Europe's Music Radio Newsweekly . Volume 9 . Issue 18 . May 2, 1992. 3, US$ 5, ECU 4

70 CountriesTune In ToMercuryTribute

by Mike McGeever

The world's eyes and ears werefocused and tuned to London'sWembley Stadium on April 20as the music industry celebrat-ed the life and musical contri-bution of Queen lead vocalistFreddie Mercury while rais-ing money for the fight againstAIDS. Preliminary estimatesshow that around one billionpeople in over 70 countrieswatched the show, called "TheTribute To Freddie Mercury:Concert for AIDS Awareness."

The exact amount of moneyraised by the concert won't beknown for some weeks becauseconcession sales and donationsstill have to be counted, saysWendy Laister of London -

(continues on page 38)

REMEMBERING FREDDIE -Broadcasters set up in Wembley's

Grandstand bar (left) overlooking

the 72.000 fans. Radio RMF/

Krakow head of music Piotr Metz

(top right) provided coverage for

his station and Polish state TV. Pic-

tured above is the Italian pubcast-

er Stereo RAI team, featuring (k)

Robert 'Rupert' Bottaro, Gennaro

lannuccilli and Paolo Maiorino.

Rock Gaining Ground OnEuropean Radio Stations

by Miranda Watson

Riding the wave of success ofsuch bands as Nirvana and Pearl

Jam, hardrock musicprogram-mers arestarting u tomake theirpresence felt

in a European radio landscapedominated by EHR-formatted sta-tions.

In the US, there's a prolifera-tion of both contemporary albumrock and classic rock stations, andlisteners are given a good dose ofheavy rock daily. Europe, howev-er, is different. Only a handful ofstations play a significant propor-tion of heavy rock or offer specialheavy metal programmes. All toooften stations only programmethe hit records, and if a hard rockrecord is played, it is frequentlyburied in late -night shows.

Radio Xanadu/Munich,

claiming to be the only true clas-sic rock station in Germany, isoneexception. Says MD/PDBenny Schnier, "Programmingheavy rock music is no problemfor us since it's what peopleexpect to listen to when they tunein. For other stations, however, itdoesn't work out as well. Heavymetal breaks the format at mostprivate stations."

Although Xanadu classifiesitself as "classic" rock, it actually

(continues on page 38)

POLYGRAM EXEC SUCCEEDS ZELNIK

Paire NamedSNEP President

by Emmanuel Legrand

PolyGram France presidentGilles Paire was elected presi-dent of French music industrybody SNEP at a general assemblyon April 16. He replaces VirginFrance president Patrick Zelnik,who did not run for re-election.

Paire, whose term will last

Clyde TakesOver Buzz,Ingham NamedNew MDUK radio group Radio Clyde hastaken control of dance/EHR sta-tion Buzz FM/Birminghamfollowing the March 31 expira-tion of a buy-back arrangementwith Golden Rose.

David Maker -led GoldenRose, which sold 40% of Buzz toRadio Clyde earlier this year tohelp finance its successful bid forJazz FM/London, could notsecure the funding to buy backthe stake.

Radio Clyde, which was aninitial 40% investor in Buzz whenit debuted in May 1990, nowowns 96.7% of the station. Theremaining 16.7% was acquiredthrough a rights issue with theother two minority shareholdersearlier this month, according toRadio Clyde company secretaryJohn Bowman. To, date, the com-pany has invested £750.000 (app.US$1.3 million) in the station.

(continues on page 38)

two years, is known in the indus-try for his discrete demeanor.That quality will come in handyat a time when various importantissues are at stake, such as the on-going negotia-tions withradio stationsregardingFrench musicquotas, theSemaine duDisque musicindustry pro-motion in Juneand the forth-coming launchof the digitalcompact cas-sette. Anotherissue high on the industry agendaat the moment is the establish-ment of a new fund to encouragemodernization of retailers, pro-mote exports and set up marketresearch tools.

Paire became president of(continues on page 38)

Gilles Paire

No. 1 in EUROPEEuropean Hit RadioANNIE LENNOXWhy(RCA)

Coca-Cola EurochartMR. BIGTo Be With You

(Atlantic)

European Top 100 AlbumsBRUCE SPRINGSTEENHuman Touch(Columbia)

AS F30 DTTHE TV -ADVERTISED MEGASELLER-ALBUMINCLUDING AT LEAST 10 TOP -TEN HITS.

JUST RELEASEDALREADY TOP 15 IN

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com

MUSIC & MEDIA INTERVIEW WITH JON LANDAUPO Box 9027, 1006 AA AmsterdamRijnsburgstraat 11, 1059 AT AmsterdamTel: 31-20-669-1961 - Telex 12938Fax: 31-20-669-1941; E-mail: DGS1113 Springsteen: Directions & ConnectionsPublisher: Theo Roos

EDITORIALAssociate Publisher/Editor-In-Chief: Jeff GreenSenior Editor: Machgiel BakkerManaging Editor: Steve WonsiewiczFeatures Editor: Mary WellerMusic Editor: Robbert TilliStaff Reporter: Miranda WatsonAssociate Editor: Julia SullivanStation Reports Manager: Pieter KopsChart Processor: Raul CairoEditorial Coordinator: Marlene EdmundsClassical/Jazz Editor: Terry BerneEditorial Assistant: Claire Heffernan

PRODUCTIONProduction Manager: Rim EderveenDTP: Pauline Witsenburg,Will van LitsenburgPrinter: Den Haag OffsetDesign: Peter van Seuren

ADVERTISINGAssociate Publisher/Sales Director: Ron BetistDeputy Sales Director: Kirk BloomgardenAdvertising Executives: Irit Harpaz,Erika PriceSales Coordinator: Inez LandwierItaly: Advertising:Lidia Bonguardo, Via Umberto r 13,20039 Varedo, Milan; tel: 39-362-584424;fax: 39-362-584435

MARKETINGMarketing Manager: Annette KnijnenbergMarketing: Kitty van der Meij (asst.),Annette DuursmaSubscriptions: Lex Stemfeld, Gerry Keijzer

ADMINISTRATIONFinancial Controller: Edwin LoupiasComputer Services: Mark SperwerProgrammer. Ronald JansenAccounts: Peter Lavalette, GeertjeStarreveld, Bob von SchooneveldExecutive Assistant: Deanne Blondeel

EUROFILEEditor: Cesco van GoolAssistants: Steven Roelofs, Saslcia Vericode

INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTSUK: Mike McGeever, Ben Lewis,23 Ridgmount Street, London WC I E 7AHtel: 44-71-323-6686; fax: 323-2314Austria: Norman Weichselbaum,tel/fax: 43-1-523-4242Belgium: Marc Maes, tel: 32-3-568-8082France:Emmanuel Legrand, tel: 33-1-42-543-461David Roe, tel: 33-1-40-419-772;fax: 33-1-40-210-403Germany:Bob Lyng, Fichtestr. 16, 6000 Frankfurt/M1tel: 49-69-433-839; fax: 49-69-433-018Mal Sondock, Im Sionstal 29, 5000 Kolnl,tel: 49-221-32-1091; fax: 49-221-31-7600Wolfgang Spahr, te1:49-4551 81428;fax: 49-4551 84446Ellie Weinert,tel: 49-89-157-3250; fax: 49-89-157-5036Greece: Melissa Daley, tel: 30-1-324-8450Ireland: Aidan O'Sullivan,tel: 353-1-280-8211Italy: David Stanfield,Via G. Marconi #3, 20060 Cassino dePecchi, Milan tel/fax: 39-2-953-43714Scandinavia:Kari Helopaltio, tel: 358-0-276-1836.Kai Roger Ottesen, tel: 47-9-256-460Gerard 0' Dwyer, tel: 358-2133 2763; fax: 358-2133 2764Spain:Anna Marie de la Fuente, CalleAlcantara 35, 5-D, 28006 Madridtel/fax: 34-1-309-3184Howell Uewellyn, Calle Modesto LaFuente 6, 5A, 28010 Madridtel/fax: 34-15-932-429

M&M is a publication ofBPI Communications BY,a subsidiary of BPI CommunicationsPresident/European Operations: Theo RoosPresident/CEO: Gerald S. HobbsVice Chairman/COO: Athur F. KingsburyExecutive Assistant: Caroline KarthctusInternational Editor -In -Chief: Adam White

SUBSCRIPTION RATES:United Kingdom UK£ 135Germany DM 399Austria OS 2800Switzerland Sfr 337France Ffr 1395Benelux Dfl 397Rest of Europe US$ 249USA/Canada US$ 270Other territories US$ 288

Copyright 1991 BPI Communications BVAll rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced in any form without theprior written permission of the publisher.

Jon Landau is probably one of theworld's best-known managers.Now 44, he began his associationwith Bruce Springsteen in 1975by co -producing his third albumBorn To Run. Landau has beenexclusively managing Springsteensince 1978 and has been instrumen-tal in establishing him as one of themost enduring artists of the last 15years. It has been almost five yearssince the last album Tunizel OfLove came out. Is Springsteen stillable to captivate an ever-changingaudience? In an exclusive inter-view, senior editorMachgiel Bakker talksto the man in the know.

Q: What was themotive behind releas-ing two albums insteadof one?A: I spent the last two -plus years with Bruce inthe studio co -producingwhat was to become theHuman Touch album.We recorded a largeamount of material Jon Landau Q: Is Bruce risking thewhich we constantly sift- loss of momentum, hav-ed through and edited down. Thiswent on for 15 months and webrought that album to completionin the spring of 1991. We finishedit pretty much in the form it wasreleased in, but Bruce had somemore songs. He just wanted to keepgoing, rather than just rush therecord out and jump into a tour sit-uation.

