Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 57

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES FRIDAY, 'JUNE 27, 1986 3D July music lineup is laced with nostalgia By DREW RASHBAUM 8t Pf rtburg Timet Corf ipondent rode calendar "Tl 71 tfe Touchiton Touchstone Bette Midler fighting back. Judge Reinhold (left) and Danny DeVito acting ruthless. iirof ft ift voir inuAtiniuess aira irsiiuiinicimy REVIEW By HAL LIPPER St PtfburQ Tim Film Critic Concertgoers who insist they don't make pop music like they used to should be pleased with this month's lineup of contemporary concerts. Nostalgia acts and retread stage shows dominate the July schedule.

Here's the full lineup. July 3, Atlanta Rhythm Section As long as Ronnie Hammond is still on hand to sing lead on the old hits such as "Champagne Jam" and "So Into You," ARS will continue to survive if not thrive. London Victory Club, doors open at 7 p.m. July 3, Krokus This heavy metal band took Alice Cooper's teen anthem "School's Out," did nothing more than make it louder and nastier and has something of a hit with it. Lakeland Civic Center, 8 p.m.

July 4 5, The Monkees Here they come With a big push from MTV's 24-hour Monkee marathons, this late '60s made-for-TV phenomenon is as hot as ever. It wasn't until their third LP that the Monkees were allowed to play their own instruments. It was right about the same time Monkee albums quit selling. Michael Nes-mith (the one with the wool hat) was the only true musician of the quartet. He has chosen not to tour with Davey Jones (the cute one), Mickey Dolenz (the funny one) and Peter Tork (the quiet one).

Amid the rebirth of Monkee hoopla, the group has come out with a single which can be heard on local radio stations called "That Was Then, This Is Now." Some message. Let's face it, if there had been no then, there would be no now. A new LP also is on the way entitled Then and Now, the Best of the Monkees. The now here will be three new songs. Also on the bill are the Grass Roots, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and Herman's Hermits minus Herman, Peter Noone.

Tickets are still available for the July 4 show, 4 p.m., at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. July 4, Swimming Pool Q's The Q's were by far the best new wave act playing the clubs around USF in the 70s. The clubs mnrni Ruthless People Cast Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker Screenplay: Dale Mtuner Rating: nudity, profanity, violence Running Time: 94 minutes Theaters: Countryside 6, Movies at Largo, Movies at Pinellas Park, Sunshine Mall 5, Tyrone Square 6 EMMt Vary good Oood Poor Kidnappers Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater exhibit the sort of wholesomeness normally reserved for Scout leaders. This is Zucker, Zucker and Abraham's best movie since Airplane! although there is enough crude humor and strong profanity for a half-dozen ratings. In a tame sequence, Midler details what the inmates will do to Reinhold when he's sent to San Quentin.

In another, she mimes execution by gas, firing squad and electric chair. Aside from its hardened edge, Ruthless People has the goofy charm of Down and Out in Beverly Hills, the first R-rated film of Disney's adult-oriented Touchstone Films. Ruthless People is a camp send-up. Like Airplane! and Top Secret, it piles up plenty of misses as well as hits. But it's more tightly scripted and controlled than Zucker, Zucker and Abrahams' previous efforts.

The movie stalls at its mid-point. But once Midler discovers her kidnappers are reducing their ransom demands been marked down? I've been kidnapped by the movie slips back into high gear. There's a fake torture scene Reinhold holding a phone receiver to a frying hamburger that is pure kitsch classic. It's matched by Midler aerobicizing her fat while chained to a bed and DeVito taking aim at his wife's incontinent poodle with a pistol larger than Clint Eastwood's. If its humor and language weren't so.

raw, Ruthless People would be recommended viewing for practically all people. But that's not the case. Read the kids The Ransom of Red Chief 'and save Ruthless People for a night alone. This picture's rating should be taken seriously. Sam Stone hates his wife, loathes his wife, would like to see his wife picked to pieces with tweezers.

