Dead Bang has moments despite predictable plot Entertainment â€"â€"â€"â€" All that Sass Jordan says it wasn‘t until she heard the playback of Tell Somebody and the recently released Double Trouble, that she realized what a southern rock flavour the cuts had. "First of all, I‘m not really superstiâ€" tious, but also I don‘t think it has anything to do with the award â€" it depends on what kind of act I have and whether the public likes what I‘m doing." Well, just what‘s so "promising" about Jordan? â€" a brassy, raunchy sound that not many females before her have had the desire or courage to produce. An astonished Jordan walked up to the podium during the recent Juno Awards ceremony to accept the honors of Most Promising Female Artist And even though the Most Promising cateâ€" gory has been dubbed "the kiss of death," she‘s not bothered. "K.D Lang won that award once and it didn‘t seem to kill her," Jordan says. over 12 years, but with the release of her debut album and its title track Tell Somebody, Jordan is gaining increasâ€" ing recognition and critical praise Jordan, who will perform at The Highlands tomorrow night, has been performing on the barâ€"band circuit for But with talent, enthusiasm and raw energy like Jordan‘s, any other busiâ€" ness would be out of the question. "Actually, | swear like a trooper," she laughs, "and this is the only business I could get into and still talk the way I talk." People get into the rock ‘n roll business for different reasons. Some want fame and fortune, others want to attract chicks or dudes, and some are actually dedicated to their art. Montreal singer Sass Jordan would nod affirmatively to a couple of those reasons, but she also has a few others By Deborah Crandall We played them back, and it Don Johnson and Tim Reid star in Dead Bang. During an allâ€"night drive (between bar gigs) on the Transâ€"Canada Highâ€" way, Jordan decided to pack it in for a like â€" woooo0 â€" we were on the freeway to Texas," she droans in a pseudoâ€"southern drawl. The striking blonde began performâ€" ing at the age of 15 in various bands, including one that did Eagles cover tunes, and one that was considered New Wave, at a time when everything that wasn‘t old was considered new wave. Juno award winner Sass Jordan plays The Highlands Thursday. "I just got better at it. It‘s something you can‘t learn â€" you‘ve got to have a feel for it," She says. "But you can learn better structure, and you can learn who you can and can‘t write while, but resurfaced shortly after as an interviewer on a television show called Radio Video. Better suited to the receiving end of the interview game, Jordan headed back to her singing career, with emâ€" phasis on becoming a better songwritâ€" er. Bang is directed by John Frankâ€" enheimer, whose previous credits include the classic, The Manchuâ€" rian Candidate. Bang‘s conception is interestâ€" ing. Frankenheimer and Gerry Beck, the realâ€"life protagonist, had the same agent before the movie‘s making. Frankenheimer heard Beck‘s story and "was hooked immediately." From the outset Johnson was the star Frankenheimer, screenwriter Robert Foster, and producer Steve Roth wanted; and Johnson replied with an above average performance. After years of playing a narc on TV, he easily steps into the role of Eric Beyer Chronicle Staff Dead Bang, starring Don Johnâ€" son, deviates only slightly from the well worn cop movie path; the good guys predictably win but not before the audience is left with the movie‘s intensity and Johnâ€" son‘s solid acting. j "It‘s extremely important to me I‘m successful in the States because you don‘t make any money at it and I really want to make some mo! at this. I mean, I don‘t want to be | doing this forever â€" I don‘t want to ai old bag of 50 and still be doing this.‘" To date, Jordan has released two videos to coincide with the release of the singles Tell Somebody and Double Trouble, but says that genre is a doubleâ€"edged sword. "If it wasn‘t for video, nobody wou! have heard of me," she says in a that‘sâ€"theâ€"onlyâ€"goodâ€"thingâ€"Iâ€"canâ€"think voice. "I see its merits as a marketi tool, but on the other hand, I loathe You‘ve got to live up to all that sli brilliant editing, and it just doesn‘t look like that live â€" sorry." Jordan stops in Cambridge this as part of her crossâ€"Canada tour, says she‘ll wait until the album i released in the U.S. before taking M stuff south of the border. With very few female artists providâ€" ing her with musical inspiration, Jorâ€" dan listened to male artists like Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Steve Perry and Robert Plant."It never oétured to me whether they were males or fee _ males, they were just singers. I used to listen to those guys, and still do today, although I can‘t sing like that. These guys can wail about 10 octaves highe than I can sing. I call it eunuch rock.‘ But it was after teaming up with guitarist Bill Beaudoin that the sqngâ€" writing end of things flaired for Jorâ€" dan. The album, she says, is a 50/50 songwriting collaboration between Beaudoin and herself. with." . In 1985, Jordan was signed by Aquarius Records, and sang backup vocals for the likes of The Box, while going through the long process of putting together material for her first album. In a ranch shootout with the four gang members, Beck forces the leader to leave behind a stee! box. Inside Beck finds a telltale spire in Oklahoma. provin‘ his masculifity. He even sweats well. * The action begins at Christmas when a black storekeeper is robbed and blown away. Moâ€" ments later the killer shoots up a cop and Beck, with compunction, is on the job. The killer has a weird tattoo on his forearm: a long crucifix with a circle around it and the Nazi "SS" symbol inside. Later Beck discovers the same white supremâ€" acist symbol gracing a church Gerry Beck, a seasoned homici detective from L.A. Give Johnson a firearm he‘ll brandish it like a pro. Sho him a psychotic killer and he‘ll pump him full of lead. Have : beautiful woman fall all over him he won‘t waste : in‘ humascumty ~nypre en (cwmonpaooa) waste any time Iigiarr®