The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 510

This month's Disc Derby features popsoul and disco entries, but the emphasis is PAGE on both rock high winner 'n' roll. energy an Cheap and international Trick, hijinks, a is band the nar- with row in field that includes Australia's Dingoes, England's City Boy and Tulsa's Dwight Twilley Band. The Disc Derby is an extension of the rating system, which separates special- albums from routine-orless works. The Derby ranks the strongest albums to provide an extra guideline. The Babys' "Broken Heart" (Chrysalis Records CHR 1150)-If you could buy stock in rock bands, I'd spring for a couple of shares of this English foursome.

It oozes with commercial potential. For one thing, it's easily the prettiest band in rock. Put lead singer John Waite or rhythm guitarist Michael Corby on the cover of 16 magazine and watch the young female hearts flutter. The group's highly accessible, slickly professional sound is similar to the successful Bad Company. Company's Unfortunately, lack of the artistic group focus shares and pen- Bad chant for familiar song When its narrow, repetitive approach is bolstered on "Isn't It Time" by some Memphis-styled horns and Motown-flavored background vocals, the results are enticing.

With more maturity, the Babys could be something special. Meanwhile, they are a better investment than their record. MAYBE. Eric Carmen's "Boats Against the Current." (Arista AB4124) -In his first solo album, Carmen was pleasant but inconsequential. This time he has tried to disprove the latter allegation, but has ended up smothering much of the original charm.

Except for the upbeat Beach Boys tone of his "She Did It" single, Carmen takes himself awfully seriously for someone who wrote "That's Rock and Roll," the latest Shaun Cassidy hit. The themes, complete with "endless nights and Olympian dreams" references, often are vocals are heavy -handed and arrangements reek with self-importance, With the old Raspberries band, Carmen was one of pop's freshest figures. "Overnight Sensation" remains a classic tale of pop aspirations, but he seems to be racing away from that refreshing approach. The sad thing is that a big audience is responding to his new direction. This LP is speeding to the top of the charts.

1 guess Barry Manilow's success should have told us there was a big demand for pop melodrama. NO. Cheap Trick's "In Color" (Epic PE 34884)-If this band were on the rock stock exchange, I'd mortgage the house to get on the bandwagon. Not only do lead singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson have the good looks to match the guys from the Babys in a dreamboat contest, but Cheap Trick has a strong sense of identity. The band mixes a strident, guitar -oriented -metal sound with a lush, mid-'60s pop sensibility, It also has a keen sense of humor.

The album cover tells you that. Zander and Peterson are shown astride classy Harleys on the front BOY New City Boy album makes you smile, In Care the eccentric humor of Sparks. The result, in the group's third LP, is a collection that makes you both smile and tap your feet. The themes touch on 'sexual adventure in a number of surprising and productive ways. There are tales of bordello nights, an unsettling honeymoon and the struggle with temptation.

While the music is mostly peppy and lighthearted, writers Lol Mason and Steve Broughton offer some of the evocativeness of the Kinks' "Celluloid Heroes" in "Millionaire," a marvelously designed tale of Very tasty, YES. The Dingoes' "Five Times the Sun" SP 4636)-Broderick Smith has a lot of the raspy, gripping vocal conviction of Frankie Miller in "Singing Your Song," "Come on Down" and "Way Out Cheap Trick demonstrates a keen Pop International Emphasis on BY ROBERT TODAY'S WIN PLACE Cheap Trick City cover, while the other half of the band is on skimpy mopeds on the back cover, Drummer Bun E. Carlos looks like someone you'd find in a burlesque hall band, while guitarist Rick Nielsen could be a stand-in for the Bowery Boys' zany Huntz Hall. The songs, too, often reflect the teasingly offbeat stance. This LP doesn't have as much raw abandon as Cheap Trick's debut album, but "I Want You to Want Me" demonstrates a growing flair for commercial, AM tunes.

