Creem – America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine, Reviewed Issue By Issue – September 1984 (Volume 16, Number 4)
In 1984, Prince Rogers Nelson was making the move from pop music star to mainstream celebrity icon with the “Purple Rain” movie and soundtrack. He looked appropriately moody and mysterious on the cover of the September 1984 issue of Creem, perhaps wondering, “Have I permanently taken Rob Halford’s spot?” In any event, John Kordosh interviewed director Albert Magnoli who said things like, “Prince is a powerful, magnetic force.” Minnesotan Greg Linder penned a sidebar, giving the local perspective on the Purple Wonder and concluded, “Sadly, Princes is a man without a real hometown and Minneapolis is a town without a three-dimensional hero. We can worship him, idolize him, imitate him, and be amazed by him just like the rest of the country, but it seems we’ll never know him.”
There was a letter printed from some young punk named Steven Crawford. Also, a Georgia woman named Amy Carter had bought some back issues of the magazine, ones that featured the Clash and the Sex Pistols.
Eternal rock critic faves The Go-Betweens were included in “The Beat Goes On.” The only quote from a band member was a reference to institutional racism in Brisbane, Australia.
Stevie Ray Vaughan, an expert on guitar tones and alcohol, was the subject of the “Creem’s Profiles.”
Features:
“Growing Up Absurd with the Thompson Twins,” by Sylvie Simmons
“Night Ranger Want to Meet Your Sister Too!,” by Kevin Knapp
“Prince’s Purple Rain: ‘Scuse Me While I Get Some Popcorn,” by John Kordosh
“Tracey Ullman Must Work,” by Karen Schlosberg
“Slade’s Boyz Feel the Noize,” by Toby Goldstein
“R.E.M. on Broadway: Tales of the Oblique,” by Jeff Nesin
“Berlin: Sex Mutants Make Theatre of the Hot,” by Drew Wheeler
Tom Bailey was the type of pop star who considered his hairstyle “a political statement.” He prattled on about a lot of subjects with a very patient Sylvie Simmons.
Karen Schlosberg interviewed a very busy Tracey Ullman, noting she was a character actress who just happened to dip her toe into being a temporary pop star.
Toby Goldstein visited with Slade for the first time in a dozen years, who experienced their best-selling U.S. single in 1984 with “Run Runaway.” The band wasn’t playing “Cum on Feel the Noize” during this tour for fear of being considered a Quiet Riot cover band.
Peter Buck was an excellent interview subject, who discussed the formation of R.E.M., his love of the Velvet Underground, and his belief that pop music wasn’t truly a force for shaping attitudes in society.
Quotable Quotes:
Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins on writing love songs, “Songwriting is like a skill, it’s a craft, and the more experience you have the more confidence you have to tackle the subjects you were scared of before.”
Bailey, “We were very hot on black radio until they saw what we looked like.”
Tracey Ullman, “Pop music is a bugger of a business.”
Jim Lea of Slade on breaking through in the U.S., “We’d go and do a lovely show and come offstage feeling we’d done a good job, and get pinned to the wall by the press. That hurt, really.”
Jim Lea, “We thought we were the best around in the 1970s, but we didn’t think we were the greatest thing since sliced bread. So when the success went away, we knew the band was still good.”
Peter Buck on naming R.E.M., “We thought maybe we should have a name that was real offensive, like Cans of Piss. That was right up there at the top. Then we thought we didn’t want to be called something that we couldn’t tell our parents or have to mumble.”
Terri Nunn of Berlin, “I was always the corrupting influence on every friendship.”
Rick Johnson, “’Leave It to Beaver’ featured a cast of characters that will persevere like set-in mustard stains.”
Richard C. Walls on the passing of Andy Kaufman, “Anyway, a month after hearing about his death I’m still not totally convinced it isn’t a joke. Sure they had a funeral, but that could have been a coffin weighted down with old wrestling magazines.”
Richard Riegel on Ultravox’s “Lament” LP, “This is absolutely the most boring album I’ve dealt with on a full review basis since Elton John’s ‘Blue Moves,’ and since that one features four whole sides of dozers, you can well imagine the narcoleptic achievement of Ultravox’s single disc.”
Summary: Good articles on R.E.M. and Slade save what would otherwise be a rather lackluster outing.
Grade: B+
Latest price on eBay: $29.71 to “Buy It Now.”