The first song for the secondcollection was Living Pmof Assoon as I heard it, I felt it was oneof his really great songs. He toldme he had others and I encouragedhim to keep going. But as that pro-cess started to unfold in May -June1991, it became clear right awaythat there was a different sound andpoint of view. Bruce really madethat record almost by himself in thestudio he keeps in his home in L.A.

Unlike Human Touch, wherewe recorded many songs and editedthem down to 14, he wrote the 10songs very quickly and very loose-ly. Now we were staring at theHuman Touch album and wethought about the obviousthings-combine them into onerecord or do a double album. Butthis was unsatisfying to us and wequickly came to the conclusion thatthey were simply two separaterecords with separate identities. Inaddition, we were planning a tour,and we wanted both of them out sothey would really tell the wholestory.

Q: It wasn't inspired by therecent Guns N' Roses releases?A: We laughed about it. We learnedthat they planned to release thoserecords when we were thinking ofthis. We assumed people wouldcompare-Hey, this a newtrend-but that's fine. The fact thatthey were doing it gave us a bit ofcomfort but had no bearing on ourdecision.

Q: In the US, Columbia was try-ing to restrain retailers fromoverbuying the two albums, con-trary to what recently happenedwith releases by Guns N' Rosesand Michael Jackson. And,according to a report by CNN,this was further limited to onemillion units each.A: That was not correct. [US] ship-ments were 1.3 million for each,while worldwide there was a distri-bution of 6.5-7 million, which Ithought was extraordinary. AtColumbia they simply made the

judgment, "These are asmany records as we needto send out so that every-body is covered in-depth."Beyond that, it's somewhatpointless and could beinterpreted as hype. Theyhad just found an intelli-gent way of presenting therecord to the retailers.Although we're supportive,generally it's an area westay out of.

ing been away for so long?A: I wish it hadn't taken us as longas it did. But Bruce is very strictabout the artistic process and ulti-mately he's driven by his creativelife. On the new material, he's notjust repeating things from the past,but offering new perspectives. Thattakes time, too.

Q: Now that he enjoys a LosAngeles -based affluent familylife, how will Bruce project him-self to a younger audience whichis not necessarily familiar withhis blue-collar image?A: It's an interesting situation thatmany artists face as they move intodifferent stages in life. We will per-haps lose some people. But Brucehas always has tried to write uni-versal thoughts that resonate withsomething real. We have to see; it'san adventure right now. But we willgo out there and present the musicin a very assertive way and findwhat the makeup of our audienceis.

Q: We hear touring will be limit-ed to only a few cities.A: It's all premature at the moment,but it will be a lengthy tour. I'm try-ing to arrange things so that we getto Europe much sooner. The plan isto visit twice, but to make the sec-ond appearance more complete andin-depth. We're in the process ofassembling a [backing] band andwe're ready to announce details in aweek or two. The last two timesthat we performed in Europe wereoutdoor -type of situations withlarge capacities. This time we willappear indoors-something wehaven't done in Europe since '81with The River tour.

Q: With a new band, is the pre-sentation of his old materialviable in concert?

A: The emphasis in the new showwill be overwhelmingly on newmaterial. We will be not too rigidby ruling out anything from thepast. But these 24 new songs arethe closest to Bruce's heart.

Q: In Europe, "Human Touch"has been the fastest ever to reachnumber one on EHR. Did youexpect such immediate successfrom radio?A: We were slightly surprised.When you go away for so long,things change; there's constant evo-lution. And you wonder, where do

we fit in? Bruce has a very heavyconnection with European audi-ences and he's very anxious to visitand confirm the connection.

Q: What sort of material doesBruce listen to at home?A: Everything, from rap to newage. He would make a great A&Rperson for some record company.He's always full of surprises ofwhat he listens to; he's always beeninterested in black music and is afan of rap music. Bruce goes foranything creative.

A FOND FAREWELL - PolyGram Holland president Paul Hertog (farright) wishes PolyGram Belgium MD Charles Licoppe (centre, standing)"happy trekking" upon retirement. Licoppe, who retired on March 31,spent 40 years in the music business with PolyGram. Enjoying the festivi-ties during the send-off party are PolyGram president/CEO Alain Levy(left) and IFPI chairman of the board and former PolyGram presidentDavid Fine (second from left). (Photo: Guido Marcon)

Anti -Piracy Unit TargetsAustrian Market

by Miranda Watson

The Central European AntipiracyUnit (CEAU) has vowed to stepup the fight against east Europeanpirates taking advantage of laxlegislation and flooding the Euro-pean market with illegal soundcarriers.

Last week CEAU held a con-ference in Budapest attended byanti -piracy officers, copyright andcustoms experts from Austria,Czeckoslovalcia, Hungary andGermany to discuss the progressover the last year in the fightagainst piracy. The main concernof delegates was that piratesfrom Poland and other easternEuropean countries are usingAustria as a gateway into westernEurope.

Since the free trade agreementbetween Austria and .the EC, ithas been' impossible to operatestringent border controls betweenAustria and Germany, inparticular, and to seize the pirateproduct as it enters the EC. TheAustrian IFPI says that if thelicensing of authors' rights are tobe secured, then new legislationis necessary to enable imports tobe seized at border controls byAustrian customs officials.

Says IFPI anti -piracy officerAndreas Weinek, "We have areal problem here in Austria. Wehave tried to get the customsorganizations ancl ministries tocooperate, but they're not interest-ed and don't even recognize thatthere is a problem. Yet we are themain route for pirate productfrom eastern Europe into Ger-many."

The importance of Polishauthor's rights society ZAIKS infulfilling its international dutieswas also stressed at the confer-ence. ZAIKS has failed to intro-duce new copyright legislationand customs controls necessary tobring Poland in line with neigh-bouring Hungary and Czeckoslo-vakia, which recently introducednew copyright laws.

Weinek says, "The CEAU hasbeen a success so far. EasternEuropean countries have beeneager for advice from Germanyand Austria and to learn from ourexperiences. Hungary and Czeck-oslovakia have already madeprogress towards tackling theproblem of piracy, and Poland isnow working towards introducingnew copyright legislation."

MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992 3

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

UNITED KINGDOM

PLENTY OF MONEY AVAILABLE

Investors Bullish AboutRadio Despite Recession

by Steve Wonsiewicz

Investors are still bullish aboutfinancing radio stations despitethe recession that continues togrip the UK. A roundup of corpo-rate finance executives indicatesthere is plenty of equity moneyfor newly licenced local commer-cial radio stations, as well as theindependent national radio fran-chises (INRs) and the new region-al specialist -format stations.

Bank of Tokyo corporatefinance executive Julian Green,whose company advised JazzFM/London, says Classic FM'ssuccessful fundraising lastSeptember showed there is anappetite for investments in newstations despite the advertisingdownturn. "However, dealsrequire synergy or strategic bene-fits to flow before fundraising islikely to be concluded," he adds.

Radio managemant/invest-ment consultant Robert. E. Rich-er agrees. "There is a lot ofmoney available at the [financial]institutions, but also a lot avail-able privately," says Richer, whoworks with, among others, invest-mant bank Paine Webber onradio transactions. "If you look atClassic FM, for instance, you seethat this is a 100% equity deal, nodebt. Time Warner has apiece-its only radio investmentin the world. GWR Group has apiece; Brian Brolly and Sir PeterMichael each have a piece. Thenational licences are obviouslygoing to attract investors whothink on a larger scale and whoare unlikely to invest in individu-al station deals."

Financiers say capital avail-ability isn't drying up after theawarding of INRs 1 & 2 and sev-

eral local independent licences.Another important point: foreigninvestors have yet to pour a lot ofmoney into the sector. "There isstill a lot of money around and wehave yet to see any US moneycome into these deals, exceptTime Warner," says Richer. "Asyou know, Silvio Berlusconi hasdecided to bid for Channel 5 and[NRJ president] Jean -PaulBaudecroux is anxious to get intosome deal in the UK."

Equity's The NameOf The Game

As expected, most of thefinancing for these start-ups, localor national, is equity -driven. "Butthat is not to say that if Classicdevelops a good track record, forinstance, it might not be takenpublic if the market becomesmore accepting of initial publicofferings," says Richer. "But mostbanks today will only loan moneyto radio operators that candemonstrate a history of positiveand growing cash flow. Obvious-ly, the new ventures cannot deliv-er that."

Chris Graham, an executivewith UK venture capital firm 3i,is also bullish on radio. "The mar-ket probably is more dynamicthan it ever has been," he says."There's still quite an appetite inthe market for good, qualityinvestments."

3i, which has been involvedwith local commercial radio sinceit began, currently has invest-ments in around 10-12 local com-mercial radio stations. Grahamsays equity investments for thesmaller, local stations typicallymight be in the £300.000-£600.000 range, for larger sta-

WALKING IN LONDON - Grammy award winner Marc Cohn (bestnew artist) had cause for further celebration in London when he waspresented with a gold disc for sales of more than 100.000 for his self -titled debut album. Pictured (l -r, back row) are: east UK west head ofradio promotions Joe Reddington, east west UK artist liaison officerCharlie Webster, east west UK head of TV promotions Hassan Choud-hury, Cohn, Cohn's guitarist Jeff Pevar, Atlantic product manager foreast west UK Mark Conway and east west UK marketing managerRichard Engler. Pictured (1-r, front row) are: Warner Music UK directorof sales Jeff Beard, M.F.C. Management's Perry Watts Russell, WarnerMusic UK chairman Rob Dickens and east west UK MD Max Hole.

tions in the "tens of millions ofpounds."

