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Keith S rising p< By Mark Platte Entertainment Editor In the mid-19606, a 17-yearold folk singer played to the sparse audiences of the downtown Charleston Holiday Inn lounge. The people in the crowd paid no attention to the young man performing but at the end of the week, the guitarist was nnirl ticn *--- * p?iu fiou auu (jivcu ius iree room at the hotel. . He said he liked Charleston, while he played his own tunes as well as Gordon Lightfoot songs and the melody he knew best, "Alice's Restaurant." Now. in 1981. with a risinc album already out, "I'm Not Strange I'm Just Like You," and another one he'll start recording in two weeks, "It Don't Hurt to Flirt," Memphis native Keith Sykes has finally become a recognizable figure in the pop scene. "I'm Not Strange" is climbing the charts, particularly in Memphis and California. HIS CLOSE friendships 3mm 14 Spacer I 35 The Jewelry \ 2909 Piatt Springs 9 till 6 Moi "It's More Than Just Am Next t0 MC1 wt'Super Size i (V? lb. all i I Served with Mustard, Chill, 0 I Iwith coupon 4 I limit one with coupon * | l Good Today & Monday^prll 27,1981 & l [- ill 9k \ v ft M J "W ?J j ?| m ykes: | 3D star I and performances with Jerry Jeff Walker, Kris Kristofferson and Jimmy Buffet make Keith Sykes a familiar name in the music industry. Their close ties discouraged Sykes from changing their sounds by asking them to play on either I of the new albums. "They've / helped me so much that I wouldn't use them," he said. j, Sykes' sound is a mixture ? of Buddy HJly, Booker T j( and the MGs and the Everly v Brothers. While his guitar r playing has always been i superior, it is his clear, $ polished voice that creates the Sykes sound. On "I'm Not Strange," Sykes' "B.I.G.T.I.M.E." is a lucid ? rocker he performed on "Saturday Night Live" last December. J Influenced to the greatest b degree by Chuck Berry, s Sykes listens to Rockpile and S has written 14 years worth h of tunes, enough songs for at h leasi ms next inree albums. n Currently, he says he enjoys o the freedom he has with his new label, Backstreet, an I* offshoot of MCA records. n k Gold | Beads I Varehouse > Rd., W. Cola. n.-Sat. other Jewlery Store." ^3151 Donald s 1 ; SIOWDOfiT j i beef) I ( inlons, & Slaw. I ; ii-19 i; Tomorrow | ? Tuesdayf^?ll_28j98i_j ; Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmpr' ^ l'yX lag ft* k - - --J "<? ResTflumnTl i J ^ i ^r*j''"." \ sH|i( Keith Svkes wi/f soon iegin recording "it lon't Hurt to Flirt/' "It's really a hip little abel," he says about Backstreet. "They're earning a lot of stuff while re're learning and I would ather be with them, talking a the head of Backstreet knn I iiaii ure nettu 01 witA. ' JERENE SYKES, his rife, has been the producer nd manager of Keith's i nusic since 1979. Although i L. ^ J: J-U i 11 iic uiun i Know me com* i iHcated production terms, erene could identify the 1 akes and decide which one 1 ounded best. Since Mrs. i ykes took over, her < us band has been much i tappier with the sound of his i micin or*H Knur it ic nr/vlnnA^ IIMMAV WB1M aiVTT li IO |SA VUUVVU n the album. j On the West coast, "I'm ] lot Strange" was the i lumber-one album five 1 | Ify* Thfi N i irc;o In** Ivides five mon to foster the c dent practice i Nurses selectc this program r weeks after II came out. It Memphis, the LP has been in the top ten since its October 1979 release. "It Don't Hurt to Flirt'* promises to have a fuller sound with more of the same combination of blues, rock, pop and folk with the aid of the "Revolving Band," his three-mfcr backup. "I'm excited about it (the new LP) because it's going to be the best album I've ever done," Sykes said "Just from the demos I car tell that." As far as future touring Sykes said a West coast torn will be scheduled soon aftei the album is released. "Foi us, we're starting out gooc on the West coast. I wouldn'l say we're the Eagles 01 rieetwooa Mac on tne Wes coast but we've got tons ol play." The Memphis drawl i? evident in Sykes' voice as he tells of having rid himself oi the loneliness of travelling nlnnp in ttw? hwuririnincr Hill Charleston, S.C. is far away, light-years perhaps, for the singer who formed a band and now wants to face the spotlight with a new bestselling LP that his audiences mil no longer react to with indifference. The "plastic" Holiday Inns are history and now, "It Don't Hurt to Flirt." xi are 1 I h i EPS ? unship Progiam proiths training designed oncept of indepenn the clinical setting. 3d to participate in eceive a direct com VVI TSgt. Chi 741 Bultr Sumter, S (803)77! swer your questions pr HB86BHMRHBHHHHI A great way I-?? 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