It only seems like it`ll be a slow fall season for pop and rock fans in Chicago.
Sure, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, the Grateful Dead and Paul McCartney are hibernating or playing elsewhere after summer tours of the U.S.
But a few blockbuster acts are scheduled to hit the road soon, including former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant, who will headline Sept. 30 at the Rosemont Horizon.
And major album releases are forthcoming from Paul Simon, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Whitney Houston, ZZ Top, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Traveling Wilburys and even David Cassidy.
Some big tours are in the rumor stage: the Time, surging on the heels of its first album, ”Pandemonium,” in six years; a solo swing by Jon Bon Jovi with an all-star band; a reunion by new-wave darlings the Go-Go`s; and a reunited New Edition, including Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant and the members of Bell Biv Devoe. (Gill says he`ll tour the U.S. after he gets through opening Janet Jackson`s shows in Europe this fall.)
But even if the Go-Go`s don`t go and New Edition stays home, the Chicago concert season still has plenty to offer with a series of intriguing club shows.
Among the highlights are the first American tour ever by the British cult band the Cocteau Twins, with a probable date in late November at the Riviera; a rare club appearance by Joe Jackson at the Park West Oct. 4; an evening of conversation, art and music with Brian Eno Oct. 15 at Park West; a five-act rap revue Sept. 28 at the Arie Crown headed by KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions; an underground guitar-rock showcase Oct. 20 at the Vic with Sonic Youth and Red Kross; and South African pop star Johnny Clegg and his band, Savuka, Nov. 1 at Park West.
The bad boys of comedy and rap, Andrew Dice Clay and 2 Live Crew, also will come barking into town. The foul-mouthed Diceman is scheduled to appear at the Rosemont Horizon in mid-October, says a spokesman for local promoter Jam Productions, and Luther Campbell`s notorious Crew is to play the Riviera Sept. 26, according to an Atlantic Records spokeswoman.
Also of note are shows by San Francisco cult hero Jim Foetus, of Scraping Foetus off the Wheel, at Cabaret Metro Oct. 12; Bob Mould, with Ultra Vivid Scene, at the Riviera Oct. 13; Los Lobos at the Riviera Oct. 25; and Soul Asylum at Metro Oct. 27.
Set to tour later in the fall are the Pixies, Steve Earle, Galaxie 500, Iggy Pop, Asia, Robert Cray, Exene Cervenka with John Wesley Harding, Jane`s Addiction and the Indigo Girls.
It`s a big season for album releases as well, with all the major companies hoping to mine Christmas gold by firing some of their biggest guns. Perhaps the most widely anticipated releases are Paul Simon`s ”The Rhythm of the Saints,” tentatively set for Oct. 9, his first album since the landmark ”Graceland” in 1987, and Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan`s ”Family Style,” produced by Nile Rodgers, also on Sept. 25.
The record marks the first album-length collaboration between the Vaughan brothers, two protean exponents of the Texas blues-rock tradition.
Plans for a fall tour were shattered when Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a plane crash after playing a show Aug. 26 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis.
Also destined to stir consumer interest on Oct. 30 and beyond is Whitney Houston`s ”I`m Your Baby Tonight,” her first record since the 1987 multiplatinum juggernaut, ”Whitney.” It was produced by two of black pop`s hottest producers, ”new jack swing” pioneers L.A. and Babyface.
Soul crooner Teddy Pendergrass` ”Truly Blessed” is set for Oct. 2 release, and Hall and Oates` ”Change of Season” for Oct. 9. Stevie Wonder`s new album is tentatively scheduled for mid-October, with ”Keep Our Love Alive” the first single.
Teen idols, old and young, also return in force this fall. David
”Partridge Family” Cassidy has a self-titled release set for Oct. 2. Donny Osmond`s ”Eyes Don`t Lie” will be out Oct. 23.
Tiffany, ”no longer a little girl,” according to an MCA spokeswoman, after appearing at a recent Los Angeles performance in fishnets, hot pants and a black bra, will foist ”New Inside” upon consumers Oct. 2. Debbie Gibson strikes next with a new album on Nov. 20.
A second album by the Traveling Wilburys is set for release Oct. 30. The all-star group consists of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne. The fifth Wilbury, Roy Orbison, died in 1988 and was not replaced.
This week, Neil Young`s hard-rocking reunion with Crazy Horse, ”Ragged Glory,” hits the stores, as does Bob Dylan`s ”Under the Red Sky,” produced by Don and David Was; George Michael`s ballad-heavy ”Listen Without Prejudice I”; Warrant`s second heavy metal outing, ”Cherry Pie”; and the solo debut by the Eurythmics` Dave Stewart, ”Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys.”
ZZ Top returns with ”Recycler” on Oct. 16, its first album since the 1985 hit, ”Afterburner.” A Warner Brothers spokesman describes the new record as tougher and bluesier than its predecessor.
