Volume 100, Issue 14 vm KIND SPOIUBHT ■ John Henry’s begins a monthly series called the “First Thursday Swing Night” tonight at 7:30 p.m.Thetwo-and a-half hour show features The Vipers with Eagle Park Slim and costs $2-$5 on a sliding scale. ■ Boogie Chilian’ plays the Hooly wood Taxi tonight at 9:30 p.m. Tick ets are $3. ■The WOW Hall welcomes Laurel AitkenandtheNew York Ska & Jazz Ensemble tonight at 9 p.m. Tickets are $7 in advance, $8 at the door. ■ Elemental Records’ perpetual search for the ‘next big thing’ continues Friday with the fourth round of Sonic Xplosion ‘98, be ginning at 9:30 p.m.attheWOW Hail. The $5 show includes 1996 Las Vegas‘Rock Artist of the Year'(City Life Magazine) Karting Applegate, who is compared with Bjork and Tori Amos, pop-punks Smooch Knob and Eugene’s Gregar ius, which is com posed of four Uni versity grads. ■ Soul FunKtion, an eight person funk band featur ing South Eugene graduates, will play this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Cafe Paradiso. ■ This Saturday at 9:30 p.m., Sam Bond’s Garage will host a benefit for the HIV Alliance featuring Nectar Way, People’s Choice, Tom Heinl, and Peter Wilde. The entire ticket price of $1 $25, based on ability to con tribute, will be do nated to the HIV Alliance. Sam Bond’s is located at 407 Blair. Call 431-6603 for more information. Big Wheel keeps on turning COURTESY John Fogerty is enjoying a successful solo career after leaving Creedence. John Fogerty Discography Creetfence Clearwater Revival Jl Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968 ■ Born on the Bayou, 1968 ■ Green River, 1969 ■ Willy and the Poor Boys, 1969 ■ Cosmos Factory, 1970 ■ Pendulum, 1970 Solo ■ Blue Ridge Rangers, 1973 « Centerfleld, 1985 ■ Eye of the Zombie, 1986 ■ Blue Moon Swamp, 1997 from Warner Bros. Records John Fogerty, former lead singer of classic rock icon Creedance Clearwater Revival, comes to Eugene on Wednesday ny nuu moseiey Associate Editor The scope of popular music over the last 30 years has changed to such an extent that it's hard to believe a group like Prodigy hails from the same country as the Beat les. The movement from guitar driven rock to today’s amal gam of everything but is near ly complete, and there are scant artists who’ve managed to stay true to the roots laid two generations ago and still remain popular. One American artist who’s managed to do just that will make a rare concert appear ance Aug. 12 at Eugene’s Cuthbert Amphitheater. Ex actly 30 years after his initial entrance onto the pop music scene, John Fogerty is back to show that good music never dies, or even fades away. Fogerty and his band liter ally exploded into national prominence in the late ’60s, when, in a three year span, he and Creedence Clearwater Re vival released six albums that included favorites like “Proud Mary,” “Born on the Bayou,” “Fortunate Son,” and "Green River.” Those classics placed CCR and their Southern roots rock at the pinnacle of the classic rock world, and they have remained at that apex ever since. But Fogerty hasn’t chosen to live off CCR’s accolades and collect royalties. Instead, he has released four solo al bums with songs like “Center field” keeping the Creedence tradition alive. Fogerty has found himself unable to match the terrific pace at which Creedence re leased albums. In stark con trast to that two-album-per year pace, Fogerty has taken the remaining 27 years to re lease just four albums, and only one ot those in the last decade. The latest is 1997’s “Blue Moon Swamp,” Fogerty’s most personal album yet and one that includes a wide array of supporting musicians such as Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. "Blue Moon Swamp” was released 11 years after his last album, but Fogerty said in a biography issued by his record company that he began working on the album in 1992. “When I recorded ‘Center field,’ it took a long time be cause I did it all myself," Fogerty said in a biography on the Warner Bros. Web site, “including learning to play instruments I hadn't even picked up before then. This time around, 1 went about it differently, because I’ve al ways felt that the very best music comes from the interac tion of live musicians. Origi nally I put together a four piece line-up, but after a few weeks of playing together, I began to understand that there were limitations to that, as well. So, I went out on an other search, looking for the best musicians for each song I wanted to record. I realized that while, for instance, one drummer might be great for a certain song, there was some one else who could get what I was after on another track.” According to the Hult Cen ter, Fogerty will mix a few of his Creedence hits with mate rial from “Blue Moon Swamp” and his other solo al bums for Wednesday’s con cert. Fogerty will be joined by Sister 7 for the 6:30 p.m. show, and doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $29.50 and can be purchased at the Hult Center Box Office, REI and the EMU Ticket Office. Improvisational troupes square off at Lord Leebrick The University’s Absolute Improv performs with Wymprov! on Friday and Saturday By Cindy Lundeen Freelance Reporter In one comer stands a group of Oregon students collectively known as “Absolute Improv.” In the other comer stands a group of four Eugene women collectively known as “Wymprov! ” Let’s get ready to rnrumble! Absolute Improv and Wymprov!, two lo cally based improvisational troupes, will face off in two separate seven-round match es at the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company on Friday and Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. each night. The show, which will have a boxing theme, is a fund-raiser for the theater, located at 540 Chamelton St. in Eugene. Tickets are $25 per person. During the school year, Absolute Improv usually consists of 16 University theater arts majors and one creative writing graduate student. During the summer, about 11 play ers remain in town and perform. The group began in the fall of1996 with four theater arts majors who wanted to form an improv group. The current group has performed at the Wild Duck, Player’s Cabaret, the Univer sity Pocket Playhouse, and it currently per forms every other Wednesday at Chelsea’s Bar and Grill at the Fifth Street Public Mar ket. Wymprov! is a group of four Eugene women who have performed together in and out of town for the last seven years. It evolved from a larger group of women who originally met at a “healing with humor” workshop and continued to meet and prac tice improvisation. Four of the women who wanted to perform put on a show seven Turn to IMPROV, Page 8 UUUniCDT The four comic women of Wymprov! will square off with the University's Absolute lmprov this iveekenci. Thnrcrtau Annnct£ 1 (V10 n.