The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 21

The News-Leader ENTERTAINMENT Friday, October 26, 1990 5C 11 i Popular music group Blade Box stirs controversy as well as charts f. ft Si VV' to redo it with my voice. We never thought it would do that well," she said of the club hit. In addition to Quinol, Black Box is also made up of Italian producer Daniels Davoli and teammates Mirko Limoni and Va-lerio Semplici. They create the music best described as part of the booming Italian house (Italo-Hoise) music movement.

In addition to "Everybody Everybody" and "Ride on Time," the album includes a remake of Earth, Wind Fire's classic "Fantasy" and a couple of jazzy instrumental pieces including "Ghost Box" and the title track. The controversy over who's singing in Black Box mirrors that of another European dance group, Technotronic, whose hits include "Pump Up the Jam" and "Get Up (Before the Night is Over)." Felly, the Belgium model featured on the cover of the "Pump Up the Jam" album and in that video, was believed to be the lead singer, though an angry woman rapper named Ya Kid from the group eventually stepped forward to say that she is the female voice on the album and that Felly lip-synched her vocals in the video. Kevin C. Johnson Gannett News Service Black Box is riding the charts with the top-10 pop hit "Everybody Everybody," but interest in the European dance group is being fueled by rumors that question whether lead singer Katrin Quinol is actually singing their "Dreamland" album. Another singer who claims to have sung on "Everybody Everybody" and every album cut except for one is suing the group for false advertising, saying that the 23-year-old Italian model Quinol impersonates her in videos and on stage.

The speculation started after published items in the New York Times and Billboard stated that another female vocalist sang on "Dreamland." Billboard named Martha Wash, who is one half of the heavyweight duo the Weather Girls, best known for their hit "It's Raining Men" Wash stepped forward and filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to say that she is the voice found on the album. But Quinol, who speaks Italian and French but little English denies that there is any trickery involved with Black Box. "It's me singing," she said through a translator in a recent interview. Quinol claims she learned to sing the song phonetically.

An RCA spokesperson handling Black Box said of Quinol's involvement on the album: "It's absolutely her voice and other voices sampled in." At a September concert in Philadelphia, Quinol appeared to be singing, though not very loud and with the booming voice on the pre-recorded track. Katrin said the rumors started because "Ride on Time," the album's first single, wasn't her singing. It's acknowledged that on "Ride on Time" the vocals belong to famed disco screamer Loleatta Holloway. Much to the disapproval of Holloway (who has settled out of court with the group), Black Box lifted Holloway's vocals from her 1980 signature record "Love Sensation." The "Ride on Time" single was out well before the "Dreamland" album and the original intent was to record it over for the album using Quinol's voice. "Because 'Ride on Time' took off so quickly, we didn't have time I i 1 0 ft Vv A.

1 Universal City Studios Inc. An executive (James Spader) and a waitress (Susan Sarandon) develop red-hot passion in "White Palace." Worlds collide in 'White Palace' Romance between ad executive and fast-food server rings false MOVIE REVIEW School gets musicians acquainted with the blues ly in "Bull Durham." She's an appealing and likable actress, but she's not quite as good convincing us of the maternal guilt Nora harbors over her teen-age son's death from drugs and alcohol. Her role is written as if Nora is a trash goddess but Sarandon manages to give her more depth. Spader, who gained a lot of attention from "sex, lies and videotape," is appealing (in a leaden sort of way), but the real problem with this romance is the relationship. What in the world does Nora see in Max? He's a dull lump that wouldn't interest a real Nora in a million years.

"White Palace" was directed with minimum skill by Luis Mandoki, director of "Gaby: A True Story," a much better film. But he can't seem to make things come together. As an investigation of class differences, the film is a bust. Even the lovemak-ing scenes aren't erotic. And don't expect to see much of St.

Louis either. "White Palace" A Universal Pictures release. Produced by Mark Rosenberg, Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne; screenplay by Ted Tally and Alvin Sargent, based on the novel by Glenn Savan; music by r-rge Fenton; directed by Luis Mandoki. irring Susan Sarandon, James Spader, Eileen Brennan. Steven Hill and Renee Taylor.

