The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 6 November - 16 November 1996
November 6th
Today we fly out to Auckland (NZ) for the FINN Powerstation show. Finish packing my bags,basically full of membership kits and CD's. Nicole arrives late so I cancel out my morning meeting,have a phobia about missing flights-plus management got $100 off their ticket by making it a guaranteed in and out dela, if I miss the flight I don't go. Drop mark off at Prahran with two huge bags of mail. Lob the Grey Ghost into the Limo. service,she needs a wash and I know she will be polished and clean by the time I return.Flight over was ok,waffle with Nicole. Immigration is easy,thought it funny how so many Golfers were getting harassed by bringing dirt covered golf shoes into the country. In the words of Crowded House- "Golf Sucks". If my life ever consists of being old and tragic,walking about hitting a small ball unsuccessfully into a rat hole-please feel free to shoot me. Guess the only good point is the excercise-so why don't you golfers enjoy a brisk walk with nature? But each to their own...ok I'm being too nice- "Golf Sucks".
Nicole is stuck in immigration in the "Other" section. I joke she is the "other woman". Christina (god bless her) is waiting for us,with a stunning new Hair cut/colour. It's great to see her. Elizabeth is passed out at the Hotel..she has had a longggg flight,plus customs inspected each of her pieces of fur apparel, which would of taken hours. (joke-sorry E). The Centra mess up the room system and I am several floors away...what is it about NZ Hotels and me. Oh well couldn't be bothered hassling. Pick up my new Reeboks from Elizabeth,they cost me $40,the same pair are $100 in Aust. Elizabeths friend Ian is there and we decide on Indian for dinner. he takes us to a Turkish Restaurant,I wonder why they didn't have Lasi! But Turkish is fine, and the wine is good. Some good table talk. Nicole finishes the wine,and it almost finishes her. Christina takes her first fall!!!! Those shoes. Back to the Hotel and I'm off to the bar with the girls for a drink....they go to the ladies and it's hard to work out which is which. Someone makes the comment that it's the one with the sign ,that looks like a man wearing a womans dress.......and just at that moment a drag queen exits the toilet.....that was pretty spot on. I spent an hour watching her watching us,she looked really sad, and I almost asked her to join us. We retire upstairs to open some Xmas presents...ok we are early. I can just see the girlsin those Koala Pouches. Long night,no one can sleep. Cancel Hire car.
November 7th
We wake up to the good news (I guess) that Clinton is still President in the USA. The main election site on the WWW was getting 5,000,000 hits per hour at it's peak.....poor little "Famous for 16" minutes.......Finally this longgg USA election is over,people must get so sick of hearing about it,what a waste of money. Think how that could help the poor. I hear that Clinton is going to give a huge chunk of money for Aids research,about fucking time.It's brekky with Chris Burke...just around the corner,they have the best Spiralina drinks. Chris is working solidly on the Crowdies Book,we hope to have a lot of info on it in the next Issue. The cover looks like being taken from the Private Universe clip-which is nice-it has great colours.
The richest man in the world gave his daughter a $100 million plane (airbus) the perfect Birthday Present...I wonder if it has her name on the side?
Johnny arrives home today,he's signed his publishing deal and looks like signing to a decent record company soon. Good one JJ. keep an eye out for Comet Alice in 1997. We all go record searching at Real Groovy Records,I can't believe it's still there after all these years. Find the Blue overseas issue of the first DeadStar CD,with a photo of Peter Jones on the cover....we all buy it,except Nicole,she has the ugly Oz cover version.....and we all tell her she'll regret it (grin) over and over...we are soooo mean. (OK I am so mean). We fight over the "Mark Bailey sings Swedish Xmas Hits" cd,surely this isn't our beloved Marck Bailey? Is that why the "C" is there...I knew we'd expose him at last.Only a matter of time......
Eat at the Chinese Restaurant under the Centra and I think we all hated it. Was a demanding shit and asked for wooden chopsticks instead of plastic (urgh). So we go to the Carlton Hotel to pick up the Finn (USA) contest winners. It all runs on time until......Micahel Jackson fever intervenes.First the girls wern't allowed in,I mean cmon....they really didn't look like Michael fans ,and how come I was-because I'm a guy (and over 14)....so peter went feral..I'm afraid so and the manager was summoned and we all ended up in the Foyer,surrounded by a host of security people. I asked the USA Finn winners if they wanted to wait and see "him" arrive and for novelty value they all agreed (well most).. Suprisingly there wern't many fans out front,considering all the Hype,about 150 at the most. Eventually Mj arrived,to a traditional Maori greeting,if only MJ could sing as incredible as these NZ inhabitants. A childrens choir and then 10,000 balloons drop as Michael Exits...the kids pop them and it sounds like gun shots-securit look horrified,I laugh uncontrollably and they give me dirty looks chaos rules..I love it.
Our mini van delivers us to the Powerstation and we are ushered inside,the winners have special seats upstairs-front row. They get to meet the guys in a very small bandroom above the stage,have their photos taken etc. It all runs smoothly except one winner goes missing. Sharon is on lights again, some great lighting tonight,love the wave effect. The Powerstation is packed,and very hot,Tim is in fine form, his voice is very strong and "Time for a Change" is possibly the best version I've ever heard. Richard Finn jumps up and gives his son a standing ovation. neil jopkes that Michael jackson is in the audience (I wave-silly Gryphon). Young Elroy Finn is in the bandroom above the stage and it has a little window,suddenly a sign saying the word" ROOT" is held out,the audience cracks up-I decide to spend the second half of the show looking after Elroy. What a bundle of energy,he's a good kid,but he exhausts me. I make a mental note to put off having a kid for another year.....how do parents do it.? Another highlight had to be when the crowd starting singing I SEE RED, by themselves, neil and Tim were just laughing with pleasure,it was very spontaneous...capping off a fine performance.
