Sexism, Bruhs, and Rock n Roll

Tag: Australia

Blog Post 19- In between seeing INXS in Philadelphia and Florida, July 1984.

Big Country concert in Tampa, Florida with Jess and Jen. March 1984.

Back to the diary entries

When I had a free minute after either working or seeing INXS over the previous two weeks, I wrote in my diary about my life. Bob was a guy who went to the University of Pennsylvania. It’s funny because I met him while riding on a bus in New York City when I was a freshman. He was talking to friends about a mural, and it sounded like the mural in my dorm, so I asked him if he was from Penn. It turned out that he lived on the floor that had the mural in the hall-one floor above me.

In the two weeks from June 27, 1984, to July 10, 1984, I saw INXS five times and waitressed during eight of the other nine days. That’s why I was so tired.

A calendar from 1984 in case you want to see what day it was.

7/10/84

I’m so tired. I wasn’t supposed to work today but now I’m doing double shift. I got a letter from Bob. He sort of invited me to see Elvis Costello. Bob is a real pain because he likes me so much and I don’t like him the same way.

Here is video from 1979 of a favorite Elvis Costello song of mine. Oliver’s Army. Warning: the lyrics contain the N-word. Not meant in any kind of racist way. It’s unfortunate that it was used as a descriptive term for soldiers in the song.

7/12/84

I hit four numbers in the Lotto tonight. I don’t know how much I’ve won yet, but I could use any money I can get.

7/14/84

I won $139 in the lottery. That will practically pay for my airfare to Florida. I’ll be glad to get away. I got a letter from Joyce today. She is sicker than I thought. She thought I was about seventeen. I do not take that as a compliment. She wants me to send her any addresses or phone numbers of the band that I might have. She must be kidding. I hate doing laundry every day, but I don’t know where Mom put the other uniform.

Note: Joyce was the girl who shared her seat with me at the INXS concert on July 2nd. Read about it here. We were planning to fly to St. Petersburg, Florida on People Express which cost $79 each way.

Video about People Express Airlines

Wikipedia article about the novel 1980s airline People Express

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Express_Airlines_(1980s)

Dreaming about INXS

7/16/84

It was hot as hell in my room last night. I’ve been having weird dreams lately. Last night I was working lunch at the Emerson Hotel while at the same time I was watching All My Children. INXS came on the show and were doing Johnson’s Aeroplane. In the meantime, the place got very busy, and I was stuck. Then someone walked out without paying the check. Later on, I was sitting outside, and two girls wanted to know what TV show I had been on.

In my dream the other day, Terri and I followed the bus into a wooded area, and she went up the road to look. I was listening to the Walkman and chewing gum. Timmy came out dressed in the black and white striped shirt from I Send a Message. I couldn’t talk to him because I was choking on my gum but spit it out when Terri came down.

In Florida we will stay at the Bayfront Concourse on Tuesday night. On July 31 they will be at the Beacon Theater and then I might go to Canada for three days August 2, 3, and 4. I’m not scheduled to work until the 5th, so it is possible. By the time I catch up with Phila, there will be much more to write. This is definitely crazy.

I don’t think I should buy any more clothes for a while. I may also call up Laura R and schedule some hours during move-in so I can get some money sooner. I’ll probably work so much during first semester that I’ll run out of my grant.

What was I talking about?

There wasn’t any air conditioning in my bedroom. It wasn’t nearly as hot then as it is now in northern New Jersey in the summer but usually it got up as high as 85 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. On very hot days the temperature reached 90 degrees. My sleep suffered because my room was uncomfortably hot. Our house had a couple of window air-conditioners but not one in my room. My very small room had two windows which I kept open, and it would be cool enough to sleep okay around 4am.

All My Children was a daytime drama, also known as a soap opera, that was on Channel 7 which was the ABC network in New York City. I started watching the show in the summer of 1975 when I was ten years old. It was one of my favorite TV shows and I watched it as often as I could until it was cancelled in 2011. So, for 36 years. The show taught me a lot.

An All My Children episode from 2/20/1989

Here’s a video of INXS performing Johnson’s Aeroplane live in 1985. Michael messed up the lyrics. Andrew wrote the music and lyrics to that song and Michael seemed to have an even harder time remembering the lyrics if someone else wrote them.

I don’t have a document that shows how much money was allotted for my work study grant. The work study program is a financial aid program for needy students. They can get an approved work study job and then work and get paid up to the amount that was awarded in their financial aid package.

