlerShe's Not ThereBruce SpringsteenJames BrownQuestion Mark & the MysteriansBob DylanThin LizzyLittle FeatLed ZeppelinSo It GoesGranadaTony WilsonEric'sLiverpoolLondonHope And AnchorManchesterDave EdmundsNick Lowe BandThe JamIggy PopVan MorrisonMink DeVilleJonathan Richman

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Sounds, September 17, 1977


Jon Savage reports on the Crystal Palace Garden Party, Saturday, Sep. 10, 1977, London.


Sounds reports on the return of Granada TV's So It Goes.


My Aim Is True is No. 18 on the album chart (page 6).


A two-page ad promotes Hits Greatest Stiffs and the Stiff's Greatest Stiffs tour.

Images

1977-09-17 Sounds page 46 clipping 01.jpg 1977-09-17 Sounds photo 01 ch.jpg
Photo by Chris Horler.


So It Goes returns with Iggy,
Jam, Elvis, Richman, Mink


Sounds

1977-09-17 Sounds page 03 clipping 01.jpg

Granada TV's controversial So It Goes rock-based programme returns for a new ten week series from next month. The frontman is Tony Wilson, who this season introduces a selection of bands filmed at clubs including Eric's Liverpool, London Hope and Anchor and Manchester Electric Circus. Guests include Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe Band, XTC, The Jam, Albertos, Iggy Pop, Van Morrison, Mink DeVille and Jonathan Richman. The first programme goes out on October 8.



Advertisements.
1977-09-17 Sounds pages 28-29 advertisement.jpg



Cover and page scans.
1977-09-17 Sounds cover.jpg page 3 chart page page 46

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