The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 20 October - 9 November 2014
Will the real Andy White Please Sing
October 20thI went out looking for a big thick dog collar today-you know the ones with huge bondage style studs...but no luck. Now if this was the "golden mile" at Prahran I'm sure both pet shops and sex shops would be selling them. It wasn't for anything kinky, just for our friend Jens birthday- I'm wearing my Wilfred outfit (yes again *sigh*) and I thought mark could walk me in with an "Owner & Trainer" Tshirt on!You know the year is coming to a close when I book the air tickets and hire car, to take us "home" for Christmas. All done today! October 21stI get an early morning call from a friend who tells me Gough Whitlam has passed away-age 98. I go and tell mark and for no reason I just start crying. I rarely ever cry, hell I haven't cried at family members funerals. I tell Mark I have no idea why I am crying, but I am laughing too in some sort of sad hysterical way. It wasn't for long. It stopped. I look at Mark with tears in his eyes and he says- "The WRONG Prime minister died". I start that weird crying again..and force myself to stop. 98, amazing, I won't see 98, I joke I'll go for 120 but really. An amazing man and so many Australians poor out their grief. Abbott is on tv and even though he tries to "do the right thing" you just tell him to "fuck off" and want to throw a shoe at the tv.We have coffee at the General Store and so many people come in and say "the wrong PM has died". Amazing, it's like a weird chinese whisper. RIP Mr Whitlam, you were brilliant and the sad arse Liberals have nothing that will come close- imagine Tony Abbott - "Oh that goose"... that will be his epitaph.! Yeah "the wrong PM died"..... October 22ndWe paid for all our badges today. It's funny, I like that badges have survived and every few years they become the new cool again. An extension of our own thoughts. maybe we should all wear them especially on bad days..a simple "Fuck off I am angry" badge would save a lot of stress in the world or "Kiss me all over"!!!October 23rdWas chatting to Enz Nigel about the "Dating Naked" tv show on channel 11...so I tuned in and it was totally lame, all those black edited pieces.. why have a naked show if people are hidden behind censorship bars. It looked really crap. 3 minutes of my life I can never get back! I'm surprised I lasted that long. I hate reality tv even nude reality tv.I'm in the bath, which as you know I love. Just soaking, thinking and I hear Mark laughing. He comes in and tells me he was watching the "Where are they now" special, and the episode of Fabio and the goose comes up. Apparently the last thing Fabio did was open a roller coaster ride.. so up he goes, hair flowing like some golden retriever standing upright. He gets to the top of the ride and a goose flies into his face. Now as I type this I am grinning and chuckling. A deep internal chuckle that is rising up and soon will be a huge laugh. It's just too funny that a goose slams into Fabio on a roller coaster. He departs on the ride a golden god (in his mind maybe) and returns with a blood covered face and the odd feather in his Fabio locks. Of course when Mark tells me I am screaming with laugher, I can not stop, it hurts, my face aches. I control it but no the vision is in tact and I am still screeching with laughter and now it is contagious- Mark has tears we need to lean on each other- I can't stop- I really can't. Not for 30 minutes. I call my friend Toija and as she answers I scream with laughter- "Fabio was hit with a fuckin' goose"...she squeals....equally hysterical...we just laugh and laugh... we stop but no more laughter. In the end the thought of some poor injured goose manages to stop me (but only just). I spend the next day searching for a Fabio doll on Ebay (I found a toy goose) so i can give Toija a Fabio/Goose statue for Christmas. Welcome to my world.... October 24thI manage to get the pick of the crop as far as Halloween pumpkins go-they'd only just arrived as I walked in...I spotted a beauty- "that one, that's mine..."! Now to carve it...!I mail a few trinket presents and card to our buddy Isabelle in France, for once her birthday card will arrive on time. I truly suck at birthdays!!! have a good birthday 'Belle. October 25thCoffee with Miss Rosemaree. One of my regular diary readers in in the area so she arrives first -so two coffees later and I am wired like a hampster on speed! I need to remind myself only ever to have. I do get a lot done when I eventually arrive home. But then I crash and burn and fizzle my way through the afternoon.I am still getting emails asking for an Official facebook page for Skyhooks- I guess fans have seen the Official Split Enz page and want something similar. I've made a note to chat to Greg about it. Hell it's also a good marketing tool and a chance to be generous with our