There was plenty of work in the dorms (where I had worked during my sophomore year at Penn) during the period when the students came back to school in the fall. They hired extra people to work behind the reception desk in the lobby because hundreds of students were picking up keys to their dorm rooms at the same time.

My diary entry mentions that I was thinking about signing up for some of those shifts. The next entry mentions that I won’t be able to afford textbooks so that is probably why.

INXS video for I Send A Message where Tim is wearing a black and white striped shirt.

One week until the INXS concert in Florida

7/18/84

Just one week until Florida. Renee and Danny both say I should go for it with Michael. My Weekly World News horoscope for next week says I should live it up, laugh it up, and be my usual fun self. An important person has had his eye on me for some time now and this may be the turning point. The answer to a nagging love problem is say yes. Sounds good to me.

I’m so excited about going on my trips. I’ll have almost two straight weeks off from work. I’m not going to be able to afford books in the fall. I worked lunch today and now I have off until Friday. After this weekend vacation starts.

Yesterday Renee and I went to Bergen Mall and then to an erotic cafe in Edgewater called Enigma. It was completely white inside, and body parts grew out of the walls. I had fun but the cappuccino made me sick. I asked the guy if they had any Birthday Party-he didn’t-Psychic TV was playing while we were there.

Danny and Steven F came into the Emerson Hotel today which was a surprise. I’m going over to the Ridge diner tonight to bum around. I tried out Renee’s inversion boots. They gave me a whopping headache.

What should I do about Michael?

You can tell from reading my diary that I was thinking about whether I should have sex with Michael Hutchence or not. His seduction techniques worked on me at least somewhat, and between that and the kissing, I was feeling desire and positive emotions towards him.

Feelings beyond just wanting to live like an adult in every way which was an ongoing thing even though I wasn’t mature enough to prepare for that life. I had never seen a gynecologist and I was thinking about buying a bathing suit on credit far more than I was thinking about getting birth control for my trip.

Asking my youngest brother Danny and Terri’s sister Renee what I should do tells me that my doubts and fears were stronger than my desires. They encouraged me sleep with him.

Even my horoscope said I should sleep with him and maybe I would have if he had been available on that one night in Florida when I was free and I didn’t have to go to work. I’ll never know. More on what happened in my next post.

Terri and I were friends and in the same class in high school. We met in seventh grade when my family moved to Hillsdale. My brother Danny and her sister Renee were also friends and in the same class in high school. Just the other day he was remembering that our father would call him an N-word lover because he was friends with Renee. More about my horrible racist father in a future post.

It’s unusual that Renee and I went on an adventure without either Terri or Danny there. Maybe they were working. I must have been over at their house that day too if I tried hanging upside-down in Renee’s inversion boots.

Steven F was part of the gang of neighborhood kids that we grew up with when we lived in Westwood, New Jersey. He was Danny’s age. They came in to eat lunch at the Emerson Hotel where I worked as a waitress.

Danny worked at the Ridge Diner in Park Ridge; starting as a busboy when he was still in high school. My mother sometimes waitressed at the Ridge Diner as one of her extra jobs to make ends meet and so did I. It’s still going strong today.

Psychic TV was a post punk band and performance art group. I was not a fan.

Trouser Press magazine

7/19/84

Breaker Morant is on tonight after the lottery drawing. Trouser Press went out of business. Record has taken over the subscription duties. It’s a shame that such a good magazine went down the tubes. The Go-Go’s were on the cover of Record. I’m sending away for a catalog of Aussie records.

I got my appetite back and have been putting the pounds back on. I need a new bathing suit for Florida, but I can’t afford it. Maybe I should try Bambergers and charge it. I have to find my missing pants. I think Mike “borrowed” them.

Notes

Bamberger’s was a department store. There was one at the Garden State Plaza shopping mall in Paramus, NJ.

Article about Bamberger’s

https://jerseydigs.com/l-bamberger-co-newark-history/

Breaker Morant is an Australian movie from 1980. Bryan Brown was in that movie. He was also in the TV miniseries The Thorn Birds.

Trouser Press was my favorite music magazine. It featured many new wave bands.

A subscription form for Trouser Press magazine from one of my old copies.

Mike is my brother and the middle child in the family. He was the person I was hiding my money from by keeping it in a suitcase in my closet. We had a similar build and sometimes my jeans ended up in his dresser drawer.