Factors whetting investorappetites in the face of the reces-sion are increasing deregulationand the low percentage of adver-tising spend on radio, as com-pared with other major Europeancountries. "[Advertiser reluctanceto use radio] will begin to changewhen we get more national, com-mercial radio stations rather thanlocal commercial station deliver-ing targetted audiences to theadvertisers," says Graham. "Andwithin time, the expectations arethat advertising will begin torise." That means radio asset val-ues will also rise, increasing thereturns to 3i's portfolio.

Investment bank Greig, Mid-dleton & Co. corporate financeexecutive Rod Venables, howev-er, is more cautious. He says theCity still views most start-ups astoo risky. Another sign: radiostock prices have taken a beatingduring the recession.

"The last two deals have metwith a certain amount of institu-tional support, like our deal[Allied Radio's initial publicoffering] and the Southern-Invic-ta one," says Venables. "Howev-er, I wouldn't say the institutionsare all that happy with thembecause they thought the upturnwould happen a little earlier.There has been a lot of commen-tary that when the upturn starts,the recovery will be sharp. Allthey know is that they are sittingon basically established stationswith a proven track record thathave taken steps to remove excessoverhead."

Allied Radio'sOn The Hunt

But the bottom of the marketcould be the perfect time to startbuying. Venables' colleague JohnGreenall thinks the time to investor buy is now. "There's a hell ofan opportunity-or a window ofopportunity-and we want to tryto capitalize on that from Allied'spoint of view," he says. "And thatis to build up to the maximumamount of points allowed as soonas possible. You could probablybuild a group which accounts for

14 million pairs of ears. Then youare taken seriously in nationaladvertiser terms. That's when yougo from 2.5% of net advertisingto 4-5%, and then you're talkingabout huge numbers."

Is Allied on the hunt for acqui-sitions? "We are very interested inbuilding up a group which will beserious in terms of numbers ofears," he says. "There are manythings being looked at."

A CALL TO ACTION - The UK Broadcasting Entertainment Cinemato-graph and Theatre Union (BECTU) has reacted strongly to options forthe BBC that were outlined in a draft report by the corporation's 15 dif-ferent task forces. The BECTU is currently balloting for a one -day strikeon May 15 to voice its opposition to their lack of confidence in BBCmanagement. Pictured (1-r) are BECTU BBC division chairman LukeCrawley, BECTU national industrial officer for the BBC Roger Boltonand BECTU joint president Tony Lennon.

Classic FM Sets Up22 -TransmitterNational Network

by Mike McGeever

The UK's first national commer-cial radio station Classic FM hasinvested £5 million (app. US$8.3million) on the installation .of anetwork of 22 transmitters,expected to reach 86% of thepopulation.

Finances for the transmissionequipment, (separate from theoverall funding of the station) hasbeen secured from US merchantbank Bankers Trust Company.

According to Classic FM chiefexecutive John Spearman, thestation is scheduled to go on -airlater this year with 11 of thetransmitter installations, giving81% coverage, while the remain-der will come into operation

sometime in 1993. The system isbeing supplied by NationalTranscommunications (NT)Winchester and, claims Spear-man, will be the largest commer-cial radio network constructedanywhere in the world.

He explains why the stationchose NT, saying, "Technicalquality from our transmitters isessential as the majority of ouroutput will be classical music,and our audience is likely to con-sist of listeners primarily from theABC1 socioeconomic groups.NTL is guaranteeing not only thesound quality we require, but alsomaintenance and reliability,together with comprehensivemonitoring and control, 365 daysof the year."

Holloway NamedWest Country PCWest Country Broadcasting(WCB), the company operatingPlymouth South and DevonAir,has appointed Michael Hollowayas its programme controller.

Holloway has been PC atDevonair since early 1991, andhas earlier worked with Northsound/Aberdeen both insales/marketing and as a presenter.This was followed by a tenure atRadio Clyde/Glasgow where hewas head of music and also a pre-senter.

"The radio arena in the SouthWest in entering a crucial period,"says Holloway, adding, "The most

important thing for us is that thetwo stations retain their licences.We also have to keep an eye onthe national franchises due soon,as well as the possibility of aregional broadcaster in our area."

Holloway is also currentlyresearching the "ins and outs" ofDevonair and Plymouth Soundsplitting frequencies. MMc

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INNOCENT PROMOTION - Columbia artist Deborah Blando (cen-tre) recently visited Holland to promote her single "Innocence" takenfrom her debut album "A Different Story." Here she's pictured withPower FM PD Wim Rigter (left) and Power FM head of music Peter Belt.

Radio Plus ReadiesAll -News Format

by Marc Maes

Belgium's first all -news stationRadio Plus is now readying plansfor its official launch to a Brus-sels regional audience. While noofficial starting date has been set,the station has been undergoingpreliminary tests for severalmonths.

Radio Plus is headed byRadio Contact founder/MDFrancis Lemaire and DanielCasier (owner of the station andfrequency) and operates from theRadio Contact headquarters inBrussels; it will broadcast from06.00-24.00.

Says new Radio Plus MDDenis Asselberghs, "You couldsay that the idea is based on whatFrance Info does, but in a differ-

ent way. We really fill a gap inthe market here, as we supplynews on a continuous basis."

Radio Plus's news system isfully computerized and is staffedby eight journalists. Says Assel-berghs, "The main idea is to giveour audience news at any time ofthe day. We don't want our listen-ers having to wait until the houror half-hour for their bulletins."

He also says the station plansto add broadcasts in Flemish andEnglish in the near future, as wellas 30 -second jingles and musicbreaks.

The station's initial budget isBfr20 million (app. US$3.5 mil-lion). At presstime, Asselberghswas negotiating an advertisingdeal with the IP/Transistor saleshouse.

VPRO Stays Course InChoppy Dutch Radio Waters

by Marlene Edmunds

Dutch pubcaster VPRO does notintend to change its philosophy orits alternative programming for-mat despite expected changes inthe country's broadcasting system,according to editor -in -chief andPD Roel Bentz van den Berg.

Holland voted in late March torestructure the public broadcast-ing system in an effort to meet theescalating competition from pri-vate commercial cable radio sta-tions (M&M, April 4).

VPRO had initially expressedfears that it would be forced bythe restructuring-which for thefirst time will offer across-the-board horizontal broadcasting-to change to a less alternativeprofile. While most of the otherpubcasters offer an EHR-styleformat, VPRO has enjoyed a rep-utation in Holland for its diverseand sometimes eclectic approachto programming, which offers itsaudiences a wide range of music,including jazz, blues, roots, worldmusic and indie music from theUK.

Says Bentz van den Berg,"The restructure will not influ-ence our thinking about the kindof programmes we carry. Wewould lose more than we wouldgain by changing our philoso-phy." He describes VPRO listen-ers as a "small, but dedicatedaudience of people who areactively interested in what's hap-pening in rock and alternativerock programming."

In the new restructure, VPROsurprised many industry observersby requesting the weekdayevening listening slot (21.00-24.00), a time when many peopleare glued to their TV sets. Com-ments Bentz van den Berg, "Thepeople who listen to us are inter-ested in more selective listeningand TV watching. Daytime is notquality listening. At that time,people want background music.Daytime Radio 3 is very heavilytop 40 -formatted with what wecall 'young and dynamic' DJs. Wehave no business doing that. Weexpend too much of our energyand know-how to be used as wall-paper."

He adds, "People who want tohear us will make an effort to lis-ten to us. They will either tapeour programmes, or they will tapethe television programmes theyare interested in and listen to us."VPRO has some 600.000 sub-scribers and its audience figuresrange from 300.000 during theday (currently Wednesdays from12.00-24.00) to 50.000 in theevening.

Bentz van den Berg expressessome scepticism about the even-tual outcome of the public radiorestructure. "I have my doubts ifit will work," he says, adding thatthe pubcasters' efforts to compete"with all the [AC] Sky Radiosand [EHR] Power FMs," willresult in more ruthless competi-tion. That, he says, "represents aphilosophy that is not ours. I thinkthere should be a division

SPAIN

between the publics and the com-mercial stations. We want to con-centrate on doing things thatwon't be lost in the noise."

Bentz van den Berg's com-ments come on the heels of thepresentation to parliament byminister of culture Hedy D'An-cona of a new media plan which,among other things, suggests thatcommercial time slots may, in thefuture, be made available on pub -casters during rest times when thefrequencies are not being used.

The restructure is scheduled tobe completed by October 1. OnRadio 3, the most popular of thepublic stations with a 30% marketshare, three pubcasters-NCRV,KRO and AVRO-bandedtogether in January to begin hori-zontal programming and are nowcalling themselves Station 3. InOctober, VARA, EO and VPROare expected to join them. TROSand Veronica, the largest of thepubcasters, are expected torequest weekend time slots.(Additional reporting by RobbertTilli.)

Friedrichs Joins EMIBelgium As IMAs of June I, Danny Friedrichs willbecome international manager Beneluxrepertoire, reporting to EMI Music Bel-gium MD Guy Brulez.

Friedrichs, who was previously mar-keting manager at EMI Music Holland,will be overseeing the exploitation of EMIBenelux's roster of domestic talent, whichincludes Leyers, Michiels & Soulsister,BB Queen, Clouseau, Jan Vayne and BBJerome & The Bang Gang. MB

Los 40 Heads Radio's Expo, Olympics Chargeby Howell Llewellyn

Spain's music industry is tuningup for the biggest potential audi-ence it will ever have in its ownbackyard-and EHR network Los40 Principales is leading the way.

