Kenneth "Kenny" Hollis

1945 - 2002  (57 years)

• Name	Kenneth "Kenny" Hollis
  Born	10 Apr 1945  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	entertainmen, music
  Name	Kenny Hollis
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-450330
  Died	12 Jul 2002  [1]
  Buried	Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Person ID	I450330	Generations
  Last Modified	1 Dec 2024

  
  

  Father	Walter W. Hollis,   b. 1911,   d. 1990  (Age 79 years)
  Mother	Winnifred E. Seear,   b. 1904,   d. 1978  (Age 74 years)
  Family ID	F283018	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Local rock legend was Lulu's emcee BY ROBERT REID RECORD STAFF KITCHENER The music has died for a local rock-'n' roll legend. Kenny Hollis - a founding member of Copperpenny, one of two rock bands that put Kitchener on the musical map in the 1960s, and who later entertained thousands as the colourful emcee at Lulu's Roadhouse - died yesterday at his home. He was 57. Hollis reportedly had been hit by a truck last week. In 1965, Hollis and Rich Wamil formed The Penny Farthings. A year later, they renamed the band Copperpenny, a name taken from the song title of the B Side of The Paupers hit if I Call You by Some Name. Hollis, who handled vocals, and Wamil, on keyboards and vocals, were joined by drummer Blake Barrett, bassist Ron Hiller and guitarist Bill Mononen. Hollis was emcee at Lulu's from the time Canada's largest nightclub - equipped with the world's longest bar - opened in a converted K-Mart store on the outskirts of Kitchener in 1984. Hollis assumed the difficult task as master of ceremonies in front of as many as 3,000 party hearty patrons who, in some cases, travelled vast distances to see such legendary performers as Chuck Berry James Brown, Fats Domino, Chubby Checker, Rick Nelson, Wilson Pickett, The Righteous Brothers, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and George Jones. Peter Padalino, the energetic frontman for Lulu's Roadhouse Band, knows first-hand how difficult the job of emcee was \emdash and how easy Hollis made it look. "Lulu's is the best thing that ever happened to music and entertainment in this province. It was like Las Vegas every night. "Everybody associated with Lulu's had to be professional to make it work and Kenny was a thorough professional. What made the job so demanding, Padalino says, is that people came to hear the music, not to listen to an emcee hawking "love" balloons and advertising forthcoming shows. "Kenny kept the people entertained between the music. He'd throw in a few jokes and help create the party atmosphere that made Lulu's famous." Padalino, who also fronted Kitchener's other '60s rock band, Major Hoople's Boarding House, says Hollis was devastated when the 75,000-square-foot nightclub closed for the first time in 1992. Lulu's closed its doors permanently in the spring of 2000. "Kenny put his heart into Lulu's and he was heartbroken when it collapsed. He never could look beyond Lulu's." Although he played the role of the loud-mouthed, pompadoured king of schmooze, Hollis' music credentials were authentic. In the late 1960s, Copperpenny celebrated its first hit Nice Girl. After switching from Columbia Records to RCA, they had another hit Stop (Wait a Minute). But the band's big break came in the early '70s after signing with a subsidiary of London Records and releasing You're Still the One, which attracted national attention in 1973. When Copperpenny recorded its biggest and most enduring hit Sittin' on a Poor Man's Throne in Detroit, the backup singers were Joyce Vincent Wilson and Thelma Hopkins of Tony Orlando and Dawn fame. In its heyday, Copperpenny toured with such acts as Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and Bob Seeger. In Canada, they shared the stage with The Guess Who and The Five Man Electrical Band. In 1975, the band signed with Capitol Records, releasing such hits as Disco Queen and Goodtime Sally. Although evanescent, Copperpenny's success was the the real thing. "We toured all over, we saw places we'd never go." Hollis said enthusiastically in a Record story last spring. "It was a rush, let me tell you." After Copperpenny broke up in the late '70s, Hollis had a brief solo career He recorded the hit Goin' Hollywood in 1979. And what was Hollis like when he wasn't centre stage with a microphone in his hands? "Kenny was entertaining all the time," Padalino offers. "He had tons of jokes. He never held a grudge. never had a bad thing to say about anyone. "He was a very good soul." Visitation is tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Memory Funeral and Cremation Centre at 1232 Victoria St. N. The funeral is Monday at 2 p.m. at the International Gospel Centre at 35 Charles St. E. rreid@therecord.com

  
  

• Sources

  [S87] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Woodland CC#4510 Internet Link . Hollis/ Winnifred E. Seear/ 1904-1978/ Beloved Wife Of/ Walter W. Hollis/ 1911-1990/ Love Son/ In Memory Of/ My Darling Husband/ Hollis/ Kenneth (Kenny)/ Apr. 10, 1945-July 12, 2002

  
  

• Event Map

  Buried - - Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth