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18 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 4, 1985 2 * Jim Motton is the crazy (like a proverbial fox) disc jockey cum promoter who has been turning things upside down lately at Crandell's Riverboat. Special events like the dating game and beach parties have had the Port Perry tavern overflowing with customers, even on nights besides the traditional Thursday night. See story for details. 2 Book articles needed Utica and Area News by Vera Brown The Heritage Book is now being put in order so anyone having any more contributions please call Mrs. Bruce Bailey or Mr. Don'Asling to have these articles included. Congratulations to the newlyweds George and Rachael Harper who were married in Glen Major Church on Satur- day. A special welcome to Rachael to the community. Church and Sunday School on Sunday at 11:15a.m, this week the service is at Utica. At 2:00 pm. the Decoration and Memorial Service for the Kendall and Hillman Cemeteries will be held - in the United Church. The June meeting of the U.C.W. will not be held until the 18th and it will be a potluck supper at 7:30 p.m. followed by worship and program. This meeting will be held in Epsom Church and all ladies of the community please feel free to come. There will be a euchre on Friday evening in Utica Hall at 8 p.m. On Saturday evening the Hall Board will hold their regular dance. Mrs. Lorne Slute has returned from a week long tour with the Oshawa Ladies Group which visited points of in- terest in Washington, DC Jonsered Come in & see them for vourselt! Now available at Bassett"s --- ProLine * CHAINSAWS cer) a ---- We h, --- Jonsereg ProLine SAWS from '] 99 Mode) 361 16 Small Engines Seagrave - 985-8677 Sunday supper guests with the Lorne Slutes were son Bill, Debbie and Jeffrey of Seagrave. Doug and Deanna Harper enjoyed the weekend visit to Mon- treal. Deanna's mother Mrs. Zakarow of Oshawa stayed with the children while they were away. Mrs. Nel Laird and Mrs. Crosier were dinner guests with Mr. and Mrs. Earl Taylor on Sunday. Mrs. Crosier visited Vera Prentice at the Daheim Nursing Home on Sun- day afternoon. Mrs. Glenn Wright and John of Toronto visited with Mr. and Mrs. Eric Carre and children on Friday. Weekend guests with the Carres were Mr. and Mrs. Jim Legon and family of Lakefield. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Sutcliffe of Janetville visited with the Pete Sutcliffe family on Sunday CTD) Oddfellows & Rebehahs Trip of the Month Winners: "Tnp to Puero Plata" him Jamieson Blackstock "Free '85 Draw Ticket" Lucille Gray & Helen Redman NEUT DRAW Mon ne 24 TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS made through L 3'1 NONQUON --{.] TRAVEL Crandell's just not the same since Jim cameriverboating by Cathy Robb . Crandell's just hasn't been the same since Jim Motton came to town. The Riverboat, or the Boat as it is nicknamed by the affectionados who frequent the Water Street tavern, has always been busy on Thursday nights. Actually busy isn't the word. We're talking wall- to-wall people here, most of them in the mid 20's, bottles of screw-top Blue or rum and cokes in hand, jammed up against the bar rubbing elbows and other parts in the suffocating heat generated by gyrating bodies on the crowded dance floor. Thursday night is a tradition amongst these people, who say "Let's go boating," and have no intention of going near the water. There are those who would sooner miss a pay cheque than miss a Thursday night boating at Crandell's. And that's the way it's always been. - Still, every other night of the week has been comparatively slow, even Saturday night, and that's the way it's always been, too. = - oo Until recently. Until Jim Motton came to town. Skinny, with screw-top wirey black hair and a cigarette dangling con- tinually from yellowed fingers, the 28 year old Little Britain resident has injected new life in- to the otherwise off nights at Crandell's. With a carney's sense of what goes and what doesn't, he's been pack- ing them in on Wednes- day, Friday and Satur- day nights with a slew of innovative promotional ideas. With years of working in Toronto's top clubs behind him, he's laying new ground, bringing new excitement to one of Port Perry's stodgiest traditions, Thursday night at Crandell's. And owner Dan McLarnon couldn't be happier. Since Dan and his wife BJ took Jim on last March, weeknights have come alive with comedy, a fondly remembered M*A*S*H party (where everybody came dressed in battle fatigues), a rousing rendition of The Dating Game, and a cou- ple of wild beach parties complete with a life guard chair, hot sand and plenty of bikinis. Not to mention the muscle at- traction of the recent wrist wrestling competition And there's more to come More beach par- ties. another Dating Game (last time there were three bachelors to choose from. Next time there'll be three bachlorettes), a Family Feud, Let's Make a Deal, a fishing derby, and a male beauty contest with hunks from area health clubs. Not to mention another toga party and amateur night. "Let them know it's fun," he is saying, lean- ing forward on a paper- littered table at Crandell's on a rainy Thursday afternoon, eyes bright as he makes his point. 