Hundreds of concerts are beingarranged by local pop, rock, clas-sical and opera stars as part of thecultural programmes accompany-ing Expo '92 in Seville and theeight -month Barcelona pro-gramme before and after the Sum-mer Olympics.

Los 40 is staging some 70Spanish pop and rock concerts inSeville at the 10.000 -capacityopen-air Plaza Sony venue at thenorthern end of the Expo '92 com-plex. Every visitor to Expo duringeach concert will be able to watch,thanks to the "Jumbotron," a huge200-square-metre-screen-the

largest ever installed inEurope-located above a stagehousing equipment for 500.000watts of light and 40.000 watts ofsound.

The Los 40's live action willtake place every Tuesday andThursday from 23.00-01.00, withproduction costs at US$3 million.It started on April 21, one dayafter the opening of Expo '92,with Modestia Aparte, and overthe next two months will featureacts such as El Norte, SergiODalma, Los Elegantes, DanzaInvisible, and DecadaProdigiosa.

The Tuesday concerts willfocus on easy listening and will beplayed on SER's Cadena Dial thefollowing Sundays at 17.00.Thursday's concert will bepop/rock, broadcast on Los 40 at22.00 on Wednesdays, when the

top eight songs will be featured,and also at 01.00 on Sundays onTV pay -channel Canal Plus.

The Los 40 showcase is onlyone part of the country's entertain-ment plans. Some 55.000 differentevents-most of them part of the"Street Entertainment" pro-gramme-costing more than

RNE Names Four NewStation Managers

State -run Radio Nacional de Esparta(RNE) has appointed new heads atvarious stations in the country.

New Murcia director is Francis-co Alfonso Guzman; La Roija sta-tion manager is FranciscoAlcantera: Marino Jambrina headsthe Huesca station: Julio Zapatar isstation manager at Teruel, whileMiguel Angel Dominiquez heads thePonferrada station. AMdIF

US$175 million -are programmed18 hours a day during the 186days of Expo '92. Around 20.000artists will be performing in the13 open-air venues on the site,with classical music and 14 differ-ent operas predominating in theenclosed venues.

Barcelona, in comparison, istaking a more modest role in thecelebrations, with 150 musicalshows scheduled. Many are bySpanish and Catalonian stars, withan emphasis on flamenco, operaand classical music. Barcelona'sprogramme includes Frank Sina-tra on June 3 and Liza Minnellion June 29 and 30.

An estimated 18 million visi-tors are expected at Expo '92,which closes at 04.00 every day.After each concert, the Plaza Sonywill revert to what Merino calls"the world's biggest discotheque"

until 03.00.With "discovery" as the major

theme of Expo '92, the organizershave scheduled a section aimed atfinding the best new pop talentfrom all over Spain. Directed bypopular singer Miguel Bose, theprogramme "Young Prospects forthe 21st Century" will be held atthe Palenque Theatre at Expo '92on Fridays, Saturdays and Sun-days. A special committee hasspent months seeking out Spain'sbest new talent.

Epic Records former interna-tional A&R Adrian Vogel, who isnow founder of Madrid -basedproduction, management and pub-lishing company Compadres,says it is ironic that 500 yearsafter Spain "discovered" theAmericas, Spanish music isspending the anniversary waitingto be discovered by the world.

6 MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992

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G/S/A

PLATINUMS FOR COCKER - At his sell-out concert in Zurich, EMI -signed Joe Cocker was presented with two platinum discs for thealbums "One Night Of Sin" and "Joe Cocker Live." His current album"Night Calls" hos already achieved platinum status in Switzerland.Pictured (l -r) are: tour manager Ray Napolitano, EMI Switzerland MDPeter Mampell and Cocker.

Concrete Blonde GetsGerman Promo Push

by Machgiel Bakker

EMI Germany is promoting USrock act Concrete Blonde withthe band's biggest campaign inEurope.

Following the move of theIRS label-to which the band issigned-from Electrola to EMIGermany on April 1 (M&M,March 7), the company hopes tosell 100.000 copies of the band'sforthcoming album Walking InLondon. Concrete Blonde's fourthalbum for IRS features the singleGhost Of A Texas Ladies Man,which is already picking uppromising airplay nationally.

Someday, the second singlefrom the album, will be releasedduring the first week of May. Anational tour is expected to followthe band's performance at theBizarre festival in Lorelei on June27.

Says EMI Germany director ofproduct management MichaelGotta, "The time is right to breakthe band. They've been around forquite a while and have hit gold inthe US and platinum in Canada.They have never had much of abase in Europe: here in Germany.

album sales have never reachedmore than 20.000 copies. Part ofour masterplan is the link -up with[retail chain] WOM, it's the firsttime we have done this."

Concrete Blonde has beenselected by the 15 -store chain as"Act of The Month." Other new-comers to receive the same treat-ment have been Nirvana, theBoomers, Naughty By Natureand Pearl Jam. WOM also plansto advertise the album on MTVEurope with 30 20 -second spotsbetween May 2-10.

Says WOM head of publicity& promotion Jens Christiani,"It's part of our philosophy tobreak new bands. We don't hangon to the big names, but like topromote the newer acts, for whichthere is a still a lack of propercampaigns. Concrete Blonde is agreat live band. Also, they willprofit from the fact that rockmusic these days gets easier expo-sure in this market than it hasbefore."

The campaign amounts toDM380.000 (app. US$230.000),of which DM120.000 is providedby EMI and the rest by WOM.

Austria's Music IndustryAdvances 17% In 1991The retail value of the Austrian pre-recorded music market increased by 17.1%to Sch1.37 billion (app. US$118 million) in199 I , according to official IFPI figures .

Album shipments increased 7.3% to12.9 million units, while single deliveriesdeclined 19.2% to 1.9 million units. As inother territories, CDs showed the biggestgrowth, with album units increasing 36.5%to seven million units worth Sch871.9 mil-lion. CD singles skyrocketed 63.4% to487.507 unitl shipped, worth Sch26.5 mil-lion.

All vinyl formats showed a declineagainst 1990. Twelve -inch single shipmentsfell 37.8% to 287.888 units, while tradition-al vinyl singles dropped 29% to 1.15 mil-

lion units. Album deliveries decreased31.1% to 2.5 million units.

Cassettes showed a small increase. of3.8% to 3.35 million units worth Sch 228.7million.

Comments IFPI Austria MD HaraldNebel, "The major reason for the growthis the CD, which comes as no real surprise.The CD now commands a 65% share of themarket, yet CD -player penetration in Aus-tria is only 20% of Austrian households,less /ban half of the European average. Ithink this indicates that there is still roomfor further growth of the CD. This will, ofcourse, depend upon the developments ofthe DCC and Mini Disc." MW

BMG To Market, DistributeHeavy Metal Label GUN

by Robert Lyng &Miranda Watson

BMG Ariola Munich hasannounced a new joint venturewith newly established indepen-dent heavy metal/hard rock labelGreat Unlimited Noise (GUN)and music publishing companyDrakkar Promotion.

Based in Witten in the Ruhrdistrict of northern Germany,GUN was launched on March 30under the leadership of WolfgangFunk, former concert promoterand EMI-Electrola hard rockproduct manager (Axxis,Croming Rose and RunningWild). Funk will work closelywith Drakkar Promotion MD Bog-dan Kopec. Kopec, who has yearsof experience in the fields of pub-lishing, artist management, mer-chandising and tour promoting,

has managed bands in the pastsuch as Rage, Risk, RunningWild, Sodom and Kreator. Funkand Kopec will be responsible forsigning and producing new bands.BMG will market and distributeGUN.

The first GUN release wasFirst Depression by hardcoremetal band Depressive Age onMarch 30. The next releasesscheduled are Murder Nature fromtrash band Sun (who supportedPearl Jam on their last tour) onApril 27 and Sure from punk rockband Monkeys With Tools inMay.

Says Funk, "We see ourselvesas a buffer zone between indiesand majors. On one hand, ourbands do not have to deal with themassive apparatus of a major com-pany because we are their directcontacts. On the other hand, we

bring the majors closer to musicthat they do not understand verywell, but which still provides con-siderable turnover. This sort ofconstellation has been working inEngland and America for a longtime, with the best example beingGeffen Records."

Adds BMG Munich MDThomas Stein, "The idea behindthis joint venture was to give thelabel help in the business and salesfields, but to leave its creativeindependence intact."

Stein says BMG is open to newpartnerships in the future andpoints to the success of previousBMG joint ventures with indepen-dent dance label Logic (Snap, Dr.Alban) and with Chlodwig.Reporting directly to Stein. RolfGilbert, as head of joint ventures,will be directly responsible forGUN at BMG.

FRANCE

TV Channel M6 Faces StiffVideo Copyright Fees

by Emmanuel Legrand

The SCPP and SPPF, the twocollecting societies representingrecord producers, have reached anagreement with private TV chan-nel M6 concerning payment forvideos played by the channel dur-ing the next three years. Theagreement puts an end to one ofthe most heated negotiations with-in the music industry.

According to the new rates,M6 will pay the producersFfr1.150 (app. US$205) for eachshowing of a video in 1992,Ffr1.250 in 1993 and Ffr1.600 in1994.

This is a long way from whatthe channel was initially preparedto pay. M6 had proposed a 6.3%increase for 1992 on the previousyear's rate, jumping from Ffr790to Ffr840. Meanwhile, producerswere asking for Ffr1.600, almostdouble the previous rate.

