The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 19 September - 3 October 2011
September 19thIt felt like the top of Mount Dandenong was about to blow away today. Our infamous split gum tree is still standing, it somehow defies the odds and doesn't crash down on the chicken coup. The rain started and lots of hailstones. So much for Spring. Oh well it keeps us in the office and we can work, unless some trees take down the power poles. Life in a national park... living on the edge folks.A mate sends us 2 cdrs of the wonderful ZIGGY show- how fantastic and they sound brilliant- such a fun Bowie night.... thank you! We are going to link in some promotion for the THEY WILL HAVE THEIR WAY release, via EMI. So I have allowed a week for that. Nice to see some of the young artists getting a chance to spread their wings. I see they are up to the 2nd live show at The Palais Theatre Melbourne. The free 8 track sampler cds that were in The Age newspaper yesterday appear to of sold out everywhere. The local Kalorama general store ran out in 1 hour. The Finns will be happy that their songs are played by so many. September 20thThe excellent United States Of Tara returns tonight. Stupid it was axed, a million other crap tv shows should of gone long before this one. Great to see Eddie Izzard appearing in the show.Off to Dr Chiro today, two weeks in a row for some corrections, which I'll need as we are working very late every night. Tonight it was to 2.00 in the morning. We have on a small Spring Sale of goodies. We spend hours boxing copies of WINGS OFF FLIES our band photo book. It's such a bargain price, fans are gobbling this one up. Mark grumbles that he has to sign the books, I LOVE that he is autographing..hell all he writes is "MARK"! he fails popstar school. WINGS seems to be the item people are after, so we are stoked. Thank you! Mark has been saving up for the new 27 inch iMac and we go and get it today, so the new computer is in the office. It's a giant, and kind of hot!!!! I walk past and all I see are Marks feet and elbows, he's gone hidden from the world behind an Apple Mac! I may never see him again.... September 21stGreat news and from Tasmania. A historic motion was passed today by the Tasmania House Of Assembly. The very first time an Aussie parliament has voted in favour of marriage equality for gay couples. The Greens and Labor supported it, the dickless Liberals didn't (which was predictable) it's one step closer to gay marriage happening here, we all know it WILL just a case of WHEN not IF! It's just brilliant that Tasmania is leading the country with this.You can bet all the old homophobes and the nasty church creeps will come out of the woodwork to protest this. Some fruitcake was bellowing, "God will punish you"....I was thinking "Hey lady he already has I have to see your ugly face on my TV screen"! Punishment enough.... I'm still wait for 1 gay marriage to be swiped by the hand of God- what a load of bullocks. Let people live their lives, bunch of sad arses. Dig out some unreleased Rolling Stones music for the office today, the wonderful "Claudine" which was about Claudine Longet from the seventies... such a cool song.... hope it finally sees the light of day with all the Stones re issues coming up. We finish in the office at some 'normal' time today, 7.00 , not too bad. Before I leave I get an email from Sharon Finn in the UK, we are chatting about the Crombies and their amazing chandeliers ..... she sounds great, but jet lag doesn't show in emails I guess. So I see Dave Gleeson from The Screaming Jets is lead singer for The Angels! Doc Neeson a true hero, those are damn big shoes to fill. We just adore the ol' Neeson.... saying that I did hear "Waiting for the Sun" which has Dave on vocals with those Brewsters etc and it's a good little kick arse rock song. We can't see The Angels without Doc but nice to see even without their amazing front man, that a good song can come from this...and Dave Gleeson is a good bloke so we at Filthy Rich Promotions wish them well (we love brand "X" though)... meanwhile Doc Neeson hits the road as special guest for Motley Crew! September 22ndI played REM's "Monster" in the car today, as the band decides to call it a day. The last time I saw Michael Stipe he was wearing some rather dodgy clothing!!! There are a million and one other bands that should split up long before REM do.A few night's back we watched "Tomorrow When The War Began", made in Australia and we really enjoyed it- it would make a fantastic TV series, some really good ideas floating about in this home grown saga. Worth checking out.... especially if you are a TV show writer, you could steal some great stuff from this one. We watch the 2nd Star Wars movie on Blu Ray tonight, this is the first time I've noticed that C3PO has a silver leg amongst his gold, blu ray just brings out all those little things. September 23rdIt's freezing up here, the weather keeps changing from wonderful Spring back to Winter.Finally it is looking like a date has been locked in for Bic Runga's new album-November 14th for New Zealand. It's been an on again off again release date but this one looks like it's now 100%. No details for anywhere else yet, and a NZ tour starts a few days later after release. It looks like