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Only a few months ago, I would have refused to cross the street to see Liberace. During the past year, I turned down three" separate invitations to his performances. Then I weak- The final blow to my defenses came from the newest Liberace recording, A Brand New Me. The title is inaccurate for the sound is conventional Liberace, but it is a pretty album and came at a time when enjoyable records were not plentiful. As an added touch, the liner notes are by a leading critic from Rolling Stone, the under- ground music paper. With a heavy build-up like that, it was inevitable that Liberace would entice me into his audience. "A third of my fans are under 25," Liberace has declared. At this performance there was little to substantiate his claim. Be- sides myself, the only other per- son I saw who might fit into this category was a little boy. When he left for the washroom, I was all alone. But Lee, as he would have his friends call him rather than Wladziu Valentino Liberace, need not argue over the demograph- ics of his audience, except to make a few matrons feel young at heart. During a full week of perform- ances in Toronto. he played to a full house every evening and grossed $100,000. And the audience loved him. At the start of each tune, all of which sounded the same, there would be a chorus of appreciative comments. Lee begs the audience's in- dulgence for what he calls "a little acid Toch" and all the matrons congratulate themselves for being so tolerant. Of course, the acid rock sounds just like his Tchaikovsky GUARANTEED SAVINGS You can shop here with confidence "Sells For Less" Open 9 a.m. - IO p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. - 9 pm FREE DELIVERY 578-8800 Let Us Price Your Next Prescription at No Obligation Westmount SAVE! Everday Low Prices on Prescriptions Drugs Toiletries Place Pharmacy «'7 BEAT . JIM SMITH Liberace's publicity releases like to emphasize that his early life was filled with hardships. The evidence does not support such statements, although it is true that he has not always been surrounded with diamonds and piano - shaped pools. For instance, both Lee's sister, Angelina, and brother, George, took music lessons - while at age seven Lee himself was study- ing under composer Florence Buttray Kelly. During the depression, when he was reputedly experiencing his greatest difficulties, Lee was a featured soloist with the Chi- cago Symphony, which puts him a step ahead of his companions from West Allis, Wisconsin. It was at New York's Persian Room that Liberace discovered that clothes really do make the man. While wearing the tradi- tional black tuxedo, Lee attract- ed little notice. But garbed in outlandish frills he became the centre of attention. Quickly recog- nizing a good thing, he. adopted the peacock attitiide as his trademark. Today, at 51, Liberace re-, mains the ebullient matinee idol, one of the few remaining stars from the early days of television. Following a famed court encounter with Cassandra, a critic for the London Daily News who had intimated that Lee was something less than masculine, he has found the critics decidedly more mellow. However, watching him flail his piano with grandiose swoops, obviously enjoying himself to the fullest, I suspect that Lee really doesn't care what the critics think. After all, he says: "Remember that bank I used to laugh all the way to? I bought it. " Rent one of our . 1970 FORDS - MONTEGOS - MERCURYS - COUGARS - METEORS 7 COMPLETE DAYS Pius 1 200 Free Miles Our Low Vacation Price of S89.50 IN WATERLOO 89 Bodgetrort Rd E Across trom Towers PM”. VACATION SPECIAL From Friday Noon sl to Monday Noon 9 a 50 FREE GAS and 100 FREE MILES INCLUDES - Full tank of gas; insurance Pick-up and return of client PHON E 578-7440 i? WEEKEND RATES Bauer hopes government will provide funds in fall A The Grand Rivet Coma-n- thon Authority is having to prob- lems with both federal and pro vimeiaigovermr-ta. . It hasn't been able to get money from either government [or a five- Grand River Conservation Auth- ority chairman James Bauer hoperthe federal government will "put its money where its mouth is . . . or where the legislation gy and resources management, was "very sympathetic to the problem and our situation." - The province is reluctant to commit itself to pay 75 percent of costs until it has some indication of what federal funds might be expected, the chairman said in his report of a meeting earlier this month with Kerr and treasury board officials. dam flood control program, and . 9- " That's when federal and pro- vincial treasurers meet and Bauer hopes one of the meeting results will be a way of financing the authority's proposed five-dam flood control program. The program, which has been stalled for about five yearrcalis for the expenditure of about t44,- 000,000 over 15 years for construe- tion of five dams at West Mont- rose, Everton, Guelph, Ayr and Hespeler. The dams will provide flood control, pollution abatement, re- creation areas and a possible sourced water supply. Bauer told an authority execu- tive committee meeting in Galt Thursday that he felt George Kerr, provincial minister of ener- Although the federal govern- ment has "come out with this new Canada Water Act where they say they're going to protect everything, they won't provide any money for us," Bauer said after the meeting. G RCA fears $730,000 grant slash He explained-that the federal 7 COMPLETE DAYS Pius 500 Ft” Milo: Our Low Vacation Price of IN K'YCHENE R Drrect [mo Sour-cc Ivom Inn at the Black Walnut th Woloay Hotel Mun Lobtters s69.50 naw even the provincial govern- ment is holding back on grants because at belt-tightening at QueensPark. Authority chairman James Bauer told' a GRCA executive committee meeting in Galt Thurs- government has indicated it is only interested in national prob- lems. - It doesn't seem to matter that Grand River water flows into the Great Lakes, he added. "And because we're not on the lakeshore. we're not national." HEB RCA AM/FM PORTABLE RADIO BIG SAVINGS q 10 Transistors q Auto. Volume Control . Vernier Tuning 0 Switched A-FC O Built-in AM Antenna . Telescopic FM Antenna q Earphone Included q AC Adapter (Optional) Extra . Smart Ten Vinyl Case Centennial Bandshell Waterloo Park Centennial Bandshell is located to the West of the 200, where a path leads to the bandshell PARKING - ls available at the University of Waterloo, Parking Lot "C". off Seagram Drive. Heat's On - Cool Off with ONE YEAR UNCONDITIONAL GUARANTEE Parts and Laban! Lower Mall Fens simply blow hot, humid air "or" one end ot the room to the other. RCA Air Conditioners cool the air to any comfortable temperature you desire, Because moisture and impurities m the air are coneiemly being removed. you not only enjoy the cool air, but it's cleaned and dehumidltied as well Great for allergy suttttrsra! Sunday. August 1 6th and 23rd T :30 p.m. On August 23. Waterloo will host the Kitchener Musical Society Band SIGHT and SOUND WW Gimmick. Thursday, August 6, 1970 Open Daily till 6 - Thurs. & Fri. till IO AIR l CONDITIONERS} 745-4461 any that “we could be about $2Sth no short on goverment grants." While the authority accepts government financial problems, Bauer expressed concern abut the "arbitrary method of slash- ing thins across the board." He noted that the authority has a good reenrdottivhtguptoittrtmdget. Bauer repel-led on a reeent db mission of the cash flow problem with George Kerr, minister ff cashitneedstocarryon. energy and resources manage- ment, and treasury board arte- ink. 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