28-29/7/1985 Anne Jones and the juicy brain

The 28th of July was my house-buddy, Anne Jones’ birthday (even in 1985) and celebration was the focus of the day. It may well have been a birthday, but it was also a Sunday and late-rising has always been a Sunday tradition.

The friendship between late rising and Sunday mornings might well have been stretched on this day though – a 10:30am rise is not a good match with a 100 person lunch at 1:30pm. I can only assume it was a busy morning and a booze-filled afternoon. Pip and I snuck off from Merthyr Rd at about 6pm and charted a course for Dorchester St and a quiet evening of recovery.

Monday saw the usual La Bamba meeting at La Boite and I was moved to enter in my diary that Amanda Falconer was “uncharacteristically tame” and allowed the discussion to steam ahead. Sadly, I gave no hints as to the nature of the discussion that were so successfully steaming, but I did record that Anne Jones, Pip and Andrew (now, I’m not sure which Andrew this was – could have been Andrew Raymond) headed back to Merthyr Rd after the meeting and devised a shit-hot show in less than an hour. Oh for those juicy, creative brains to re-emerge!

26-27/7/1985 Sounder than Romeo

Apart from the astonishing revelation that Friday July 26th 1985 was the Darwin Show Day (I guess this was way before we had Darwin Awards), this particular Friday was originally marked in my diary as a La Bamba entirely devoted to a performance orchestrated by the Qld Writers Collective.

However, that was crossed out and replaced with a much more appealling sounding production entitled, Son of Romeo, performed by the entirely more appealling Chris Willems. Another cross out removed me from the role of Stage Manager to that of patron and then another scribble had me in the Box Office with Pip. The show sold out quickly, leaving me in the foyer and unable to see it.

Monsieur Diary informs me that I was able to see a former girlfriend, from whom I had parted on less than good terms, for a civil chat. (That’s comforting!). With the Box Office came the thankless task of hanging around till the bitter end to clean and lock up.

As night followed day – Saturday followed Friday and I endured another of those Saturday morning shifts in the cellar. I shouldn’t complain, they paid well and it was really very quiet as a rule. After work, Pip and I did a leetle second-hand shopping, on a mission to find a gift for Anne Jones for her birthday. That mission was accomplished with the acquisition of an old lantern slide featuring a hand-painted, HECLA on’t. That slide and a small frame featuring the visage of QEII.

Headed back to Pasta Joke for dinner with Pip and had a pleasant time which apparently featured a confession to the waiter that our meals were only marked as ‘ordinary’. We were rewarded for our honest appraisal with a voucher for complementary meals and I do not recall whether they too were ordinary. Saturday was topped with a movie at home, recorded as having been well enjoyed but which I am entirely unable to recall. I shall enGoogle-ise Sounder at once.

22-23/7/1985 Keeping up with the Origin

Back to to a Monday in 1985 and back to a La Bamba meeting where something actually happened! 22nd July 1985 and La Bamba finally decided to go fortnightly and to attempt four major shows a year.

I think this meant I had some free Fridays approaching. I wrote in le journal that more of the details would need to be nutted out in the weeks ahead, just before I wrote that I headed home; cooked up a spicy chilli con carne (renaissance man that I am), and stayed up talking to Anne Jones and recording tapes for Sunday.

I had to peak ahead to find out why I was recording tapes for Sunday – turns out it was for Anne Jones’ 30th birthday event.

Anne Jones – Cane Toad Times from State Library of Queensland on Vimeo.

Tuesday the 24th proved to be challenging after work. La Boite was holding a Council meeting, while across the road (literally in those days), Lang Park was holding a State of Origin. Parking wasn’t regulated in those dim, dark days and it was everyone for themselves as far as parking went – footpaths were fair game; churches were fair game; driveways were ignored and public tranpsort was laughable.

Ron McAuliffe Stand – Lang Park

Pip and I battled to get to an unsurprisingly poorly attended Council meeting, the only highlight of which seems to have been a simmering hatred that Laura McKew was plating up for Mike Bridges. Pip and I left the meeting and headed to her sister, Maria Cleary’s house for coffee and discourse till late.

Maria Cleary was into fashion design in 1985

 

12-13/7/1985 Stairway to Bohemian La Bamba

Fridays is La Bamba days and Friday 12 July 1985 was not an exception. Before I LB, I managed to collect my new bike during my lunch hour and Anne Jones collected me from work for a spot of grocery shopping.