MTV is boring

7/21/84

It is rainy outside, so I am stuck here. I feel like going back to bed.

Danny got into a fender bender this morning, but it wasn’t his fault. Some people are just stupid idiots and I’m the one who gets them at work.

MTV is boring. They play so much shit.

Note: I was not happy to be living at home over the summer. Like I said earlier, I wanted to live like an adult. My mother liked to worry about me and keep tabs. She also was very critical of me, and we did not get along well. Plus, there were five grown people living in a small house. I would leave to get away from all of that.

MTV was playing a lot of bands and artists I didn’t like such as ZZ Top, Van Halen, Huey Lewis and the News, John Waite, Wang Chung, Bon Jovi, and the big-haired metal bands like Ratt, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, and Motley Crue.

Wikipedia article about glam metal aka Hair Bands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_metal

Vacation!

7/22/84

VACATION!!

I found a roach in the coleslaw on Saturday night. [July 21,1984] Yummy. Somebody called before closing and whispered, “My stepmother is on her knees.” I don’t know what that means.

I had a couple of psychotic people today. They didn’t like the prime rib, so the woman sent it back. They were very annoying. I have to get a job that has a more expensive menu next time, so I don’t have to deal with so many cheapos.

7/23/84

Just a couple more hours and I’m off to Florida. I’m going to miss Michael K’s going away party. He leaves for the Navy on Wednesday.

I wonder if I’ll end up like Alice and start putting reminder notes everywhere like the ones on her pocketbook. “Remember to read other notes.”

DIAL-A-MATTRESS. Mary Tyler Moore is on now. I’m getting sleepy. I bought a nice-looking bathing suit and a new pocketbook. Danny and Carl are getting up soon to go to the bakery. I don’t know how they do it.

Note: This last diary entry before leaving for Florida was written while I was staying up all night watching TV. My brother Danny, and my mother’s husband, Carl got up around 2am to go to work at the HoHoKus Bakery. They had to bake the bread and pastries for when the bakery opened its doors at 6am.

Like Steven F., Michael K. was one of the kids from the neighborhood in Westwood. His family lived across the street from ours. My mother met his mother when they were pregnant with boys who they would name Michael. Michael K. was the youngest of four kids. His sister Claire was my best friend. His other sister Kathleen was blind. His brother Danny was a teenager. Their father had died so they received government benefits.

St. Petersburg

As I mentioned in my diary on 7/16/1984, we had a room booked at the Bayfront Concourse hotel in St Petersburg, Florida for 7/24/84, the night before the INXS and Go-Go’s concert at the theater across the street from the hotel.

By we, I mean Terri, Jess, Jen from Tampa, and me.

Jen is second from the left. Terri is third from the left. I am the one in the red hat. Jess is taking the photo. This photo is from a future INXS concert in August, 1984.

In 1984, the Bayfront Concourse Hotel was where the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront is now. The Bayfront Center Arena was where the Dali Museum is now. Google Maps.

Wikipedia entry for the Bayfront Center Arena

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayfront_Center

Article about concerts at the Bayfront Center Arena

Vintage St. Pete: Concerts at the Bayfront Center Arena

January 17, 2026
Blog Post 10- Waiting for INXS, Spring 1984

INXS stationery, Someone decorated the xeroxed photo. I think it was Terri.

As I wrote about in my last post, it was fall semester of my sophomore year in college when I got that letter from Kirk Pengilly. I managed to pass all my classes that semester, but I did not want to be in school. I wanted to learn things, but I didn’t want to be in school.

Letter from Terri about INXS

Terri sent me a letter dated January 19, 1984. She said that she was answering a letter from me that was dated December 5, 1983, and apologized for the delay. She had some INXS news for me-she told me she got INXS played on the radio again, “just a few minutes ago”, and said that they should pay her for doing promotions. That’s funny because I wrote the same thing in my diary a few months later-that they should be paying me for promoting them. We were great fans.

Jess called Terri and told her that MTV had announced that INXS would be back in the U.S. in early March and that the new album would also be out in March. “A little later than they expected,” according to Mark Goodman, the MTV VJ who reported the news. This information turned out to be wrong and the album showed up even later than that in the U.S. and the band didn’t show up until June! Terri wanted to know what was taking so long!