The mini van doesn't turn up,so I steal another and drop off the winners at the Carlton. As we pull in a shadowed figures creeps along the top balcony... mask on looking like a bushranger....is that you Jacko.....what trouble are you up to-what planet do you come from,or are you simply misundertsood. I quickly turn and smile,"it" salutes. I feel like I've spotted a UFO instead of the B/w Boy (or is that lester?). Outside the fans have diminished to four,sitting on a rug. I look at them and say "you guys are crazy'. They ask me to join them, I decline saying I've just been to a real gig. The lone security guard smiles, he looks like Fox Mulder. I feel like I've dropped into Television land,I cross the street,and it's like crossing a barrier between what's real and what's not. At 1.00 in the morning the streets of Auckland are empty,I see one lone cab driver. I stop and scream down the road "Is anyone awake!!!!!". No reply. Get back to the room and order toasted sandwhiches,watch tv...and wonder if Michael likes Toasted cheese on white? Fax Nick Reg Mombassas artwork for the Sydney show.
November 8th
Wake up and love the MJ bit in the paper. "His nose was hard and his hands were soft"....We decide to escape, so Charlie and the Angels jump in the Thunderbird and head toward kare Kare,our tribal home. We somehow managed to have a memory lapse and it took us awhile to work out how to get there. We called into a strange little corner store and decided it was time to pose for photos next to the headline "Gender bender marries Dwarf"....of course Elizabeth was the Dawrf,no points who was the Gender Bender. We find the turn off, the little blonde hairs on my arm all stood up as we approached the valley-being in a car with 3 women and they spot your arm hairs spiking ,kept them amused for a good ten minutes. The winding road to kare kare diminishes as we approuch the hamlet. The "Bunker" is still there (Hi Nigel) and there is Madonna and Piggy Banks, but their pens look more glamerous (Fame Is...).We decide the beach is our destination. Walking over the shifting kare Kare dunes we find a new friend who looks like he should be called "ZIF" so he is. he becomes our friend,our guide ,our protector-and I wonder who "ZIF" really is.............is he the shell guardian of the beach? We swear we heard a voice say "Take NO shells..."needless to say we had a great day,the waterfall,good friends,times like this can be far and few. ...and ZIF saved us a long goodbye by running off,duty bound when we reached the car. So if you are ever at kare kare,look out for him,he's a NZ shaggy dog with a kind nature. Give him a pat for us. We arrive back in Auckland faminished and walk down to the Quay. I create the illusion of importance andbluff our way into getting a window table. My desire for Indian is satisfied with Tandoori Pizza (weird eh).....and despite some mishaps with Red wine and Nicole being the target of my mouth (all in good fun-it IS a sport) it topped off a great day. A site I have etched in my memory for life is Christina carrying her Pizza in a foil sculptured handbag.....it had us in stiches and I was giggling so much they had to slap me.
November 9th
Reality check=am I awake. It;s dark out side and I stumble around getting the final things packed for the early morning flight. The Angels pick the Cobra today and take me to the airport for one of those stupid morning flights. Long lines and sad farewells,it really was a good fun three days. Mrs Goodnight one of the contest winners is spotted ,without her blue eyemakeup,but a very revealing top!!!!(Where was Mr Goodnight). The flight seemed long,so I worked on stuff for the Sydney Opera House gig. Touchdown Melbourne-nice outside and my favourite Limo. driver picks me up, one day I will get him to call me by my name and NOT Mr Green..... Walk in the door,poor Mark has been fielding calls for days,several hundred. Start work,don't unpack-we do the ticket mailout. Send Reg a cheque for the Opera House artwork,I finally will get to own a Reg Mombassa creation and it's from the last ever Gig of Crowded House.November 10th
Nicole arrives back from NZ and drops in some more Enz books.She has press interviews to do this week. She'll enjoy herself. The phones are running hot for a Sunday.November 11th
Back into the thick of things,today was really awful-I'm beginning to hate the Opera House show,it just seems so out of control. Melbourne is manic but at least I know what's going on. The merch area in Sydney is falling apart,I dont know who's controlling what. make a decision to take a deep breath and step back a pace. Will concentrate on melbourne. press photos,kits, ticket requests,interviews, things for band members,rehearsal room,phone calls and more phone calls........in three hours I could be back on Kare Kare beach.......life is tempting.November 12th
Am still here,wakeup feeling good. Do my Tax....and have to pay,but it's not much. Correct the Sydney artwork (again). Good ol' Spock,where would we be without him and his magic Macintosh. Do interview for WHO magazine,it comes out on Monday 18th- 3 pages on Crowdies.Send Debbie two very early photos for the Famous/16 photo archive. One is PG aged about 3 at my Grandpa's place...very cool brown overalls. The other is with Panda (who always had an eye missing-I refused to let them stich another eye on) So Deb. should add these soon.Haven't heard from her for awhile,so I make a note to email her. She probably is sick of me getting email replies forwarded from Frenz Com.