The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 19 January - 31 January 1997
Jan 19th
Happy Birthday Karen Clapton. No doubt Nick ,hucky and Alice have some fine plans for your birthday celebrations in Holland. Karen is trying to break the Guiness Book of Records- Most Jobs catagory....seriously- and she's very close to her target. I think she still has to be - an astronaut, pole dancer and a political leader....but god bless her she's getting there. Go Karen.Jan 20th
Work on Jj and the Carnevale's showcase gig, VIP mailout. The sad problem around the music industry is that very few record companies are checking out new bands.You know that many people will turn up for the free Tequila but will they take the great vibe home and the new music...or will it just blur into a huge hangover next day. I wonder how many music industry people wake up saying " what a great band- we should sign them.....but what a band hangover".......Oh well we can only do our best, thankfully Jj has a lot of good friends which will help.
Call into rehearsal room 5 at revolver and catch the band working on a song called "Stars". Sneak in the door like a thief in the night and sit in the corner and watch the music being made. I wonder if this is happening in little rehearsal rooms all around the world. They sound good, at least the music is working.
Go to Mushroom and pick up stock, drop in invites, back home and talk to Channel 31 about filming some of the Mentals exhibition for use on their tv channel.
Jan 21st
Try to track down some more LLT debut cd singles for fans. Find a whole 3 , all I need are 2 more. Even Paulo doesn't have a copy. Crazy. Hope "Hellbent" is as popular.Meetings in the morning at the Elephant....everyone taking notes on scrap pieces of paper- we are so professional. Speak to the office about The Essentials CD....I thin the main problem is the choice of songs. As most CH fans on the internet know Capitol keep wanting to release the cd, but I can picture Neil thinking that certain songs arn't good enough....then again i could be wrong- there could be other reasons for it's delay. One day it deff. isn't happening, the next it could be, after that who knows. I'm fairly sure that it wont be in the shops next week as mentioned on the internet, if it happens probably in a month or two.......IF it happens.
Tim is in the studio for the next 3 weeks working on the "Steel City" soundtrack (no release info yet).
Jan 22nd
Really sad today to hear that a long time CH music lover- Stpehanie Etmanski has lost her fight with leukemia (before Xmas). I'm glad the music helped her get through some rough times, the club gave her a lifetime membership and I still have some of her letters. I'm sure she's gone to a better place with no more pain.Jan 23rd
Peter returns to the Blue Elephant from his holiday in Cairns, back for the big Midsumma Party. All tanned and healthy, he'll probably go back to Cairns all fucked up!!!!That's if the place hasn't been washed away with all the flooding they've been having.Spend most of the day working on Enz-related stuff for Spellbound- it's selling out at various stores so the Enz are heading towards another gold record. Hope this hot weather finishes soon, seems like ages since we had rain.
Jan 24th
Lesson #1- don't wish to hard, sometimes you might get what you desire. A huge thunderstorm descends on Melbourne, the loudest thunderbolt crashes overhead, lightening fills the sky like God's strobe light.Can't sleep, get up and design some artwork for Hessies Shed. The first show is on April 1st- ten gigs altogether and of course The Largest Living Things are the house band. We have negotiated a special price for club members- so everyone saves $5 and booking fee. It's great to be able to offer special rates for people in the club. I can't imagine how many cds etc club people have bought over the years, so any saving to the fans is good as far as I'm concerned. End up going to bed again at 4.00 in the morning.....
