Lutha Promotion

Lutha : Earth HSD 1025.

Reviewed by P.F. O'Dea

Trudging our way through Wellington's wettest, most miserable day this year, we arrived at the Spectrum Bar of the Lion Tavern for an EMI promotion in aid of Lutha's new album "Earth", and Craig Scott's new single about his wife, "When Jo Jo Runs". The invitations to the party had arrived in little pots containing a packet of seeds, which were supposed to be presented at the door. "No Pot, No Admittance", the invitation stated flatly.

Dripping water, we walked straight in. Nobody questioned us and there was no sign of any pot. The only obstacle to our advance was the carpet in which I nearly wrenched my ankle. Discreet muzak surrounded us : The Hollies with "Magic Woman Touch", Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze", and a night-club soil piece which began "People say they want the best things in life ... ." so I switched off. We must be fair, though. Like a diamond in this mire was the National Lampoon's brilliant parody on Les Crane's "Desiderata" — which they transformed into "Deteriorata".

A poster for a Galliano cocktail called a Harvey Wallbanger catches my eye; at $1.10 it's the dearest cocktail in the bar, the rest range upwards from 75 cents. Around the bar is a cluster of young executives — suits, ties, expensive leather gear — whose uniformity is disturbed by a few freaks. Some of New Zealand's musical giants have already arrived : Alan Galbraith, looking pallid after his trip to England; Steve Allen, who is engrossed in conversation with another junior businessman model: "He's so money hungry that guy, it's incredible" ; Mammal's Tony Backhouse, and the grandfather of them all, Craig Scott, nattily attired in a grey suit.

EMI pro, Alan Martinson, has taken control, and is introducing Lutha, who will play four numbers. "The album is really good. We like it and think it's going to go a long way......It's getting a lot of airplay on 2ZM. On 2ZB, too?(snigger). He pauses until he hears a mumbled affirmative from his captive audience, then says "Good". In the middle of the crowd, 2ZM programmer, Midge Marsden, is saying "Right On, Right On. No that's not right. What was it? Yeah, outasight. Outasight".

Lutha takes the stage. They start with "Here and Now", and follow through with the Righteous Brothers' oldie, "My Babe", and "Earth". The flawless execution of the songs was interrupted only by the collapse of organist, Kevin Foster, after the first number. He knocked over a Conga on his way down, but recovered.

The overall impression was of watching a group that had had its fire and creativity sandpapered away in an attempt to produce a marketable commodity. Garry McAlpine certainly, could lay claim to one of the better rock voices in this country, as anyone who saw Pussyfoot in action will tell you. On this night, he appeared alternately bored and pissed off. Understandably, as most of his audience was there to drink and watch each other. What was that? Did I hear someone mention Tom Wolfe's "Radical Chic". No, I must have been mistaken.

One of Louise Warren's flatmates tells us we really shouldn't write anything scathing, after all, the booze is free. On stage, Garry injects enthusiasm into his voice to thank us all for coming along. I drift over and talk to him by the bar. He's friendly and genuine, as he talks of the Mad Dog performance at last year's Auckland Arts Festival.

The album is, like the promotion, perfectly produced, but the overall impression is one of sterility. Lutha write their own material and play it well but they run out of steam in transferring it to disc. The culprits responsible for this are Garth Young, who put together the stereotyped brass and string arrangements, and the producer, Mike Le Petit. They've aimed at perfection, and accepting the limitations of the material, they've succeeded. But at the expense of excitement, unhappily, and isn't that what rock music is supposed to be all about? On the publicity sheet which came with the review copy it said that the album had taken seven months to complete. To maintain any freshness over that period requires genius. Brian Wilson hit the jackpot with "Good Vibrations", whereas Paul Simon's attempt at a studio masterpiece, "The Boxer", failed miserably. I hope that Le Petit is wrong when he says that "Earth" is just a fore-taste of things to come. Lutha are capable of much more than this electric mish-mash.