The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 4 November - 18 November 2013
2 Old Rock Relics -Peter and Molly - (Mushroom 40th Exhibit)
November 4thHappy Birthday to Jennifer in NYC... see every so often I do remember. Have an excellent day!The Finn machine is picking up speed, so much coming up, pre-sales for live shows, the Finn-Kelly release, the newspaper voting and the Mushroom-Melbourne Music Exhibit. The months leading up to Christmas will be flat out, and we are so ready for it here in the office. OK maybe a week off in December, now that would be nice. November 5thA lot of requests arrive for Europe and UK dates for Neil. People very eager to know about shows. I doubt we will have anything to release to that part of the world till later this month. USA, Canada and Australia will know their shows first. Keep an eye on www.frenz.com/neilfinn/ NEWS area or TOUR area.Melbourne Cup today, but we avoid it and work work work. First time I've never seen the running of the cup. I'm not a big gambler but the Cup is an Australian tradition. Hell it's a public holiday in Victoria. I pack up the final 2 boxes and poster tube for the upcoming exhibit. This has to be the last-PHEW! The storeroom B does look like a bomb hit it, it will have to stay messy for a few weeks, we are cranking up our work load now so our worlds landscape will be changing. I just have to remember to breathe. November 6thI call Evelyn at the Mushroom Exhibit to lock in the first PG Guided Tour. It will be a Saturday. I'm kind of looking forward to it, want it to be a bit professional....in the end I'd love for our music loving supporters just to take something from the exhibit and I ONLY mean in their minds, not their oversized hand bags. Maybe learn a bit about some of the bits and pieces and music acts.... but especially the iconic items. I've also got one nice idea for the group... which i won't share here. But a few will most certainly go "Oh wow"! I like "oh wow" moments.November 7thIt's 40 years ago (today) that Marc Bolan and T-Rex played their Melbourne show. So few people mention this, I wish I was old enough and lived here, I would of attended. Spaceball Ricochet is one of my all time favourite Bolan songs, I just love that song.Speaking of favourites. One album I am playing a LOT of in the office is THE FERRETS "Dreams of a love" from around 1977. It had the hit "Don't fall in love" on it. The album never gets mentioned but I love all the sounds and extra bits, and even 36 years later it works. Molly did a great job as producer. November 8thI drive to Noels today and he picks the raffle winner, orange ticket #3....Steve B. I track him down and call, which was great. A nice guy and has never ever won anything before in his life so I felt a bit like Father Christmas! I bet Noel is his favourite Enz member forever now! The 2 boxes of very cool stuff are sent off tomorrow. I love it when someone gets just so happy they almost cry (sorry Steve).The Finn-Kelly Blu ray is out today, I hear JB have a 20% sale coming up in a few days time so I'm thinking between our mail out, emails and pushing the sale we may have a chance at #1. I'm determined we will get it to that top spot. November 9thWe have been in Melbourne for 34 years today. How cool is that. My best mate and myself, making the leap of faith...from Wollongong to Melbourne. We did it! Life still feels so fantastic, I wake up with a smile on my face. I love my job, with all it's complicated parts, best decision we ever did.I head to the art room and create a few small art works for a few people. Churn them out.... they don't look too bad. Music nice and load... and creating some sort of art, what a good day. The exhibit people ask if I can help ID a few music photos, I get about 12 of the 20 so the photographers are credited. Cook Mark a special dinner in honour of our 34 years. November 10thWe work in the office all day and the whole night. Till the sun rises. It's for the USA and Canada Neil Finn dates, I just want to try and stay on top of any disasters and problems with ticketing etc.I play LUNA, a lot formed in 1991. Lead singer Dean Wareham has a new ep out (solo) "Emancipated Hearts" which I like. I left a message for him on his sheepbook page and he replied which was nice. ABC radio played the song, that's where I first heard it. LUNA are great though, love their Lou Reed inspired music. November 