The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 195

tSff jay, February 27. 19M PhUaJelphla Jiigytf 1 1 uilimlHininin LEISURE Despite glossy sheen, songs are the banal -s. ft VVY liy Ken Tucker inquirer Popular Music' Critic New albums i ft 1 4 1- For a good crop of onions, i plant sets as soon as the soil can Planting tips for those who like onions, scallions, shallots, leeks Earth, Wind and Fire's new collec tion of Utopian funk, "Powerllght" (Columbia); tas a glossy sheen that manages to Coat even the banal songs with a pretty surface that's pleasing. Does this sound like a roundabout way of complimenting an album? If so, it is because group leader Maurice White's skill at building the sound of his band now has far outstripped his and his co-writers' song-writing abilities. That is an even more roundabout way of saying that this album has a couple of terrific songs and a lot of merely pleasant ones.

2020. Sex Trap (Mainway): Los Angeles' most passionate pop-rock band has changed its personnel and lost its major-label deal, but ttx music Is still very impressive. trades on clear, concise guitar, hooks and catchy melodies; its pretension Is that rock 'n' roll shouldn't be serious. Yet this album manages to have it both ways It's seriously unpretentious, featuring ringing guitars and ragged, exhausted vocals that convey the idea ot love-as-work as well as any music I've heard. Seek it out.

Hank WUHams Strong Stuff (Elektra-Curb): It used to be that audiences would never let young Hank forget that he was his daddy's son; tor too many years now, though, Hank Jr. been ramming songs about his daddy 'Tto our ears, and enough is enough. This album's bit of daddy-worship. "A Whole Lot Ot hank." would send Freud into a swoon, and his other obsessions see the Arms of Cocaine" are becoming tedious as well. What a waste ol talent.

Rufus. Seal in Red (Warner Bros Without its former lead singer, Chaka Kahn, this band became a spiritless funk band. Now iie group has hired George Duke as producer to give its funk a little juice, and the result the soon-to-be semi-hit "Take It to the Top." It's still bland music, though, and the vocalist, Ian Neville, just doesn't transmit enough personality to make this sound like Top-selling records Top Single 1. BABY. COME TO ME.

Pttti Austin 2. SHAME ON THE MOON, Bob Soger A The Silver Bullet Band 3 STRAY CAT STRUT. Stray Can 4 BILLIE JEAN. Michael Jackson 5. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME Culture Club 6.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF Duran Surer) 7. YOU' AND 1. iddm Rahbitt 8 DOWN UNDER, Men At Work 9. WE VE GOT TONIGHT Kmnnv Arviava JL ChAna 10. PASS THE DUTCHIE.

Musical Youth Top Albums 1 THRILLER. MichMl Jackson 2 BUILT FOR SPEED. Srry Call 3. H20. Onryr hall A John Oate 4.

THE DISTANCE. Bob Seoer The Silver Bullet Band 5 FRONTIERS. Journey 6 RK), Quran Quran 7. HELLO, I MUST BE GOING Phil Cotlmi 8. TOTO IV.

Toro 9. RF CORDS frv.vw 10. LIONEL RICHIE, Lionel Rerue more than a funk band with renewed spirit. Mac McAnally, Nothing But the Truth (Getfen): You listen to the first side and think, hey, he might be the James Taylor ot the '80s. Then you read that he's had three previous albums you never heard of, which doesn't speak well for his ability to make an impact, and that he had a small hit, "It's a Crazy World," which you do remember as a silly trifle.

Then you read that he refers to his process of creation as an "excretion," and he means it as an honorific. Then you listen to the second side of this album and reaii that he's only the Leo Sayer of the '80s. Doug and the Slugs. Music for the HarH ot Thinking (RCA): Perfectly ordinary herd, rock Influenced more by SouthSide Johnny's Asbury Jukes than by Bruce Springsteen himself. Lucid in its lyrics, but tiresome in its melodies.

Journey, Frontiers (Columbia): The world's most boring supergroup releases another album. Flbonnaccls. Flbonnaccis (Enigma): The country's most obscure Cult band releases a three-song, 12-inch 45 rpm record. Maybe they should tour with Journey. Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor.

5 8 9 10- 1 2 3. CHAKA KHAN, Chaka Khan 1999. Prince THE BEST IF YET TO COME Grover Washington Jr. PROPOSITIONS. Bar-Kays COMPUTER GAMES.

George Clinton THE YOUTH Of TODAY, Musical Youth Country Single THE LAST THING I Nil THE FIRST THING THIS MORNING Willie Helion IF HOLLYWOOD DON'T NEED YOU Don Wiliama THE ROSE. Conway Twitty I WOULDN'T CHANGE YOU IF I COULD. Ricky Skaggs FAKING LOVE. T.G. Sheppatd A Karen Brooks SWINGIN'.

John Anderson EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL (In It I Own Wayl, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson AIN'T NO TRICK. (It Take Mag). tee Greenwood HONKYTONK MAN. Marty Robbina SHINE ON (Srvne All Your Sweet Love On Mel, George Jones Country Album MOUNTAIN MUSIC. Alabama ALWAYS ON MY MIND.