France is the only countrywhich employs this system ofpayment for each video broadcast.

Industry analysts claim dnereason the new rates are so high isthat M6's programming was previ-ously very inexpensive in effortsto help the channel fulfill its legalobligation to broadcast a high per-centage of Francophile program-ming (including video). They addthat the rates it accepted threeyears ago were negotiated underdifferent circumstances. M6, in its

early stages, had limited resourcesand its future was far from secure.Now, the channel is believed to beon the verge of breaking even, andthe recent collapse of La Cinq,the other private channel, ispoised to boost both its audienceand advertising revenues. There-fore, analysts surmise, it is naturalfor the record industry to re-evalu-ate the rates accordingly.

M6 compromised on the deal,although it claims the station isstill in the red, and that theincrease would put it in a difficultsituation. At the same time, M6reports it will complain to theFrench monopoly commissionabout abuse of dominant positionsby the record companies.

M6 music/entertainment man-ager Laurence Aupetit says, "Itis not that we didn't accept thefact that we had to renegotiate therates, but we found the new ratesunreasonable. We have beenforced to accept them because ofthe shortage of product. If we had-n't been able to find enough actsfor our programmes, we wouldn'thave been able to meet with ourlegal requirements [M6 is obligedto broadcast a certain percentageof musical programmes, of whichvideos are an important part]. Weare in a touchy situation in whichwe are faced with only one suppli-er represented by the two soci-eties, which have negotiatedtogether."

But what angers the M6 man-agement the most is that they feelthe channel was doing an efficientjob in promoting new acts, espe-cially French ones. Says Aupetit,"I am very bitter and disappointedabout their [record companies']attitude, because we have made agreat effort, mainly financially, toinvest in programming ' andincrease our promotional partner-ships. We thought the musicindustry would appreciate whatwe are doing, especially in pro-moting new artists, while it isstruggling to get a mere 20% ofFrench songs on FM radio."

He continues, "We haveproved that we can be breakers.Acts such as Jean Leloup or AuPetit Bonheur were extensivelyplayed on M6 before theyreceived radio airplay. Our studiesshow that if we really wanted tosecure audiences, we could pro-gramme the channel with goldsongs like an FM station. But wehave made the choice to focus onnew music. Record companieshave problems breaking new actsand are very pleased about whatwe are doing, but they tend to for-get this during the negotiations.We consider ourselves as partnersof the music industry. It's a shamethey don't support us."

With the new rates, M6 esti-mates its extra costs will amountto Ffr 12 million in 1992 and Ffr20million in 1993.

8 MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992AmericanRadioHistory.Com

411,11111. 4

With their second album, CROSSROADS haveproduced 11 songs of raw energy: try "You

Won't Get Me" or "Should I Cry" for a starter !...and if you like what you hear, catch 'em live ontheir April / May tour of Germany and Austria !

Brings were voted National Newcomer Of TheYear '91 by the readers of German magazine

Musik Express/Sounds.Earlier this year, the Cologne based rockerstoured successfully with Tom Petty and are

currently recording their long awaited secondalbum.

Michael Schenker and Robin McAuley have created their most successfulalbum to date ! After "Nightmare", the second single "When I'm Gone"

is one of the classic cuts which is currently featured on MTV ! The albumwent Top 25 in Germany, Top 5 in Japan, and Top 30 in most European

countries. Touring plans for autumn are under discussion !

COZY POWELL - THE DRUMS ARE BACK

Former power drummer with Black Sabbath, Whitesnake and ELP createdan absolute classic rock album with a little help from some of the

world's best musicians.

Mercy

The second album of Hanover based banddelivers again a full dose of uncompromising

hardrock.

Winners of the German 1991 Sony Talent Awards ,H.O.T.W. were snatched up by Electrola recently.

Their debut album, due for release in August,will be produced by Scorpions' mixer ErwinMusper and features Australian born singer

Thomas Ripphahn.

ELECTROLA ROCK

ELECTROLA, a division of EMI Electrola GmbH

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SCANDINAVIA

Swedes,Finns AgreeTo Pay -MTV

MTV Europe and nationalcable operator unions in Fin-land and Sweden have signedagreements which allow thepan-European cable net tobecome a pay -TV operation inthose two countries byNovember 1, 1992, at the lat-est.

Local arrangements areexpected to be in place by theend of June, including provi-sions for individual cable ven-tures and details of payment.

MTV Europe service iscurrently available to nearly600.000 households in Finlandand some 1.5 million in Swe-den.

Negotiations in Norwayhave ended in a deadlock andcable TV operators have sus-pended broadcasts of MTVEurope. Meanwhile, Denmarkhas been handled separately byMTV Europe, reportedlybecause of its geographicallocation, its heavy communalantenna tradition and becauseit is an EC member. KH

SWEET DANISH AWARD - EMI Denmark staffers hold up the firstGrammy award to be given to Bonnie Raitt outside the US. Raitt won aDanish grammy, or "IFPI Prisen," for best foreign female singer. Pictured(Pr) are head of international Thomas Hoehne, head of promotion AnneMarie Buch, label manager Svendaage Juncker, promotion managerSuzanne Top and MD H.P. Hansen.

Nevestad Leaves RadioOslo, Takes PST Music PostRadio Oslo's Trym Nevestad has beennamed music director at AC/AOR outletPST-FM/Skien. Nevestad, who was alsomusic director at Radio Oslo, joined PST -FM on April 1.

Commenting on his move, he says, "1like it much better here. It's a great chal-lenge to work at such a small place wherepeople are used to listening to their localradio station."

PST -FM was launched on February Iand has an estimated potential audience of

120.000. The station currently employs fivepeople.

Nevestad plans to implement competi-tions to raise the public profile of the sta-tion. "We plan to drop around 10.000 prizesinto the river, capsuled by plastic bottles,"he says, describing one possible contest."We also recently had our bumper stickercompetition, where people had PST -FMstickers stuck to the car, and when PST -FM's staffers discovered a car with one ofour stickers, they gave away prizes." KRO

PolyGram Buys50% Stake InStockholm Label

by Kai Roger Ottesen

PolyGram has turned up as a50% owner in StockholmRecords, which debuted inBromma, Sweden, at the begin-ning of this year. StockholmRecords' biggest act is Army OfLovers, to which the companyhas the European rights for thegroup's next record. (Their previ-ous album Massive Luxury Over-dose was on Ton Son Ton; GiantRecords has the rights in theUS.)

Stockholm Records is led byformer Secret Service memberOla Hfikansson, who has beenappointed MD, as well asAlexander Bard, Tim Norell,Anders Hansson (both SecretService) and Anders Wollbeek,who together own the remaining50% of the company.

Repertoire has not been speci-fied, but it will not include artistssinging in Swedish. PolyGramhas right of first refusal for Stock-holm Records product in Europe.

The agreement also includes

the launch of a subsidiary calledS Records, which will operate asan experimental label to testartists and repertoire prior toeventual release.

It is not known how muchPolyGram has invested in theproject and, comments marketingand product manager Eric Has-selquist, "PolyGram has no spe-cific requirements in terms ofprofit. They want us to findpotential successful acts."

Hasselquist says the deal is forlong-term, but adds, "When thecontract expires depends on howthe business goes. We estimate aloss for the coming couple ofyears because of the costs ofA&R and production. It will takea while before the benefitsappear. I believe PolyGram willgive us a couple of years to showresults, or at least find good newartists."

A&R duties are being dividedamong Hasselquist, Hakanssonand the production team.

WE ARE MOVING!

AS PERAPRIL 17TH,

1992

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MEGASONG PUBLISHINGWENNICK MANAGEMENT

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MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992 11

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ITALY

THIS WAY IN - Staff members of RTL 102.5 Hit Radio joined in thecelebrations with Spagna as she accepted a gold disc for sales of hersingle "No Way Out." Pictured (14 are: Sony Music artist/Marketingdirector Massimo Bonelli, RTL 102.5 head of music Grant Benson, RTL102.5 head of promotions Luca Viscardi, RTL 102.5 VP Pino Ruggero,Spagna and Epic marketing manager Andrea Papalia.

Dance Label Bull & ButcherStampedes To British IslesBull & Butcher, the dance musicdivision of Milan -based publish-ing firm F.M.A. Edizione Musi-cale E Discografische S.r.l., hasset up offices in the UK. The firstrelease on its Bull & Butcher UKlabel is the 12 -inch -mix singleOn By DSK, a co -production withUS company Hot Production.This will be followed by the DSKalbum What Would We Do.

Bull & Butcher UK has forgeda working relationship withExpression Records, the labelowned by ex-Roxy Music gui-tarist Phil Manzanera. F.M.A.Edizioni GM Mario Allione

explains the deal, saying, "I willretain complete autonomy and amfree to work with who I want. ButManzanera's company will takecare of press, radio and TV pro-motion. Pinnacle, which dis-tributes product on his label, willalso distribute ours. And Manzan-era has contacts with some of theUK's top producers, which will beuseful. It's our first step on theUK market, which I believe to bemost important for dance music."

Allione confirms that his firmwill represent Manzanera'sExpression Records on thedomestic market after 1992. DS

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Radio Regs For 4000 StationsStalled, No Progress Seen

by David Stansfield

August 23, 1990 was a historicday for Italy's broadcast sector.On that date, government legisla-tion was approved which wasintended to regulate the apparentrampant lawlessness which hadruled both the radio and TV mar-kets. That was the official reasongiven, but it was an open secretthat the new broadcast bill hadbeen designed mainly to curb theexpansionist activities of mediamogul Silvio Berlusconi, whohas interests in the TV, advertis-ing and publishing markets.