11thLots of sales of THE EARLY YEARS book, we have to get the final bit of this completed soon, damn presales etc have ground us to a stop for the moment, I just want to get it to the printers...not too long now.I love the new Connoisseur icecreams- the Sumatran Coconut ones, I am addicted. They come in a gorgeous 4 pack, really great package job and taste like heaven on a stick. November 12thUSA-Canada dates officially announced today. Another full day and night for us, we are starting to feel a bit exhausted though. Finish at 6.40 in the morning (again) see the sun come up. We both feel like shit!November 13thTony Abbott now making an international fool of himself, someone said give him enough rope and hopefully he will hang himself. Our Liberal mates must be asking why on earth they voted for this idiot, what an embarrassment in all areas. Good to see this experiment is playing out, maybe it's the only way Australians will see how they have been suckered. Watch his "stop the boats" plan crumble next..... oddly enough "six months in a leaky boat" is playing on radio as I type this (yieks).November 14thMore exhibition stuff today, mostly around Skyhooks. Bongo has been great and got back to us with lots of information, much appreciated.November 15thRMIT courier arrives in the morning so the final babies are heading to the exhibit.Meanwhile Meg the chicken gets some fresh straw and the old dear fusses like it's christmas. Mark is so mean and now calls Meg the Zombie chicken, we think her days are numbered, but then again we said that last December and she is still wandering around Ailsa Craig. The Music Exhibit Poll finishes and wow Finn related music claims the first 5 spots and 7 in the top 10- Crowdies, Split Enz and Tim with "Fraction too much Friction"..amazing. The Sun run a full page article on page 3. Three Skyhook songs make the top 40. November 16thLast push for the Finn-Kelly dvd, so half our day is spent working on that. Even if it hits #1 for one week that will be great. Paul Kelly's very excellent manager , our mate Bill, sends me a Bluray of the live show. Huge thank you Bill that is so appreciated. My sales spies tell me that the Finn-Kelly DVD is climbing, it's around #2 but sales are strong. Our JB HI FI 20% off link seems to be doing the business. I have a feeling deep inside as McCartney sang..... I think we will do it. A number one, it just sounds right.I'm out mowing the nature strip, as the grass is growing at a mile a minute from the sun and rain. Some neighbours stopped and call out "You guys kicked arse in the Music Poll". I just laughed. Here am I in blundies, dirty jeans, a flanny shirt and twigs in my hair...so non rock and roll baby...... I smile what else can one do. November 17thFinn-Kelly DVD- #1 on the ARIA music dvd chart! Yey! I am a happy man. I'm also blown away-the Live cd of the show debuted at #5 which is amazingly high..and the digital version at #8. Thank you to all those who grabbed copies, #1, so cool it can still be done and bump off the One Directions etc. I love it when Australasian music is top of the charts.I'm determined to take some me time and head off for a swim. My fringe is driving me nuts...well some sort of fringe. So I just snip it off, not vulcan star trek result but it's gone. Snip snip, the whole 5 seconds. I like swimming with short hair. We are now up to around 5600 emails, which broke the record. It's taking me awhile but I am attacking them with gusto. I won't complain, I will the day the emails stop. I still try for one on one with regard to emailing people, replies. I see Tony Abbott's boat plan has sunk, how tragic. Whatever happened to "not a single boat will reach australia from day one" if you vote for me...what a sad joke, all the fools who believed him. November 18thYes we jumped one day past the usual 14 day diary. Mainly because the opening for the Mushroom 40th-Melbourne Music Exhibit was today.I did manage to get a decent dye job and a clip, so hair is ok..a bit short but what the hell, I'm not a pop star no one is going to pay too much attention. We leave a bit late, kind of side tracked by the day. It's a hot Melbourne evening... I have packed my "Jesus jacket" as I like it....and some shiny leather shoes and new jeans. A black tee with a sexy nurse playing a wild guitar solo (with attitude).....Mark has on a really cool shirt that he grabbed in Hawaii , he looks