The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 29

t'T nnr nn C7 UUUliUU The Vancouver Sun, Thursday, April 14, 1988 III 1 Uinl Two winning bands take their raw, roaring rock up town 3 '14 jHf bxLT Kim -1 quicksand. The band is bathed in red, and Renz moves to a calypso-inspired beat in the South American forest. Who Cares is a slow, sultry ballad that Renz performs as solidly as the other material. He can play both the clown and the handsome prince. His short hair and pink, shell-framed glasses make him look like a pop culture professor from some hip university.

The Four Ones, straighter, but just as much fun, opened for the Herring. When the Fours' lead singer Dan Lonsdale's roaring rock vocal hits the gravel at high speed, his rumbling energy pierces the atmosphere. The beat is always fast and serious, but not so serious that on I'm a Farm Boy, the band can't assume their individual farm animal roles. The Four Ones just won the CITR dull," cries lead singer Enrico Rem as guitarist Stephen Nikleva plunks out a bit of mad scientist background music. And Renz looks a bit like a mad scientist himself as he scrambles through the punky Brain Song.

Herring music is full of tropical bongo beats as the band launches into the raucous Love Machine. Then, it's time for some text. That's right, Posture's lyrics come directly out of a chiropractor's how-to manual. As the pounding, pop beat measures his steps, Renz sings of back straightening excercises. He slouches, then straightens, slouches, then straightens.

Jungle sounds, offered by band members' mouths and machines, populate the platform for Danger in the Amazon. Renz rushes about the stage avoiding snakes, birds, and RED HERRING with THE FOUR ONES. At The 86 Street Music Hall. April 13. By MICHAEL GROBERMAN RAW, revved, and roaring, they were two bands competing at Vancouver's small Savoy nightclub to be winners of CITR's battle of the bands.

Now they're both winners (in different years), The Savoy's gone, and both Red Herring and The Four Ones have moved up town to the vacuum vault-ceilinged 86 Street with the famous sound-swallowing second storey. A problem for these vets? No sweat Red Herring's five boisterous, bouncing brats frolicked around their stage, driving rhythm through their original sound. "The brain lies inside the skull, where life is very MARK VAN MANEN ENRICO RENZ, lead singer with Red Herring: looks like a pop culture professor from a hip university forward to a distinguished debut recording from these Richmond rockers. band battle in December, so they haven't even Finished using up their 24 prize hours of recording time. Look GORDON: debunker The man who calls Shirley MacLaine a phoney Henry Gordon spends his life, he says, "shovelling water uphill." The Toronto magician is a debunker: a man who tells people who want to believe in them that there is no proof of the existence of psychic powers or of flying saucers or of iRail station slammed for I playing to tats gnosts.

He even dares to say that Shirley MacLaine is leading millions astray with her brand of new age flak-iness by "energizing the tidal wave of irratio-nality that's been sweeping this continent." He says that mamiy UfiCOi BOOKS PETER WILSON Canadian Press HULL. Que. A TORONTO radio station was strongly critic-ized Wednesday by federal broadcast regulator commissioners for playing too many hits, with one suggesting the violation of rules could be a clearcut case for revoking or suspending the station's licence. i ii i mm in jmmm nwi i mum mm mti mmm him mm hwi hbi livMi' If yz 2 il iyg fiiaitiii iriMi in mmmMMi iinr umiir -in imri eral manager, promised to cut the number of hits aired, effective today. CKFM is required by law to play only 49 per cent hit songs but the CRTC found during spot checks in October and January that about 67 per cent of the songs played were top-40hits.

Two other Toronto FM rock-oriented stations CHUM-FM and CHFI-FM were called to the hearing to explain their apparent viola- tinne nf Ihp hit-snnc rule and don't think you are a responsi- 1 1 1 i I. At--. me Droapcasier, wonique youpai, Q107 (CILQ-FM), was vice-chairman of the Canadian Ra called to explain why it didn't play dio-television and Telecommunications Commission, told CKFM-FM officials at a public hearing. "It's almost a case of suspension or revokation of licence." fC And Gary Slaight, CKFM's gen- TV TIMES UPDATE enough Canadian songs. But CRTC commissioner Beverley Oda said CKFM was the worst violator of the four stations.