She is, perhaps, the world's most despicable person except for Sam, of course. Marie Antoinette, Lizzie Borden and Catherine the Great would be proud to count Barbara Stone among their ranks. When Ruthless People begins, Sam (Danny DeVito) is plotting Barbara's (Bette Midler) demise. Chloroform to the nose, a quick trip to Coldwater Canyon, then a one-way ticket over the edge. Only Barbara is nowhere to be found when Sam, the multimillionaire women's apparel king, arrives home.

Instead, there's a phone call from a pair of bumbling, inexperienced kidnappers demanding $500,000, no police and no media coverage in exchange for Barbara's life. If you were Sam, would you pay? Ruthless People is credited to writer Dale Launer and the directing team of Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker, although it owes its inspiration to O. Henry's The Ransom of Red Chief. In both scenarios, the ransom request is refused and the kidnappers become the victims of their ornery captive. O.

Henry's tale, at a few thousand words, is simpler and wittier: the kidnappers pay a wealthy businessman $250 to take his hellion child back. Zucker, Zucker and Abrahams are obligated to make a full-length movie. So Ruthless People is crammed with plots and subplots, including a blackmail scheme and a Friday the JOANBAEZ July 26 Tampa Folk test; i though there's a $1.50 parking charge at the fairgrounds. The concerts starts at 6 p.m. i July 6, A Flock of Seagulls After coming out with a strong debut single, "I Ran" and LP three to four years ago, A Flock flew off never to be heard from again until now.

London Victory Club, 7 p.m.! i July 10, Dave Mason Always a fine showman and musi-; cian, guitaristsinger Dave Mason returns to perform at the Clearwa-1 ter Cinema 'n' Drafthouse, 7:30 and 10 p.m. July 10, Run D.M.C. This adventurous duo dominates, the rap pack. "My Adidas," the first single off their new LP, Rais ing Hell, may be the first love tribute ever to sneakers. Better, yet is their rap treatment of the old Aerosmith song "Walk This which features Joe Perry and Stev ie Tyler from Aerosmith.

Run D.M.C. appears at the USF Sun Dome, 8 p.m. with L.L. Cool and Whodini. July 11, Lisa, LisaCull Jam More rap and funk with an even more unusual joining of names.

This lineup will appear at the Bayfront Center at 8 p.m.; Lisa, Lisa Cult Jam with Rea) Roxanne and Hitman Howie Tee. Enjoy it. July 11 12, Golden Boys 13th cloned killer who's so crazy he doesn't wear a mask. Prior to the kidnapping, Sam was scheming to kill his wife, inherit her fortune and run off with his girlfriend, Carol. But Carol (Anita Morris) was planning to blackmail Sam with videotapes ol him pushing Barbara's body over the cliff.

On what presumably is the fateful fatal night, Carol's accomplice, an incredibly dumb, beach bum named Earl (Bill Pullman), films the wrong couple performing the wrong act along the canyon's edge. Mistaken identities abound. Pandemonium reigns. DeVito plows through the picture in high crass style. Midler aims below the belt.

REVIEW I An 'Anthem' that you've Fseen before dried up, the band shot up to Atlanta, evened out its sound for greater pop accessibility, signed with a major record label, received critical kudos from national press and now they're back. The Swimming Pool Q's headline a bill at Jannus Landing, 5 p.m., which also includes Multicolor House and The Marked. July 4, Tommy James and the Shondells Remember "Hanky Panky," "Mony, Mony" and "Crimson and Clover?" Many of us did our first frug and watusi to the first two and slow dance to the reverberating "Crimson and Clover." Tommy James will no doubt revive the old hits when he headlines another Independence Day gala also featuring Asule and Caribe Cool. The outdoor show takes place on the grounds of the Sarasota Hyatt, 5:30 p.m. July 5, Betty Wright Hot and sassy, vocalist Betty Wright puts on a steamy show that mouie American Anthem Cast: Mitch Gaylord, Janet Jones, Michelle Phillips Director Albert Magnoli Screenplay: Evan Archerd and Jeff Benjamin, based on a story by Archerd, Benjamin and Susan Williams Rating: PG-1 3, violence, profanity, sexual situations Running Time: 100 minutes Theaters: Clearwater 5, Fifth Avenue, Movies at Largo, Pinellas Cinema 6 Excellent Vry good Good Mediocre Poor By HAL LIPPER St Ptertburfl Tim Film Critic Forget the story.

