Short Takes: Sep. 21, 1992

MUSIC

Disappointingly Small Step

IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS SINCE BOBBY BROWN's album Don't Be Cruel marked "new jack swing" as a creative hotbed of black pop. The fresh mix of funky, hiphop beats and bright, soulful melodies set a widely influential musical style, fitting perfectly around Brown's slim vocal talents. Naturally, expectations were out of sight for Brown's latest solo outing, Bobby, which assembles the same producers as Cruel. The album, however, doesn't pack the wallop to distinguish it from other slick R. & B. records on the charts these days. Something in Common, a ballad Brown shares with his wife Whitney Houston is typical of the problem: short on juice but heavy on sap. New jack may not be exhausted, but right now Bobby is fresh out of new ideas.

MUSIC

Religious Roots

- EVEN GEFFEN RECORDS BELIEVES IN FAMily values these days. Yes, the outfit that gave us the devilish Guns N' Roses is now pushing MICHAEL W. SMITH, a contemporary Christian star. Last year Smith's Place in This World was a No. 6 pop single. With his new album, Change Your World, Smith aims for the loftier success of Amy Grant, who blazed the Christian-to-pop crossover. But while the secular songs Geffen will promote to radio are pleasant (the syrupy duet with Grant, Somewhere Somehow, could be a smash), the album's better cuts reflect Smith's religious roots. A standout: Cross of Gold, which challenges people who wear holy symbols around their necks but lack saintliness in their souls.

BOOKS

Many a Slip . . .

ABOUT 40% OF AMERICANS DRINK WINE at least occasionally. Any of them who latch onto WINE SNOBBERY (Simon & Schuster; $20) will have their eyebrows raised by this self-styled expose of what's behind -- and what sometimes goes into -- the noble beverage. In remorseless detail, British oenophile Andrew Barr explains how France's supposedly rigid appellation laws protect mediocrity more than excellence, why cheap champagne is often better than top brands costing upwards of $40, and how producers have got away with murder -- literally -- by dosing their wines with dangerous additives. Like most Savonarolas, Barr could lighten up a little, but there's no question that he knows which clos have skeletons in them.

TELEVISION

Women's Wear Weekly

LEAVE IT TO CNN, THE WORLD'S BACK fence, to make the ephemeral universal. Each weekend, CNN airs STYLE WITH ELSA KLENSCH, a brisk survey of how rich people live, dress and accessorize. The show offers runway reports of next season's couture (for the women) with more cleavage than anywhere this side of pay cable (for men), plus grooming tips and a visit to some fashion pooh-bah's aerie. Hovering above the glitz, as stately and nurturing as the Queen Mum, is the Australian-born Klensch. For Elsa, shoddy clothes and naughty tattle simply n'existent pas. "Karl Lagerfeld could kill his mother," she told HG, "and I'd just ask him about the design of his clothes." Who else could merge Diana Vreeland and Diane Sawyer? No one Elsa.

CINEMA

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