the album will be called "Belle". (Not named after our mate 'Belle in France)! We spot one of the rare Skyhook mirrors on Ebay, from 1975. These rarely come up, kind of cool. We have 2 already, one in the office and one on loan to Hard Rock cafe so don't need one, but I alerted a few Skyhook fans, so far it's up to $150 and bidding will end on the 1st of October. It's always fascinating to see how high these things climb. September 24thThe last of the signed Pajama Club albums went out today. We ran out of cd mailers again) so 6 were late, but still a fine effort to get so many done and mailed off so quickly. (Phew). Back into Tim Finn cds, these arrive in 6 batches so much easier in some ways. We've mailed 4 batches so far, there are a lot, fans will have to be patient.I spent an hour today going trough the cupboards and boxes in the office looking for prizes for the "100 days of the Frenz" giveaway. I did find one of the original Tim Finn BIG CANOE books, it didn't have it's slip cover but the book itself is in great condition so one lucky person will enjoy this. It's about the same size as the Famous for 16 Minutes diary books. I like the idea of just surprising people that they have won something. We've given away 56 prizes so far, so by the time this ends probably 100 -150 items, depending what i can find. I'm trying not to think about me paying all that postage.... if I quit working for Neil I can always get a role as Santa Claus! September 25thI vow not to go into the office today so work at home. Well I did have a relaxing session on the decking reading the Tony Visconti book, about half way through I started to get into it, so I'm enjoying the read. We bought the Pearl Jam 20 book for around $25.00 at Woolworths which was a bargain, I noticed it had a 30 pound sticker on it so $25.00 aud is about 15 pounds so we got it for half price, it's a great book, fantastic photos.I join Mark out by the main gate, feeling a bit blokey and we have located a huge pipe that runs under the drive, so we dig a small channel for the flood water when it really wains so it goes under our drive way instead of washing the bottom of the drive down the street. So there we are with our shovels and Blundstone work boots, covered in mud- who says romance is dead? It starts to rain tonight so I bolt outside and it works brilliantly, so much water shooting out . Nice when you get all muddy and the project actually works! September 26thI hear from Olivia, Judd's ex which is nice, she sounds really happy- which is also nice to hear. She points out that Bic has said the album release is now back on again (well for NZ anyway).I chatted to our old friend Leanne on the phone tonight, she's in Perth so it was good to speak to a few people we haven't had contact with recently. She lost consciousness on a plane to Bali recently and the plane had to return to Perth and she was hospitalized for 4 days. Scary. The oldest Australian died today- Miriam Schmierer aged 112! What a ripe old age, I will be happy to reach 100, I want a letter from A Queen when I am 100, not THE Queen, who gives a fuck about that, I want the coolest Aussie drag Queen to send me a congratulations letter *GRIN*. I still have a few years to go before I am 100. The Angels are still getting played to death in the office, so I order The Angels Live from JB on line because I can't find it in their stores, a mere $9.99, it's part of Liberation's Live series hope the sound is good on the disc. September 27thThe Pajama Club drop on the NZ chart, number #34 this week. I have this feeling in my stomach (and it's not kidney stones) that it will exit the NZ top 40 next week. With the few shows put back in NZ I'm thinking any extra attention to the album will fade, I wonder if heading to UK for Jools Holland will enhance sales much on that side of the world, you'd expect it would. I keep thinking just our loyal fan base are grabbing copies and it hasn't crossed over into the public area yet- I could be wrong.September 28thIt's good to see that horrid Andrew Bolt from the Herald Sun lose his court case, so many of his articles seem to be twisted or vicious, couldn't of happened to a nicer arse-hole (opps). That white trash media style is revolting.I go on line and send my mum some grocery's, Mango's are on special so she's got enough of them to last the month plus a few other bits and pieces, gotta look after your old mum eh? I can't believe we get to see Suzi Quatro in 6 days time, I pray she isn't tragic, I think i'll be surprised and the show will be very retro cool. Australia loves her and she inspired so many. September 29thIt was the heaviest Spring deluge in 50 years here. Bucketing down, and our newly dug water area works a treat, it looks like a water world slide...... rain rain rain bring it on.Tania visits and we head to Eastlands for a coffee and a chat. The dramas in that girls life, must drive her crazy. I head down to Canterbury Road during the storm, as I lost the vibe to cook tonight. Very few cars on the road during the storm. A lightening bolt hits the power lines in front of us and my 4WD is covered in falling sparks, the lights along the road blinking out of control like some spaced out christmas tree. For some reason I find this very funny and start laughing, like