The highlights are the frenzied "Clock Strikes Ten" and "Southern Girls," a catchy alternative to the Beach Boys' old "California Girls." As it showed on tour with Kiss, Cheap Trick also delivers live. YES. City Boy's "Young Men Gone West" (Mercury SRM 1-1182)-This classy English quintet mixes the studio precision of 10cc and Supertramp with the art- -rock inclinations of Roxy Music and some of And In Black and White. sense of humor on its album cover. Music Disc Derby: Rock 'n' Roll HILBURN RESULTS SHOW Boy Dwight Twilley the three most appealing tracks on this Australian band's first U.S.

album. When added to the semi-Creedence undercurrents of tunes like "Waiting for the Tide to Turn," the quintet shows more than enough vitality to make its debut noteworthy, As it shows in "Smooth however, the Dingoes can be slick and passionless. Don't let that song, which has been getting some airplay, mislead you. This is a band with point of view and skill. Like Creedence, its approach is simple but highly engaging.

YES. The Emotions' "Rejoice" (Columbia PC 34762)-Today's only pop -soul candidate is built around "Best of My Love," one of the year's most delightful singles. Nothing else matches the effervescence of that song, but several tunes come close. Produced by Earth, Wind Fire's Maurice White, the album has material that is ideal for the female vocal trio's mostly light, upbeat style. The arrangements, too, are skillfully tailored.

Not much adventure here, but solid craftsmanship. That ought to count for somelhing these days. YES. Fogbat's (Bearsville BRK 6971 -distributed by Warner -This band, originally from England but now based in the United States, is a hardworking, blues- boogie unit that has been flirting with Top 10 album status for some time now. Its last four LPs have made the Top 40.

By combining some of its most popular tunes in a live, high-energy set, the group is hoping to finally move up a commercial notch. The album is a convincing sample of the band's driving style, but its approach is so conventional that it's hard to work up any enthusiasm. A delight, surely, for Foghat's fans, but ultimately undistinguished. If you haven't already got something like this in your collection, the chances are you wouldn't want it. NO.

Giorgio's "From Here to Eternity" (Casablanca NBLP 7065) -With partner Peter Bellotte, Giorgio Moroder produced Donna Summer's "I Remember Yesterday" album. He also co-wrote her splendid "I Feel Love" single. His album deals in the same Kraftwerk-flavored, synthesized disco sound of the single. While the title track is also a huge hit in discos, it seems to simply retrace familiar territory. Like much of the album, the -speed, repetitive style borders on Muzak.

Still, there is a slightly hypnotic lure to the best moments. "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" is especially striking. Fans of "I Feel Love" might give it a try. Or, even better, try Kraftwerk's more adventurous "Trans-Europe Express." MAYBE. Robert Gordon's "Robert Gordon With Link Wray" (Private Stock PS 2030)- Gordon is the former lead singer of the Tuff Darts, one of the many New York new wave outfits.

But he got tired, he said, of the negative undercurrents of the punk scene and switched to the more positive, -natured sound that was always his first love: the '50s rockabilly of Elvis, Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent. Gordon has thus traded his leather jacket for a cowboy shirt, slicked back his hair and begun singing "go cat" in the middle of a song just the way Carl Perkins did in "Blue Suede Shoes." "Red Hot," "Flyin' Saucers Rock Roll" and "Boppin' the Blues" are sizzling displays of unabashed rockabilly. Gordon also does well on some Elvisish ballads. He is teamed here with Link Wray, a semilegendary guitarist from the '50s whose instrumental hits included "Rumble" and "Rawhide." While Wray's playing brightens things, his three compositions are uneven. Coupled with the overly familiar "Summertime Blues" and "'The Fool," the Wray tunes sap the album of some of its charm.

Gordon's biggest problem, however, is convincing contemporary audiences that he is more than simply a nostalgia attraction. The test may rest with his live shows. MAYBE. The Dwight Twilley Band's "Twilley Don't Mind" (Arista Arista AB 4140)- Twilley is a master of rock 'n' roll sound. He's not as interesting a writer as Tom Petty, but he has an even stronger grasp of the use of harmony, melodic grace and energy in the making of stirring records.

Though nothing here fully matches the excitement of last year's "I'm on Fire" single, Twilley does succeed in one area. He has updated a sound that seemed on his debut album to be tied too strongly to the past. Still, there are echoes of Presley, the Beatles and other classic rock elements in his music. Some of the new stuff sounds a bit tame, but "Trying to Find My Baby" is urgent, driving. Twilley also shows in "That I Remember" a feel for tender, more reflective themes.

Even if the album doesn't live up fully to the expectations raised by his first album, it maintains his position as one of America's best rock hopes. YES. The Twilley band updates its sound..