Jan 25th
Head to Flemington for the early Australia day party. Trudys sister Roxanne is having it in her garage- which is now overflowing with pixie lights. Some of my best friends are here today and I cherish these guys. They hang shit on me with one hang and hug me with the other....Tania's little boy Jake is a great kid and spends the day playing with everyone and learn't the fine art of raising his orange juice and saying "cheers". There is far too much food, feel a bit guilty Australia is still the lucky country and very few people here have truely starved. Decide that the next lot of stockmarket money that comes in, a part of it will go to one of overseas charitys. The club has had a sponsor a child programme in the eighties, could be a good thing to do again. It can overwhelm you, so many needy, the list seems to grow all the time and the gap between rich and poor gets bigger. Now i've depressed you all....myself included. Maybe on Australia day we should take a few minutes to realise just how brilliant this country is. Have a great night, Alison is the driver tonight, she zooms us home with seventies music destroying the night's quietness.Jan 26th
Happy Australia Day. fantastic to see that someone has organised the Apology Books. Indigenous Australia has deserved an apology for a long time....now if the government would get off it's arse and make it official. I know the main concern is retribution ($) and reconciliation.As one of my favourite writers Linda Jaivan said in her "Confessions of an S&M Virgin"- "...I am truely shocked by the damage the Liberals have inflicted on the process of reconciliation between black & white Australia, and the apparent contempt in which they hold Aboriginal land rights. I"m horrified by the governments vindictive policies towards the ABC and sickened by what it has done to our institutions of education, social justice and welfare. I am disgusted by John Howard's piss-weak, belated response to the irresponsible racial agitations of Pauline Hanson". Go Linda! I just finished her third book today and after a shaky start it is a really good read and the topics 9and places) are a diverse as being interviewed while she was being spanked at a S&M club to the days of the tanks rolling through Tiananmen Square. An interesting character is a chinese rockstar that quits his band when they start getting commercial as he truely believes that the commercial appeal will corrupt the music. It's a good read.
Jan 27th
Just heard that vertigo have split up. This sad shit house excuse for a band shouldn't of been created in the first place. I am appalled that BMG/Gotham have spent such large sums of money on this act- when others on the label don't even get their stock in the stores. feel a bit sorry for Molly who declared Vertigo as a band who are just about to make it huge in 1998.Get a postcard from Melissa, she's in Eden, have a holiday- the NSW Soth Coast is a great spot, sometimes on tours we will make the drive just to go up the coast road- Moruya, bega, Ulladulla, Eden, narooma- all lovely holiday destinations.
End up at the gallery today- doing our media and friends invites for the Mentals III exhibition. We run out of invites in the end...cmon we don't have that many friends......ok we have a huge amount of media hangers on...they'll love the show. The Mentals give good art.
Jan 28th
Well today is the big day- jj's band The Carneval are playing their showcase at Revolver Upstairs tonight. We've tried to put the word out on the street and everyone at the office is unsure EXACTLy what the showcase will be like. The afternoon is spent doing run around, soundcheck, getting video stuff set up and a lot of praying. head to the Elephant for a quick bite to eat and then back home for one of those showers where you turn the water on- run in, run out and get changed, jump in the car and head back to the Venue. This is standard R/R Lifestyle. At 6.15 there are 14 people in the big cavenous space called Revolver Upstairs. The Carnevale are on at 6.35.......I sit watching the door, shitless that this is going to be our first flop. What do we do, apologise, head home, hide under the bed, hit the free Tequila stand? Filthy Rich Promotions has never had a flop before.....as I'm about to chalk one up....the first of an endless line of people flood into the venue. Within 20 minutes over 250 music lovers squash into the venue. As Greg from Skyhooks said 'they sure a a colourful bunch".....amazing goths with incredible makeup, techno heads, the media and record company etc. It takes me 25 minutes to walk across the floor, so many famaliar faces. head to the band room, the loft upstairs and the guys are all by themselves, you can feel the nervous energy. Johnny looks fantastic, in fact they all look great. Order in the rider (drinks) and reappear 15 minutes later to walk them onstage. We get to the security doors and they are locked (argh)I handcuff the band together and make them stay while I run around the front and open the heavy metal doors. Band members have a habit of just walking away if you leave them , and it's always minutes before a gig or a tv appearance. I can remember a classic moment when I went with the Crowdies to be filmed for the tv show Hey hey Its Sat.....I walked them through the corridors and I noticed a certain drummer was absent, somehow Paul had given me the slip between the band room and the film area.......You have 3 minutes" the ca,era crew call out...i dash down the corridors.....toilet first.....all the loo doors were "engaged" the whole 5 of them. So picture me tap tap tapping on the doors- "Arghhh Paul Hester" are you in there. With good luck on my side he IS in the first cubicle I tap on....so I rush him out of the loo...of course he washed his hands first.... and he casually walks to the drums just as the song starts......how come Paul is the master of casual.....he was so bloody calm! Anyway back to the Carnevale, the doors open, they are all there (phew) and hit the stage. I lock up and head to the back where Mark is working the video.