Rated R. Running time: 105 min. By David Daly "White Palace" is one of those movies nobody is going to believe for a moment. It's pure '30s-style melodrama, a May-September romance between two cultural oppo-sites. And while this sort of thing may have once worked in Hollywood's glorious past, by today's standards it's just dumb.

There is certainly a place in the movies for romantic escapsim, as the success of "Pretty Woman" and attests. But, as the heartstrings are plucked, there has to be some semblance of believability. Based on Glenn Savan's novel, set in St. Louis and partially filmed there, "White Palace" stars Susan Sarandon and James Spader. Spader plays Max Baron, a fast-rising young advertising executive who is still mourning the death of his wife in an auto crash two years told a bass player during one of the Wednesday night sessions.

The student answered with a screeching sound that bounced off the walls and echoed through the room. "Now, play one that's real sublime," Spiegel said. The responding tone wafted mellowly around the room. The group then played a rendition of the blues standard "Crossroads," with Rich Yeater, a mannered computer consultant, pounding the piano keys and belting out the lyrics. Final exams take place in a local bar where the groups take the stage during an open microphone night.

"The best thing about this class is that, while they probably won't be the best group up there, they definitely won't be the worst," Spiegel said. cas. Everybody has to sing a solo before they're through, and the lessons teach more than music, Spiegel said. "You can see the change in the students," he said. "They first come in wearing oxford shirts, and by the end of the eight weeks they're wearing sharkskin suits and wide ties." The program is offered by the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Typically, about 45 students of varying experience levels separate to work in small groups. Most take music lessons during the week and meet each Wednesday to apply the theories they've learned. Directors help students develop the best group sound, while focusing on the emotional extremes that are the root of the blues, Spiegel said. "Play an angry note," Spiegel By Tamara Starks The Associated Press CHICAGO All you need to know to get into the Chicago Blues Ensemble is how to pluck out a couple of chords and sing in the shower. By the end of an eight-week course, students are transformed into toe-tapping, hard-playing blues performers with dark glasses and a new attitude.

They're ready for their final exam in a local bar. "Blues is the people's music," said Jon Spiegel, one of the ensemble's directors. "If you can plant the seed of obsession, then it's really great. After that, you just stand back and steer." The training is open to all instruments and some students bring in violins or dulcimers, but most favor guitars, pianos, basses and harmoni earlier. He deals with the loss by living a joyless, celibate life, unable (or unwilling) to put his grief aside.

Then he meets Nora (Sarandon), a waitress in a hamburger joint who is 14 years his senior. Nora is just what Max needs. But their differences go well beyond age. Max is Jewish, Nora isn't. Max is from a college-educated, preppy background, Nora is pure blue-collar.

Max is a neat-freak, Nora is a slob. He's uptown St. Louis, she's low-rent. It's Kraft Velveeta meets Camembert. None of this matters as long as they are locked in passion in Nora's rundown apartment.

Things get complicated, though, when Max discovers he's ashamed to let his family and friends know of his romance. It's here the film tips its hand, becoming a treatise on Jewish self-hatred. Not really pleasant stuff. Sarandon has no trouble pulling off earthy charm, as she did so nice- David Daly is film reviewer for The News-Leader and is professor of cinema at Southwest Missouri State 25OffEvervStitch Mental Illness ran Of This Embroidery The United Way of the provides funding to a variety of agencies that offer services in the field of mental health. Examples are: The Mental Health Association works to increase the public awareness of current mental health problems and develops services such as support groups and educational materials to address these problems.

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Amount Check Enclosed Please Charge my MC VISA CARD EXP. DATE Name Address City APlaceTbDiscower. JvwCmlilOdAlAfl I ikruupttiitt Telephone (Home). Signature "Thanks for your Help" Springfield: 1415 East Battlefield Road. Ph.

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