Headed into La Boite after dinner to an apparently very, very, very long La Bamba. Seems it was another Chris Maver extravaganza, cleverly called Gay La Bamba. My role was as Stage Manager and lighting operator while Pip did front of house. 140 punters showed up and we locked up and headed home at about 2.45am.

Chris Maver

Tony Biggs

Sacre bleu – I had to be at work by 8.30 the next morning, which I managed to achieve with the aid of a taxi. After work, and I now see the wisdom of leaving my new bike at work overnight, I rode to Triple Zed for meeting with Tony Biggs, whose trademark was being late. His trademark allowed me time to make another ZZZ promo spot – well what was a boy to do with a bit of time on his hands and an empty production studio just sitting there staring him? I also booked some studio time to return tomorrow and make a La Bamba spot.

I did not record either whether Tony Biggs actually turned up, or what it was that we were meeting about, but I rode from Triple Zed to Highgate Hill for a chat with John Caskey, then home in time to catch the world television event that was the Live Aid Concert. Pip came over and joined our household for televisual history in the making, which I described in my diary as having been wonderful, “and then the Americans joined in.”

10-11/7/1985 The Lolita of Logan

Wednesday and Thursday – mid-1985 – July 10 and 11. As usual, no mention of the real job, all diary notes refer to after work only. Wednesday was unremarkable, even for me. Washing apparently.

The evening seems to have been rescued by the timely arrival of Pip, armed with a video and the early arrival home of both house buddies Anne and Ron. We watched Kubrick’s 1962, Lolita and by my reports enjoyed it immensely.

Thursday was slightly more remarkable given that I attended the Gala Performance of La Boite’s latest production, John Bradley’s, Logan. Directed by Rick Billinghurst.

My diarised and highly erudite review, which can be revealed now, 27 years later – “I enjoyed the show, but it wasn’t very well acted and the script was a bit unsubtle”. So there. I think it was about Captain Logan, the local historical figure who gave his name to the City to the south of us and how, if one letter in his name had been replaced, that City might have had a far more descriptive moniker. Of course, it may not have been about that, but my memory is faded.

Rick Billinghurst

Mr Diary also notes that my new bike was ready for collection today, but that I couldn’t get away from work to go and get it.

4/7/1985 HBD-ZIP-USC

A general holiday-malaise has gripped my blog – mea culpa – but the time has come to get back in the bloggy saddle and catch up on lost 1985 days. Starting with the 4th July. I had an interview with a dodgy directories company as part of my increasingly desperate strategy to escape the cellars of the United Service Club.

My appointed interview time was 8:30am and the venue was 67 St Pauls Terrace, Spring Hill which incidentally was the building that 4MMM-FM called home at that time.

My interview was undertaken by by someone my diary described as a “young girl”, who explained the position to me and moved me to record that it sounded, “OK, I guess”. End interview – head to work.

In the evening I seem to have hung around during discussions Anne Jones was having with Mark Ross and Tim Gruchy about a submission to the Australia Council until Pip arrived and took me away.

Mark Ross ironing on the right

Tim Gruchy

1/7/1985 The start of the end

The 1st of July was a Monday in 1985. I guess I went to work, but as usual that didn’t rate a mention in the old diary. 6pm was a La Bamba meeting the outcome of which, from my perspective at least, was to question whether La Bamba had run it’s course.

No good shows available it seemed. This may well have been the beginning of the end. It was home to a pizza with Anne Jones after that meeting and a further embracing of our new multi-cultural toy, SBS. Italian TV makes pizzas go down a whole lot better.

Putting aside the excitement of a Swiss film festival at the Centre Cinema in the MetroArts building in Edward St, there was not much else to report, or to do, so I hit the sack with that icon of 80’s literature, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and completed it.

30/6/1985 Pre-Rafaelite Croissants

June 30th, 1985 – FNYE. My diary says I still felt like crap, but rapidly improved following a walk to the breadshop. Whether this was a result of a brisk Sunday morning walk to Van Den Bergh’s bakery in Brunswick St at New Farm or a brave face adopted for the girls in the bread shop I’m not sure, but I’ll go with it.