archives. I can see it happening. October 26thMolly is on channel 7 tonight being interviewed, loved his chatty pieces, yawned with the musical bit- truly horrid or maybe I'm being too brutal. I'm just glad this man is still with us. Enjoying Dr Who.... seems to be a lot of Cyber activity meaning Cyber men!October 27thThe Newsroom returns to cable in a few weeks but really , the final season is 6 pissy episodes long. That's crazy... but we will watch it and enjoy it!Metting with Andy White at the Kalorama General store. The "Toff in Town" Melbourne show case isn't too far away now- November 26th. Spotlight have their material sale on, so we venture off the mountain to look for some stage curtains...on our shoe string budget. But still 40% off gets us off the ground and a chance at a decent backing. We are the only 2 guys at Spotlight and we pull out our tape measures and show we have an air of professionalism. The store lady is great and I hope she will sneak in a little bit extra material- but she doesn't!~ even my Gryphonly charms fail. Still 40% off is a bargain and we know Andy will be happy. October 28thBreakfast at BRUNCH and we see the first baby duckling is on his/her way. Little pieces of the eggshell falling off. I tell Mark that usually only 1/2 make it so I'm guessing that it's 5 or 6 we will hopefully see soon.Black cayuga ducks. Very cool. Rumours floating about that our horrid PM -Abutt is trying to push up the GST rate. Despite 33 times before the election and 13 times after the election, promising he would not do it-we'll see, he can't be trusted. October 29thBreakfast at RIPE and partially because we can walk down the road to the Oracle and buy some presents. Our mate Jens birthday and I know they have these really beautiful Nepal blankets. Total quality and I know they cost us but it's nice to have one very special blanket in a life time and this one will be it. We like The Oracle, very cool shop at Olinda. I'm glad I am poor otherwise I'd become that shopping here!!!!!!I send some emails to council people to try and Save Olinda Pool- I love that nearly all our mates have done the same. October 30thOur father duck finally has a name- I call him Forest and his surname (by the owners is Mr Waddlesworth...so Forest Waddlesworth).It's funny how musicians get nasty at the world when they self release a failed solo album-that only a handful of people actually want. It occurs so often, when in reality if they were not such revolting human beings people might make the effort. A friend in America was telling me of such a case. You just laugh, they have no clue just how much people despise them and in many cases deservedly so. A mate tells me that Hush's Keith lamb has been working on a solo album.... now Keith seems like a decent bloke, I'd happily help him and from all reports it's quite good. Marky gets a bonus $30 grocery card from Woolworths and I have some lucky docket that takes $20.00 off, so between us $50.00 off our grocery shopping- thanks Woolies! I don't really shop at Coles, after that heinous butcher job of the Status Quo song- what a tragic idea that one was (urgh!). Nothing worse then bands flogging their songs to chain stores....! October 31stHappy Halloween.The electricity people are working on the power lines today, in fact all of today..and then again in a few weeks. So all the power is out, all day . Which is fine as they need to be done before bushfire season. This is the first Halloween not at home- driving down the coast to our gorgeous Jen & Merls place. I quickly carve them a huge Halloween pumpkin..a very rushed job but it should work. A big basket of prezzies and I've made 3 types of digs...all spread out on a cool wooden board... Before the power goes my friend Jennifer in NYC gives Official Enz page an extra push and we click over our 5000th LIKE! That is so fantastic, I'm glad the Enz fans are loving the Official Enz page, very cool that band members want to be involved. Good to give something back to fans. We arrive down the coast and it's a very very hot night- I avoid driving in my Wilfred the dog cozzie. So I strip in the street outside the house, white boxers, I've been in the sun so I'm tanned. Kids across the road see me as Wilfred and start cheering..parents run out and they cheer even louder-it's very surreal! We head on in to the gaggle of gorgeous lesbians. (and a few straights). Dog costume what dog costume..I can feel Wilfred rising from within or is that just a doggy stiffy????? Opps. The guests are so nice, and it ends up being a great night, which is so wonderful for our beautiful mate. Eventually I am out of the dog suit..... and down to shorts and a ripped gardeners shirt....which Merl the Girl seems to rip even more... aren't they meant to throw money at us strippers? I do call up a storm..but that's another story...! A wonderful night, Mark had fun...hell we all did. Happy Birthday