The most important aspects oflegislation for the radio sectorincluded a redistribution of fre-quencies and changes to advertis-ing restrictions.

With around 4.000 stationscurrently broadcasting, seriousplayers welcomed laws that hadbeen absent since Italy's first sta-tion was launched in 1975. Some,however, claimed that legislationwas weighted in favour of non -music -based community stationsoperated by cultural and politicalgroups. They were promised 30%of the national frequencies, with70% going to commercial broad-casters. Private local stationswould occupy two-thirds of thespectrum. Protests were alsomade against the government'sintention to limit private nationalstations to national advertisingonly. Local stations, however,were left free to air both local andnational spOts.

Yet despite the protests, mostoperators agreed that legislationwith faults was better than no leg-islation at all, and that the radiosector would now be able to riditself of its past "pirate" status.

All broadcasters had to applybefore October 30, 1990. It wasthe task of post and telecommuni-

cations minister Carlo Vizzini todraw up a frequency plan andthen select successful candidatesby August 23, 1992.

No progress has been made inthe radio sector and it seemsunlikely that the August deadlinewill be met. The situation for thegovernment -favoured TV sectoris still unclear. Vizzini is ready toname the list of 12 national sta-tions which will receive broadcastlicences, but the recent generalelection has thrown his plans intodisarray.

Industry observers claim thatoutgoing ministers have stalledon his proposals, and the countryis currently without a rulingcoalition government. It is notknown whether Vizzini will retainhis ministerial post, and the lawsmay well be modified by a newbalance of political power.

Sergio Natucci is stationdirector at Rome -based nationalnetwork Italia Radio. He is alsosecretary to Reti Nazionali Asso-ciate (RNA), an organizationformed to protect the interests ofnational commercial stations.Natucci is active on behalf ofRNA at a top political level andhas had meetings within Vizzinisince the April 5-6 elections. "Wewill continue discussions despitethe election results," he says. "Noone knows which parties willform the next government, andour concern is that if a new postand telecommunications ministeris elected, he will start from zeroas far as broadcast legislation isconcerned."

Natucci says that all radioassociations are pushing Vizzinito draw up a frequency planbecause he had promised to do sowhile in his post as minister. "Heneeds to keep that promise," addsNatucci. "But I don't think hewill. There are too many stations

operating. The number needs tobe reduced and the problem is nomore complicated than that."

Natucci agrees that the TVsector is more important at apolitical level, commenting, "Theannual advertising revenue for theTV sector stands at around L3.5trillion (app. US$2.8 billion),while that for the radio sectoramounts to roughly L350 billion.Political weight is attached to theTV sector and that is why itcomes before radio."

At national EHR networkRTL 102.5 Hit Radio, stationdirector Claudio Astorri is pes-simistic about the chances ofmuch progress for the radio sectorby the August deadline. However,he does expect decisions to bemade by the end of the year.Astorri believes the delay inannouncing licence winners in theTV sector is connected to what hedescribes as a "historic" battlebetween Italy's newspapers own-ers and Berlusconi. They accusehim of having a monopoly posi-tion on the advertising market,one that is killing their ownindustry. The government's guar-antor for publishing and broad-casting is currently investigatingall allegations.

Stations like Astorri's had toinvest heavily in order to meetgovernment requirements in thelicence application process. Sincethen, RTL 102.5 Hit Radio hasbecome a national station and hasneeded to commit major funds topromotion. "We are lucky," headds. "The owners of RTL 102.5Hit Radio also have other busi-ness interests and can wait until1993 for profits. I believe otherstations which are not in the sameposition and need quick returnswill find survival difficult in thistime of uncertainty."

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12 MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992

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MUSIC & MEDIA'S

CHEB KHALED

PolyGramRADIO PROGRAMMERS: If you are interested in receiving the promo CDof this artist, please call Inez at Music & Media, tel. (+31) 20.669 1961.

's pop Rai the next big thing to come out of the ever -evolving world music genre? French label Barclay is placing its stakes high onAlgerian -born Khaled and his infectious single Didi. Taken from a new 11 -track self -titled album, the track mixes the hypnotic andwailing vocalizing style of Rai with contemporary pop arrangements, courtesy of producer Don Was.

Judging by the first radio reactions, Barclay has a winner on their hands. Signed to the label last year, Didi is capturing the hearts ofprogrammers in France and throughout Europe, who are charmed by the single's multi -format appeal. Barclay MD Pascal Negre saysthe single is targetted at two audiences. "For the Arabic community, Khaled is already the king of Bal. The pop/dance audience is next.If you analyze the hits that world music has created over the years, it was first of all the dance beats that captured the imagination."Khaled started his career in the late '70s under the name of Cheb ('boy') Khaled, and has recorded many music cassettes in Algeria, hishome country. He releases his first album in France in 1985. Apart from releasing three more albums for various independent labels,Khaled also recorded the ground -breaking Kutche album with musician Safy Boutella in 1988. Khaled, known for his whirling liveperformances, has scheduled a European tour for May -June, followed by more dates in the fall.Programmers on the look out for something different are wise to check out the rest of this album. With production duties equally splitbetween Don Was and Michael Brooks, Khaled is a surprisingly varied blend of musical styles. Propelledby Khaled's seductive vocals, Rai is paired with flamenco (Wahrane -the best bet for a second single), or MUSiset in a strongly -evocative and atmospheric setting, exemplified on tracks like Liah Liah and Ne M'En

EDIVoulez Pas.

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

The Black Crowes

Raise the confederate flag andcry the rebel yell, because south-

ern rockers the Black Crowesfinally follow up their 1990 smash

debut "Shake Your MoneyMaker," which sold 4 million

copies worldwide, 3.5 of those inthe US alone. With the release of

"The Southern Harmony AndMusical Companion," Phono-

gram is determined to strengthenthe European side of the story.

by Robbed Tilli

The unexpected success of "grunge" rock-ers Nirvana may have been last year's talkof the town in the music industry, but whatabout the Black Crowes, those five "ele-gantly wasted" young men from Atlanta,Georgia? With Shake Your Money Maker,

they put back the clock to '70s -styled rock,and in the US there seemed to be a sur-prisingly strong market for them. Via col-lege radio and through constant gigging,they flew to the top.

One year after its release in early 1990,the flight of these birds of prey peaked at

number 4 in the Billboard Top 200albums, while on this side of the oceantheir birdsnest hung in one of the lowerbranches-number 98-of the EuropeanTop 100 Albums. According to Phono-gram UK international marketing manag-er Chris Dwyer, the company has drasti-cally changed its strategy for the newalbum The Southern Harmony And Musi-cal Companion, out across the world onDef American starting May 11. "They'renow an international priority act. Thistime we started earlier with promotion.From March 23 till April 9, the Robinsonbrothers were brought in for Europeanpromotion, which took them practicallyeverywhere. We also serviced media anEPK [Electronic Press Kit] plus an inter-view -CD."

Although the winning team may havebeen changed slightly, the band didn'tchange their success -proven recipe of "no-nonsense" rock 'n' roll. In the new line-up,lead guitarist Jeff Cease has been replacedwith Marc Ford (ex -Burning Tree) andthe band now has a permanent keyboardsplayer in Ed Harsh. Although their statushas certainly changed in the last two years,they didn't "shake their money maker" infancy studios with expensive producers.Again, they went into the SoundscapeStudios in their hometown with producerGeorge Drakoulias, completing therecordings only eight days later.

The overall impression you get fromthe album is that this tight -rocking unithas "jammed" the album together, like theStones did in the early '70s. Compared to1972's masterpiece Exile On Main Street,Southern Harmony And Musical Compan-ion is of the same timeless quality. Thestructure of the songs is less clear than onMoney Maker, more like mini -jam ses-sions, as most evident on the track ThornIn My Pride. Remedy, the first single, andSting Me are more straightforward rock-ers. Those are balanced out with beautiful,passionate ballads like Bad Luck, BlueEyes, Sometime Salvation and Time WillTell.

Female backing vocalists give themusic an interesting gospel touch. SingerChris Robinson cries his heart out likeyoung Frankie Miller or Rod Stewart inhis days with the Faces, while his brother,rhythm guitarist "Young" Rich is confi-dently riffing in the back ground likeKeith Richards himself.

The single was mailed out to press in aspecial doctor's bag, containing a strongmedicine as sweet as M&M candies toserve as the remedy against hangovers.European marketing will contain a radiocampaign in the major territories pluspoint -of -sale material. A pan-Europeancampaign on MTV Europe is still pend-ing, and a European concert tour isplanned for the end of the year.

GunNot many bands can say that they toured with the "greatest rock 'n'roll band on earth," the Rolling Stones, but Glasgow's Gun can. In

1990 they were support act at the "Urban Jungle" tour, and now, twoyears later, they can finally capitalize on that fact with a strong new

album "Gallus," out on A&M across Europe.

A&M international marketing managerLucie Avery believes that the tour withthe Stones was instrumental in achievingsome recognition for Gun across Europe."That was the ultimate in the live experi-ence of a band. They made many friendswith it. Our first objective with the newalbum Gallus is to consolidate the originalrock base. With the first single Steal YourFire, we aim at good specialist play onradio first, and later cross over to main-stream audiences with the second single

Higher Ground [released on April 20]."That first song is a straight forward

rocker, while the latter is a Celtic rock bal-lad. The overall picture you get from thisKenny MacDonald -produced album-atpresstime a new entry at number 15 in theUK and at number 50 in the EuropeanTop 100 Albums-is of a much harderrocking band than on 1989's A&M labeldebut Taking On The World. New guitaristAlex Dickson, Baby's replacement, hasadded some extra horsepower which

matches the strong compositions by singerMark Rankin and the other guitarist Giu-liano Gizzi.

