Faces to Watch in ’95 : We’re Counting on Them : POP

Some of them you know. Some you don’t. But the following artists, entertainers and executives have one thing in common: We’re counting on each to mae a significant impact or difference in their respective fields this year. Sure, there will be thers who make a splash, but after we talked with dozens of people who work in entertainment and the arts, these were the names mentioned most often. You might say that Jim Carrey was a face to watch in ‘94, and you would be right. But, based on “Ace Ventura,” “The Mask,” and “Dumb and Dumber,” Carrey’s ’95 should bear watching. Another pair of familiar faces--Jay Leno and David Letterman--appear on our list. Why? Haven’t we looked at these guys enough? Well, truth be told, how do you know what’s going to happen to them this year? Fame can be sooooo fleeting.

Elastica

The debut album by Elastica isn’t due from DGC Records until March, but a series of English singles offers the most promising blend of vocal and instrumental authority of any female-led band from England since the Pretenders.

Things have been happening so fast for the group--Justine Frischmann, vocals-guitar; Donna Matthews, guitar-backing vocals; Annie Holland, bass, and Justin Welch, drums--that it was voted best new band of 1993 by Melody Maker readers after just one single, the delectable “Stutter.”

Rather than rush out an album, the group--whose sound is an update of the early ‘80s new wave of Pretenders and Blondie--spent all of 1994 writing and recording songs. “After all the hype, we wanted to sort of disappear for a while and work on the music,” says Matthews, 22. “The pressure wasn’t so much from the outside, it was more living up to our own expectations. But now, we’re ready.”