The backing video effects are incredible, and it's during song two ("Stars") that the crowd really go for it. Adam from Chocolate Starfish leans over and says "ohhh they like that one"......I jokingly tell him "hands off" as he has already grabbed one of Jj's songs for a possible solo album. An hour later we are all in the band room drinking champayne, - some of highlights- Rebekah dancing with a member of The Seekers to some Gothic Indian Carnevale track, Greg macainsh be escorted to the band room by 6ft high Gothic beauty Renee for some champayne and chat. Hitting the free Tequila Bar with Toija and gabe and declaring the bar open (I love a good freebee bar)....sadly Tequila is not my best friend and it's the only drink that gives me a hangover. I have 3 shots and that's it for the night (yes Di-well behaved Gryphon).
I end up at belmore at 1.30, which is fairly early, leave everyone else partying to the wee hours of the morning. Fran turned up halfway through the set as she had to work and the Full House sign was up- she managed to talk her way in, I think her and Sonia had a good time. So that's one more "event" over, the next one is the Mentals III art show on Feb 5th (it runs for 10 days at Chapel OFF Chapel- free plug Dept) and then the next LLT show at the Evelyn on Brunswick St-Fitzory on Feb 6th.
Jan 29th
Try to sleep in and fail ....up and working at 8.30. geta callf rom Rosemaree, the Xavier copying machine has consumed the Espy Comedy logo.......gobble gobble and the logo has gone completely. Into the same void area as left socks and chocolate biscuits.....just gone.Speak to Nigel (Griggs) and work out some Enz business. Dont forget that the Frenz Com Auction fishes up very soon, the Famous for 16 Tshirt is filling up with signatures etc and is a worthy prize. So check out the auction area, it helps the domain.
Try tracking down Tim as we might have his Zephyr car forsale via the Tim website. Not sure how we would go about this, but if the car is on the market it might be good just to mention it. I would of bought it as I love the car, but it IS a manual and I would be kangaroo Hopping all over town changeing gears.... hmmmm if we Australians Kangaroo Hop what is the equivalent overseas?????????
Jan 30th
meetings most of the day, people rsvping for the art show, get some more info in for the next newsletter. No real news on Neil.this entry has been very edited for content
Take care
Peter
Jan 31st
Well here is a new situation, the Diary site has been edited down. What started out as an area of free expression has now changed. I know some of the reasons why Deb has done it, and some are valid I'm sure, also when I first started the Diary one of things I said to Deb was to make mention if there were any areas that were of concern to her as we would be covering heaps of areas apart from Crowded House- religion, drag queens, ferrets, bad hair days .As some of you know a few days ago I received a letter from a club member he has had a bee in his bonnet about the CH Opera House Show- some 14 months ago. In the letter I was called everything from a "Piece of shit" and that I "made him sick". I was asked to reply and then told "my words were worthless" so I decided the best way to end all this crap was to run both Ignatius letter and an open reply from myself. I still can not understand after all this time why this guy makes me the target because he got carried out of the crowd before seeing the band. I did the CH merchandise on the day and organised the charity sellers. I did NOT organise the gig, I did NOT organise the crowd control. He does NOT target the band, management in Sydney or the promoters.
I decided to add this piece - it does lose the impact of the original letter- it still feels fucked being edited in any form. Thankfully enough people got to read it. My other comment is that Lynn from NZ pointed out that you should be careful sending letters to me as I could put them up on the site. Sure Lynn, but it's not everyday that i get a letter like Ignatius's (thank god)....and haven't there been thousands of the fans letters printed on this site since it begun (NOT)....get real. Feel free to write and email, we'll reply like we always have and I doubt that many of your letters will end up on the site.
Anyway I still hold true with everything I said to Ignatius in the open letter- if some of you are freaked out by it- that's ok, if it makes Ignatius look at the crap he sent me and he goes and gets some good counselling or something that's even better. I'm over it.
Sorry that the end of this months Diary is so gloomy. P.x
[ed note: May I add that I HATE the idea of having edited Peter. I don't even correct his spelling! I want this site to be Peter's world, not that through the Deb filter. Peter has the right to say whatever he wants on his own webspace. I also believe it is hypocritical for a reader to get his/her knickers in a twist over the now-missing entry and not over all of the very personal info we've read about Peter's life, family, friends, the celebrities, deaths, births, the drag queens, etc... It's hypocritical to get litigious and angry over a quoted letter or email now when there have been many before this. Since we believe in our rights to post anything we want in this space, I believe that the edited piece will be in the archives.]