Australian hot-shots INXS will release ”X” on Sept. 25, Stevie Winwood`s ”Refugees of the Heart” will be available Oct. 23 and Van Morrison`s ”Enlightenment,” Nov. 6.
Robert Cray`s ”Midnight Stroll,” with the Memphis horns and a heavy R&B sound, according to manager Mike Kappus, will be in stores Sept. 18. Chicago`s Styx reunite (except for guitarist Tommy Shaw) for ”End of Century,” on Oct. 2.
On Sept. 25, a soundtrack to a career-spanning documentary on Quincy Jones, ”Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,” will hit the stores, as will an album of pop songs by Carly Simon, ”Have You Seen Me Lately,” and Bette Midler`s ”Some Peoples` Lives.” Johnny Mathis sings the songs of Duke Ellington on ”In the Mood” (Oct. 9).
Metal fans can look forward to ”Painkiller” on Sept. 18, by Judas Priest, recently acquitted in the deaths of two teenagers who allegedly heard subliminal messages in one of the band`s albums; Scorpions` ”Restless Night” on Oct. 23; Cinderella`s ”Heartbreak Station” on Nov. 20 and a new album by Iron Maiden on Oct. 2.
Alternative rock fans will look to snap up the following releases:
On Sept. 18, the Pogues` ”Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” EP, featuring a cover version of the Rolling Stones` ”Honky Tonk Woman” (a full album, ”Hell`s Ditch,” may appear later in the year), and the Cocteau Twins` ethereal
”Heaven or Las Vegas.”
On Sept. 25, Red Kross` guitar-pop opus ”Third Eye,” the Replacements`
”All Shook Down,” the Indigo Girls` ”Nomads Indians Saints” and ”The Cactus Revisited” by the rap duo 3rd Bass.
On Sept. 28, the hard-edged industrial dance music of Germany`s KMFDM on
”Naive,” courtesy of the local Wax Trax label.
In early October, ”Chain,” the first album in seven years by Athens, Ga., underground legends Pylon, Galaxie 500`s ”This is Our Music,” more Celtic-inspired music from the Waterboys on ”Room to Roam,” and a Mekons EP, ”Fun `90.”
On Oct. 15, former X singer Exene Cervenka`s second solo record,
”Running Sacred,” with another major contribution from guitarist Tony Gilkyson.
On Oct. 16, a collaboration between Brian Eno and John Cale, ”Wrong Way Up,” which features Eno`s first vocals on an album since the `70s.
On Oct. 23, Dallas hard rockers the Buck Pets` second album,
”Mercurochrome”; ”Faith Hope Love” by the groundbreaking, integrated metal trio King`s X; go-go band E.U.`s ”Cold Kickin` It”; and the first domestic release by yet another band from dance-crazed Manchester, England, the Charlatans.
On Oct. 30, Skinny Puppy`s ”Too Dark Park.”
On Nov. 26, Clive Gregson and Christine Collister`s ”Love is a Strange Hotel,” a collection of cover songs.
Also anticipated in late fall are releases by acclaimed Texas songwriter Lucinda Williams, Chicago, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, Detroit-Chicago dance hybrid Inner-City, Fine Young Cannibals and Ralph Tresvant.
The usual flood of live sets, designed to cash in on successful summer tours, includes the Grateful Dead`s two-CD ”Without a Net” on Sept. 25 and Paul McCartney`s two-CD ”Tripping the Live Fantastic” on Nov. 6. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett and Phil Collins` live albums also are due. But the best of the bunch may be ”Cube-E,” on Oct. 22, by the secretive San Francisco cult band the Residents.
Multi-CD-boxed set retrospectives on the Byrds (Oct. 9), Elton John (Oct. 16), Led Zeppelin and the Bee Gees (both Oct. 23) are on the way. Both Capitol and Reprise will chronicle Frank Sinatra`s years at their labels with multi-disc collections in October.
A remix of the Eric Clapton-Duane Allman collaborations that became the classic album ”Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” 20 years ago will be released Sept. 18. The three-CD package will include alternate masters, jams and outtakes from the sessions.
Red, Hot and Blue, a benefit record for AIDS victims, will be issued on Oct. 30 by Chrysalis, featuring the songs of Cole Porter as sung by Sinead O`Connor (”You Do Something To Me”), David Byrne (”Don`t Fence Me In”), U2 (a radically reworked ”Night and Day”), the Neville Brothers (”Still of the Night”), Neneh Cherry (”I`ve Got You Under My Skin”) and others.
And Elektra will celebrate 40 years in the business Sept. 28 with a two-CD set, Rubaiyat, in which its artists cover songs from the label`s past, including the Cure`s take on the Doors` ”Hello I Love You” and Anita Baker`s interpretation of Carly Simon`s ”You Belong to Me.”
