Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 51

4 i'1 il'H: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1997DETROIT FREE PRESS 3F grew up in a small Southern town Spartanburg, S.C. listening to men playing guitars and telling stories. On street corners. In Men with guitars still tell great stories )3 TALBERT never heard of John WayneHere she comes Little Miss America." Perfect. Anotfier uptempo song.

"Waiting for Simone," the album's first cut getting radio play across the country and on The River (CIDR-FM. 93.9) and WDET-FM (101.9) here, tells a great story about a miniskirted woman with attitude turning heads and had a tube top double stop and switchblade eyes." Joining Francke on "Simone" vocals is Detroit legend Mitch Ryder, "the best blue-eyed soul ever," says Francke. "It was a wonderful experience singing with Mitch. Same tiling with Mimi Harris what a voice." Big-voiced Harris joins Francke on "You Better Get to Know Your Broken Heart," a beautiful duet Men with guitars telling stories and leaving me with lines I'll never forget. Got a message (or Bob? Call 1-313-223-4457 anytime.

Or fax him: 1-313-223-4726. churches. At picnics. Around schools. Near the jail.

Beside the train station. From roadhouses. Behind the theater. Under bridges. Next door.

Down the street Alongside the barbecue stand. By the lake. There was always some guy with a guitar around in the late "30s and '40s. Sometimes they'd just be playing for themselves and friends. Sometimes they'd be playing for money you'd toss in a hat.

If it was a white guy, he'd play some country lick or two like one of the Hanks Williams and Snow and be yodeling like Jimmie Rodgers. Yo-de-lady-oh! If it was a black guy, he'd play some blues licks like Lightnin' or B.B. or Muddy and be singing what his heart was crying over. Sometimes, these black and white amateur musicians would don't tug on Superman's capeYou don't spit in the windYou don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Rangerand you don't mess around with Jim." "House of Lights" is 38-year-old Francke's third album, which he has produced on his own Blue Boundry label with Dave Feeny and Brad Fairman. The album, about a rocker growing into a family man, is filled with memorable lines and stories.

Plus some of the most rhythmic music you'll ever hear, performed by top local musicians, Francke friends and fans. In one of my favorites, the uptempo "Little Miss America about feeling alienated from popular youth culture, Francke describes a glimpsed in traffic and the generation gap: "She drives a Tracker and listen to CrackerShe's the father of country music, Rodgers was a railroad man whose music career was a brief five years 1928-33 before he died of tuberculosis at 35. Rodgers always credited the black musicians of the South as big influences on his songs. Bob Dy lan calls him "the man who started it all" and pays tribute with a great version of "My Blue Eyed Jane." Other favorites: Willie Nelson's crooning "When It's Peach Pickin Time in Georgia," Stevie Earle's funky "In the Jailhouse Now" and Van Morrison's jazzy "Mule Skinner Blues." Croce had an incredible string of eight storytelling Top 40 hits between 1972-74 before he lost his life in a plane crash. This tribute brings back all those great songs like Time in a Bottle" and my Joining the vocals on 'Simone' is Detroit legend Mitch Ryder, 'the best blue-eyed soul ever says Stewart Francke.

favorite, "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)." Croce wrote some of the greatest stories and lines in music. "Meaner than a junkyardog" is a classic Croce description about "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," his first No. 1 hit, which Kim Carnes does in tribute. And has there ever been a better chorus than Croce's classic: "You chord out some gospel refrain and sing some great rousing spirituals. I got to thinking about all those men with guitars I used to hear when I listened to three new CDs.

Two of them are tribute albums: "The Songs of Jimmy Rodgers (A Tribute)" and "Jim Croce A Nashville Tribute." The third is Detroit troubadour Stewart Francke's excellent new "House of Lights' CD. Known as The Singing Brakeman," the "Blue Yodeler" and 11 i i SKY WATCH ATTITUDES I Doonesbury By Garry Trudeau REAL ENOUGH, SAM. WHEN YOU BUY A BUT I ONLYINPUBUC. THOUGHT SHEHA6T0 TWQLWI UPHOP 0JANTTO Parenting is not a part-time job; cheating is bad I am a 36-year-old woman still looking for Mr. Right I'm also the parent of a grown daughter born while I was in high school.

I would love to marry and have more children so I can fulfill my dream of being a full-time mom, but am coming to realize that it may never happen. hi the event that stay torn Ubot i YOU'RE NOT il EVEN TITLE, NOBLESSE OBLIGE IS PART OF wsclue- TRAPITION. AS A MEMBER OF THE UPPeRCLASSJHAVETO PO MY BIT, ESPECIALLY IF TMASKEP BY MY QUEEN, LOYALTY ANP f' 0 TUP. MrKifif-f uAveTntn NEBP5ME! IAfSALX LOFPfi Akin? 1 -N. r3 Laura schlessinger i Saturday's eastern sky about an hour' before sunrise.

Guindon By Richard Guindon I don't marry in the next three or four years, I've been thinking of adopting a school-aged girl. Would this be an act of selfishness? Is a child better off in a foster home with two parents or in an adoptive home with one parent? I'm very successful in my career, but my job allows me plenty of time evenings, weekends, vacations Tonight On Saturday, an hour before sunrise, the waning crescent moon is in the east to JP Biia mi i east-southeast, with the star Regulus 11 degrees lower left. Saturday An hour before sunrise on Sunday, the crescent moon is in the east, with earthshine illuminating its dark side, and Regulus, heart of Leo, 2 to 3 degrees to the upper left. In the next few minutes, watch for the planet Mercury rising about 5 degrees north of due east. Sunday An hour before sunrise on Monday, the slender moon is low in the east, with Regulus 13 degrees above.

