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RECURI HVIEWS By STE IIIIN EA lER Dreamboat Annnie Hearts 1976 debut album was surprisingly successful blend of harddriving rock and soft acoustic music that established Ann and Nancy Wilson as promising performers and songwriters But in the two years since then llearts music hasnt lived up to the promise of Dreamboat Annie Dog and Butterfly llearts third album again mixes electric and acoustic music Ann Wilsons lead vocals are as searing strident and fiery as ever she makes lin da Ronstadt sound dowdy by comparison but the material on the album is too fragmented and too weak inelodicalty to have much impact The Wilsons write songs that strive ain bitiously for poetic effect But lines like whisper waves cloud the glassAwake at last like lover only diffuse the direction and focus of the music its as though the Wilson sisters are trying to be the lmprcs sionists of firms rock but thats feat they cant quite pull off The best songs on Dog and Butterfly ook With Fire straightforward rock ilimber and Dog and Butterfly dreamy lyrical ballad work because the music and lyrics fuse together to fonn coherent whole The other songs on the album fail for lack of focus whole Dog and Butterfly is disappointing effort Heart is capable of much better work then the bulk of the songs on the album lleait Dog and Butterfly tlortrait llt 35535 ELVISUSTICLLU Elvis ostello is British computer pro grammer turned New Wave rock roller who celebrates the intense lttllr romanticism of the new music without resorting to sledgehainmer to get his message across The critics aside its debatable whether ostcllo is the best of the new breed but his latest album This Years Model is full of strong fresh rock roll Theres nothing sullen mean or anarchic about ostellos music just strict hoiies ty in his lyrics and an energetic bounce to his melodies and arrangements Like other New Vave performers ostello draws on rock music from the late 1930s and early limos to provide the simple driving beat for his songs ut lie substitutes electric organ for electric guitar in most of the songs that gives his music lighter more subtle texture osltlltrs voice is rough and ragged enough to carry the lyrics without becoming too mannered or too much of sneer tostello is the kind of angry young man whos always in control always sure of his target helorehe takes aim want to bite the hand that feeds ine he sings in ltadio Radio stinging attack on the bland HAWKESTONII Two years ago when ti Toronto musician paid visit to Lattena taBarr lark in this village 23 km north ast of Barrie he refused to believe her claim that she knew foo folk songs by memory So he named few songs at ran dom and she sang them without hesitating Then he apologmd recalls Mrs Mark But the musician didnt stop with an apology He told Mrs tlark it would be selfish of her not to share the music shed spent lifetime teaming aiiil performing and with eiitxiuragement from Gordon her husband and in Dittiner of tttAY PM in Barrie she began recording senes of albums year ago Four have been released so far tnce completed the series of records produced by Dittmei and recorded at the radio station will firm the only collection of its kind in the world according to Mrs lark The music stored so abundantly in Mrs larks memory is traditional folk music songs that descnbe the pioneer days in anada songs that go back centuries to events and legends from England Scotland and Ireland Mrs lark singsthe smgs without instrumental aceompani ment of any kind using simple iinadorir ed style that strives to reprixluce the songs exactly the way she learned them How did she learn in folk songs Mostly from members of her own family at the age of four could sing to verse song she boasts who filled the house with music Through my relatiws teamed songs about every way of life fmin sea shanties to songs about the British aristocracy There was no sheet music in those days songs were passed from generation to generation by teaching them in the home SIRIISSIIS lllPINll llY And not one thing has been changed from the way my ancestors sang the songs stress the authenticity of the music and the personality of the person learned the song from feel like Im there with them when sing Mix lark says she tries to recreate the style of the person Elvis Costello New Wave rock roller who doesnt use Sledgehammer to get his message across who taught her the song whether it was her mother teaching her tender ballad or her father teaching her lusty lumbering shanty lluillst you have to project personality iii each song to make it work The influences in Mrs larks music go back long way she can trace kinship to litBarr who accompanied Jacques tar her to the New World in his first voyage in 13H lltt family background mixes lirench lrish Dutch lanlish and lndian and all those nationalities are represented in the music sfic sings Mis lark proudly describes herself as iiiiithgeneration anadiaii and then goes on toilesciibe project that occilpied the larks for years researching ear ly tanadian music and history by travel mg throughout the country For IT years until the early 1970s the larks travelled across aiiada stopping in various communities