Daily News from New York, New York • 62

CZ1 II Wl I I I I i'I" 'I 111 'f I MS a Pillar of gospel stands up at Carnegie so By WILLIAM CAXLTON it- yyyyy th can't flex with the times. It's easier to knock something than to learn how to do it, I try to make my music attractive to today's listeners. You have to be competl-. tive, stay current and not be boxed in. I stick to grass roots gospel; I enjoy the traditional gospel more.

But on -my new album it's a mix of traditional and contemporary gospel. I've got to stay in the race." Countless numbers of American pop singers got their introduction to music in church Elvis Presley, Little Richard (who is a preacher today and calls rock 'n roll "the devil's Aretha Sam Cooke, Pat Boone, ackie Wilson, James Brown, Teddy Pendergrass. "In the early days I was tempted by the money in rock 'n' roll," Cleveland recalls. "But I thought I sang gospel better than anything else. I never felt comfortable with any other music.

If I had abandoned gospel I would have been betray ingrthe Lord for the gift He gave me." 1 Cleveland is the minister of the Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church in Los Angeles. There are 4,000 members but the church can only hold 1,000. "We need a bigger church. If I only had the money for one," he says sadly. Cleveland never went to a college of ministry; he calls himslf an "inspirational" tainister, though he holds honorary religious among the many awards and honors bestowed on him over the years.

He is thrilled that about half of his congregation Is under 30 years of age. "There is a big trend back to the church today," he explains. Most people have religious experience in their youth; as they grow older they stray from God in their quest for self-identity and expression. They try to find their own way of life. In the '60s many kids turned to rock 'n' roll, to drugs and alcohol.

They became hippies. After they saw the emptiness of that life.religion came back on them. Despite all his accomplishments, "I still have my dreams," Cleveland says. "I'd like more young people to come to Christ I have a crusade against drugs in my church. That's my baby now.

Many kids come from a bad environment They would do better if they knew better. But nobody shows them the way. If they live in a wholesome environment they'll grow up to be decent people. I dream of building a shelter for them someday." Cleveland says that his faith in God has changed over the years it's gotten stronger and deeper. And he scoffs at my suggestion that he sings so good, it must be sinful: "Gospel music draws people into the church; It doesn't detract from God.

Music is one of the highest forms of praise of God. When Jesus was born the angels hovered over the manger and they were singing gospel." nnALLELUJAH! James Cleveland Is coming to I town. The mighty singer they call father of gospel music" is guest artist at Carnegie Hall tomorrow night with the Tribora Mass Choir, and Cleveland will be coming to New York with his own -troupe of eight. male voices' called the James' Cleveland Singers. After decades of decline, religious fervor seems to be-on the rise all over the world, and especially in America.

"Rock stars are turning to Christ (Bob Dylan's new album is number 11 on the gospel charts), the Pope is coming (and he's got a record, too) and we've got a "born again" Christian steering our ship of state. All of this makes James Cleveland extremely happy. Along with other gospel greats like Shirley Caesar, the Mighty Clouds of Joy and the Speer Family, Cleveland-spent a recent Sunday afternoon on the White House lawn munching Southern fried chicken, drinking lemonade and singing for the President of the United States. Mahalia Jackson has sung for Presidents, but it's" the first time in history that "old fashioned gospel singin'" has ever been heard en masse at the White House. "It was beautiful," Cleveland said on the phone from Los Angeles where he lives, suffering from a mild case of laryngitis from all the smog and smoke from the fires out these.

"And it was very gratifying after all these years to get gospel into the White House. I hear that's the only music Carter really likes. He has a colection of religious records, and a couple of mine. That made me feel really good. He told us that in Georgia on every fifth Sunday they'd have a gospel picnic on the church grounds.

We sang 'I'll Fly Away' at the end and the President joined in." After the Nixon administration, capped by the Watergate debacle, Cleveland credits Carter with setting an uplifting religious example for the nation to follow: "The Carters are deeply religious people. They influenced others to speak out about being born again." Cleveland's own contribution to raising tTie nation and the world's moral standards has been unique. Since the 47-year-old singercomposer joined the choir as a boy soprano in the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago, he has been a constant source of inspiration to mankind, through his concerts and through his 55-odd albums on the Savoy label. His latest album, a two record set of spirituals titled James Cleveland "It's a New Day" has just been released. Accompanied by the Southern California Community Choir and its-spectacular soloists, Cleveland performs many of his own pure, beautiful compositions as well as gospel standards.

Church music doesn't have to be heavy and serious, in fact more often than not gospel is extremely joyful and spirited. And it embraces virtually all styles of music. "What makes a gospel song a gospel song is" the words," Cleveland reminds us. "It's the message that matters. You can have disco gospel, rock gospel, country and western gospel.

People who resent that 'Mr. Mike's' smug humor "Mondo Video" crowd are able to take in stride. So we see cats being thrown into a swimming pool. The cats are good swimmers but how about cats throwing people into a swimming pool? Now that would be a jolt Amid this pile of material, which looks like discarded household goods left for Sanitation Department pickup, an idea peeks out here and there that stimulates the fancy, such as the concept of a government project to dispose of mood rings, hula hoops and other played-out fads among a primitive Pacific island community. But the most interesting parts turn out to be interpolated film clips from other sources, like the late Sid Vicious snarling "My Way" or cable TV star Sylvia Schichman reading a wonderfully weird poem about identity transference.

Ernest Leogrande MR. MIKE'S MONDO VIDEO. Directed by Michael O'Oonoeltue. At Gemini I. BKO Itt St.

2, Eighth St. Playhouse, Forum. Runnine time; hour, 2A minutes. Rated R. "Mr.

Mike's Mondo Video" is a movie reportedly made for television at NBC'srequest and then not telecast Director-producer Michael O'Donoghue compiled a film that apparently was meant to travel the "Saturday Night Live route and go several steps beyond it in crazi-ness. The general reaction, of course, is that the NBC ban was the result of complaints over obscenity. Inanity would be more like it Any regular "Mondo" movie surpasses this parody In both lunacy and bad taste. Mondo Video" evinces a kind of smugness, a suggestion that there are clods on the earth who need to have their conventional minds jolted by ideas that the I ill Some wild and crazy guys from "Mondo Video" 3: JIM LOWE Stir FC2u'2AV'S 2)03DE xn PJ Fasten your seat belt, because, reflecting recent storms and turbulence, today's quiz is a bumpy ride. In the movie "Stormy Weather," who sings the title song? Wliat was Burt Lancaster's one-word name in "The Rainmaker?" 3.

What college football team carries the name of the Cyclones? 4. What was the name of the island around which Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall splashed in "The Hint: it had a famous moon. 5. In "Storm Center," what was Bette Davis profession? 9. Where did Noah's ark come to rest? 1 re tc re Foul weather fun 7.

What British character actor and Russian character 53 actress had prominent parts in "The Rains 8. Back in 1970, who had the big hit record of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My 9. What North American Soccer League team is called the Tornados? 10. But even the fiercest of storms has an ending. For the Bad Weather Hall of Fame, what child star sang, i "There's a Rainbow on the (Answer 9apge 17) Jim Lowe is a radio personality who can be heard regularly over WNEWon Trivia Center.

He's also known as the Emperor of Nostalgia, and has his head crammed full of bits and 6 useless information on every conceivable subject. Tha waathar outalda waa frightful hi this scan from -Stormy Waathar".