Within 15 minutes, if the sky is very clear, you might see Mercury rising about 12 degrees to the moon's lower left. Monday Wherever you are in the United States on Tuesday morning, about 45 minutes before sunrise, aim your binoculars due east, and with an unobstructed view you may see a very delicate hairline crescent moon with Mercury in the same field. From mid-Michigan, the moon is 30 hours before new, and Mercury is within 3 degrees to its lower left Tuesday Face southwest an hour after sunset. Find brilliant Venus with Mars 10 degrees to its upper left; Antares in turn is 9 degrees left of Mars. These three bodies will be fascinating to watch in October, as all will fit within a single field of 7-power binoculars for about 10 days.

Wednesday Look for these objects tonight, one hour after sunset: Venus, brilliant, very low in the southwest; faint Mars 9 degrees to the upper left of Venus, and Antares 8 degrees left of Mars. Thursday About 20 minutes after sunset tonight, use binoculars to search for the moon very low, about midway between west and west-southwest. Tonight the moon is about 30 degrees lower right of Venus. The moon's age in Michigan is then 31 hours after new, but it's far from Earth and has moved only 14 degrees to the sun's upper left. By David Nette end Robert Victor, Abrems Planetarium, Michigan State University.

Skywatchers Hot Line has messages about astronomical events. Call 1-313-207-1857 anytime. tichomj Real Life Adventures 1 it I 1 A By Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich Fair Game By Stephanie Piro 47.92 FOR ON CITTLC BAG OF AeMeMBeR uokth of soceAes foa. that! to devote to a child. Reston, Va.

It is indeed better for an older child, suffering neglect and rejection, to be in the consistent and loving arms of one parent than to Bounce from non-committed place to place. However, your being home evenings is not good enough. You should be the one taking her to school and being there when school is out I want to be a person of character but struggle about some decisions. I know it's wrong to cheat, for example, yet I rationalized it when I went to renew my driver's license and had to take the written test again. Does that make mc bad? I feel terrible, One of the distinguishing characteristics of a "good" person is that he or she feels guilt, However, feeling that guilt is not enough; it is important to learn and change as a result, I read a disturbing commentary from a 17-year-old girl that appeared in one of those newspaper weekend magazines.

On the question of cheating she said: "I am a high school honors student, and think there are different degrees of cheating. I'm a dedicated student but when my history teacher bombards me with 50 questions due tomorrow or when a teacher gives me a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet on a night when I have swim practice, church, aerobics and other homework I'm going to copy from a friend. "It's not like I won't know the stuff for the test, and since I only do this when I need to, it isn't a habit. Every kid does this when they're in a pinch. It doesn't mean they are I would never cheat on a test I am in the top 6 percent of my class, and I didn't get here by cheating." Isn't that amazing? First, she says she is an 'honors' student, yet she cheats at will and whim.

Is it just me, or is cheating a lack of honor? Second, she says that every student in a pinch cheats (untrue) and that our actions don't define our character (also untrue). Third, she brags about her academic standing and declares, after specifying the conditions under which she would cheat without a second thought, that she didn't get there by cheating. Huh? While there may seem to be degrees of cheating, there really is no way, especially for a youth, to fully understand or anticipate all the consequences of such actions. Seemingly small cutting of corners at a seemingly inconsequential moment could result in mass disaster. Also, what amounts to "small cheating" by her may be very large when someone does it to her.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger's column appears Fridays in the Free Press. Write her and other columnists at P.O. Box 828, Detroit 48231. Her radio show is on WJR-AM (760), 1-4 p.tft.

weekdays. Did Mtsi soMeTHwe? They got their first guitar at age 8: Chet Atkins Waylon Jennings Tom T.Hall Randy Travis fl Travis Tritt fl Hank Williams Sr. Source: World Features Syndicate ml. Reality check on register 3. 'Final Fantasy9 is a classic struggle between good and evil 'Final Fantasy VII' out of 4 start Formats; Sony PlayStation Estimated Price: $49.99 Category; 3D role-playing Players: One Ckrck out Squarr Soft at wmMqiurwofUom Imagine being transported to a mystical fantasy world where you become intimately involved in a classic struggle between good and evil.

Upon your arrival, you and your magic-wielding, battle-hardened cronies must engage in endless skirmishes to bring an evil corporation to its knees and save the world. If you are up to the challenge, "Final Fantasy VII," Square Soft's incredible, adventure, role-playing game (RPG) awaits. freedom fighters, is assigned to take out a reactor controlled by a corporation that's sucking the life out of the planet. Unlike most RPGs, the game features superb graphics from a variety of perspectives. Beautifully detailed, full-motion video sequences and pre-rendered backdrop paintings are integrated into the incredible mix.

"FF7" features nine playable characters that have their own distinct characteristics, magical powers and weapons. As you progress through the game, a dizzying number of potions, magic spells and other power-ups can be acquired and used. Although the game essentially follows a linear path, there's so much to do, youll hardly notice. Whether you're an RPG fan or never played one, you will become immersed in the fantasy. Write Game Guy Mike Floyd at: Game Guy, Box 828, Detroit 48321 or E-mail him at MIKE FLOYD Came Guy t.iiiii 1 1n, I a The "Final Fantasy" games are one of the most successful series of RPGs, and Sony scored a major coup when Square Soft decided to publish its first true, next-generation game for Sony, effectively ending Square Soft's long relationship with Nintendo.

In the opening sequences of this gigantic, three-disc 'adventure, you control a rogue soldier named Cloud, a super-bad mercenary with a chip on his shoulder. Cloud, along with a band of Jt..