Willie Nelson GOING WHERE THE LONELY GO Merle Haggard HIGHWAYS AND HEARTACHES Ricky Skaggs PONCHO AND LEFTY Merle Haggard WW II. Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson KRIS. WILLIE. DOLLY BRENDA, Kris KristoHerson Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton A Brenda Lea HANK WILLIAMS JR GREATEST HITS, Hank Williams Jr RADIO toxHe'Babbnt WILD AN0 BLUE, John Anderson 5- 5 8 9. '0.

be worked in March or April water as you would scallions. As with the regular onions, once the tops dirt down they are ready for drying and storage. Leeks: They are a winter staple in Scotland, my homeland, because the winters are mild compared with those in Philadelphia. Here you should sow leek seeds in March inside in deep pots, then plant outside in April, 6 inches apart in a lMnch-deep trench partially filled with 3 inches of compost. Kour weeks after planting, add a couple of inches of soil to the trench, then keep adding soil until the trench is filled by midsummer.

At this point you can mulch with grass clippings or leaves to keep down the weeds. Leeks are heavy feeders, so before you put the soil Into the trench, scratch a granular fertilizer such as 5-10-5 or lO-rS-4 into the soil you will be using as fill. The purpose of the trench is to blanch the leeks, keeping the lower sccions of the plants white and tender. As an alternative, sow the seeds directly into the garden in April, then mound the soil around the plants, creating raised beds as you go. The first year we grew leeks they were fantastic, competing favorably with the best of my father's crop.

The next year they were a disaster bt cause small caterpillars, never a problem in Scotland, had bored holes into the blanched sections of the stems. Malathion seems to keep the caterpillars under control so I drench the soil in the leek rows with this insecticide, diluted according to the manufacturer's directions, at monthly intervals starting in June and ending in September. By Jane G. Pepper Special re Tht fnaulrr Different gardeners have different passions; one friend who lives in New Jersey, for example, has a passion for scallions and is obsessed with the sex life of the onion. I'm not that much interested in their sex lives, but 1 do love to have a store of onions, scallions, shallots and leeks on hand for both summer and winter use.

Onions My luck with onions has been patchy, so I called on Mabel and Lester Van Dyke, 30-year gardening veterans, for a few tips. Mrs. Van Dyke buys onion sets from the grocery or garden center and plants them as soon as the soil can be worked in late March or early April. After marking the row with a string, she rakes in a little" granular fertilizer, then plants a double row of onions 3 to 4 inches apart in either direction. The secret, she says, is to set down each bulb, give it one twist to settle it into the soil, then leave it, without covering the base with soil.

If you cover the sets, you probably will end up with small onions. Keeping weeds under control Is another essential element in producing large onions. The Van Dykes mulch their rows with grass clippings as soon as the sets start to produce leaves, pulling the clippings close to the bulbs. Mrs. Van Dyke warns that if you have poorly drained soil, this may get you into trouble because the plants will stay too wet.

If you have poor drainage, you might try creating raised beds. If you see flowers on any of the onions, cut them away immediately. In midsummer, the onion tops will fall over and gradually slart to wither. W'hea all the tops have fallen, Mrs. Van Gardening Dyke harvests the onions and lays them on the roof of a small shed in full sun to allow them to dry.

The aim with drying onions is to kill the roots at the bottom of the bulb. Depending on the weather, this may take two to three weeks. As an alternative to placing your onions on a roof, you can lay them on the driveway on sheets of wire, once again in full sun. When the onions are completely dry, the Van Dykes store them in mesh bags and hang them in the shed during the winter. Scallions or bunching oniom These make wonderful additions for summer salads and stir-fry dishes.

Select a variety such as Burpee's Everygrcen Long White Bunching onion and sow the seeds In April. You should get good germination, so sow thinly, then thin the plants to stand 3 inches apart. Scallions require plenty of water, and again, be sure to keep the weeds under control. When the tops are 6 to 8 inches long, the scallions are ready to harvest. Use all of the white section and the light-colored green tops.

The darker green leaves will be tough. Sow small quantities of seeds at two-week intervals during later March and April and May to ensure a continuous supply of fresh scallions. Shallots Gourmet cooks consider these the elite of the onion world because of their mild flavor. Grow these from bulb divisions, set into the soil at 2-inch intervals during the early spring. Cover the, divisions up to their growing tips, and weed and Soui Singlet 1.

BILLIE JEAN, Michael Jackson I 2. I LIKE IT. Debug 3. 3 outstanding, Cap Band 4. FALL IN LOVE WITH ME earth.

Wind and Fire 5. YOU ARE. Lionel Rich 6. 6. ATOMIC DOG, George Clinton 7.

BAD BOY, Ray Parker Jr. 6- 8. BETCHA SHE DON LOVE YOU velyn Kinfi I-9 PASS THE DUTCHIE. Musical Youth 10. HEARTBEATS.

Yarbrough A Peoples Soul Album 1. THRILLER, Michael Jackson 8. 2. LIONEL RICHIE. Lionel Rich 3 ALL THIS LOVE.

Debaoa 9 4. MIDNIGHT LOVE, Marvin Cay 1..