The Life and Times of Peter Green
updated 23 December 2025
 Happy Christmas To You All. |
December 8thI wake up singing "Hey Jude", that's a weird one to be singing this time of the morning. It could be because I found the pianola roll for it in the cupboard last night. One of the favourites that the family used to sing to around the pianola at my grandfathers house. Good days. Something special when the entire family lets it rip no matter how average some of the voices were.20 homes lost so far in the NSW bushfires on the central coast. Summer is here. We are so overdue for a fire on Mt Dandenong, I try not to think about it too much. Just prepare bas best we can. December 9thIt was hard to get up early this morning, Miss Kitty the furry alarm clock was determined to make me get up and go to work. So I did. Lots of yawns. I know Midnight will sneak into Marks room when I depart and snuggle up for him for an extended cat nap.Split Enz start their rehearsal today in NZ. It seems a bit weird not being there..only a tiny bit. Happy Birthday to Crowded Houses Nick Seymour. He hits 67. I hear from him which is nice. I like Nick. December 10thNot sure if it was because of Bongo Skyhooks death or some algorithm but our Skyhooks Willesee Interview from 1975 is now getting 10,000-20,000 views per day and most of them at some weird hour of the night. It is heading close to 250,000 views. We should be happy that any of the clips on our Youtube page are doing that well , so we shall sit back and smile I guess. People are kind of confused as to why our Skyhooks drummer has no drums but is dancing and playing with an umbrella. It's Fred, we are use to him having some fun, probably taking the piss out of the Willesee show.We seem to have a lot of avocado's at the Free Food program this morning, so some spare for me. I'm stoked as I am making guacamole for the charity on Friday. Marky's Youtube Wednesday is Neil Finn live at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow. Performing FALL AT YOUR FEET. September 30, 1998. I rushed out from backstage with the tiny pocket video camera as the audience was in a singing mood. The crowd are awesome in this video, in such fine voice. You will love it. December 11thMelbourne has been named Vinyl Capital of the World by the VMDO. Even bigger than Tokyo , not so sure of that, but good one Melbourne. I wish I had more vinyl at the charity. It goes so quickly and people are holding on to their amazing LPs. I will never part with my vinyl.I had quite a few emails and messages from people wanting to send or do something for me for Christmas, which is so nice. But honestly I have everything I need, I'm the luckiest bloke on the planet. If you really want to do something for me for Christmas. The Philanthropic Collective are the people behind the Food Bank/Free Food Program at Olinda. I have been trying to get the Philanthropic Collectives Facebook page to 1000 "likes" by December 31st and we are TEN likes short. So if you are on Facebook, please PLEASE just go to the Philanthropic Collective and LIKE their page. That would be brilliant. They do such great work. I hear from the family that the last autograph Bongo signed was a LP copy of Skyhooks HOT FOR THE ORIENT which should be at my PO Box soon. I use the signed LPs as "tags" on related posts. So cool, even in his last days lovely Bob just did this. I know he wanted to be part of the mini documentary but he passed away just 2 days before. Sad. December 12thI say goodbye to Andy White as he heads home to Ireland for Christmas. Safe journey AW.I have a rushed coffee at the bakery this morning as I need to get home before 11.30. DJ Kevin Hillier is recording me for his Skyhooks podcast. It all goes well, I do waffle on far too much. He's done some decent research so it's a fun chat. I guess it will go up soonish. I decide to head into the charity to do a few hours work before the Christmas Party. Mexican food this year-yum. I take my guacamole. Libby, Kris and myself set up the tables etc, keeping it away from Xmas and more Mexican festive. I am wearing my sombrero that I made with blinking lights all over it. It's fun, though my sound system blows some of the power. A really enjoyable gathering. December 13thWe get up at 5.30 am. A big drive down the coast today to film Skyhooks drummer Fred Imants Strauks for the mini documentary. I head out into the yard and pick a big bunch of flowers for him and wife Becci.The drive is easy, I loved checking out the entrance and exit tunnels for the new West Gate Tunnel, like some cool Alien spaceship Cicada exoskeleton. We arrive early so visit the local cemetery, checking out the ancient graves and watching baby bunny rabbits emerge from under the grave sites. Trying not to think of them chewing on the deceased. Another reason I want to be cremated. We arrive right on time at Fred and Becci's place and receive such a warm welcome. The house is amazing , they've rebuilt it and it's fabulous. Mark sets up the camera and sound gear and I chat with Imants around the few questions. These are not in-depth interviews, just a few questions that will link to photos and any fond memories of this rarely talked about tour from 1975. All goes well, Imants gets it done in one take. Well that was easily and it sounded great. We have a late breakfast, such a joy to see Marky in the kitchen helping Imants with the cooking while I chat to Becci. Soon we are back on the road, a really nice visit- such hospitality. The drive home was fine but by the time we reached the Hills were both worn out. I need a nana nap. Mark however, straight into the office to start editing, We only have 4 days to go till this is up. Marks ahead of the curve. Absolute confidence in him. December 14thThe West Gate Tunnel opens and it's so cool, so much new infrastructure in Victoria-the Metro, the Westgate Tunnel the new Bike road. Amazing. I love any state government that spends money on infrastructure.I head out to the front fence and put up the wooden christmas tree made from the 100 year old wooden planks from our house. As I leave a car pulls up and 2 tourists jump out and quickly take a photo. It makes me laugh. December 15thThe shooting at Bondi Beach is terrible. Ahmed Al Ahmed, what a hero. It pisses me off when I read the four of Pauline Hansons Press Releases and not once does she praise Ahmed for his brave actions. I guess