Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 87

POPROCK NEWS AND VIEWS Good, Bad and Ugly Moments of the Rock Year tem wasn't right at the New Haven Coliseum show, simply stopped, fixed the problem and started again brilliantly. The Temper-Temper Award: To Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates who, when there were technical problems at the Hartford Civic Center, trudged right along, and sang his love songs between screams to the technical people in the wings. The Light Fantastic Award: Three-way tie between David Bowie, Robert Plant and Genesis for incredible lighting ranging from stylish to Close-Encounter wondrous. The Chutzpah Award: For the most expensive program goes this year to Diana Ross, who asked $8 for her Hartford Civic Center booklets on top of her big-bucks ticket price. Central Park was yesterday, baby.

The Time-Waits-for-No-Group Award: For the longest concert of this (or any) year was the Budweiser Su-perfest in September at the Hartford Civic Center that featured five rhythm-and-blues acts in a six-hour show that finished at 1:30 a.m. WHAT'S NEW Nantucket will perform at the West Hartford Agora on Jan. 13. The Motels will follow there on Jan. 28.

Motley Crue will open for Ozzy Os-bourne at the New Haven Coliseum on Jan. 24. Tickets are now on sale. Aero-smith will perform at the Centrum in Worcester, on New Year's Eve with New Haven rocker Michael Bolton. Write to Frank Rizzo care of Sound Check, -The Courant, 285 Broad St, Hartford, 06115.

way tie between Juluka's Zulu tribal dress at Toad's Place in New Haven, James Brown's flamboyant capes at the Bushnell in Hartford and Marvin Gaye's red satin jammies when he re turned to the New Haven Coliseum stage for his encore, "Sexual Healing." Best Backdrop: The Thompson Twins at the West Hartford Agora, who used light and shadow as a setting for neat-looking theatrics. Best State-of-the-Art Award: To Peter Gabriel, who used a wireless microphone headset for his West Hartford Agora show in July. Worst State-of-the-Art Award: To Peter Gabriel. The headset didn't work. Most Humorous Use of New Technology; To Neil Young, who used a large on-stage video screen shaped like a giant TV to mock technology itself.

It was nice to see that not everyone takes video too seriously. Nostalgia Award: To Bette Midler's "Salute to Disco" at her Civic Center show that had her (and her back-up singers, the Hartlettes) dressed as mermaids as they cavorted on stage in electric wheelchairs to "We Are Family." (Midler's show also had the best T-shirt design of the year a kind of Picasso goes punk.) Most Offensive Show: To The Tabes at the West Hartford Agora. In one sell-out of a show, this band managed to offend women, blacks and anyone with any musical sensibility. The Gimme-a-Break Award: To the New Edition the lead-in act to the Rick James show at the Civic Center one of the most lively and entertaining young groups around, whose break dancing was a thing of beauty. The Common Sense Award: To David Byrne, lead singer of the Talking Heads, who, when the sound sys By FRANK RIZZO Courant Rock Critic There was a moment during the U2 concert at the New Haven Coliseum in June when lead singer Bono, amid an eerie setting of smoke that resembled the dawn after a battle, charged around the stage, angrily waving a pure white banner, as he sang the stirring "Sunday Bloody Sunday." It was a marvelous fusion of image, music and mood that still lingers in one's memory.

Sometimes it's not an entire show but fragments that remain. In next week's column I'll give my choices for the best concerts of the year, but this week I'd like to salute those random experiences, those telling details and overall impressions at Connecticut rock and pop shows of 1983 good and bad. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Award goes to David Bowie, whose mammoth inflated moon over the Hartford Civic Center audience was a prop without a purpose to the fans at the first show of his U.S. tour in July. The moon was supposed to open up and release thousands of balloons at the climax of his show.

It didn't. (But it did succeed in the following night's show.) Runner-up in the Failed Moon Division goes to Angus Young of the heavy metal group ACDC. In a December concert, he gave a frantic strip show on the Hartford Civic Center stage, ending up with the bum's rush a timid and half-hearted moon to the audience. The Gallup Poll Award goes to Neil Young, who, in the middle of his February concert at the Hartford Civ- Dan Haar The Hartford Courant Bono of 172 sings "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at the New Haven Coliseum. ic Center, asked his audience if they were bothered by the commercialization of rock concerts, with many bands being sponsored in part by cigarette and beer companies.

Answer: Who cares? Y- The Let-It-Snow Trophy goes to Prince, who offered a sizzling funk show at the Hartford Civic Center in the middle of the biggest snowstorm of the winter. More than 300 stranded fans camped out at the Civic Center mall. Best Outfit of the Year. A three- Compiled by Billboard magazine based on national sales and rad air play reports. COUNTRY SINGLES BLACK SINGLES POP ALBUMS POP SINGLES Tim ua VMak WMk 1 1 Say Say Say 1 P.

McCartney, M. Jackson 2 2 Say It Isn't So 2 Daryl Hall, John Oates 3 Union of the Snake v. 3 Duran Duran 4 7 Owner of a Lonely Heart 4 Yes 9 3 All Night Long 5 Lionel Richie i 6 4 Uptown Girl 6 7 6 Love Is a Battlefield 7 PatBenatar i 8 9 Twist of Fatt Olivia Newton-John ll.C- 9 11 Undercover of the Night 9 i Rolling Stones 10 18 Break My Stride 10 i Matthew Wilder 12 Houston Means I'm Closer Larry Gatlm Gatlm Bros 2 3 You Look So Good In Love George Strait 3 4 Slow Burn T.G. Sheppard 4 1 Black Sheep John Anderson 5 7 Ev'ry Heart Charley Pride 6 9 Ozark Mountain Jubilee Oak Ridge Boys 7 11 In My Eyes John Conlee 8 14 You Made a Wanted Ronnie McDowell 9 10 Dance Little Jean Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 10 12 I Wonder Where We'd Be Vern Gosdm 1 1, Time Will Reveal DeBarge 2 2 Say Say Say P. McCartney, M.

Jackson 3 5 Joanna Kool A the Gang 4 4 Touch a Four Leaf Clover Atlantic Starr 5 9 Let the Music Play Shannon 6 7 Baby I'm Hooked Con Funk Shun 7 10 You Only Knew Patti LaBelle 8 3 All Night Long Lionel Richie 9 8 Stay With Me Tonight Jeffrey Osborne 10 11 Magnetic Earth, Wind Fire 2 Thriller Michael Jackson 1 Can't Slow Down -Lionel Jackson 5 What's New Linda Ronstadt 3 Synchronklty The Police 4 Undercover Rolling Stones 6 Metal Health Quiet Riot 13 90125 Yes 9 An Innocent Man 'Billy Joel 8 Colour By Number Culture Club 10 Rock 'n' Roll Soul, Pari Daryl Hall, John Oates 15 i.