Spokane Chronicle from Spokane, Washington • 40

1 4 The II ,1986, Spokanir Wash. Sense of humor marks Boys Don't Cry music By LONNA BALDWIN Staff correspondent N. 4 div, 4 A 10, 1 4, lot 3 I' ttil 4 lir otl 4),) i 1 Ile 4 I. e' 4 I 't 5 A 'I, t' .4. i 4 1 humor.

The group recently shot another video from the album, "Cities on Fire," which will be released next week. The members of Boys Don't Cry, headed up by 26-year-old singer, songwriter and keyboardist Nick Richards, incorporate a lot of humor into their live act. According to Richards, lead guitarist Nico Ramsden comes out alone as the most boring man in the world but then the stage explodes into a full-fledged rock show. The other members of the group are Brian Chatton on keyboards, Jeff Seopardi on drums and Mark Smith on bass. Their credits include Sad Cafe, Mike Oldfield, Meat Loaf and The Warriors.

Though they have fun performing, their serious side reveals itself in songs like "Cities on Fire," "22nd Century Boy," "Ships in the Night" and the ballad "Josephine." Their penchant for the naughty is evident in "Turn Over" and "Lipstick." "The band's most recent recorded works will show what we're up to," Richards said. "The standard of musicianship will speak for itself." The British quintet, Boys Don't Cry, riding on the success of their hit novelty single and video, "I Wanna Be A Cowboy," arrived in Los Angeles July 3 on the first leg of their North American tour. Appearances have been scheduled throughout July and August with the group making stops at Calgary and Expo 86 in Vancouver before playing the Spokane Opera House Wednesday at 8 p.m. The Spokane band, the Cads of Badness, will open the concert. The band's self-titled album has jumped from 107 to 61 on the charts.

"I Wanna Be A Cowboy" has the number 12 spot on Billboard magazine's list, with sales of 400,000. The song, which was recorded as a joke, caught the ear of Gary Pini of Profile Records when he heard it played at the Limelight in New York. The studio recording was sent to the club as part of a recording pool. After hearing the song once, Pini sought out the group, Profile Records picked up the album, and Boys Don't Cry was launched in America. Though "I Wanna Be A Cowboy" was written as a light, danceable, fluff piece, the rest of the album leans toward heavier rock with impressive flashes of engaging Concert preview Boys Don't Cry will appear at the Spokane Opera House Wednesday at 8 p.m.

The Cads of Badness will open. Tickets are $6 at KW Ticket outlets. Boys Don't Cry will perform Wednesday. ecords 'Legal Eagles' theme song is weakest from strong, new Rod Stewart album time, group leader Stuart Adamson and his fellows are content to spin couplets such as "Birdsong broke the morning light, And I was weak with strange delight." Sheesh. By KEN TUCKER Knight-Ridder THE CURE, "Standing on a Beach The Singles 1979- 1985," Elektra.

Definitive English doom and gloom, which makes for murky music indeed. Still, this is the band's most satisfying release to date because, as a collection of singles, it offers the Cure's most commercial, accessible music. 4 1 i i 0 1,,, (1 -sifot: (1,..,) I imor A' 7, RAY CHARLES, "From the Pages of My Mind," Columbia. From the title alone you can guess the problem with this one. Even a vocal genius like Charles has a difficult time redeeming florid images like that (wrested from the song "The Pages of My and banal melodrama suffuses too much of the material on this record.

But this release also signals one of Charles' periodic returns to country music, and the change in genre has enlivened his vocals. Even when he's singing cute junk like "Class Reunion," he sounds terrific. ROD STEWART, "Rod Stewart," Warner Bros. It's been years since Rod Stewart has released anything approaching a good album, which makes "Rod Stewart" something of a shock. The hit single from this album is "Love Touch," the theme song from the film "Legal Eagles," but that's just about the weakest song on the record.

The rest of the album is dominated by ballads sung by Stewart with a raspy conviction that is rare for him these days. Highlights include "Ten Days of Rain" and a lovely version of the Lennon-McCartney song "In My Life." MANTRONIX, "The Album," Sleeping Bag Records. "Bass line," this album's most well-known cut, is a slinky dance-music composition that employs rap-music cadences to achieve a choppy, frenetic effect it's an adventurous piece of record production. The rest of the album isn't as innovative as "Bass line," but "Mega-Mix," with its almost abstract collage of sound effects, comes close. GINNY WRIGHT, "Whirlwind," Bear Family.

Wright emerged from Georgia in the mid-'50s to launch a country-music career of middling success. Her voice wasn't particularly strong it was little more than a vinegary twang but her phrasing was sharp and funny, and she sang with an infectious spiritedness. And you can't beat her selection of novelty material, including songs such as "I Saw Esau Kissing Mary Lou" and the immortal "How to Get Married" (the latter includes the advice, "Your man should be taller than can be ordered from Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo El Cerrito, Calif. BIG COUNTRY, "The Seer," Mercury. "Look Away" is a very catchy song, which is one more than I've heard from Big Country to date, The rest of the 4,, CINDERELLA, "Night Songs," Mercury.

The fact that this Philadelphia heavy metal quartet has come up with tuneful melodies (always rare in heavy metal) and that lead singer Tom Keifer actually possesses a musical voice (downright obscure in heavy metal) these are the qualities that lift this album above the norm. Now if only the group would stop copying Motley Crue's fashion style. MICHAEL PERILSTEIN, "Godzilla Vs. Your Mother," Ralph. Perilstein is a multi-instrumentalist with a witty sense of movie-music conventions who has written the score for a non-existent movie.

Perilstein spoofs everyone from 1. Bernard Herrman to John Williams, and in between adds homages to rock figures like Captain Beefheart and Todd Flundgren, Quirky and likable. Rod Stewart's latest LP Is called "Rod Stewart." T.t..