Jen! November 1st"When the sun sets over Carlton" CD debuts at #18 on the ARIA compilation charts. It only has the top 20 so it may fall back next week. Still it's nice to see something with Skyhooks and all those other artists on the chart. Crowded House jump 17 spots with The Very Very Best Of to #25 and the Finn-Kelly DVD also rises 6 spots to #21... I bet many are buying those for Christmas presents.I work outside today, on the roof giving the gutters a clean.. still have some to go but it is scary work and too many have fallen off their houses at Kalorama lately-I am very careful but it can be nerve racking. November 2ndI sit outside on the decking and work on the Andy White masks. Rosemaree has been so helpful, it's just a fun piece for the filming, good to have it.... such things can be way too serious, so we'll lighten it up a bit with 20 Andy Whites looking at him! Andy the Kookaburra lands and checks out Andy The White. Banshee walks over and sits with me... with that "You humans are fucked" look at me... she walks away. Life is a breeze for a cat.Dr Smith from Lost In Space (Jonathan Harris) would of turned 98 today if he was alive. Speaking of cool sixties shows- mark spoils me rotten by ordering the full bluray box set of tv show Batman-every episode. I am way way way too excited. My childhood comes flooding back and I have this goofy smile on my dial all day. I have the best boyfriend..I really do. November 3rdChatting to Mr Mac and he fires the starting pistol. Official Skyhooks on facebook has indeed started. Which is kind of cool. Like the Official Enz page I'm trying to get something new on the page every day, usually 4 or 5 different things. Skyhooks & Split Enz such a diverse history and from stage clothes to the songs and those unique band members, it just makes for something brilliant on Sheepbook.So if you like Australian music, please come and check out the Official Skyhooks page and remember to give us a "like"! Overseas people should do it too to see what a wonderful oddball band that was top of the charts in 1975! Skyhooks -so unique. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Skyhooks/751125208300602 November 4thI email Jennifer in NYC as I actually remember it is her birthday- I am hopeless at such things, maybe it's just too many people???? Our friend the Foxy one has her birthday coming up soon too so I must remember.. yes we all know I truly suck at birthdays...!I see Labor are pledging $13.4 million to help restore the fantastic Palais Theatre at St Kilda. So many of our favourite bands have played that place-Skyhooks, Split Enz, Crowded House, The Finns, Finn Kelly... and we've seen so many shows- we are guessing but we'd say 200 gigs at least, maybe more. Good on Tex Perkins too for getting the ball rolling on this and shining a light on it. Fantastic that labor has put their hand up on this issue now lets see if Napthine will do the same... it always seems crazy that we have to fight to save something so iconic. November 5thStones gig at Rod Laver-not the best gig we've seen them play- but still for their age they are amazing. Jagger didn't seem to be pushing his voice,we spotted it a few songs in. The WA set was better. I even preferred the Western Australian Tour tshirt, so I grabbed one of those and Mark the Melbourne one. The crowd seemed to take awhile to get up and into it. Still you can tell they adore that band. We are driving home and there is this amazing moon shining. God bless them they are still rolling after all this time. Apparently the SA gig broke the attendance record ...November 6thLots of Neil Finn related emails this morning, I manage to reply to 120 of them before heading out. We are catching up with Andy White at 11.30. The final few pieces around the upcoming "Live In The Lounge Room", which is a mere 2 days away. Mark is fearful of it raining, nothing like the sound of raindrops on a tin roof to mess with the sound. I assure him it is all fine, I've spoken with the rain gods and we are all ok. Rosemaree -bless her-is helping out with the other 2 cameras. We wish we had 3 like ours- such a brilliant camera. Still we are stoked to even get what we have. Lots of excited mates so eager for this show.November 7thWe clear the lounge room this afternoon, remove the 2 couches and tables and vacuum, carry in the 2 massive columns that are by the front door. They are kind of unique-metal bases but the huge polished wood is actually a coconut tree! Heavy though, takes two and we can just carry them. We join the support poles together and run the curtains. They have to be higher as Andy is so tall. I create some cover boxes for the corners just for aesthetic value. The massive persian rug is turned sideways and Mark starts marking the camera sight lines. It's hard to envision it being our lounge room when we are complete. PA and microphones and gear arrive tomorrow.So we watch movies tonight