The other stations had taken steps to correct their problems. Slaight said CKFM couldn't comply with the rules before now because it's installing a new com-' puter system to keep track of which songs are hits and which aren't That takes time, he told But in an interview later, he said the station had no intention of complying after the January spot check because CHUM and CHFI weren't complying either. "If they're going to be out of coni-pliance, why should we be in compliance, when CHUM was the one who originally brought this to everybody's attention?" Slaight asked. CHUM complained to the CRTC in September that CKFM was violating the hit-song rule. After doing spqt checks on the four stations, the CRTC decided to call them to a hear PETER BATTISTONI Due to hockey playoffs, programming changes by the networks have led to a revised television schedule for tonight.

Ch. 2: Stanley Cup Playoffs: Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs (Game Six) at 4:30 p.m., News at 7:30 p.m., Harry Jerome at 8 p.m., Riki Tiki Tavi at 8:30 p.m., Tales Of The Unexpected at 9 p.m., and Two Ronnies at 9:30 p.m. Ch. 26: Stanley Cup Playoffs: Montreal at Hartford (Game Six) at 4:30 p.m. TSN: Stanley Cup Playoffs: New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils (Game Six) at 4:30 p.m.

FROM LEFT: Susan Pearl Shank, Leslie Malm and Una Bachinski MacLaine says she's sharing with people "but when you share for money I call it selling." He says that talking to MacLaine about her theories, which he once did, is like nailing Jello to the wall. Now Gordon has written a book on the subject of the paranormal, including a section on MacLaine. He was in Vancouver, Wednesday to promote. Extrasensory Deception (Macmillari of Canada, $19.95.) For his efforts, Gordon says, he gets challenged on open line shows, has debates with psychics on sion and has come to ealftfc, that people will go on believing in the supernatural no matter what he says. "But I look at it this way, the garbage keeps getting deposited and there has to be someone to take it away," says Gordon, whose book is a collection of his columns on the paranormal for a Toronto newspaper.

Gordon, when he was appearing regularly as a magician, specialized in what he terms a sleight of mind act, using exactly the same techniques he says are used by today's psychics and faith healers. "I can't tell you exactly what these; techniques are, because that would be to give away the secrets of the magicians trade, but I can tell you that they are identical," says Gordon, who in 1977 fooled ah audience at the Sadiye Bronfman Centre in Montreal into believing he was a psychic called Elchonen and then, after intermission revealed that the gathering had been fooled. He says in his book that he was happy when angry members of the audience merely left to get their money back rather than storm the stage. ORDON says that psychics who begin as charlatans come to believe that they have special powers. "It's like the man who puts a sign that says 'Bank' in the window of an empty store," says Gordon.

"On the first day someone comes in and deposits $100. On the second day another person deposits $150. On the third day the man who put the sign in the window deposits $250 because he thinks he's running a bank." Gordon says that even after he debates psychics on television and wins, they often come over afterward and put their arms around his shoulder and treat him as if he's just another part of the psychic trade. "They phone me up and suggest that I go on tour with them," says This 'whack at dictators' ing. needsabit more punch ft Film about street gangs riles anti-crime group DICTATOR'S CABARET.

Conceived and created by students of the Simon Fraser University Centre for the Arts. SFU Theatre, Studio II. Apr. 14-16, 21 and 22 at 8 p.m; free 6 p.m. performance on Apr.

20. By LLOYD DYKK ICTATOR'S Cabaret, a new show at Simon Fraser University Theatre, is described as "a whack at dictators everywhere." (At last word, advised to check our limousines in the parking lot: annoying, but this sort of thing happens in our milieu, don't you know? It's these more loosely scripted, circumferential parts that are the most fun about Dictator's Cabaret. When it comes to the content itself, most of it is dare one say sophomoric? These are sophomores, after all. There are things in it that have nothing to do with cabaret, such as the long television game show skit, which seems to have been inspired, anyway, by Monty Python. The songs are feebly sung and the words indecipherable (it would be better to attack them and say to heck with the musical quality.) The nuclear war skit is a bomb in itself and for a satiric revue, things are apt to turn soft the choir in black, holding candles and singing a song dedicated to the Mexican prisoner of conscience Jorge Enrique Aguilar.

