rs anf Reviews Music Revolutions BILLY BRAGG. WORKERS PLAY- TIME. Polygram, 1988. Billy Bragg recently toured Canada and the United States. with Michelle Shocked, and it’s a dynamite combina- tion of two of today’s most progressive and promising artists. Bragg, with his thick, cockney accent and forceful if not melodic guitar playing, has become a sort of modern-day, socialist trouba- dour. He plays for a new generation of working class kids in Britain and, increasingly, around the World. Workers Playtime contains a few sur- prises. Bragg sounds almost polished, he has a full band playing behind him, and the overall flavour is distinctly country. Michelle Shocked, who sings back-up on the album, has no doubt been an influ- ence. And while no one will ever mistake Bragg for Otis Redding, his singing has become almost good. Bragg with his obviously improving songwriting abilities, sense of humour and firm socialist principles is one of the most exciting artists around today, anda flame of inspiration in the darkness of Thatcher’s Britain. MICHELLE SHOCKED. SHCRT, SHARP, SHOCKED. Polygram, 1988 Michelle Shocked is one of the brigh- ter prospects in what many are calling a resurgence of the popular folk music movement. But singers like Shocked are not merely repeating the traditions of the Pete Seegers and Woody Guthries — they have changed the music to fit the times so that it’s a mixture of folk, rock and roll, country and blues. Shocked sings about the lives of work- ing people, about relationships, and about the land. One song, “The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore,” captures ENGLAND’S BILLY BRAGG ... a country flavour and firm socialist principles. cee — DAN KEETON IBUNE PHOTO en the reality of the Reagan era — closed- down factories and welfare: Last night I dreamed I went down to the office/ To get my payday like I done before/ But them old kudzu vines was cov- ering the doorway/ And there was leaves and grass/ Growing right up thru the floor. Shocked, whether playing the blues, rockabilly or country, also shows a wry sense of humour. She pokes fun, from female experience, at the self-congratula- tory, male sexual prowess theme that so many male bands sing about. Tf love was a train/ I think I would ride a slow one/ One that would ride thru the night ... But love ain’t no train, naw/ More like a bouncing bull/ And the most you got’s 15 seconds in the saddle. ANDREW CASH. TIME AND PLACE. Island, 1988. Andrew Cash, after the disbanding of the popular, progressive Toronto band L’etranger, spent a couple of years sing- ing and playing solo at a Toronto club. The time has obviously paid off, as Cash has now emerged with a collection of songs distinct from the new wave rock sound of his old band, but which display the same insight and ability to write catchy tunes that he had before: Hard times and hunger roads/ We burn the wheat that can’t be sold/ Uniforms for the new defence/ Tuxedos for our new found charm ... When will this trail of tears disappear .... Always relegated to the fringes of what’s known as the alternative music scene, Cash now has a major label behind him (Island records who brought us Bob Marley) and a chance to go byeond the local club scene. If Time and Place is any indication, the future looks good. — Paul Ogresko 10 Pacific Tribune, October 31, 1988 | | Soviet, U.S. writers” examine the ways to end threat of war BREAKTHROUGH: EMERGING NEW THINKING. SOVIET AND WESTERN SCHOLARS ISSUE A CHALLENGE TO BUILD A WORLD BEYOND WAR. Edited by Anatoly Gromyko and Martin Hellman. Walker & Co., New York, 1988. It might not have happened 10 years ago. Here is a book that was published simul- taneously in English in the U.S. and in Rus- sian in the USSR. A photograph shows American and Soviet scientists and writers cheerily standing together at one of their meetings. And the project has been hailed by such (former?) cold warriors as Robert Conquest and retired CIA director William Colby. But the book is not just a collection of statements about the horror of nuclear war. As one of the editors asks, “If... a nuclear war is inevitable on our present course, then where does change begin? What is the action?” The project started when some people in an organization called Beyond War met with members of the Committee of Soviet Scientists for Peace against the Nuclear Threat. The editors write: “In this book scholars on opposite sides in the world’s two greatest armed camps have assembled evi- dence that war must end.” The contributions include “The Myth of Rationality in Situations of Crisis,” “Young People and Nuclear War,” “Realism and Morality in Politics,” “The Evolution of Cooperation,” “The Image of the Enemy” and “New Thinking about Socialism.” One entry observes: “World War I was a disaster waiting to happen. An intricate network of interlocking alerts and mobiliza- tion plans required only a minor incident to trigger an uncontrollable political and mil- itary chain reaction.” The author then goes on to more recent confrontations including the nuclear threat following the U.S. sup- port of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. Chapters on “Computer War” and “Nuclear War by Mistake” stress the danger in the complexity of today’s arma- ments. One writer points out that if we on earth were threatened by hostile invasion from another planet, we would soon forget ou! differences in the face of a new threat Another says that “whatever is similat_ between the U.S. and the USSR dilutes tet sion” but states that differences, too, can Dé interesting and attractive. . One writer observes recent similarities such as hockey teams and rock bands, alongside differences in history and litera" ture. Another notes similar troubles such 4 | alcoholism, and similar accomplishments — in science, in space, in the arts. Here are some noteworthy quotations: e “During the Cuban missile crisis, Pres ident John F. Kennedy estimated the odds of nuclear war as being ‘somewhett between one out of three and even.” @ ‘At the time we had that false alar™ (at NORAD)... panic broke out. It was 4 very frightening and disconcerting thing.” @ “In the event of a nuclear war ... the first mistake is likely to become the last.” | e “Significant reduction or eliminatiom of nuclear weapons will not occur as long one nation thinks another will go to war in@ crisis.” @ “We ought to recognize each other's humanity, as we move to solve today’s complex problems.” @ “National defence is now the greatest enemy of national security.” e. “We must learn to express opinion’ without exciting in ourselves and others feat | and hatred for those who think differently. e “Fear, anxiety, helplessness, and lack of confidence in the future leave an ominous ) imprint on the personality of the youth 1” both our countries.” In the final chapter the editors say thal they had agreed not to get into question such as “who started what in 1917, 193% 1950, 1962, and 1979?” Maybe, but perhaps we all should remind ourselves that in 191 the people of Russia created a new society ip the face of invasion by tens of thousands ©" soldiers from Canada, the U.S., Britain an? other countries. In 1941 they defended their revolutio® against an invasion by millions from fascis! Europe. Their difficulties and hardship* have been great, but there has never bee? a) threat of war from the Soviet Union. Here is a new book, a new look, and 4 very hopeful one. — BR Canada and USSR play at Izvestia Cup match, Moscow. Similarities like hockey can promote East-West detente, new Soviet-U.S. book says.