8 Track: "Rousing...Mesmerizing...Rock-solid... Downright Hilarious!"

Oakland Press ~ Detroit Back

"A funny and often eye-opening musical excursion through the sonic landscape of the 1970s."

Talented Young Singers Take You Back With 8-Track. "8-Track, The Sounds of the 70's" is exactly what it sounds like - a musical excursion through the sonic landscape of the 1970s. Once maligned as a poor follow-up to the wildly creative '60s, the '70's have shown an upswing in popularity of late on television ("That '70s Show"), in fashion (the return of bell bottoms), and with the emergence of disco as a nearly cool cultural artifact.

Just to be clear, the decade being excavated at the Century Theatre in Detroit isn't the '70's of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith that blared out of teenagers' blacklight-bathed bedrooms, let alone that of the Sex Pistols and Ramones rumbling from young punks' cassette decks on city sidewalks. This is strictly the '70s as heard through mom's AM radio- Aretha Franklin, the Carpenters, a little Elton John, some Barry Manilow and disco, and a mesmerizing collection of one-hit wonders.

A talented cast of four singers begins "8-Track" with a faux TV commercial before embarking on a dialogue-free parade of well-known hits and barely remembered chart-toppers such as the Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight" and Ray Stevens' "Everything is Beautiful." Along the way, the foursome boogie through lightweight fare and heavier songs (Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not to Come," the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It to the Streets") and tunes that became signifiers of a particular moment in time (Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman," C.W. McCall's sill CB song "Convoy").

Though the show is divided into scenes, director/conceiver Rick Seeber has basically assembled a 50-tune race down memory lane as programmed by stations such as Dick Purtanís old CKLW. What makes the show so much fun are the rock-solid singers and the funny, stylish staging which moves the story along and sets up most of the show's humor.

The actors each play a character. Alto Liana Young, for example, is the post-hippie feminist, looking like Cher and singing like everyone from Karen Carpenter to Roberta Flack. Soprano Tonya Phillips is a free spirit, looking for love with her eyes wide open and hitting the disco clubs while delivering rousing versions of Marvin Gaye's seminal "What's Going On?" and Debbie Boone's memorably saccharine "You Light Up My Life."

But itís the guys who really have fun. Teddey Brown plays a lovable loser looking for romance in a confusing era of promiscuity and the burgeoning women's rights movement. Unable to make sense of it, he gives voice to such hilariously downbeat songs as Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again Naturally" and 10cc's lost-love ballad "I'm Not in Love" stretching from a smooth tenor to a sweet falsetto. And Baritone Nik Rocklin plays a '70's hipster - part Greg from "The Brady Bunch" in his wide-belt, big perm days and part Tom Jones. He embodies the hammy disco cruiser with just enough earnestness to make it truly hilarious, while impressing with barrel-lunged deliveries of such hits as Edwin Starr's "War" and Rare Earth's booming "Get Ready."

Together, and separately, the four performers deliver a show that is funny and often eye-opening. Indeed, with their deliveries, the singers often make obscure lyrics crystal clear, which, in some cases, can be downright hilarious (as with the aforementioned "Alone Again Naturally"). If you have even a little nostalgia for the strange melodies of a decade that's busy turning 30, "8-Track" is a good-natured, energetic show. Don't be surprised if, days after, you find yourself humming the show's songs - the tunes you thought you'd forgotten.

The Oakland Press

Detroit