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Show Diversions The Utah Statesman' . 19,2007 The dancing is great, the movie, not so much And when our hero Following the vapid and overused formula of previCasey T. Allen is given the opportunity to rise above his challenges ous hip hop dance films through joining a fraternity, such as "Step Up" (2006), his skills as a street dancer "You Got Served" (2004) are tested. ("Hey! Our rival and "Save the Last Dance" fraternity stole our dance (2001), this one highlights moves!") the pounding world of And we all know this steppin'. film wouldn't be complete For those of you Rated PG-13, Grade G without the ever-so realisdetached from today's cul"Stomp the Yard" tic romantic subplot. ("That tural Zeitgeist, steppin' is an girl has the most beautiaggressive form of dance fully ripe ass I have ever with elements of marchseen. I think I'm in love, even though she's ing band, jazz, hip hop and drill team mixed hooked up with my arch enemy.") together. I have learned steppin' before, and it is Since nobody in this film really proves they can act, the art of steppin' ends up being the amazingly difficult. But my heart was never really racing excitonly star of this film. Each of the dance sequences is boiling with edly during this film because OT two things. adrenaline and sweat. But everyone, includOne, I already knew what was going to ing the director (Sylvain White, "Quiet"), must happen. have been so involved with injecting life and And two, I never cared what was going emotion into the steps that they ran out of that to happen since everyone was just tilling a stuff for the acting and storyline. different stereotype. The steppin' is spicy, but The ordinary screenplay is full of all the everything else is bland. Casey T. Allen is the movie critic for The token obstacles that our bottled-up, morallyUtah Statesman. Questions and suggestions challenged protagonist must face. ("I'll never can be sent to caseyal@cc.usu.edu. be anything more than a poor lawn-mower.") H O T AS LAVA From page 4 Reel Reviews One big list of one hit wonders BY MARIO TAKKADELL ANII MIKE DANICL The popular music landscape is littered with onehit wonders, artists who scored big with a single song and then — poof! — disappeared like the eight-track tape. Some radio staples are pure fluke, a product of stars serendipitously aligning just so for a brief, catchy blip. Others are the beginning of a supposedly promising career that never advanced beyond the first tune. Those are examples of the song being bigger than the singer. In one-hit wonderland there are the obvious, such as Anita Ward's disco signpost "Ring My Bell" and Iron Butterfly's epic, psychedelic rocker "In-AGadda-Da-Vida." Then you have the obscure blokes who got lucky, say, Switzerland's Double with its jazzydreamy "The Captain of Her Heart" and England's Haircut One Hundred with the buoyant "Love Plus One." There's no way to examine every one-hit wonder; we could fill the entire newspaper. But let's look at 10 national momentary splashes, five Texans who scored once and five acts most people think were onehit wonders, but the truth might surprise you. Taco, "Puttin' on the Ritz" (1983) - Nobody would have suspected that Taco Ockerse from Indonesia could score a No. 4 smash with this synthesized, slightly dance version of the Irving Berlin classic. He did other period pieces ("Cheek to Cheek," "Singin in the Rain") in the same electronic pop vein on his only U.S. album, "After Eight." But apparently he vanished once the clock struck midnight, because Taco was never heard from again. Aldo Nova, "Fantasy" (1982) - Montreal's Aldo Scarporuscio (no wonder he changed his last name) rode the synthesized classic rock train carrying an air-guitar nugget with a nocturnal vibe. The song pushed his 1982 self-titled album to double platinum. He could never follow it up, though. Two other discs failed to catch fire, and Nova is now more songwriter than performing artist. He penned "I Love You," which Celine Dion sang on her 11-millionselling "Falling Into You." Dionne Farris, "I Know" (1995) - After a brief stint as a singer with hip-hop band Arrested Development, New Jerseys Farris went solo and delivered "Wild Seed - Wild Flower.* The CD's lone single sparkled in its rhythmic blend of pop, rock and R&B. It hit No. 4. And then ... nothing. We're still waiting for her sophomore album. Maybe she knows something we don't. M, "Pop Muzik" (1979) — England's Robin Scott adopted his one-letter moniker and sprinted to No. 1 armed with the bounciest, most effervescent piece of synth pop. Yet he was invisible. His album "New York-London-ParisMunich" stalled at No. 79. Plus, although he released a handful more records, nothing else even charted. These days it doesn't matter what he's dubbed, he's but a footnote. The Buggies, "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979) — A studio concoction of Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn (later of Yes and Asia), the Buggies* totally machine-driven single holds the distinction of being the first video ever played on MTV. Stateside the song stopped at No. 40 and its accompanying album, "The Age of Plastic," never charted. But once you hear that song you won't forget it. Right Said Fred, "I'm Too Sexy" (1992) - Talk about a pop-culture phenomenon. RSF was the trio of English bodybuilding brothers Richard and Fred Fairbrass and lean guitarist Rob Manzoli. The song was total novelty, adorned by a slinky dance beat and the monotone, baritone Fairbrass vocals. The mass fascination stopped there. RSF couldn't produce a U.S. successor to the song or the debut album, "Up." Alan O'Day, "Undercover Angel" (1977) — For a spell in late 70s Hollywood, Calif.