Director Al- bert Magnoli does. He treats film as conduit for emotional expediences. His Purple Rain is about pain J' and passion. It generates the raw J'energy of a Prince concert while reprising the long-playing story of a rocker struggling to rise above his Without the beat, American Anthem would be a locker room soap opera. Aside from Steve Te-vere's (Olympic medalist Mitch Gaylord) never-ending fights with his unemployed dad, there is Steve's reckless kid brother who's prone to plunging over Arizona cliffs and Steve's general lack of direction in life.

A year after high school graduation, he's polishing chrome in a Flagstaff cycle shop instead of cashing in on a slew of athletic scholarships. Then there's Steve's girlfriend, Julie Lloyd Ganet Jones), who can't tumble to the classical composition chosen by her coach, can't reconcile the rift with her disabled cousin, can't communicate with her folks living 2,500 miles away on Madison Avenue. Luckily, Steve and Julie can find solace knowing they're the most handsome couple on Earth. Magnoli's camera only has to gaze at their delicately formed features and pumped-up bodies and obstacles seem to float away with the ever-present rock beat. The parallels between American Anthem and Purple Rain aren't lost on the film's distributor.

Columbia Pictures' press kit states, "Gaylord stars as a young man from the wrong side of the tracks who, not unlike the Prince character in Purple Rain, is young, gifted and frustrated." Commercial hype isn't as evident in Gaylord's performance. He's the Johnny Weissmuller of the gymnastic set. He looks like a Calvin Klein advertisement without the threatening undertones: Ralph Macchio with muscles. Gaylord demonstrates depth something that has eluded most athletes who have turned to acting at the end of their sports careers. He's the interesting half of American Anthem 's romantic duo.

Jones is pure veneer. Her moves on the balance beam and mats may be picture perfect. But mustering enthusiasm for competition or a hunk like Gaylord is beyond her fashion-plate ability. Former Mamas and Papas singer Michelle Phillips is more than a blast from the past. She's pure rock: the foundation of Steve's crumbling family, holding onto her husband and sons at the same time.

It's an earnest, solid performance with no pretenses at all. As important as Phillips and Gaylord are to American Anthem, the movie's true star is Magnoli who floods settings with deep blues, vibrant reds and glowing oranges; who zips through scenes at dizzying speeds; who backs every image with rock 'n' roll thunder, lowered only for quick deliveries of inane dialogue. This is not quality movie-making. But it's effective. It's mega- of Bandstand Nostalgia with onetime teen idols Frankie Avar Ion, Bobby Rydell and Fabian.

The trio appears separately and together at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 8 p.m. and at Van Wezel Hall in Sarasota July 12, 8:15 p.m. July 25, David Brenner and John Sebastian Here's a nice show. Brenner's "Did you ever notice" humor remains fresh and Sebastian's solo and Lovifl' Spoonful ditties hold up to today's pop pap. The pair will play Ruth Eckerd Hall, 8 p.m.

July 26, Tampa Folk Festi. val A healthy lineup of top-notch folk-rock acts including Joan Baez, Don McLean, Liv ingston Taylor and Gamble Rogers make up the first Tampa' Folk Festival. There also will be! arts and crafts exhibits and special; food and drinks concessions. It's lot of quality music for $7.50 considering Baez on her own fetches twice that. The festival takes placet, at the Florida State Fairgrounds gates open at noon.

July 30, GTR Steve Howe from Yes and Steve ett from Genesis have joined taP ents and the result is better-than-average mainstream rock, already spawning the hit, "When the Heat Rules the Mind." Bayfront Center, 8 p.m. meager beginnings. Magnoli's second picture, tHf American Anthem, combines Flashdance's relentless drive with Purple Rain 's chilling domestic vio-J lence and The Karate Kid's senti- mental punch. It focuses on two I gymnasts falling in love while struggling to make the U.S. gymnastic team, although its screenplay takes second-tier status to the soundtrack.