cuddled up on the floor , on big pillows and blankets- the romance side replaced by sore backs. We want our couches back!!! November 8thAndy White- Live In The Lounge Room!I am awake very early, too wired about the "gig" tonight. I have some cooking to do for munchys for the guests and check that we have a supply of alcohol. At 12.00 we hear music blasting out at the oval and find out a huge charity event is on. It will go to 11.00 tonight. I finally negotiate a time with them-they have a candle ceremony and lone piper.... so we will try and film Andy during the 45 minute window. Soundcheck is at 4.00. Andy, son Sebastian-who will be camera man #3 and the really great sound guy Tony. We are in awe of his sound skills and he's a nice guy which just feels great around the house. It's coming together..the big styrene HOW THINGS ARE album cover goes up on the side curtain. Gaffer and yours truly on the other side while Tony holds it in place, I manage to stick myself with pins only twice, lets hope it holds. Soundcheck sounds pretty damn awesome!!! Andy is smiling. However he forgot his guitar stand so off he goes home. I grab Indian food for the rest of us.. our time window shrinking. I lay out mini hamburgers and vegie burgers and other fun stuff while we stuff our faces on rogan josh. The first guests arrive 20 minutes early, which I'm ok with- better early then late. In fact everyone is on time. My spider senses tingle and I know someone is in my bedroom. I never know how I know, I just do. I bust our mate Wendy laying out some wrapped presents on my bed as a surprise. So , so so nice.. I am speechless. We herd everyone out on the decking, it's a balmy night.... and some champagne has been popped by Allie and Jane. Such a nice fun group, lots of laughter.. some people we've known for decades.. Liz and her beautiful smile... just very cool. Andy arrives and is rather white faced. "Peter I've gone into the ditch".! OK small disaster #1...somehow our irish talent has reversed his car into the second drop area of our circular drive. I am calm - "All ok we will work it out". In my head I have no idea how, but we need to do this before darkness falls. Plus we have a gig to do. I grab my emergency piece of board from the back of the 4WD, I carry it for that exact reason for some traction. By now all the blokes are by the car, it's some brilliant bonding session, we are all convinced we can do this...and you know after a few failed attempts and a lot of tyre burning we DO! Lots of backslapping and laughing. What was a small disaster ended up as a kind of cool moment. C'mon I'll buy you all a drink ... the girls give us a cheer as we walk up the side lawn. Very cave man .... but a funny moment. I go to Andy- "Life is a ditch...". We give a last drink ,last toilet call. Mark starts herding our studio audience in, by height. Camera check, sound check, and up i bound for a quick introduction which was really my audience warm up. Mark shouts "Take Two" and I re do it with the microphone higher.. a huge applause and here he is Mr Andy White. He adds an extra song into the set , and ALT's "Penelope Tree" just excellent too, but it is the new songs we truly love. HOW THINGS ARE a really fantastic album. An encore is called for and Andy returns to find 20 Andy Whites looking at him, we sneakily made 20 Andy masks (thanks Rosemaree for those excellent chopsticks!)... Andy is laughing and it adds a touch of fun to the show. Of course it also means the crowd have a great souvenir as Mr White signs the faces. People stay for a few hours and Andy and Sebastian almost the last to leave... well done everyone especially you Marky. The massive editing is next, and of course when the guests go the man who never sleeps- Mr mark Goulding starts the download for the edit. ANDY WHITE- LIVE IN THE LOUNGE ROOM can be viewed here, to get a taste of the live experience, do not miss his album show case at the TOFF IN TOWN...NOvember 26th. Special $15 discount price for advance ticket sales. This will be a fun gig- if you go to one gig this year-make it this Andy White show. http://youtu.be/OYbdHmFEfcw November 9thWe are both awake far too early. Two hours sleep, even Banshee looks tired. The phone starts at 10.00 and lots and lots of emails . We heard from everyone, a wonderful night.The coffee at the General Store tastes great... just like gold. It doesn't recharge me but it adds some comfort. A lot coming up- Steve Kilbey at Montrose next week, the two Countdown episodes (Part 1- 16th (seventies) and Part 2 on 23rd November (80's..so I am assuming lots of Split Enz). The weekend after that the Victorian Election - where I hope the Liberals get kicked out-they don't deserve to be in charge of this fine state. Of course Christmas is now very close too. It won't be long till 2014 is done and dusted. This F/16 update is a bit late, side tracked by life and work. All the best Peter |