it's his name that she doesn't like. Well fuck you Pauline Hanson, he is a hero, Australians are so thankful as his actions stopped even more people from being killed.A very cool Christmas present arrives from Laura and Kevin. This amazing chocolate hamper. OINK! December 16thUp early, I had a very odd night, last night. Almost threw up in my sleep. Very strange, never had that happen before.I am down at Kilsyth very early and just chilling out enjoying my coffee, making notes in the diary and doing the daily Youtube count before work. I call into Woolworths and buy Mum some of her Impulse "Meely Musk" spray to go in her Xmas package. The last 2 cans, it must be popular with the older ladies. Work is good, create some little arty areas in the Book Cave. I manage to clear all the books, Tamsin helps in the morning which is great. All that is left is a giant cage of DVDs. They can wait till I return in 2 weeks. The Book Cave looks fantastic and 100% stocked. It's certainly hot outside so it's nice to be home in the cool of Ailsa Craig. The phone rings & it is Greg Skyhook, he is nearby so I head back down to Montrose to catch up. We sip some drinks and have a few laughs, I am so glad he is in our life. I give him one of the ten blackberry jams that I have made. As we are leaving I walk him to his car for a surprise. Inside is his tour suitcase from 1976 USA Skyhooks tour, he opens it and it is full of stage costumes. I am gobsmacked, all yours for the Archives he says. Absolutely blown away. So good that he trusts us this much with the bands history. I arrive home and Mark goes "No way" with his 1975 fan boy voice, no it's more like his manly 2025 version. HA! We settle in and watch "Daytime Revolution". The documentary around The Mike Douglas show from 1972. John & Yoko took over the show for a week, bringing on some fascinating guests for middle America to devour. Mike Douglas seems like such a nice guy and the Lennons respond. Really worth seeing. Loved seeing Nobuko Miyamoto and Chris Lijima singing as Yellow Pearl. "We Are The Children" boy what a fantastic song. December 17thWell today is 50 years since we went to our very first concert. Skyhooks at Wollongong Showgrounds, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT . So a few weeks ago, Mark had the idea to create a mini documentary around our first gig and the tour itself. A bit self indulgent of us but kind of fun and fascinating too as the tour had never really been documented. So this will be his Youtube Wednesday. At the time of writing it's just clicking over 3000 views. The press article on it have been the #3 trending music article-so that is cool. Noise 11 the first to put up an article on it. Probably Paul Cashmeres best piece of writing. Really great article, they even spell Marks surname correctly. Ha!It's very cool, you can check it out here, and I love your work Mark Goulding. December 18thJeff Jenkins pens a piece for The Music on our documentary as well and the Wollongong experience around our band being banned. Another high trending article, now it's at #2.I hear from Split Enz Noel Crombie, he's back in Oz so that means Split Enz rehearsal is done and dusted for the moment. He wanted to know how many gigs Split Enz had done, it is 999. I cheekily suggest they should cancel the 2026 tour so they can keep it at 999 which seems rather cool. Happy Birthday to the legend that is Keith Richards. He is 83 today. Meeting and working for Keith is one thing I have ticked off my bucket list. If I had a bucket list. We are taken to lunch by Optus today supporter of the Philanthropic Society and our Free Food Program. Its was nice, at Dudley's. I was so full, I had very little for dinner. Thank you Optus very kind of you. The local Labor person Daniele De Martino gave a rather heart felt appreciative speech which was nice, it felt like the real deal, and received a loud applause. Our documentary clicks over 3000 views just before I fall into the land of sleep. December 19thTracey Pew of the Boys Next Door would have turned 68 today if he lived. He was very kind to me when Nick Cave and the BND supported Skyhooks at the Bondi Lifesaver. It was way back on the 18th May 1978. He asked me into soundcheck to see the Boys Next Door attempt to get it together for the nights gig. I took some photos, one of their first Sydney gigs, in their gangster suits and heavy eyeliner. They had bit of a reputation but they were really cool to this kid from Wollongong. I bought "Door Door" on its first day of release.In the afternoon I have a quick on air chat with Lemma & Josho, mostly about the documentary. A fun chat, I was well behaved, well a tad. Radio, The Pulse's Geelong. 94.7. I like the music they play and they do some half decent research. It was fun, nice guys who obviously love music. December 20thWe hear from Belle in France and her amazing French chocolates have been mailed to us for Christmas, so kind of her, every year. We are such little chocolate gobblers when the box arrives.I get a free coffee at Olinda Bakery today, nice to start off ones day with a free coffee. My adopted two mutts- Charlie and Finn leave a Chrissy present for me, the Pets of the Hills fundraising calendar. Both Finn & Charlie are the photo for August. Such handsome mutts. Thank you to their human pets Astrid and Mark too. I am hanging out for our bluray (shhhhh) of The War Between the Land and the Sea. Russell Tovey and his sexy ears! Ooops. Sorry his excellent acting I meant. The sets for this 5 part Doctor Who spin off look incredible. Bring it on. Thank you Marky for the present. No way am I waiting till the 25th. Five part binge session on the way. December 21stSo this is the last diary for 2025. A big, big thank you to Debbie L, after all this time she still makes such a huge effort to get my mutterings up on the net. By the time you read this the Famous for 16 Minutes diary will click over 750,000 visitors. You are all crazy for coming back every fortnight. I feel the love though.Have a Happy Christmas, or Happy Holidays or whatever YOU want it to be. If you really want the Christmas spirit just do something kind for one person, preferably a stranger. It's such a good feeling and if we all did it, the world would be a better place. See you all on the other side, 2026 I eagerly await you. Love Peter & Mark. Xxx |
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