'Give them something to distract them so they can forget about their personal pro- blems for a while. "I think that's the whole purpose of the entertainment industry." For Jim, work has to be fun as well. He grew up in the Jane and Finch area of Toron- to but spent a lot of time on the road, 'six months here and six months there. Just touching base with wherever my parents happened to be. Which is what most kids do." } High school was Clarkson, where he met up with Crandell's owner " Dan McLarnon, a fellow student. After that, he signed up for a com- merce course at Sheridan College, where he hung out at the cam- pus radio station, Radio Sheridan, and decided a job in the music business would be all the fun he needed. "I was always thinking about doing it, being a disc jockey. That was my goal, but at some point I got sidetracked." Sidetracked meant a comfortably paying job at a series of factories, including a plastics plant specializing in sound- proofing material. Before Jim happened along, the factory was paying people to take away unusable sound- proofing plastic. So he of- fered to take it off their hands and began selling it to studios and amateurs who wanted to set up basement recordings. Through those connec- tions, and others he made while playing in bands throughout the Toronto club scene, he set up his own recording studios and took up managing bands His equipment was state-of - the-art. innovative, and he had all the work he could handle Which didn't mean it was easy He got his first taste of handling club owners and he wasn't thrilled. "It's hard It's hard on the bands [It was hard on me You ve got to put up with a lot of crap Especially with club owners (lub owners are their own breed. Very few club owners are ac- tually nice," he says, dragging on a cigarette and looking around Crandell"s. Later, he adds, 'Dan and BJ aren't like regular club owners. Some of the peo- ple I've worked for could be described as ruthless tyrants. I like to work with somebody I con- sider real people. And I figure I've got that here at Crandell's." He stood by his association with Radio Sheridan, but began working for clubs throughout the Toronto area, including Spanky's and Stars in Brampton, Nag's Head North on Woodbine, and Clouds, The Canopy, The Orient, Spats and a hotel in Lind- say called The Squire. He supplied the equip- ment, the records and the special events, which included fare like nostalgia nights, mud wrestling and assorted theme parties. He book- ed big name bands, like the Spoons, Platinum Blonde, Eric Burdon, Humble Pie, Steppen- wolf, the Payolas, Split Enz, The Monks, Iggy Pop, Men Without Hats and Loverboy. At Stars he had the big- gest sound system around and "it worked well. It was a good for- mula. We thought we were doing a good job." But hassles with club owners eventually sent him packing and the stress of juggling so much on his plate forced him to cut down his workload. So he moved to Little Britain with his wife Debbie and concen- trated his efforts on the Squire. It was at Nag's Head North that he ran into his old school buddy Dan, who wasted no time in convincing Jim to come and work for him. And so far, it's worked out better than either one had hoped. "The people here in Port Perry are good peo- ple. Really nice, You can't knock them. And if it wasn't for the people coming out and making these events fun, there'd be no point doing them." But even if no one did come out, chances are you'd still find Jim Mot- ton tucked away in the disc jockey booth, spinn- ing top 40's and planning new ways of making weeknights at Crandell's sing. : *"That's really what it is,"" he shrugs. "If 1 wasn't doing anything crazy, I think I would go crazy." 4 DAY -- FULL DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE SCOUT HALL - PORT PERRY Starts: JUNE 24th - 9:30 a.m. -- TAX DEDUCTIBLE -- O" 0SHAWA DRIVING 0, SCHOOL Qualifies for INSURANCE DISCOUNT CERTIFICATE 0.S.L. 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