I know I visited the Australian consulate in New York City with somebody, but I can’t remember exactly when or with whom. It was during the fall of 1983 because Terri wondered in her letter how Kirk Pengilly, of Neutral Bay, with the silent listing was. Apparently, I called the operator in Australia to ask for his number and I was told that it was unlisted. When I was looking through the Sydney telephone books at the consulate, I ran across a listing for a K. Pengilly who lived at 59 Yeo Street in Neutral Bay. “That must be him” is what I thought so I gave it a try. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend when I did that.

Terri “lurved” the poem I wrote about Kirk Pengilly. If only I had a copy or remembered anything about that! It was probably at least somewhat flattering because I liked him a lot; unlike any poems I wrote about Michael Hutchence, but I probably also mocked him a little. No one in INXS escaped that treatment. Perhaps I mentioned his dislike for clothes dryers because Terri makes a reference to that. He must have talked about that when we were with him in Poughkeepsie, and he was washing his shirt in the bathroom sink.

The jerk from Scotland

Spring semester of college started out terribly. I wanted to do something else so badly. Instead, I was taking five classes and four of them were in business. My mental health was poor-a constant cough kept me from sleeping for over two weeks. And to top it off, I dated a jerk from Scotland who went to my school. He was very charismatic, and people flocked to him. I thought he liked me, and I came close to having sex with him, but I lost my nerve. After that he said we would go out but then he didn’t call and in the following days he started ignoring me.

My roommate Karen spoke to him at a party, and he told her that his friend had asked me out and he couldn’t believe it that I turned him down, so she walked away thinking he was an asshole too. And he was. A couple of weeks later, I ran into a fellow student, and she told me about her experience with the Scottish guy. They had dated during the fall semester, and he told her that he had an impotence problem. She helped him “solve it.” Then he spent Thanksgiving at her house and when he got back to campus, he had sex with a friend of hers.

In my diary, I asked, “why did he have to bother me?” and “how could I ever fall for him?” “This hasn’t been a good experience, and I don’t want to go through it again.” “He’s really done a number on me and I still don’t understand exactly what happened.” I said I was sick of people pestering me.

My world blew up. I felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Dropping my accounting class eased some of the pressure. I considered transferring to Terri’s school in Florida, but my mother wouldn’t let me. Trying to find the bright side of meeting this awful jerk, I told myself that maybe it was good because it caused me to think about why I was in school and what I really wanted to do with my life.

The movie, “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” was a big influence on me and especially the song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” I quoted a lyric from it in my diary while I was writing about my problems.

After thinking about it, I decided to stay in Wharton and major in marketing instead of accounting because I couldn’t afford to switch to the College of Arts and Sciences and stay in college an extra year to study something else. My diary says, “I just have to get through the semester without killing myself and I should be OK.” I wished I could afford to quit school and travel and bum around. My financial situation depressed me. I owed $5200 in student loans at that point, and I would still owe that if I quit.

Billboard magazine

The management class I was taking did not interest me. The professor made me come talk to him after the first exam and he told me I had to do a lot better on the paper and the final exam. I used to go to the Lippincott Library of the Wharton School, but it wasn’t to do my schoolwork. It was to read the copies of Billboard magazine that they had there. Billboard magazine covers the music industry.

Here are links to a Wikipedia article about Billboard magazine and an actual copy from April 28, 1984 that has information about INXS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1984/BB-1984-04-28.pdf

It was important to find a topic for my paper that would interest me, so I chose to write a paper on the mergers and acquisitions of Warner Communications. Why that company? Because it was related to INXS, the Australian rock band, and the New York Cosmos soccer team. They owned Atlantic Records and the Atco imprint that was INXS’ record label in the U.S., and they also owned the Cosmos.

Both Atlantic Records and the NY Cosmos were founded by Ahmet Ertegun who was a horrible pig of a man who abused numerous women. That was not something I was aware of at the time, but I absolutely believe the accusations. I will write more about that in a future blog post.

Original Sin

It was now March and almost time for spring break. Terri heard that “Original Sin” would be released during the second week of March, 1984 and that INXS would be the opening act for Duran Duran. I called Capitol Records, Duran Duran’s record label, to ask if INXS would be opening for them. The person I spoke to didn’t know and suggested that I call Madison Square Garden, so I did, and they didn’t have any information either. None of this turned out to be true. It’s hard to find an exact date for when the song was released in the United States.