the chuckle of a mad man driving in the apocalypse -excellent fun, I laugh in the face of death! *GRIN*. Rather dramatic PG!!! September 30thWe spend the morning boxing signed copies of "Wings off Flies", a whole box have been ordered in the last 24 hours so there goes any other work in the morning. So that's two boxes of them now gone.We do drive to our accountant, it's BAS time again, they must laugh that our company is first to get the BAS receipts in, at least we pay our tax on time most times as well. The Pajama's are on Jools Holland, nice to see Ladyhawke as part of the 'band'. Jools is such a Finn fan, seems like forever that he has been waving the Finn flag. We work in the office till 11.00 tonight, as soon as it hit 11.00 I go 'that's it' lets stop". I'm starting to run on empty again, and the vibe is waning. October 1stAllie, Jayne and Miss Rosemaree are visiting today, so I experiment and make a passion fruit cheesecake. It will come out of the oven just before they arrive.I head to the art room where I am repairing the stain glass window that Greg Skyhook gave us, I'm shaving down the sides a few MM's so it will fit in the frame work of the garage. I held it up for a fitting and the beams of sunlight were spectacular.... not bad. I'm loving the art room area. The girls turn up, I was more concerned that Rosemaree looked like a pensioner climbing out of the car , have to get her onto my Dr Chiro, looks painful. You don't want to be a short little old lady before your time (and that's only ME that I'm talking about). An ounce of corrections in the early days will lead to a better life and some decent sleeping patterns. I sleep better after I've had a visit to the Doctor. Allie brings her fab dip and it's nice to see the three. I'm wired on Japanese Green Tea so prattling crap in the kitchen!!! Grand Final is on down here and Geelong win, but I care very little, still anything that makes that goose Eddie McGuire miserable is a bonus I guess. October 2ndSkyhooks mirror is on Ebay, goes for $240.00, I remind a few Hook fans that it's up and available. We have two of them already, Hard Rock Cafe have one of ours on loan so I'm hoping they are taking good care of it.I get our Quatro tickets out of the safe, would suck driving all the way to St Kilda and forgetting the tickets. I give Mr Bunny next door a cuddle, he's missing the kids I think, Stan the cat looks like he has been in yet another fight. He's getting a wash before the family return, they won't recognize him. A huge tree came crashing down on their property last night, it didn't damage any thing but they'll have fire wood for a year! October 3rdWe drive to St Kilda, and we head their a bit early. I was trying to get a Quatro-ish photo signed for a friend, we missed seeing her but did get to hear soundcheck and it sounded LOUD! Her voice was pretty good. While waiting a Quatro fan turned up who knew everything to know about Suzi Q... and this other girl, who's name always escapes me. We know her as the Brashes bag girl as we always saw her in the eighties carrying a Brashes record shop bag. After awhile we surrender to our stomach hunger and go to Leo's to eat. Leo himself looks after us, he's been here as long as we have been in Melbourne, hasn't aged a day.We head to the car and sit and talk for a little while, then into the Palais. So many death stick smokers puffing away outside and coughing- urgh-thank the gods I don't smoke. Their skin looked crappy, having a living smoke stack inside of you does that! Mark goes to the loo so I wait in the foyer, two familiar faces come up and say hello. I remember them from the Countdown days- seems so long ago, good to see them again. Nice to chat. We have great seats and it's only 10 minutes before the lights dim on the sold out Palais Theatre and out walks Quatro., The place erupts, a massive applause. It's a funny crowd, a mix, so many lesbians (in a good way) and both oldies bringing along their kids. Quatro looks fantastic, she's 61 and a total star. She plays the audience, wins us all over within the first song-her voice as great as ever. The set has some new songs, "Spotlight" is pretty good but it's the huge list of classics that make this show special and overall delivered with such passion. She may be pint size but she has a rock and roll heart as big as the west gate bridge. I'd say every person at the show was on their feet, singing, clapping, dancing. Yes even Mark! We had a ball, and the two REAL encores said it all. A fine moment was when she invited a local Melbourne girl to come out and play guitar during 2 songs (she played one 1 or 2 of the tracks on Quatro's new album)- it was like passing the flame down to another generation- felt good. Anyway the Australian tour runs for 21 dates, many have already happened, but if you get a chance go and see her live, it may not be 1974 but the audience reaction sure as well leaves a familiar taste in your mouth and what could of been a simple act of retro cash grabbing, is actually a pretty fine concert, played with a passion that fat dicks like Guy Sebastian could only dream about on the X Factor style tripe that is on TV. 3000 people chanting "Suzi" said it all!!! She does rock even at 61! That's it from the ol' Gryphon Rock On! PG |