-born O'Day was all the rage. Well, at least his song was. His delicious slice of pure pop was inescapable. However, his album, "Appetizers," had no staying power and he quickly evaporated into the Tinseltown ether. A bit of trivia: O'Day wrote Helen Reddy's 1974 chart-topper "Angie Baby." Haddaway, "What Is Love" (1993)* — Born in Trinidad but raised in Chicago, Nestor Haddaway had the dance floor packed every time his propulsive, swirling anthem played. In fact, you still hear the song during sporting events. Haddaway, on the other hand, is out of sight and out of mind. A self-titled debut album never led to a second disc in this country. Eiffel 65, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (1999) - Baby talk or pop-hit genius? The male dance trio from Italy must have loved the United States right before the new millennium. The single darted to No. 6 and the accompanying album, "Europop," peaked at No. 4 and sold 2 million cooies. And where are they now? Hmm, perhaps shimmying by, well, the Eiffel Tower. Ram Jam, "Black Betty" (1977) — A folk song, written by the legendary Leadbelly, transformed into a roaring, bottombeat rocker. The New York City group enjoyed a No. 18 hit with "Black Betty" and a self-titled album that reached No. 34. A second album followed in 1978, but Ram Jam was already on its way to music industry extinction. Deep Blue Something, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1995) — Dashing siblings Todd and Toby Pipes considered their Denton band a more haunting version of R.E.M. What proved truly scary was that this buoyant little ode would be reworked by Interscope Records and turn into a No. 4 pop hit (and reach No. 1 in the United Kingdom). But then, DBS pulled a Toadies and disappeared into the deep blue, well, something. Actually, the Pipes brothers began producing records and drummer John Kirtland morphed into an indie record mogul. Jeannie C. Riley, "Harper Valley P.T.A." (1968) — Raised in Anson, which is about 25 miles north of Abilene, she moved to Nashville in the late 1950s with her hubby to become a star. Which she did with this cheeky, Grammy-winning country ditty that made her the first female to hit No. 1 on the pop and country charts simultaneously and spawned a variety special, a movie and a TV series. After that, nothing crossed over to the pop chart despite a sultry (for the late '60s) image and Hollywood's infatuation. She later became a born-again Christian and has made gospel albums ever since. Pairid Oden/poden&cciisu.edu STEAM RISES OFF THE WATER at Lava Hot Springs. The tempuiale of which normally ranges from 105 to 112 degrees. baths by the residence of the area. "They state gives Lava Hot Springs a "special spirit used to have male bathing time and then to the place." male 'peeping' time with them hiding up in "You could break this water down, find the rocks," Lowe said. out the minerals in it, add that into other water someplace else, get it to the same temToday visitors generally don't worry about perature and it still wouldn't be the same," peeping, as bathing suits are required. Lowe said. Besides the pools, Lowe said there are many things to do in Lava The water isn't the only for people looking to drawing feature to the » _ _ ^ _ _ ^MI^—^^M^^ pools. Program Director make a day of their trip, Deonne Law said her especially for outdoor favorite things about the enthusiasts. The area Comments to remember pools are "location, locafeatures cross-country tion, people, location and skinning and fishing "It's a tremendous place to people." on the Portneuf River, and the town is only 20 meditate and dear out the The pools have 10 fullminutes from Pebble time employees and as mind-trash that we get from Creek Ski Area. many as 60 part-time. daily life." The most recent addi"It's always nice, tions to the facilities are spend the day skiing Mark Lowe, the new dressing rooms, and then soak in the executive director evening," Lowe said. which opened up about three months ago. The Lowe also recomLava Hot Springs Foundation mended floors of the locker rooms several restauare heated using the rants in town, ranging spring water, which Lowe from pizza and burgers said makes the whole experience much nicer. to Thai food. "The old dressing rooms were old and As for the age-old question of how to prodingy," he said. '"Anyone who hasn't been here nounce the name of pools and the town. Lava in a while should come back." resident Lowe sets it straight. "It's a short 'a'," he said. "When in doubt, you go with the verHistorically, Lowe said, the pools have been used by Native Americans for centuries. nacular." In 1902, the land was set apart by the state For a full list of rates and other amenities of Idaho for public use. The facilities have the pools offer, visit www.lavahotsprings. been evolving into their current state ever com. since. Lowe said the pools were used as public —steveshia ney@cc.usu.edu Speak Up GEICO. A15-minutecall could save you 15% on car insurance. 1513 N. Hillfield Rd., (8O1) 752-O485 |