The band fits more than ever in the"Loud 'N' Proud" image, without beingyour average rock posers. Comments man-ager Gerry McElhone, "Actually, they'rethe first hard rock band to come out ofGlasgow since the Alex Harvey Band."Apart from some clear Def Leppardinfluences-listen to those mean licks onWelcome To The Real World-every toneis "Gun" and ready to attract the rock mar-ket. Adds Avery, "That distinctive sound isalso echoed in the visual thing. The sleeveis not the predictable generic rock jacket.We think it's one of the most strikingimages in a long time. It's a freshapproach, with a great story behind it."

What does the sleeve show? It is a pic-ture of the late Benny Lynch, a flyweightworld boxing champion in the '40s, ofcourse hailing from Glasgow as well. Inthe band's opinion, their local hero withthe deadly right punch is totally "Gallus,"which is Glaswegian for "the best." He leda James Dean -type of life by living fastand dying young; in short he symbolizedrock 'n' roll avant la lettre.

The backside of the sleeve is a colour-ful photo collage of the band pictured byKevin Westenburg (of R.E.M and ChrisIsaak fame) in Barcelona in the autumn of1991. It's slightly reminiscent of AntonCorbijn's design for U2's Achtung Baby.The Benny Lynch image, plus a picture ofthe band, are featured on point -of -salematerials such as posters, displays andcounter cards. In Sweden, shop windowsare decorated with giant Gun lettering.

Prior to the album release, A&M sup-plied a special 4 -track cassette sampler incardboard slipcases to retailers acrossEurope to give away to their best "rock

customers." Explains Avery, "The bestway to sell an album is to let the peoplehear the brilliance of the music itself.Working this way, we directly targeted thefan base. Suppose they wouldn't get tohear Gun on the radio; then at least theywould have the chance of being informedby this freebie."

Gun already made great headway intoSpain with spectacular radio play, espe-cially on the SER network, where StealYour Fire has been added "out of the box."The band performed on Spanish nationalTV1's "Rockopop" programme and onTV3's "Sputnik TV." In Holland, Gunshed the ammunition for an acoustic radioperformance on Dutch pubcasterVeronica's "Countdown Café."

The broad European promotion tour inMarch and April also included visits toGermany, Sweden, Denmark and Bel-gium, extensively covering rock mediaplus regular radio and TV. In addition,Gun has been heavily featured in April onMTV Europe's "Headbanger's Ball,"which also filmed part of a London dateby the band.

The US release of the album looksvery promising to McElhone. "AOR radiojust received the first single, and we havealready enjoyed 40 adds in the first week.We're very happy we're with A&M, whichproved its value with other rock acts likeExtreme, Bryan Adams and Soundgar-den."

From April 29 to May 16, the band istouring the UK. After that a continentalEuropean tour will last until mid -June.The last week of June will see them asspecial guests of Def Leppard's AdrenalizeUK tour. Again, not many bands can saythat they have been asked twice by amajor live band to open its shows....

14MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

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11111k A

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VOLUME PAYSDOUBLE

Having never really been away, hard rock hasfound its way back into the charts. Until BonJovi started raising the dust in 1987, heavy

rockers led a life outside the mainstream. Now,five years later, the genre has an ever-

increasing impact on the international hitparades. A rock ballad in the top slot these daysis more a rule than an exception. M&M takes a

look in the marketing kitchen and finds outthat radio, press, fan base, touring and hard

work are the main ingredients.

by Robbed Tiffi

With the ballad Winds Of Change,

the Scorpions show that a bandfrom Hanover can bring music to

the world. Victory, hailing from the

same town, is determined to follow

in their footsteps. The band has

just released You Bought It-YouName It-their fourth album forMetronome and eighth in total-and A&R manager Oliver Helwigthinks the prospects are bright.

"We were close to 100.000 copies

for each album. It took us one live

album plus two studio albums to

establish the band on the German

market. The big success started

with Culture Killed The Native

three years ago. In those days,

they toured Europe with Gary

Moore, and gained many fans this

way. In the US, they achieved a

solid foothold as well, with 200.000

copies sold for that album [on(CONTINUES ON PAGE 24)

17

MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

1111-111.0%.11FRIE111=MIL.111\111.

FEATURING NEAL SCHON

THE DEBUT ALBUMincludes the singles

TAKIN' ME DOWN & CAN'T FIND MY WAY

MCAAmericanRadioHistory.Com

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com

MANAGERS IN THE HOTSEATby Chris Marlowe

Hard rock managers often sufferfrom as much stereotyping asthe bands they represent. Theyare portrayed as cynics who

manipulate, useup and disposeof musiciansbefore movingon to the nextsaleable victim.While usinglogic candispel thismiscon-

ception,talking withRod

Smallwood ofSanctuary, Jon Zazula ofCrazed Management andSharon Osbourn provestheir dedication conclusively.

When asked what the mainfunction of a manager isconsidered to be, these oftenarticulate people weremomentarily at a loss for words.Smallwood, who in partnershipwith Andy Taylor works withsuch artists as Iron Maidenand WASP, finally explained itin terms of his long-range goalsby saying, "I look atmanagement as something you

do in partnership with theband over a long period.

We don't look at doinga five-year deal,

making some money,then saying, 'Nextone, please'. Thebands we find andnurture and get onwith tend to become

our close friends.Management consists

of people, I suppose. It'sdealing with the band as

people."Jon Zazula works in partnership

with Marsha Zazula with thebands Anthrax and Ministry,among others. He suggests afunctional analogy in saying, "Amanager should take everypossible thing there is in theuniverse that affects your bandfrom every facet, put it in agiant funnel and come out withthe right answers. Managersfunnel through the band'sbullshit, the proper press, theproper tours, the choices forsingles and videos-you nameI t.

"Remember the manager is theone who gathers it all and, atthe end, reaches the decisionwith the band's consent, nevertelling the band what to do. Allthey should do is advise anddiscuss."

Sharon Osbourne, who workswith Ozzy Osbourn and theQuireboys, takes a harderline. "Management is aboutgetting the best possible dealsnegotiated for your bandmembers, putting them with acompany that fits their sort of

music and guiding their career.But a lot of bands take it out ofcontext, thinking that when they

get a manager, they've gotsomebody to do everything frommaking hairdressingappointments to calling for flightreservations for their girlfriends.It's also very difficult for a lot ofbands to see their true positionin the recording industry. You[as a manager] are the mouththat they never really want tohear."

A manager's job changes a greatdeal when the artists are ontour, however. "I get to spend alot more time on the golfcourse!" jokes Smallwood."Most of the work is in the set-up. You've got to be theplanner, get the album outtogether, make sure the bandfinishes and get it mastered-there's a whole list of things todo. By the time they hit theroad, the ideas ore set. It'sreally a matter of maintenance;keeping on top of things andmaking people get the jobdone. The workload isn'tanything like it is at the moment.And thank God for that, or elseI'd never survive!"

Osbourne points out an entireother category of work thatneeds to be handled during anartist's tour. "I'm spending lessand less time on the road-because I hate it! My whole lifewas spent on the road, but Irealized that I didn't want tospend one more day at anothertruck stop. If there's anemergency, of course,you've got to get upand get on that flightand be there to sort itout in person. Whenan artist is touring,you've got to beon the recordcompany tomake sure thatthey're doingtheir part, thatthere's stock,that there aredisplays,that the rorilocal Roc/ ozanperson is ,S

doing his bit: yougot to make sure that the tourisn't wasted."

Where the three managersdrastically diverge is on thesubject of record company

relations. Smallwood seems tohave found a home with EMIwhere several of his artists aresigned. He acknowledges, "Ifind them an honourablecompany. If there's anyarguments on anythingbusinesswise, it will be down tohuman error or a disagreement;you don't have to watchyourself. They're a good

company. But I've also beenthere longer than

most of the

peoplethere now,

so I knowhow it works.We're on the

same side;we're both there

to sell records.Some managers-the younger ones-

seem to think they'vegot to justify

themselves to the

eaby band by beating up onthe record company,

but that's really dumb.You get more out of

things from the right sort ofpushing than shouting and

(CONTINUES ON PAGE 28)

LOUDER AND PROUDERby Miranda Watson

M&M's Loud 'N' Proud projectis to receive pan-European

coverage in aunique

collaborationwith MWEurope andEuropean consumer music

magazine Rock Power.MN will profile one artist from

M&M's special Loud 'N' ProudCD box set each week on its"Headbanger's Ball" programmefor four weeks between May and

June in a 10- to 15 -minutefeature. Special mention will be

given to the Loud 'N' Proudconcept each week.

MN will also run a Loud 'N' Proudcompetition featuring one of theprofiled artists, Slaughter. Thewinner and a friend will be sentto Las Vegas to meet the band

and see the sights. Thiscompetition will be promoted on -

air in each edition of"Headbanger's Ball" betweenMay 12 and June 14.

Rock Power is

participating in thespecial by printing asupplement topromote the event. Twenty-five CD box sets of Loud 'N'Proud releases will be givenaway as prizes.

Says MN executive producerBrian Diamond, "I think Loud'N' Proud is a great concept andis really just an extension of what

we do already in 'Headbanger's

Ball.' It's an opportunity for us topromote new talent or talent with

new product. Individually, MN,M&M and Rock Power all do agreat job in promoting heavymetal bands, but as a collective,

we are all the morevaluable to heavybands. We all

have expertise indifferent areas and

can provide bandswith the best of everything."