for as long as three years Wed go to graveyard sand collect names said Mrs lark and then visit old folks homes to ask about those names Wed ask about the people about their culture about their histon and the way they survived Then Id write songs based on the stories and XIXlttllttS lheardaboiit HUME BASIC Diinng those 15 years the larks main tamed cottage in llawkcstone as home base while they moved about the country lhiee years ago they decided to end their travels and settle xrinanently in the town Simcoetoiinty represents home ter ritory for Mrs lark because she was raised in leffeilaw on the east coast of takeSimcoe lhe larks live quiet life now com pared to the hectic years in the films when they travelled to folk fcsitvals in tiiitaiio and the lS so that hits lark could share her songs with folk music en thusiasts it was after strenuous one week engagement in Syracuse in lilo Xtftlltlllflg at night and promoting anadas entennial during the lay that the larks decided they didnt want to make music fultime occupation Were now into music on our own terms as freolanceis says Mrs lark Mis lark is staunch supporter of traditional folk music she has little pa hence for people who consider the folk singers of the islios who became big stars like Bob Dylan or lorilon Liglitfoot to be truly representative of the folk tradi tion The country has been brainwashed about folk music she says There are many beautiful folk songs that were abiis ed in the folk boom Hit the laws the way they were performed bore no relation tofolk music Mrs lark considers the way folk song is performed to be more important than the actual song itself Its not the song its the singer that counts she says And its not the lyrics its the personali ty of the singer doing the song thats im portant People try to learn her songs from published collections but Mrs lark finds they rarely succeed in capturing the spirit of the music tld timers will sing the songs the way they soiild he done she says HIIIIIING WITH lllll$ Mrs lark admits shes competing Wlth academics who are usually more lli teiested in her songs for their historical value than for their musical value She sees the songs as an important link with the past and thats one reason why the tlarks are making more of an effort to promote the current series of albums Mrs larks records are sold in two loronto stores aiiadian Spaces located at 150 Queen St West and The Toronto ltolklore tentre located at 2M Dupont St The ltecords are also available by mail the Marks address is Box 242 trillia out my on song is history says Mrs lark and thats especially true of traditional folk music You never change the language and that keeps the song in its original context thats the aim of the col lection to record the songs the way the people sang them mediocrity of commercial radio Radios in the hands of such lot of tmlsTrying to anaesthetize the way you feel Right on Elvis Elvi ostello This Years Model olum hia 355K PATSY illl Patsy allants third album for Attic Records titled simply Patsyf confirms the sneaking suspciion lve had that shes the best female pop singer working in anada right now and the equal of many better known singers in the US Theres lithe and soaring quality to Gatlants voice that makes just about any sting she sings worth listening for and she puts enough fervour into the lyrics to make even the cliched themes of pop music sound refreshing Gallant is the master of the up tcmpo love song and proves on the album that few can equal the sheer exuberance she brings to pop singing The album breaks down neatly into four disco numbers on the first side and six pop numbers on the second side 0f the four disco stings Slow Down stands out as the most energetic and passionate the other three stretched out to four and five minutes seem better suited to dancing than straight listening The best songs on the se cond side are two that iallant cowrote with Dwayne liord Well Find Way and Love Affair while third le laiente is cat cliy bossa nova tune that displays iallants superb timing Patsy iallant Patsy Attic ll lofiii lllll GLASS FAMILY Aside froin new pair of dancing shoes nothing would make bet terhristinas pre sent for disco fanatic than the new album by The ilass Family Mr You Know How to Make Me Dance The album is 2o minutes and Zit seconds of pure unadulterated disco music The first side features two songs the title track and vir tually identical track called me an Find Love Side two features are you ready disco concerto in four movements laka Boom the featured vocalist on the album gives Donna Summer run for her money when it comes to the smooth and polished vocal style that accompanies the disco sound The four musicians who make up The ilass laiiiily handle the iiistrumcir tal iecompaniment with competence and control its the rhythm of the music that counts after all and they cant be faulted for meddling with successful formula lim alloii and llavid IIdward who handled the albums arrangements have thrown in some horn and string passages to add lit tle variety it you love disco dancing you ll love this record The llass Family Mr DJ You Know How to Make Me Dance fttic ll ItISIit LaRena Clark projecting personality to make song work