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Featuring April 18â€"19â€"20 Marilyn Mellons "I guess it‘s like anything â€" the more you do something the better you get at it Practice makes perfect,"" Bryck says. "I think our confidence has definiteâ€" ly grown within the band and within ourselves. We‘ve also exâ€" panded a little bit in trying diffeâ€" rent musicians, instruments, and arrangements in our songs â€" we‘re more or less putting the challenge to ourselves, and seeâ€" ing how we cope and deal with it. And we‘re bouncing things off one another. That has more or less helped all of us â€" we‘ got a But the truth of the matter is, with every album the Saskatoon quartet gets better, be it with age or experience. Three of the four members are now actively writing material, giving the band more dimension and versatility, harmoâ€" nies are clean and crisp, and an overall confidence is evident "It makes us sound like cheese,"‘ he quips via telephone, somewhere _ between _ sound check and a performance in Fredâ€" ricton. ‘‘Maybe it‘s not so bad, though, if you think of it like fine wine."‘ Northern Pikes guitarist Merl Bryck feels a little uncomfortable when he hears his band deâ€" scribed as ‘"‘maturing‘‘. By Deborah Crandall A U.S. debut on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson came shortly after his Just for Laughs performance (Johnny loved him, as did the studio audience and the rest of North America), and the last six years have been a whirlwind of national tours (three since 1988), Euroâ€" pean tours, performances in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Brisâ€" Since the Montreal comedy festival Just for Laughs in 1985, where Gagnon unveiled his oneâ€"man rendition of We Are the World â€"â€" taking on all 18 voices, from the quivering, nasal Willie Nelson to the highâ€"pitched Michael (he had to learn to moon walk) Jackson â€" Gagâ€" non‘s career has taken off like gangâ€" busters. In normal conversation, Andreâ€"Philipâ€" pe Gagnon‘s accent in as thick as pea soup ... Frenchâ€"Canadian split pea soup . . . with ham. But when the Quebec native takes the stage â€" as the footlights come up â€" his charming accent fades, his Frenchâ€"Caâ€" nadian roots are loosened, and he becomes . he becomes ... well, everybody. He becomes the man of 1,000 voices. Billed, and rightfully so, as one of the hottest young comics in Canada, perâ€" haps the world, Gagnon has been leaving ‘em in the aisles with his uncanâ€" ny ability to impersonate others. Andreâ€"Philippe Gagnon is ‘hooked on laughter By Deborah Crandall The music just keeps getting better Show Times: 12:30â€"5:30 9:30â€"12:30 "Have You Been ‘‘We take each song individualâ€" ly and try to make the best of that song," Bryck says. "Everyone adds their own bit of substance to a song when we‘re putting it together, and there is a sort of And though each songwriter has his own style or flair, each Pikes‘ song sounds, well, Pikish. That sound is the result of two things: each songwriter has simiâ€" lar musical interests and influâ€" ences, Bryck says, and each song is approached by all memâ€" bers of the band, as a unit. But with the band‘s latest reâ€" lease, Snow in June (on Virgin Records Canada), Bryck has even more so dipped his proverâ€" bial quill in creative ink, and guitarist Bryan Potvin (who penned the album‘s title song, the hit single She Ain‘t Prefty, two others and boasts a coâ€"write), has become a major contributor in the band‘s creative process. Even drummer Don Schmid is "‘getting his little toe wet" in creative waters. With albums Big Blue Sky in 1987, and Secrets of the Alibi in 1989, Pikes bassist Jay Semko did the majority of the band‘s songwriting and singing, with Bryck taking the reing on occaâ€" sion. sound board there, and we‘re pretty honest with each other." ‘‘My first impressions were Tweety Bird and Bugs Bunny in English. I was doing it phonetically because | was only bane, Australia, and 200 shows a year at Montreal‘s St. Denis Theatre. He guestâ€" starred at the opening ceremonies of the Calgary Winter Olympics, hosted the 1990 Juno Awards, and performed at the gala opening of the Skydome in Toronto. And it all started at age five with an impersonation of Tweety Bird. ce min paire fagyt e npertee s chemical reaction that works, and that sound comes to be."‘ So far, the Pikes, frésh. rootsy sound has been, for the most part, enjoyed only by Canadian With Laporte‘s flair for the unusual and Gagnon‘s chameleonâ€"like vocal cords, audiences are treated to more than just reproductions of songs by famous singers. For example, Gagnon In his teen years Gagnon entertained thoughts of becoming a translator, and studied in that area for a while. But after winning a major talent contest in Quebec, he decided to give show biz a shot. Since teaming early in his career with author Stephane Laporte, who writes most of Gagnon‘s material (it was his idea to do We Are the World, Gagnon has been on a steady climb to the top "‘When | saw that | was able to reproduce other voices with a certain accuracy, | knew that it was a way to make people laugh, he says. ‘Some people try to make people laugh with jokes. For me, it was to impersonate my hockey coach. When | was a peeâ€"wee player, after a hockey game | would impersonate my coach, the manager and the trainer. | would do a parody of a conversation between them Frenchâ€"speaking at that time, says the softâ€"spoken 30â€"yearâ€"old. ‘‘After that | did a few singing voices in French. And I did a (strange sixâ€"yearâ€"old‘s) version of Tom Jones." Gagnon discovered at a young age that by impersonating people, like his "ockey"" coach, he could make others laugh. The laughter is what hooked him Recession Special â€" Free Pool 1 â€" 5 p.m Regular Buffet $3.25 Sat. noon till 1 p.m. FREE FREE TABLE DANCING Tuesday & Wednesday Nights â€" 9â€"11 p m The Northern Pikes play Lulu‘s, April 25. audiences, but the band has its sights set on the U.S market For whatever reason, Virgin Records U.S. decided not to pick up Snow in June, a move that caught the Battle of the Sexes Sat., April 20/91 l Thie Thief of Hearts Ebony Tramp Starting at 9 p m â€"â€" fea(,uv'rng «â€"â€" Tickets are $28.50, $25.50, and $22.50, and are available at the Centre in the Square box office. 578â€"2570 Gagnon and his tourâ€"piece band (and his cast of thousands) will be at Kitchen er‘s Centre in the Square April 23 at 8 p.m., and Gagnon promises the show will "‘turn into a big party You have to behave like that persor For example it | do Brian Mulroney or Joe Cocker, | like to take on the face of that person as well. If | can believe tor a tew minutes that Brian Muironey or Joe Cocker is there, the joke that | will say will be that much tunnier Gagnon says his line of work calle a good memory musical ear and se~ of observation. Not only must he sou like the person he is impersonating has to take on the mannerisms of * person And. for a short whiie. he nas become that person So when nc doing Mick Jagger. tor example the i pout out, the backs of his hang gc hips, his elbows flap like wings v know the bit I want to be funny | don t want tc only be like a juke box or like a guy who just lipâ€"synchs songs. Gagnon says do Tracy Chapman. but | have her singing and dancing Its like a Trac, Abdul thing impersonates Roger Whitaker. but has him doing Zepplin‘s Stairway to Heaven He has Sting singing Every Breath You Take tor a Scope commercial. and Rambo performing at Woodstock Open Daily Noonâ€" 1 a.m Waterloo‘s NETWORK 579 King St. N.. Waterloo Pikes of quard But talk is go on between managers and couple of record companies Los Angeles Sooner or later (Gontinued on E 746â€"5209