3 Ways Nile Rodgers Made “Original Sin” One of INXS’ Most Enduring Hits

Towards the end of March, I wrote in my diary that I called WKDU which is the student-run radio station for Drexel University and asked them to play “Original Sin”, but they didn’t have it. The first time I tried calling, I dialed the wrong number and said to the old woman who answered, “Do you have original sin?” She said, “Excuse me?” so I said it again. Then she told me I had the wrong number. That was both embarrassing and hilarious because I must have sounded like a religious freak.

A screen shot from the April 28, 1984 issue of Billboard magazine.

On April 5, 1984, I saw in Billboard magazine that The Swing, the fourth album by INXS, had debuted at number one in Australia and the song “I Send A Message” had debuted at number seven there. Original Sin had been released in Australia in December 1983. It wasn’t until April 28, 1984 that Original Sin debuted on the Billboard chart for the U.S. at number 87.

Big Country

Big Country. Trouser Press magazine. March 1984

Big Country concert in Tampa, Florida with Jess and Jen. March 1984.

Jess is a big part of my story but this is the first photo of her to be included in the blog. From left to right is Jess, Jen from Florida, and me with my permed hair. A guy at college told me I looked like David Lee Roth.

For spring break, I took a trip to Tampa, Florida to visit Terri. I needed a vacation. Jess came down for the week too. We went to a couple soccer games and hung around at Jen’s house. We also saw Big Country in concert and met Stuart Adamson and his young son.

Me with Big Country singer Stuart Adamson in Tampa, Florida

My diary says that I was reading A Clockwork Orange (not for school). I also had to read books and work on a paper for my sociology class. The conversations that my friends and I were having were about Duran Duran, INXS, and soccer. I also spent time drawing pictures of punk-rock cats that I called Anarkitties.

Big Country video

Graveyard shift

Two things I started doing during spring semester were smoking real cigarettes and working the graveyard shift at my work-study job in the dorms. The previous semester I had started smoking clove cigarettes. I stopped smoking them after they made me nauseous but unfortunately, I switched to smoking the regular kind. They helped me stay awake through my midnight to eight am shifts. It wasn’t a regular habit yet-that came later. When I worked all night, I drank Dr. Pepper and listened to music-sometimes INXS, Falco, Tenpole Tudor or something else I had on cassette, or I listened to the radio.

I wanted a boyfriend, and I wanted to have sex, but I still didn’t have any luck there. Hookups were not for me. My diary at the time said “I’ve never had any qualms about sex before marriage although I wouldn’t sleep with just any Joe Schmo off the street.”

I went to parties and met guys. One of the guys was named Mike and I wrote about him in my diary. He was funny. He showed me the P-Funk All-Stars sign which is when you make your hand into horns by holding your middle fingers down with your thumb. And he told me to sing, “Shit, Goddamn, Get off your ass and jam!” That was fun. We tried out different accents on each other. I used to pretend to be Irish or Scottish from time to time. When I came back to college for my junior year, I finally found a boyfriend and it was Mike!

Before I left school for the summer break, I went to an interview with Reinhard Modeling agency. They had advertised in the school paper that they would be on campus looking for models. I wasn’t sure if they were legit, and I wondered how much of the money they would get. One woman I spoke to said that models in Philadelphia were paid $100 an hour. The agency was interested but I was unsure-I thought my waist was too big and I was leaving Philadelphia for the summer so pursuing modeling would have to wait.

Modeling is another one of those industries where a lot of disgusting and bad things happen-especially to women. But the agency I went to is still operating and seems to be legit.

http://www.reinhardagency.com

My next blog post will back track a bit and I will talk about soccer, and then I will get back to INXS.

August 16, 2025
Blog Post 7- INXS opens for Men At Work- August 29, 1983

Jackie with Jon Farris of INXS in 1983

The Australian rock band INXS was the opening act for Men At Work at their concert at Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on August 29, 1983. Hoffman Estates is a suburb of Chicago about 35 miles northwest of downtown.

Link to Wikipedia page about Poplar Creek Music Theater

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_Creek_Music_Theater

I’m going to share this letter from Jackie, my friend from Chicago who died in September 2023. Jackie was a senior in high school when she wrote this. I was a sophomore in college at the University of Pennsylvania (not Penn State). This concert took place after the concert where I first kissed Kirk Pengilly, but before I went to the studio where INXS recorded Original Sin. I wrote to Jackie about these events, and she wrote back to me.

