Copyright 1993 Denver Publishing Co.
DATE: FRIDAY    FEBRUARY 12, 1993
PAGE: 61
EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT/WEEKEND
LENGTH: MEDIUM
SOURCE: BY JOE RASSENFOSS
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF WRITER
MEMO: CD Grapevine - COLUMN

MATT JOHNSON COMES OUT AT 'DUSK'
     Dusk The The, Epic.
     You've gotta hand it to Matt Johnson, the creative force
behind The The. He doesn't overdo things. In the 11 years since his
solo debut, the performer has produced only five albums, and even
those have been in three-year increments since 1983.
     Dusk offers 10 terrific songs at a tidy 41 minutes. Johnson
also does honor to the concept of ''songwriter,'' spinning tales of
life's ironies, desires and disasters over a rock groove that
relies more on nuance than noise.
     Johnson sounds possessed - a common trait of his vocals, which
often are heavy on echo - on True Happiness This Way Lies. The song
begins with what sounds like a TV evangelist's pitch, then segues
into Johnson, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, wonderin
g when he'll find solitude.
     ''Sometimes it seems the more I ask for the less I receive,''
he sings. ''The only true freedom is freedom from the heart's
desires.''
     Which sets the stage for the rest of this passion play,
including Dogs of Lust, a cold shot of bluesy rock. With Johnny
Marr's harmonica sounding like some berserk siren, Johnson sings of
lust's temptation: ''I keep reaching up / but they drag me back do
wn / Wherever I try to hide / I will always be found.''
     A big agenda, but one Johnson carries off with style. And now
it's time to set our clocks. Sometime in 1995 or 1996, he'll be
back.
     New releases - This week's big titles are a '60s flashback.
There's new albums from Mick Jagger (Wandering Spirit, Atlantic),
Paul McCartney (Off the Ground, Capitol) and Masters of Reality
(Sunrise on the Sufferbus, Capitol), which includes former Cream
 drummer Ginger Baker.
     Other older acts pitch in: Genesis' live Way We Walk, Vol. 2
(Atlantic); Gypsy Honeymoon (Capitol) from Kim Carnes, a best-of
with new songs; Angela Bofill's I Wanna Love Somebody (Jive); The
Chieftains' Celtic Harp (RCA), and Somebody Like That from Gle
n Campbell (Capitol).
     It's not all oldies. The crunch of Dinosaur Jr.'s Where You
Been (Warner) and the metal of Quicksand (Slip, Polygram) see to
that. Then there's Jellyfish singing of Spilt Milk (Capitol).
Prince protege Carmen Electra's self-titled album arrives (Paisley 
Park), as does Reachin, rap from the Diggable Planets (Pendulum).
Undertow (BMG) from Irish rockers Cliffs of Dooneen, deserves a
listen. Ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette goes country on
Coming Home (Warner).
     Spike Robinson fans enjoy Reminiscin' on the local jazz label
Capri. Other jazz: guitarist Ray Obiedo, Sticks and Stones (Windham
Hill); vocalist-bassist John Pizzarelli's Naturally (Novus); John
Scofield's What We Do (Capitol). Spalding Gray has a spoke
n effort, Terrors of Pleasure (Gang of Seven), and durable Lou
Rawls has a Portrait of the Blues (Capitol).
     Blasts from the past - Two great gold disc reissues from
Mobile Fidelity, which specializes in pristine sound: Mr. Fantasy,
Traffic's debut, and Alone Together, former Traffic guitarist Dave
Mason's sensational solo album. Curb has reissued Carl Perkins'
 album Blue Suede Shoes.
     Other reissues: vocalist Ruth Brown's Fine Brown Frame and
Glenn Miller's Carnegie Hall Concert (both Capitol); Take Ten from
Paul Desmond (RCA); the best of Nina Simone's Colpix years
(Capitol), and Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley (Capitol). LIB8
L
IB8

DETROIT FREE PRESS
DATE: TUESDAY November 6, 1990
ED: METRO FINAL
PAGE: 4C
SECTION: FTR
LENGTH: SHORT
ILLUST:
BYLINE: GARY GRAFF
DATELINE:
MEMO: A FEW WORDS WITH ANDY STURMER and ROGER MANNING

JELLYFISH FOUNDERS LIKE COVERING THE SCALE
     Sturmer, 25, and Manning, 24, are the founders of the San
Francisco-based rock band Jellyfish, whose debut album, the '60s-
and '70s-influenced "Belly Button," has earned favorable reviews.
The  quartet performs at 9 p.m. Thursday at St. Andrew's Hall, 4
31 E. Congress. Call 961-6358 anytime.
ON THE SOUND:
     Singer-drummer Sturmer says Jellyfish's music, which quotes
such influences as the  Beatles and Steely Dan, evolved from the
band members' own tastes. We didn't sit down and say, 'Let's make
a retro album' -- not that I think it's a retro album. We said,
 'Let's make a record that reflects  our record collection.' Our
desire was to play for those people who don't have all heavy metal
albums or all classical albums; for our fans, we want people who
have Beethoven right next to Badfinger."

ON CLOTHES:
     Sturmer says the group's colorful, paisley- meets-polyester
dress was part of the concept behind the group. "We wanted to make
the presentation a little more colorful in every respect. We've 
been collecting these (clothes) for years."

ON THE NAME:
     Says Manning: "We had this notebook full of names, upwards of
300, mostly put there for our amusement. A lot of them were way too
silly, or too offensive -- like Jonestown Macrame. One of the
(record company) guys we were dealing with at one point sugges
ted that the band call itself Jellyfish, and we kinda laughed him
out of the room. Later,  we realized it worked."

ON ALBHY GALUTEN:
     For "Bellybutton's" producer, Jellyfish chose Galuten, whose
fame includes the much-maligned soundtrack for "Saturday Night
Fever." Says Manning: "We knew  if anyone would be able to make the
record we wanted to, it would be this guy . . . Like us, he wa
nted to make music more organically. He wanted to steer clear of
modern technology, which was fine by us."

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