~b> Gene Pitney His fans knew more about him than he did himself had the remotest intenâ€" tion of becoming a The ‘man who shot Liberty Valance‘, had chosen electronic engiâ€" neering for his profesâ€" overnight ‘60‘s success FEATURING Bakeries Ltd. 702 KING ST. W., KITCHENER, 742â€"1841 BLACKFOREST CAKES *‘The whole thing ocâ€" curred from a collected series of events. I deâ€" guitar lessons, but back then if you could vert, but I would never, days in Hartford, Conâ€" Pitney, who appears at recent phone interview as he recalled college play four coherent chords, you had it made in the music sysâ€" tem." He and some friends got a band together ‘for ‘"‘Man, it was a small town, and we had the ‘"only piano, only guiâ€" tar, only sax»~‘ We was high but our conâ€" fidence was low." Pitney graduated from Hartford, in 1959, sorority pins, bobby We played a lot of hops," said Pitney with ‘""and then, one day, the proverbial fat man mouth walked in off the street, and said ‘Listen kid, how‘d ya like ta make a record‘. I went to New York. It was the first time I‘d seen tall ah:l"hpilny'hle dene?lheyu'ldul- ly began his career as a Tulsa, Liberty Vaâ€" lance, Looking Love, and smash hit on both sides of the Atlanâ€" tic, Mecca, Gene Pitâ€" ney emerged from American unknown, to shining new worldâ€"wide favorite. singer working with the like of George Jones and others but he soon changed his tune as a sign of the times. Singâ€" ing heart and emotionâ€" first hit off the ground, but once he did, they didn‘t stop. He was solid gold in the States, and ghostwrote his way to it songwriter status with He‘s A Rebel by the Spectres, and Ricky Hello Marylou, among other compositions. But in 1973 Gene Pitâ€" ney vanished. The American music scene umevustlll'fopdn in England and Europe, particularly, Italy, with a stream of hits including Angeliâ€" que, originally by Barry Manilow. musical resurrection and Pitney‘s yearning for the spotlight in 10â€" cade of artistic ab ‘"In the early ‘70‘s, I fell in love with Europe and the far east. I had three boys and wanted to spend more time days I was touring 11 months out of the year, so I cut my itinerary considerably and saw the way the other half of the world lives with my family. I also got heavily involved in $1.00 off ticket price with coupon Test your Knack! Fill in coupon and win a date with the stars: $8 }Q ï¬f The Knack is an outrageous British 272 ',&‘J} x+ â€" comedy about the art of , , _ picking up girls! ve you got H“?\ "You just can‘t beat Forwell‘s" OUR OWN MEAT BY THE BOX . .. Homemade Bavarian Sausage for Oktoberfest Homemade Cold Cuts & Summer Sausage Great for parties, snacks and lunches Open 7 Days A Week From 8 am until 9 pm for your shopping convenience Choose from our guaranteed to your liking . .. or we‘ll refund your money meats. play for university and October 18 â€" 22, 8 p.m. Theatre of the Arts, UW Arts Centre 885â€"4280 A University of Waterioo Drama $5.00 ($3.00 Stu./Sen.) Modern Languages Buillding other business projects including my beach This year Pitney is touring extensively with a monster North American tour, which includes the appearâ€" ance at Centre in the ""I just got back from Australia. Now I‘m on this tour, and after a run of Winnipeg, Monâ€" treal, Vancouver, Kitâ€" chener and Toronto, I‘m heading for the States, right on ‘"‘Then it‘s back to England for six weeks and off to Australia in Sept. ‘84. It‘s damned difficult performing in other countries someâ€" times because difâ€" ferent songs become diverse hits and it‘s hard to keep it straight," he laughed heartily. But what was it that brought Pitney out of the nostalgic woodâ€" work? The answer lies at a little radio station and an innovative disc jockey who one quiet night hatched an out was really strange Oneâ€" night, out of the blue, this deejay from a Burlington U.S. sta tion called me anc asked if I‘d like tqo do ar interview. A single 20 minute chat turned int« an hourâ€"andâ€"aâ€"hal marathon, when he de cided to open the phone lines. It was fantastic The public knew more about me than I did." This fateful even spurred Pitney to mee! with his musical direc tor suggesting that hi: old act needed a fres} dimension. After two years hard fighting, State side, Pitney com sioned a Detroit p moter, who sold th idea across the border ‘When you‘ve bee out of touch, as long a I have. It‘s damne difficult to come back But I‘m returning wit! different songs and â€" medley of my oldie with a full piece or chestra." N/ ‘"Like I said, I neve 7 \\ yM w‘ 4 T r‘