Alan Silvestri's compositions "'meld scenes and drive the picture at a relentless pace. Music is A mer-I'ican Anthem's strongest element, just as it was in Flashdance, Purple Rain and Footloose. is sometimes rated A. caytront Center Theater, 8 p.m. July 5, The Outfield This popular mainstream rock band swings for the fences, stepping up in just a few months from the cozy London Victory Club to the enormous Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall.

Outfield's hit "Your Love" is still getting plenty of local radio play. The big news here is the small ticket price, only $2.25, MTV. Images on, mind off. Flashdance has style but is incredibly boring. Footloose is half-witted but has an infectious (though overly commercial) soundtrack.

American Anthem sounds good, has a believable storyline and moves at Mach I. It's bubble gum for the brain. But, bubble gum has rarely been this sweet. SRC: '8 a Psychologist's touching of patient is unethical Big Toll MEN'S FASHIONS Tyrm ladm it. Restaurant 12-1 fern.

345-4813 IS Dear Woody: Last time I heard that joke I laughed so hard I kicked the slats out of my cradle. I'm printing it, however, for the present generation. EwlyBirilSpKata Llvt EnMrtinnwflt Thufly-unlty nnn Charter House a' 19601 Gulf Ind. Show 595-0900 tr' i-uDandMeakhouae CTTVfT7I CIir T'l a 1 MINERS i fl Beer effects Dear Ann: My husband has very high blood 15 OFF DINNER DRINKS All NiKht. with Ad.

(5-7 p.m.) with ad 10 expires 731 8 Dear Ann: Will you please tell me whether it is considered ethical for a male psychologist to fondle and explore a female patient's body as "a necessary part of the relaxation technique?" It starts gradually with hand-holding and a few caresses. "Pretend I am your father," he says. "Concentrate on how comforting it is." The patient trusts him. She has total confidence in his professional abilities. He promised to make her well.

She is told she will be perfectly comfortable with everything that happens, and that she must relax and "let herself go. I feel sure you will say this is wrong. If I am correct, will you please inform women whose therapists behave this way that they must be aware of what is happening to them and where it may lead? Let them know, Ann, that they are being used instead of helped and that such conduct is highly unprofessional. Concerned In California Dear California: I'll tell them more than that! The type of behavior you describe is worse than unprofessional. It is immoral, indecent, unethical, exploitive and considered totally unacceptable by any and all standards.

I urge any patient who is experiencing such gross conduct on the part of his or her doctor to Charter Boats 9 WHY WAIT? WTHOOUCt YCHyi CHKO TO TMt WOWOiRFm WOULD Of MUWC. RfNT A PIANO tOK ONLY FINN PfH OAT. THf PIANO MAN 9 370 7VIoorings a SUMMER SPECIAL 15 OFF pressure and is overweight. The doctor increased his medicine, but he has not told the doctor that he drinks about 8-10 cans of beer a day. Please find out if drinking so much beer can affect the blood pressure.

Worried In Chicago Dear Chicago: Eight to 10 cans of beer a day can affect the weight and that can affect the blood pressure. Tell your husband's doctor at once about the beer-guzzling. The cold facts Dear Ann: My sister and I are having an argument. Please settle it. She washes her clothes in cold water and rinses them in cold water as well.

I say warm water must be used or the clothes don't get really clean. Who is right? And In Wyoming Dear Wy: Your sister's right. Cold water will get the clothes just as clean. report the doctor to the American Psychological Association, 1200 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

20036. Johnny's first words Dear Ann: On the subject of young children learning to talk: This story is from the Farmers' Almanac. "Little Johnny was 6 years old and never had he said one word. His parents tried every possible way to make him talk. Even a doctor who was brought in couldn't get him to say a word.

One morning Johnny's mother put out his pancakes and to her surprise Johnny said, There should be more butter on the pancakes, The mother was delighted and said, 'Oh, Johnny, why have you never said a word said Johnny, 'up to this time everything has been Woodland Hills, Calif. DINNER DRINKS 4 All Night with ad V. TtVciqKxpirpi 7318 6 ycsyjgy? Check St. Petersburg Times and Evening Independent Classified for great buys on new and used cars! Drive a bargain!.