"Headbanger's Ball" presenter/producer Vanessa Warwicksays that the programme has

been so successful simply

because it is one of the only

sources of hard rockmusic in Europe.

"The show is

in-depth andassumes a

certain amountof knowledge bythe viewer, which isimportant for heavymetal fans. We see"Headbanger's Ball" asa programme made by fans forfans and we like our viewers tocontribute to the show."

Warwick is fully behind the Loud'N' Proud project, adding, "I

think M&M is doing agreat job

highlightingrock music

throughout

Europe. 'Loud 'N' Proud' is goingto reach a really broad spectrum

of people."Diamond says that "Headbanger's

Ball" and the newer rock show"Rock Block" have become focal

points for the hard rock sceneand have built up a bigfollowing. Rock Block, a

programme featuring moremelodic rock (anything fromBryan Adams to Pearl Jam)has just been expanded from aone -hour show to two hours

because of its popularity. Theprogramme has no sponsor at themoment, but Diamond says MNis open to offers.

In addition to MTV's extensiveinvolvement in Loud 'N'

Proud, Rock Power's

four -page supplement

in all Europeaneditions features

all of the bandsin the CD box

set. The

magazinewill also promote

the MN competition.With a readership of 320.000

'in Europe, Rock Power isavailable in nine languages andin as many countries. The UK

version has just been relaunchedwith a new design and is nowpublished every two weeks

instead of monthly.Says editor Ray Bonici, "We

feature bands based on merit.We pride ourselves on ourcoverage of new talent, but if anold band brings out somethingnew, it doesn't mean we're notinterested. We cover all types ofheavy rock-our priority is toinform our readers."

MUSIC & MEDIA MAY 2 1992

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

ILK

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The D

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"ELE

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27th April

Produced by M

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3 Track S

ampler in the Loud N

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.S. R

adio by storm

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

22

LOUD 'N' PROUD ALBUMSJAN CYRCA

Beyond The Common Ground - Food

For Thought

PRODUCER: Jan Cyrca

In a world where instrumentalalbums by electric guitar playersare in more abundance thanlisteners deem justified, Cyrcacomes as a welcome breath offresh air. Some eyebrows will be

raised at the mention of aninstrumental solo album filled with

guitar music from the one whooriginally protected the flanks of the

self -professed "Tattoed Beat

Messiah," Zodiac Mindwarp. Bythe end of the first track, however, itis clear that this is definitely not anexorcism of overactive hormone "in -

balances," translated into sleazyrock 'n' roll with the vocals left out. It

is also not another "dazzling"display of six -string pyrotechnics

translating this in -balance into

excessive use of the tremoloarm. What it is, is an album

consisting of 11 musical

paintings, taking the

listener on a trip

through the mind of a

born storyteller.

DEF LEPPARD

Adrenalize - Bludgeon

Riffola/Phonogram

PRODUCER: Mike Shipley/Def

Leppard

Sheffield steel never rusts. After a

long break in the action, the UK

rockers return with an album that

totally meets the highwired

anticipation. The single Let's Get

Rocked, well known all over Europe

by now, is a prime example of their

ability to rock your socks off and still

receive deserved airplay. It further

proves that Def Leppard, despite the

tragic loss of guitarist Steve Clark, is

still at the same heights they were

when all the Hysteria started four

years ago. Don't be surprised if

Adrenalize gives birth to several

number 1 singles.

FLYER

Sell Your Soul - Dureco

PRODUCER: Michel Siethoff/Flyer

Dutch independent Durecocelebrates its 40th anniversary with

its first domestic metal release ever.And with Flyer, they meanbusiness. Iron Maiden is the main

source of inspiration for this band.

The ear -blistering opening trackHey You should be taken by hardrock programmers as a commandto pay attention. One In A Million is

the right track that fits the current

rock ballad craze.

HOUSE OF LORDS

Demons Down - Victory

PRODUCER: David Thoener/House Of

Lords

Their third album finds the boys in

fine shape, performing theextremely well -crafted "pomp rock"

we have come to expect from them.Mean rockers like Down, Down,

Down and Metallic Blue should not

be overlooked by the hard rockfraternity. Now fortified with former

Whitesnake sticksman TommyAldridge, it's no big surprise thatthe mid -tempo ballad Spirit Of Love

leaVes you with a snake bite.

KING'S X

King's X - Atlantic

PRODUCER: Sam Taylor

Fourth album effort by the Houstontrio, giving us more of their specialtype of literate rock for the masses.Dynamically ranging from feather -

light and folky to grungy and fast -

paced, they again manage to keepthe listener on his toes, eager in

anticipation for the next musicalgoodie pulled out of their bag. Inscope and production, this album isthe next and slightly un-surprisingchapter in a series of well -loved,

dog-eared albums. Something inthe way the sounds and vocalharmonies have been entrusted totape hints at the concept -Beatlesproductions of yore, making for an

album that gains in-depth pleasurewith every consecutive play.

L7

Bricks Are Heavy - Slash/London

PRODUCER: Butch Vig/L7

The major label debut of this all -girl

group is loaded with loud but hook -

heavy, melodic pop songs.Especially noteworthy are PretendWe're Dead, with its lovely '60s feel

and the uptempo rockers like Slideand Mr. Integrity. Rockprogrammers out there, let seven

be your lucky number.

MYSTERY

Mystery - ARS/CNR/Sony Music

PRODUCER: Peter de Wint

The specialized dance label now

makes in -roads into metal territory.

It's the typical European -soundingmelodic hard rock. Synthesizers co-

exist with rock guitars. Lead singerPeter de Wint even manages tomake himself heard above all thenoise. Take a trip to The Land Of

Mystery.

PANTERA

Vulgar Display Of Power - Atco

PRODUCER: Terry DateNinnie Paul

From the relentless opener MouthFor War, it is clear that this album

is not for the meek. Hard drivingmetal found in this album can slugit out with the best in the bizz.Socially aware and critical ofmodern day society, the lyrics aredriven home in staccato shoutsbordering on violent rap, with the

powerful pipes of Philip Anselmo.The band is as energizing and tight

as a sleek locomotive, never

missing a beat.

POWERPLAY

Hypnotized -VAN

PRODUCER: George Kooymans/John

Sonneveld

The Dutch power rock trio is back

with a vengeance. With the leadsingle Rosie, their intentions are

clear. They have never had a

bigger chance for hit success than

now. Singer/guitarist Jan van der

Mey sounds completelyrejuvenated. Another Day In The

Nineties is a modern piece of rock a

la D.A.D.. In short, they have the

power of a young band still insearch of a recording contract.Such enthusiasm deserves a

reward.

SATOR

Headquake - WEA

PRODUCER: Michael Ilbert/Sator

In Sweden, they really understand

the meaning of good time rock 'n'

roll. Michael Ilbert, the same -man

who was responsible for the top

rate rock sound of last year's Turn It

Up! album by fellow countrymen theSinners, has done it again. If youwon't get serious brain damage bybanging your head to this riff -

oriented rock, the lyrics of We'reRight, You're Wrong will surely

make you nod.

SLAUGHTER

The Wild Life - Chrysalis

PRODUCER: Dana Strum/Mark Slaughter

What do you do after you've

become a platinum -selling rock act

with just one album under yourbelt? You top it, and that's exactly

what Mark Slaughter and his boys

have done. Youthful, energetic,talented and not at all disturbed by

"Noblesse Oblige," Slaughter

sounds like they've casuallysauntered into the studio with sly

grins on their faces, knowing we

ain't heard nuthin' yet. The album

continues where the first one left

off, but is never more of the same.

As it stands, a hard touringschedule has honed their chops to

fine perfection in all areas,

culminating in the kind of second

album most young hopefuls can

only dream about.

THE SONIC WALTHERS

Medication - Radium/MNW/Roadrunner

PRODUCER: Sonic Walthers/Curt-Ake

Stefan/Mick Ronson/Michael Ilbert

If it comes to Stones -oriented hard

rock, there's more than just the

Black Crowes. These Swedes have

carefully studied the Keith Richards

guitar riffs and rebuilt them to their

own taste, sometimes not eventaking the trouble to hide theirinfluences. Another Home is based

note -by -note on the chords of

Mixed Emotions. While some bandsare desperately trying to innovate

rock, others like the Sonic Walthers

just provide good music. It's party

time from A -to -Z.

SPINAL TAP

Break Like The Wind - MCA

PRODUCER: Danny Kortchmar/Dave

Jerden/Steve LukatherfT-Bone

Burnett/Spinal Tap

Believe it or not, rock's premierloonies are back and at it again.After a couple of years absence,caused by exploding drummersand the like, they've regrouped,and the result is a most pleasantsurprise. Among the standouttracks are The Majesty Of Rock-reminiscent of David Bowie-DivaFever, the ballad Just Begin Againand the Kinks pastiche Rainy DaySun.

VICTORY

You Bought It- You Name It - Metronome

PRODUCER: Tommy NewtonNictory

Ever heard the sound of anexploding powerhouse? The first

single Rock-O-Matic releasesenough energy to supply the wholeGerman nation with,electricity for atleast one month. The horns give

the explosion an unexpectedsubtlety. Relax on top of the ruinswith the strong ballad Man On The

Run. The storm will surely calm

down.

WHITE ZOMBIE

La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol.1 - Geffen

PRODUCER: Andy Wallace

Seeing that the band took its name

from a 1932 horror movie featur