We used to call the attractive girls in the bakery the Pre-Rafaelites on account of their long wavy hair and, as I recall, their extraordinarily large hands (although I don’t quite get the link to their nickname). Anyway, they were providores of fine croissants and breads which were required on this particular Sunday morning for breakfast with Ron Layne, Anne Jones and Pip.

Following breakfast, Pip and I hit the road for a day’s drive and headed to the north – through Sandgate and Redcliffe and on to Bribie Island for lunch.There was only one bridge to Redcliffe in 1985.

Hornibrook Highway

Bribie also provided us with an opportunity to emulate the Sunday drives of yore, which we all did with our parents and which ended up with a visit to, and walk-through, a Mater Prize Home. They were something special back then. Oohs and Aahs all the way through, following the plastic pathway and keeping behind the ropes across the doorways. Not sure if they still have them – but surely they couldn’t be so impressive as they were in the 70’s and 80’s. Never bought a ticket that I recall, but loved a walk through and I believe there was an unusual concentration of these show homes in Mains Rd at Sunnybank.

Came back from Bribie via an antique shop or two and spent the evening at home with Ron Layne witnessing the launch of SBS 28 in Brisbane – we watched Robyn Archer’s, The Conquest of Carmen Miranda.

28/6/1985 Post-modern osso buco

Now I note from Wikipedia that Friday 28 June 1985 is auspicious for not very much other than AC/DC releasing as album called Fly on the Wall, which has the distinction of not including one song I can head bang along with. None of the tracks ring any kind of bell – hell’s or otherwise.

I do know, though, that there was a La Boite Ball mooted and cancelled for this date, and also that La Bamba wasn’t possible due to technical things happening for a production of John Bradley’s, Logan. Fortunate really, as I was so sick that I couldn’t go to work. Oddly enough, my diary records a day out with Pip. I seem to have managed to accompany her to the godforsaken Buranda shopping centre (I guess that being near a hospital I felt it was a safe trip) and then to Paddy’s Markets at Teneriffe and then for a ferry ride to Hawthorne (sea air being reparative) and finally home in the afternoon to start 

cooking for a dinner party in the evening (food is important when ill – to keep your energy up).

Dave Pyle

Anne Jones and I cooked for Dave Pyle, Laura McKew, Toni Warburton and Tony Biggs (who apparently never arrived).

Biggs

It’s pleasing to note from this distance that we prepared manicotti, osso buco and ricotta cheese cake. I suspect the manicotti and the cheese cake were products of the James St Cheese Factory, sadly now a small block of poorly executed and badly conceived apartments.

I bet they didn’t get the milky smell out…

 The James Street Cheese Factory was run by a family of American Italians, I think. They had a way with ricotta and ultimately closed rather than cow-tow to the ‘man’ and his anglo-protestant health regulations. It sat empty for years, like it was saying “va fan’culo” to the Council and could re-open whenever it wanted to. Then it suddently turned into a rendered, post-modern couple of crap apartments.

The baked ricotta lives I’m sure, for all who new it’s wonders. I do say, in my diary, that I had to retire early from the dinner party – due to illness. It was either that, or push on to the QIT Campus Club for the Lime Spiders…

21/6/1985 Hepnotic Hits

Way back on a Friday night, June 21 1985, La Bamba had a World Premiere of a local film called, Hits, written and directed by Stephen Stockwell and featuring a host of local folk in a range of roles chasing each other around Brisbane.

Mark Bracken, Penny Glass, Glen Perry, Michelle Andringa, Jo Forsyth featured on screen. It also features a bunch of songs from local bands in the soundtrack and it’s still an interesting watch…

Part two can be found here. Despite world premieres, I followed my normal Friday night routine of shopping with the house mates at Coles New Farm, and Anne Jones, Ron Layne and I went home and cooked steaks, which we ate in the fine company of Damien Ledwich and Buffy Lavery.

Steak eating gave way to La Boite and La Bamba, but Pip and I appeared to have bunked out of La Bamba duty in favour of a Joint Effort at Easts Leagues Club in Coorparoo. It was one of my faves, The Dynamic Hepnotics, supported by Vicious Kites and The Kents.

I really loved the Dynamic Hepnotics, with Continental Robert out front – my diary contains a very guarded indication that they were “great fun”, what? …and the Vicious Kites were good but boring.