But there are good things in it, too, such as the pointed and funny "HildaHatchmanova" Contra-Foster Plan, and the blues reverse-stripper number with a woman slipping into her dictator's uniform while singing I Don't Give a Damn. More numbers like these and more energy over-all and there'd be a show to take seriously. Central American strongmen were reported to be reeling from its effects.) It's housed in Studio II, a little clapboard annex to the theatre. The writing, design and performances are by students of the Centre for the Arts, an umbrella organization covering the theatre, dance, visual art, music and film departments. A B-movies-style dictator in a fur-lined trenchcoat and his glamorous wife play host to a supposed enclave of power-mongers namely the audience.

An The incident followed lunch-hour picketing outside the Orion offices by 15 Angels and an appeal by the group to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to ban the film. i Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who was among those arrested, said county officials should reject movie permit applications for such filml and refuse to let actors ride along with sheriff deputies, as Sean Penn was allowed to do in preparation for the film. The supervisors were noncommittal to Sli wa's requests. Sliwa said the film, which also stars actor Robert Duvall, glorifies "dope-sucking, psychotic-crazed young mutants" responsible for street violence. The makers of the movie which opens Friday, have denied that it glorifies street gangs.

By BOB POOL Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES A protest over a soon-to-be-released movie about warring street gangs took a confrontational turn this week when a group of Guardian Angels tried to storm the high-rise headquarters of Orion Pictures Corp. and sparked a confrontation with security guards and police. Five members of the self-styled anti-crime group were arrested on suspicion of battery after the scuffle with guards in the building lobby in the Century City high-rise cluster. There were no reports of injuries. The Angels said they were attempting to reach Orion's offices to present Orion officials with six red-stained dollar bills symbolizing the "blood money" they claimed the movie Colors will earn.

orchestra called Idi and the Night Spots is at the side. "Socialites" are planted among us (the brittle young charmer who cHatted me up was married to a Bolivian cosmetics mogul conveniently "out of town." The waitresses include, bizarrely, a basketball-ob sessed nun, fussy matrons and several exotic-looking women. There' are rumors of a bomb threat and we're Gould's belongings a revealing exhibit Canadian Press Gordon. Gordon says that fascination with psychic phemomena goes in couldn't, for example, interest anyone in Erich von Dani-ken and -his Chariots of the Gods theories today, but just a few years ago it was very popular stuff," says Gordon. "And you never hear about the Bermuda Triangle any more.

"Spiritualism is in the background right now," says Gordon, although UFOs seem to have a new lease on life. But, he adds: "If I were a young entepreneur starting out and I wanted to make a lot of money these days I'd open a crystal shop. It's the same old crystal ball stuff, but it sells." Oscar winner gets hero's homecoming Canadian Press MONTREAL Frederic Back came home a hero Wednesday night, cra dling in his arms the Oscar he won this week for his animated film, The Man who Planted Trees. i "It's finally over," the shy Montreal filmmaker said in a trembling voice to about 30 people at a reception. "Your welcome makes me feel so good that I have trouble imagining what would have happened had I returned empty-handed." The film is based on a Jean Giono story about a man whose efforts resulted in the birth of a forest ia an arid region of the French Alps.

It was Back's second Oscar in five years. He won his first for another short-length animated film, Crac! it," Helmut Kallmann, music division chief at the library until last October, said in an interview. Gould died of a stroke just after his 50th birthday. But interest in his life and achievements has continued to grow in Canada and abroad. The library acquired many of his personal papers and possessions from his estate in 1983, on the condition that a major exhibition be held within five years.

About 20,000 articles, contained in 226 boxes, arrived at the library, including musical scores, books, articles by and about Gould, radio scripts, tapes, concert programs, trophies, medals and photos. Personal objects include an alarm clock and stopwatch, fountain pens, notebooks, scrap books, school report cards, his passport, notes from admiring fans, a scarf and gloves, his battered short-legged piano chair and a wax machine Gould used to warm his hands before playing. The exhibition runs until Sept. 15 at the National Library. OTTAWA Glenn Gould was, quite simply, a pack rat.

The internationally renowned Canadian pianist, who died in 1982, saved everything from hotel room keys and cuff-links to concert programs. And now a cross-section of his belongings have been put together by the National Library for a revealing and sometimes poignant exhibition that opened Wednesday. "If he hadn't died so suddenly, he probably wouldn't have kept all of.