devilishly handsome. I hear from a mate Karen, who was one of the Countdown kids, so will be fun to see her tonight, she's always been a person i could trust so that will be good. Love her new job. We park on Exhibition street and walk down, stuffing the parking meter with the last of our coins and risking a parking fine. As we head down the street we see Noel Crombie and Sally emerge from their funky holden . Noel does a shirt swap on the street..if this was 1980 they'd be cheering Cromb! We catch up with them and go to the exhibit together. Door security have their lists, I just wave us through. It is packed, the speeches have started and seem to go forever... and it's really FULL. We head to the bar, they have micro bottles of ginger beer, this impresses me, Mark has a regular beer. We are near the entrance and I can see parts of the giant Skyhooks sign on the wall-it's huge! Wow. Speeches over and I run into Sarah from Michaels office and she did such a great job too. Bongo turns up with one of his daughters , and we grab her and show her some of her fathers Hooks history. Nice young woman she is. I wonder if it's weird to see all this stuff, around ,from before you were born. Redmond is walking about and all those other seventies people, well most of them, a few non appearances. Free food you'd think all of the industry would be present! I keep searching for Jen Brown, the list girl has evaporated so I can't even check. Too many bodies I give up on my search. I do run into Karen and that is great, we are on the search for the ladies loo. Which is the hardest thing to find in the whole exhibit! I walk off the main room into a side one full of very familiar posters etc...... and we think is this it two rooms?! Karen says no no no, others and leads us to the Frock room where heaps of the cozzies are... and some backdrops. The RMIT gallery people catch up with us and want photos. Some photographer takes snaps of me in my jacket in front of Neil's woodface outfits. I grab Sal Crombie for a photo and then Sarah too, lets camera hog-then they never ask you again. I head out to the foyer and Molly gives me a wink, I have my camera as I'd love a photo with Ian. I've taken so many over the years and avoided asking (ok there is the one with BIlly idol...the threesome..no not THAT SORT of threesome). So I sit and I can tell the accident has slowed him a bit, hell he's lucky to be alive. I adore Ian, in many ways Countdown and Skyhooks the two things that probably saved me when I was a kid, well Mark too. Karen tells me it's all cool to do so, I still feel a bit strange like it's an invasion but I am assured it's all ok. Mark has the camera on some obscure setting and the photo is crap, so he patiently waits and we do a second photo. I look at the time and we have to go, Australian NF pre-sale stuff happening so we have to get to the office. I mention we are going and Molly wants some air too- all these bodies and a hot Melbourne night, it is a bit too much. So Ian's behind us and we approach the front steep stairs, he's gripped to the railing, so I grab his arm. I think he's just like some old music dame, descending the staircase to the people on the street. I will love this moment, weird eh. I'm just so happy to have a photo, still a fan boy and I don't care. He gives me a peck goodbye, I tell him i won't need to bother him for another ten years but remind him that Neil's playing Hamer Hall , in case he wants to show. We head back to the car, I'm all smiles and Mark was so cool tonight, someone says we are the new power couple- that makes me laugh way too loud. Oh as a footnote. As I'm descending the stairs with Molly on the arm, Mushroom head honcho Michael Gudinski bellows (and I mean BELLOWS) "PETER GREEN...". I freeze, it's like I've been busted stealing a part of the exhibit, the Molly statue....... he just wants to say thank you, and it was real , so that was kind of nice. It's Mushroom, they played such a huge part in my life and why wouldn't I help, it's part of our music and it also is a chance (for free) for music fans to enjoys some of the bits and pieces associated with the scene. The exhibit is at RMIT gallery (344 Swanston street, Melbourne) and runs to February 22nd. I'm back this saturday where I'm walking 40 or so music lovers in for the guided tour. I'm a tad nervous but I'll just fake it, it will be fun. Australian Music Rules! Peter |