Tops In Pops

By Joan Downs

Deep Voices (Capitol). All whales make sounds, but humpback whales sing songs in regularly recurring cycles that last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour. During the past two years, Animal Behaviorist Roger Payne and his wife Katy recorded this music of the deep and produced Songs of the Humpback Whale, which sold more than 100,000 LPs. Their second whale record contains the only recorded sounds of the elusive blue whale, as well as the latest hit by a herd of humpbacks--which, the Paynes have discovered, change their song each year. To the accompaniment of lapping waves, the whales sing sorrowful blues solos with a bassoon-like timbre or in solemn antiphonal chorus. The effect is sometimes humorous, often very beautiful. Album royalties go to the artists--through the Whale Fund of the New York Zoological Society.

Philip Glass: North Star (Virgin Records). Nothing happens in the usual sense. Glass composes by an additive process. Short melodies are repeated dozens, even hundreds of times, while new elements are gradually introduced and events are kept to a minimum. The composer writes for amplified keyboards, winds and voices, using as tools of his craft a pulsating rhythm, overlapping figures and a moving chromatic bass line. The overall effect is soothing, with strong yet not dogmatic liturgical overtones. Fans of German rock groups may spot similarities between Glass and Kraftwerk. Those classically oriented will think of Johann Pachelbel.

Leo Sayer: Endless Flight (Warner Bros.). For years, Sayer's own sweet soaring tenor (reminiscent of Elton John's) was obscured as he comported himself onstage in thick white makeup and a clown suit. Now Sayer has shucked his Petrushka image. Instead he diverts his energy into making rock music of a high order. A gifted songwriter, he has come up with an album of infectious melodies in a sophisticated rhythm-and-blues vein. In addition to the breakaway single You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, he has a winner in the ballad When I Need You.

George Benson: In Flight (Warner Bros.). One record can make a man rich for the rest of his life. Breezin', Benson's 1976 LP, turned the trick for the guitarist-singer. He took the premier spot on the jazz, rock, soul and easy-listening charts. His name began cropping up on network TV. George bought a Mercedes. He was a star. How did success affect his music? If anything, it improved it. In Flight is his finest album so far. The material spans a wide stylistic range, from Benson's silky vocal on the Nat "King" Cole classic Nature Boy to the disco-danceable Valdez in the Country.

Television: Marquee Moon (Elektra/Asylum). This group was one of the first, and is certainly the best exponent of punk rock. Its home is CBGB. a grotty Bowery bar that now exemplifies Lower Manhattan chic. There Tom Verlaine, who writes Television's lyrics, delivers raw, jabbing vocals in a declamatory, prepsychotic style similar to Patti Smith's. It is Richard Lloyd's nervy, blues-tinged guitar, however, that gives this band its distinctive sound. Lloyd has the potential to become a major spokesman for rock guitar. Joan Downs

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