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Christopher Cross I find it most amusing that Steve Simels can hold himself out as a record reviewer after his comments in May on Christopher Cross, especially since the album has gone platinum and Cross won five Grammy awards with his "bantamweight" talent. It is obvious that a lot of people do not agree with Mr. Simels or the album would not have achieved the success it has. BILL WENDLANDT, Austin, Tex. Steve Simels replies: Mammoth sales have nothing to do with musical quality. Proof? How about Three Little Fishes, The Hut Sut Song, Mairzy Doats, and A-Tisket A Tasket of unforgettable memory? I am very sure that someone has asked these questions before, but who is Christopher Cross? Where did he come from (what prior group, if any)? And how long has he been performing? VINCENT R. BOWLES; Philadelphia, Pa. Christopher Cross sang and played guitar with the Flash, a San Antonio-based band, in the early Seventies, leaving in 1973 to work on his own material. He pulled together the core members of his current group in Austin, Texas, and after countless local gigs doing covers of current hits and golden oldies, they recorded a demo tape of original material by Cross. The band then showcased the songs at the Alamo Road house in Austin on Halloween night 1978. Representatives of Warner Bros. Records were in the audience, and three months later Christopher Cross and Co. had a con tract with the label. In other words, just your average overnight-success story. The Clash Ha! I got Simels! It's "Sandinista!" with an i, not "Sandanista!" But despite that, the review in the May issue was good. The Clash is one of the few bands left that chal lenge themselves and their listeners; any band this exciting has earned the right to dispense with editors. They, like (Mis) Spellin' Steve, are usually on the mark. ED JANUSZ; Brick Township, N.J. SIARE Postscript We do not disagree with Julian Hirsch's findings in his test of the SIARE Delta 400 speaker system (May 1981 STEREO RE VIEW), but by now all the Deltas in dealers' stocks will have had their woofers replaced with improved, low-distortion drivers, and all future production will incorporate this revision. Anyone who has previously purchased Delta 400s need only write to us with proof of purchase, and we will arrange to have the improved woofers installed at no charge. The new drivers will provide distortion measurements of the caliber printed in our new literature rather than at the level Mr. Hirsch measured in his early samples. ED MAIDEL, Vice President SIARE Corp. 8013th Avenue Ronkonkoma, N.Y. 11779 P. D. Q. Bach I read Eric Salzman's critique of Schickele's new Bachisch endeavor. I thought it was truly unique and furthermore downright clever. One question remains on my mind, though, and I hope that the editor will still it. It's whether Herr Salzman was fer it, or whether the good gent was agin it. HAL GRANHOLM; Pownal, Maine How's that agin? Japanese Broadcasting I have spent quite a bit of time in Japan since 1958, and I have read with great interest the recent articles in STEREO REVIEW dealing with the latest in Japanese audio and video hardware (such as April's "Stereo TV in Japan"). Japanese excellence in the invention and production of these de vices has become axiomatic, but readers may be misled by the tacit implication that the residents of Japan are really enjoying superior audio and video broadcast programming compared with ours. There are thousands of stereo FM stations in the U.S.; our large cities have dozens each, but even Duluth has six, Colorado Springs has eight, Sioux Falls has six, and Anchorage has four. Guess how many stereo FM stations listeners have to choose from in Tokyo, cultural jewel of the Pacific, the stereo-hardware Mecca of the world? Two, either FM Tokyo or NHK-FM; that's it. Moreover, most of the musical selections broadcast by these stations, whether some whining Bobby Dylan epic or a Baroque standard, are fragments of larger works surrounded by endless discussion. Although Editor William Anderson's March "Speaking of Music" correctly states that 70 percent of Japan receives stereo TV broadcasts, I doubt that most American city dwellers would wish to trade their programs for those available in Tokyo. (Of course, there is a generous spate of soft-core pornography and pretty-lady-beating after 11 p.m. for those who like that sort of thing.) As for stereo, it should be remembered that the sets are usually about 3 feet wide, so any actual stereo effect is apparent only if one sits a few inches from the screen-or adds an external stereo tuner, amplifier, and speakers; adding speakers directly to the set usually results in distortion because the built-in amplifiers are not de signed for them. With regard to the marvels of bilingual TV in Japan, I must note that there are now only about two fragmented hours a week available. I don't mean to suggest that there is not great stuff on Tokyo TV, because NHK is full of spectacular things, and the picture quality is matchless. But our own PBS com pares very well, and once the FCC permits stereo TV in the States, I think that the Japanese will be flocking over here to see where their programming has failed. RICHARD H. HEIM; Superior, Wis. The rule holds even in Japan: the hardware anticipates the software. But rules are made to be broken: CBS is already marketing software (New Music's "Sanctuary," Epic NFE 37314) in its brand-new compatible "CX" encoded format--see page our article elsewhere in this issue. Offenbach and Columbus Geraldine Segal was mistaken in her statement (March "Letters") that Offenbach composed an opera about Christopher Columbus. He intended to, but he never got beyond an American Eagle Waltz. Here in London, for the American Bicentennial in 1976, the directors of Opera Rara, Patric Schmid and Don White, both Americans, took an Offenbach flop, La Boite au Lait, wrote a Columbus libretto for it in English, and presented it in a semi-concert version at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 6. I covered that production for the International Herald Tribune, and this bit of synopsis from my notice will give some idea of what kind of romp it was: " Columbus, it appears, was an international philanderer and polygamist who attracted the amorous attention of Queen Isabella. They are caught in the act-or close to it-by King Ferdinand, and Columbus escapes dire consequences only by selling Ferdinand on the notion that the world is round and that there might be good trade prospects for Spain in the exploitation of its roundness. "Ferdinand gives him the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, Isabella gives him her jewels, and off he sets with his wives and cronies as the crew. It all ends not in the Caribbean, but in Manhattan, with Colum bus married to Minnehaha and the discoverer not of gold, but of the Kola nut, which may come pretty close to the same thing." HENRY PLEASANTS; London, England This correspondence is now closed. Price Change We have been advised that the price given for the Allison: Six loudspeaker system in our June 1981 test report on the product is no longer current. The speakers are now $320 per pair in walnut, $344 each in black or white lacquer finish. Also see: Editorially Speaking [May 1978]
Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine) |
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