INXS who’s who

Rick Sales- tour manager for 1983

Gary Grant- co-manager of INXS and MMA

Timmy Farriss- guitarist and the eldest of the Farriss brothers.

Andrew Farriss- keyboards, guitar, main songwriter and the middle Farriss brother.

Jon Farriss- drummer and youngest of the Farriss brothers

Kirk Pengilly- guitarist, saxophone player, and vocalist.

Garry Gary Beers- bassist

Michael Hutchence- lead singer and main lyricist

October 11, 1983

Hi Donna!

Yes, I’m finally writing back! How’ve you been? I’m doing pretty good. It was nice to hear from you. Thanks for your two great letters; I’m sorry it took me this long to answer them, but I’ve been pretty busy.

So, tell me what you have been up to! How’s school? It’s all right here. My classes this semester are: The Family, Cooperative Education, American Government, Composition 12, Senior PE. Marriage and the Family, and German II. I’m also on the work program, so I get out at 1:15 pm every day and then I go to work. I have a new job working at a German bakery. I started about two weeks ago and so far, I like it.

The hours are really flexible, and I don’t work every day. I work two or three days during the week from 2-6, and then on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays. It’s really not that bad. I just have to be careful so I don’t gain weight while working there! Some of the stuff looks SO yummy. Working at the bakery and school both keep me pretty busy.

Then there’s my German dance group that occupies time on Monday nights for three hours, and we’re going to start performing almost every weekend now, since the Mardi Gras season is starting soon.

When I’m not busy, I’m at home answering mail or bumming around with some friends and talking on the phone. I’m very good at doing that-ask Terri!

Like this paper? Jess sent it to me. I think it’s so cute! Ever since I met Jon [Jon Farriss, drummer for INXS] back in August when INXS was here, I’ve been in love! I mean, I love all the guys, but I couldn’t get over Jon. He’s so nice looking and most importantly, any guy who sits and talks to me for close to an hour is tops on my list! I should tell you about the concert; it seems like it was so long ago!

Well, this is what happened: My mom ended up going with me to the concert, because Heike got in trouble at home, and her dad wouldn’t let her go. I was really ticked off, too, because we had everything planned out.

My mom had to go to work that day, but she left early because she knew I had my heart set on getting out to Poplar Creek early. We left at about 5:15 pm, and it took us about an hour to get out to this place. It was farther than I thought, and it being rush hour didn’t help at all.

A few blocks before Poplar Creek, we were stuck at this red light forever. I look over to my right and see this tour bus turning onto the street I was going down. If it weren’t for the dumb light, I probably would’ve caught up with the bus. I was already doing close to 65 mph, which isn’t too easy in my little Pinto! My mom was all spazzy; she’s like, “I’d laugh if we were chasing Men At Work!” Spare me, please!

When we pulled into the parking lot, we were about two or three cars behind the bus, but we couldn’t tell who was in it. When we pulled in, the first thing the guy said was, “NO CAMERAS”, but I said screw it, and took mine with anyways!

We walked over to this gate where the bus had pulled in, and I talked to some guy. I asked him if he could get in touch with someone backstage to see if Gary Grant was around. He said he couldn’t leave his spot and that I should walk around the corner to the advertising office. They could get in touch with someone backstage. Before I left, I asked the guy, “By the way, whose bus just pulled in?” He goes, “Oh, that was just INXS!” I was dying!

Anyways, I went around to the ad office, and there was this guy sitting in there with a walkie-talkie. He was with Men At Work’s crew. The secretary was on the phone, so I asked him if he could maybe help me out. He connected me with Rick Sales, and then I talked to Rick on the phone. I explained who I was, and I mentioned that I had met Gary Grant in New York City back in June.

Rick told me that Gary was in London, and that I should have the guy who got me in touch with him escort me backstage so I could get my album signed and give the guys flowers. When he told me this, I almost dropped the phone!!!

So, this Men At Work crew guy took me through this door; I didn’t even need a ticket to get in! And I’m sure Terri told you I paid $23.50 for one ticket in the 26th row! [The equivalent of $75 in 2025] At that point, I didn’t care how much it had cost me because I knew I was going to get backstage and meet INXS, and that’s all that mattered!

Actually, the best thing was that since I got in through the press gate, nobody checked my bag for a camera! This guy took me backstage, where I met Rick. Rick told me that he was really busy and asked me to wait a few minutes until he could get to me. So, I stood by this office while looking down this long corridor for about fifteen minutes.

