Krooner Kevin

Should Kevin Costner give up acting for rock ‘n’ roll?

In Japan, he’s testing a warbling career with a group called Roving Boy. Their single, “The Simple Truth,” may be ranked No. 1 on the country’s foreign record chart (foreign, because it’s in English)--but it’s sold only 13,000 copies since its April 25 release. Its ranking on the domestic pop chart: 67th. The LP of the same title has notched 10,000 sales since early July.

Chiharu Arifuku, an account manager at the record’s sales agency, characterizes the figures as “pretty good” for a foreign group. Arifuku adds that the single is the “image song” for the current movie hit, “Dun Huang,” a $35-million saga of romance and warfare in 11th-Century China. The song has nothing to do with the movie--it’s played for audiences before the movie. It’s also background for a Suntory malt beer TV spot.

Cosnter’s American rep said the actor “has no plans at present (for a U.S. recording career).”

Is recording a longtime dream of the actor’s? “It’s been a longtime pursuit--not a dream. “

Why record only for Japan? “This is what they felt most comfortable with.”

So we asked our Robert Hilburn to review the LP. Said he:

“Let’s put it this way, if Costner were starring in a musical where it was crucial to the plot that the audience believe he’s really a good singer, the producers would have to think about dubbing his voice.

“If recent albums by Don Johnson and Bruce Willis represented the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ in Celebrity Pop performances, it’s not stretching things too far to suggest that Costner’s album represents the ‘ugly.’ It’s not that he just shows little ability in the technical areas of singing, but he also demonstrates almost no hint of vocal character.

“Willis at least had the good sense to do playful remakes of R & B classics, whereas Costner takes himself seriously with original material (he wrote two of the songs), most of it mediocre, some of it embarrassing,” Hilburn said. As for the style: “ (It’s) rather sterile mainstream country- and rock-flavored pop, with a couple of nods to Springsteen’s world of small-town desire and disappointment. The low spots, coincidently, both use cars as symbols: ‘By the U in Buick’ and ‘Tokyo Convertible.’ ”

Sample line from the former:

Once I had a girlfriend just a

couple of months ago

She was a maid in the Joy of

Life Motel

We used to drive out on the lake

and stare at the sky

And listen to the music, but

then she said goodbye.

And on that note . . .