R. STEVIE MOORE'S TIMELESS PARODY;
RALPH BEFORE '84, VOL. 1 A LIP-SMACKER

Paul Ashby

Trevor Horn, arch-producer/ hypester for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yes and Art of Noise, recently described his vision of the Ultimate Death of Pop. He conjured up images of fanatic musician- hermits obsessively hunched over home recording equipment, churning out commercial ditties and thumbing their artistic noses at mainstream rock acts. Horn would hate Everything You Always Wanted to Know About R. Stevie Moore But Were Afraid to Ask. This double LP anthology on France's New Rose label compiles tracks from 1974 to 1983, from Moore's Nashville bedroom to New York attic

and long-awaited New Jersey studio recordings. Not for everyone, Everything may sound raw and unpolished at first hearing, but R. Stevie's deft, Zappa-inflected talent for timeless parody persists until---voila! another RSM convert is born. Other comparisons have included Todd Rundgren; Moore has an endearing gift for writing touching ballads, barbed satire, hook-filled rock 'n' roll, you name it. His prodigal one-man band approach and home studio wizardry at time recall the rough-hewn tortured artist effect of Rundgren's Runt and Something/Anything?  The R. Stevie Moore mini-phenomenon grew in the early '80s from scattered appearances on obscure import compilationss and hand-made, real time-dubbed cassettes distributed through his RSM Cassette Club. The majority of tracks on Everything are from the latter and this is their first appearance on vinyl. This $11.98 list double album is an offbeat delight and true sleeper from a founding member and crusader of the growing international independent cassette underground.