At about seven o’clock, I see Kirk coming down the hall! He stopped to talk to me and asked if I had seen Rick. I said I was waiting for him, and it turned out that Kirk was looking for him, too. I gave Kirk a carnation and he signed my album. He was so friendly, and I couldn’t get over it!

Only a couple of minutes later, Timmy comes walking down the hall and stops, so all three of us were talking! Timmy was extremely friendly, too. I gave him a flower, and he signed my album and a photo. I couldn’t handle this! By the way, I was by myself; my mom had taken her ticket and gone to her seat.

So, we’re standing there talking for a while, when Timmy goes, “Why are you standing here by yourself? Why don’t you come back with me and meet the rest of the guys?” I told him I had to wait for Rick, and he told me to go with him. Fine!

Tim took me to this room where they have all the food and stuff. I walk in and Jon and Michael are standing there talking. I looked at Jon and almost passed out; I could not get my eyes off him!!! I gave them each a flower. Jon put it in his hair and Michael put it in his vest. Cute!

They both signed my album, and Jon wrote, “Thanx for the flour”, and tells me he spelled it wrong on purpose! Duh! Michael wrote, “Lotza Lurve”! He also bit my album cover, so now I have nice teeth marks on it! Thanks very much! I’m gonna stop my story there until tomorrow…it’s getting very late and I have to get up early! I’ll write more during my free time at school!

October 12, 1983 10:20 am

Hi again! I’m in school now. I have free time until 11 am, so I thought I’d continue on this. I’m sitting in the cafeteria and it’s freezing in here. it’s such a drabby day-cold and rainy. Some idiot is opening the windows. This guy is crazy! I’m going to go up to my locker soon so I can get my lunch.

Anyways, let me continue on my INXS adventure. Where was I? Okay…after talking to Michael and Jon, I just stood around for a bit. I had yet to see Andrew or Garry.

Then Michael comes up to me and asks if I was going to join the band after the show and I’m like DUH!!! I told him that I didn’t have a pass and he goes, “Well, we’ll take care of that. C’mon darling, let’s go find Rick and get you a pass!” I could’ve screamed.

So, we went into their dressing room and Michael told Rick to get me a pass. He did and then I left to go to my seat. It was about 7:30 pm. When I got to my seat, my mom was sitting there smiling at me! I was all shook up, and when I started explaining what had happened, I started to cry! My mom’s like, “Calm down!”, and she’s laughing!

So, INXS came on stage and were on for 45 minutes. I took a look at my backstage pass, and it said, “Men At Work…US Cargo Tour 1983…CREW.” I figured if it said CREW, I could probably go down closer to take pictures and that’s what I did! I sat in the fifth row for the entire show! They were great, and all of the guys looked fantastic!

After the show, I went to my original seat and planned some things out with my mom. She said she’d stay in her seat for the Men At Work concert, and when they’re finished, I’d come back for her.

So, at about 9:15 pm, I went backstage and Men At Work went on at about 9:30 pm. Rick saw me and told me that I could knock on the door and go in the dressing room. So, I knocked on the door, and Tim opened up. Michael’s like, “Hey Jackie! How’d you like the show?”

So, I talked to him a bit, and then I went over to finally meet Garry. He was so sweet! We talked a bit and looked at some pictures that Terri and Jess had sent. I also met Andrew, and it was so embarrassing. I didn’t recognize him because of the moustache, so he came up to me and introduced himself! I felt so dumb!

Jon was sitting on a chair, and he was looking like he was gonna fall asleep! I went over by him, and we started talking. Garry throws a pillow at me and tells me to sit down on the floor. I did, and then Jon sat on the floor, too.

We talked for close to an hour about everything! Jon was making fun of the way I talk; he goes, “You sound like you’re from New Joysey or Bahston!” Shut up, Jon! Then he was making fun of certain words I said, like “love” and “pants”! Duh! He was making strange drum noises and beating on my hands.

He gave me a beer and offered me a cigarette-I just took the beer (I had two while talking to him.) I gave him a card and it said, “You’re welcome for the flour!” And he tells me to stop picking on him! After all this time, Jon said he was tired and excused himself to go lie down. I’m thinking, “Take me with you!!” He gave me a kiss and said good-bye, and I’m in heaven!

