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Page 22 Waterido Chronicie, Wetnesday, March 20, 1978 . L tX «. The way Kenny Hollis bounces back, you‘d think he had a hide made out of India His career as a pop singer, which has spanned nearly 15 years, has had as many ups and downs as a yoâ€"yo. Today, he‘s on something of a hiatus, working as bar manager of the Grand Hotel and hosting its weekly Gong Show, after putting his musical career on the shelf about a year ago. "I asked myself just what the hell I was doing, knocking my head against the wall. If I didn‘t stop, I was going to have a nervous breakdown, and you can‘t sing from a hospital bed. Either way, I knew I had to get out of it."‘ _ . But most will remember Kenny as the lead singer with Copperpenny, the fore most homegrown rock group ever to come out of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo. As the voice of Copperpenny for 10 years, and fronting a whirlwind of other local bands after that, Kenny knows full well the frustrations of being a road musician, and member of bands that were always "strugâ€" gling, but never quite made it." Kenny, now 32, figured one night last year as he was driving the band bus home, that it was time to pack it in â€" for the time being. In that year, Hollis has put his life back in perspective after years of dirty hotel rooms, rowdy pubs, eating on the run, and not knowing a real social life. He earned his meat and potatoes while other people were out having a good time, and the rest of the world worked when he had his time off. ‘"I may come back," the husky vocalist grins, speaking in an easyâ€"going manner that suggests he may do just that, if he wants to. But there‘s one big condition that Kenny Hollis has set for himself, which underlines any thought of getting back inâ€" to the spotlight. But he‘s not bitter, and certainly hasn‘t shut the door on the world of rock music. "I wouldn‘t go back on the road without a hit record behind me,"" he says, the mood taking on more of a serious tone. "It wouldn‘t be any use. The money isn‘t good enough, and there are too many frustraâ€" From the early days, when he stood beâ€" hind a Hohner piano which he couldn‘t play, and jammed it up with a bunch of guys from Elmira, the Englishâ€"born singer paid his dues in trying to gain star status. Having a big record is something that Kenny Hollis has missed by only a hairâ€" breadth in the past. From going along "just for the fun.of it" 14 years ago, Kenny got involved to the point of making music his fullâ€"time job 12 years ago. However, there were problems. He had a chronic weight problem, and at one point was 40 pounds heavier than he is now. "I went through so many physical changes over the years, I‘ve lost track of them.~ As a result, he hid behind the piano for a while. He could only play two songs on it. "I knew I didn‘t look good going from chubby to rolyâ€"poly, and I was just anchored to that microphone. I didn‘t have the moves." By that time, around 1968, Copperpenny had its first album out. It was composed of catchy, commercial material, and did well in regional sales, but didn‘t set the record world on fire. piano â€" ‘"The other guys (in the band) called it the telephone booth and said I just should sing over the phone and stay away," _ Rock singer Kenny Hollis has traded in his singing mike for one of a different and sang right up front. kind, as he hosts the weekly Gong Show at a local hotel. By Paul Marck Kenny Hollis: Don‘t count _ ~him out »4 Show a Hite style. to i6 Sitting on a Poor Man‘s Throne, nearly made gold in Canada, and was released internationally and did well in France and Australia. * A string of singles followed, but by the time the group‘s second album was releasâ€" ed, in 1972, Kenny Hollis was questioning his role in Copperpenny. _ The band‘s organist, Rich Wamil,. and guitarist Vern MacDonald, were doing the bulk of the writing, and their efforts produced a black, rhythm and blues style. was good at it. ' The band â€"had been touring across the province, and‘doing some eastern dates as well as dipping into the States as far South as the Carolinas. Later the group got to playing ‘"90â€"perâ€" cent of the college campuses in New York state,"" and was warming up and backing such bands as Led Zeppelin, Freddie Canâ€" The group was doing more and more original material, but Kenny‘s input was Iirp_ite_d to writing the odd lyric. He was a top 40‘s singer, with the early English, influence of the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, and Gene Pitney woven into it‘s style. + ‘*Rich wrote the songs with the intentions of my singing them, but it just didn‘t work. I told him, I couldn‘t sing them with as much feeling as he did, since they were his own compositions. . ‘"I sang harmony and backup, but that didn‘t work either." tC non, Chuck Berry, B.J. Thomas, and Del and left the band. . â€" ‘"‘There weren‘t any arguments or anyâ€" thing;, and the parting was quite friendly." Rich sang most of the lead vocals on the second album. . Kenny realized he was the odd man out, After he left Copperpenny, Kenny worked with Dram Agency for a while. He learned and appreciated the other side of the busiâ€" "It was probably the best thing I ever did. L got to know the other end of it." _ However Copperpenny‘s recording Comâ€" pany encouraged Kenny to stay active in the music business, so he recorded a solo release, Brenda, that also enjoyed regionâ€" al success. Buoyed on by this, he formed a band, Grand Slam, and hit the road. But moderate success wasn‘t enough for most of the group‘s musiciars, and the bills outgrew the income. There were personnel changes, and name changes for the band: Theme for a Dream, and then, simply, the Kenny Hollis Band. A record company fouled up release of a single, and there were promotion probâ€" lems. * So last year, supporting a wife and young daughter whom he rarely got to see, being on the road so much of the time, Kenny hung up his microphone cord. About the same time, Copperpenny broke up. He‘s still not out of it completely. He‘s been recording radio jingles, and hosting the Gong Show, which he enjoys, "to keep in touch." And, Kenny reveals, he‘s working on reâ€" doing an oldy, but doesn‘t want to say too much, in case things don‘t come off. "It‘s a song by an artist who‘s never had his stuff redone, so it should come off well."‘ And he‘s still hunting around for that one song, the one that will mean the big break. "I‘ll lay off for a while. Things have got to be right. It could be next week, it may be 10 years. But I‘m not worried."‘ And you know what? He‘s not, either. If Kenny Hollis was a worrier, he wouldn‘t have endured over the years. And as the main man on the stage, he