During this time, the other guys were running in and out. I think Kirk was watching the Men At Work concert most of the time. Michael was trying to be Joe Photographer! Then he tells me this story about seeing Prince in concert, and he (Prince) had this plastic dick that he flashed out of his pants to the audience! I’m like, “I hope you don’t try any of his ideas, Michael!” and he just smiles at me! That boy is sick.

Then he’s talking about drugs and asking this guy Colin (sound mixer) about the “PMP”. I had no idea what he was talking about, but now I realize that it means Peruvian Marching Powder, since reading your letter! Well, Colin said he didn’t have any, so Michael goes, “I’m in fucking America and I can’t even overdose!” I must’ve gotten some look on my face, because he goes, “Just joking, darling!” and he winks at me! Right, Michael!

Then he was writing this letter to the guys in Men At Work, and starts it out, “Dear Men At Leisure”, and Rick’s going, “No, put Ladies of Leisure”! It was so funny! Then Michael was having problems remembering how to spell leisure, so he’s like, “Jackie, come over here and help me write this…okay, I before E except after C. So, it’s L-I-E-S-U-R-E.” I said that was wrong because the rule didn’t apply to leisure and told him it was L-E-I-S-U-R-E! Everybody was picking on him, so he goes, “Well, my fucking English teacher taught me wrong!” Just the way he said it was funny.

I talked to Andrew and Garry some more, and I left when Men At Work finished up at 11:30. I said bye and got kisses from Michael, Andrew, and Garry. I couldn’t find Timmy or Kirk, so I didn’t get to say goodbye to them.

I went to get my mom and I was all hyper again! I was like a zombie going home. We didn’t get home until 1:30 am and I had to be up by six! I almost didn’t make it!

It was a very exciting night and I’m glad I met the guys. I still can’t get over how nice they all were to me. I am in love with Jon! Any guy that spends time talking to me when he’s tired is special!!! Especially “Jump-Him” Jon!!

End of that-I hope you’re not bored! This letter is pretty long!

So, do you still miss Kirk? I can’t blame you-he is SO nice. I miss all the guys but especially Jon! Did Kirk send you a postcard from London?

Anything exciting going on in your life? What school do you go to again-is it Penn State? Could you do me a favor? I’d really like a hooded sweatshirt from your school. Could you get me one? Let me know how much it costs and I’ll tell you what size. Thanks, Donna.

My Homecoming is this weekend. I’m going to the dance with my boyfriend Dennis. We’ve been seeing each other for about a month now. He’s got light brown hair and pretty blue eyes; he’s 5’6″ and 140 lbs… He’s no Jon Farriss, but he’s a cutie and I like him a lot! I’ll have to send a photo of us from Homecoming.

Nothing has been happening with the Sting. I imagine that indoor training will start soon, if it hasn’t already. The last time I saw Victor was Aug. 28. That’s the day I took Brian Quinn and Greg Son to Arnie’s It’s already October 12 (Rudy Glenn’s birthday-let’s party, fer sure) and I’m holding out quite well without Vic the bee keeper. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to hold out until the first game on Nov. 11th!

Well, Donna, I’m gonna end this here. Take care of yourself and don’t study too hard. I hope I hear from you again REAL soon!! Love, Jackie

Link to 1983 roster of the Chicago Sting soccer team. https://www.sportsarchive.net/teams/chicago-sting/1983

The last part of Jackie’s letter was about professional men’s soccer. The Chicago Sting was her local team. Victor and Rudy Glenn were both on that team. I don’t know who Greg Son is, but I assume he was also associated with the San Diego Sockers team because he was with Brian Quinn. Brian Quinn is still a part of professional soccer. He was a player back in 1983.

I will be writing about soccer in a future post because before I met this band from Australia, I met a bunch of professional soccer players from all over the world and saw the way some of them behaved.

Before she died, Jackie had wanted to digitize her INXS photos. I wanted to help preserve that bit of INXS history, so I tried to make it easier for her. She needed some way to do it, so I ordered a printer/scanner/copier from Amazon and had it sent to her house. Jackie had some medical problems and couldn’t work. I think her problems kept her from doing a lot of things. The photos were in her basement along with someone else’s stuff. It took her a very long time to locate the photo albums in the basement. That was as far as she had gotten when she died. Those photos are likely gone forever now. I sent a letter to her address about them but never got a response.

Here is a video that shows INXS on tour in 1983 to give an idea of what Jon Farriss and Michael Hutchence were like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olTTQ5RhZjQ

June 29, 2025