Nile Rodgers, Tim Farriss and Garry Gary Beers. INXS at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Photo by Jess
Michael Hutchence and Belinda Carlisle’s last night together
INXS opened for The Go-Go’s for the last time on July 29, 1984 at a show at Kings Dominion amusement park near Richmond, Virginia. Neither INXS nor The Go-Go’s had a concert on July 30. It’s not clear whether Belinda Carlisle and Michael Hutchence spent a final night together after the last show or if it was the following night. INXS did not arrive in New York City until the day of their show at the Beacon Theatre on the 31st.
Belinda Carlisle wrote in her book, “Lips Unsealed: A Memoir”, that she and Michael spent a sweet, sad, romantic, and passionate last night together where they promised to remain friends.
The Go-Go’s did their next show in Berkeley, California on August 1, 1984. INXS presumably traveled by bus to New York City from Richmond on July 31 to perform.
A screenshot from Google Maps showing the drive from the last INXS concert with The Go-Go’s to New York City where INXS would perform at the Beacon Theatre.
Front row seats
We had front row seats to the show because Jess, Terri and Dana had waited in front of the theater all night on the night before tickets went on sale to buy tickets for all of us. When that was, I don’t know because it isn’t in my diary. Probably some day or night when I was working and couldn’t spend all night on the sidewalk with them.
The page from my 1984 pocket-sized appointment book showing July 30 to August 5. INXS concerts and waitressing shifts.
Renee [Terri’s sister] is coming along with us. She is a great kid and a lot of fun. She isn’t a wet rag like some people I know. I’m going to run into Susan and Maria tomorrow and they’ll want to know everything that has ever happened to me. It might be fun to be infamous, but I don’t know. If I don’t want other people to spread gossip around, I have to watch what I say.
I think deep down inside I want to be notorious and have people whisper when I walk by. It might be fun to be on people’s bad side for a while. I am a weirdo.
I’m bored now. I have stuff I could do but I don’t feel like it. I’ll watch TV.
The morning of the show
On Tuesday morning, July 31st, Jess, Terri and I went into New York City. Terri or Jess would have driven us in. I’m 61 years old now and I have never driven into New York City. It’s too scary. If I was in charge of this stuff, we would have taken a bus into the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
While we were there, I made an INXS poster to take to the venue. If I didn’t have a letter from Maria that she wrote on 9/4/84, I would not know about the poster because I don’t remember.
It’s possible I also filled out a form for Dana’s INXS Alliance club. I remember writing that my goals were to be independently wealthy and a world traveler, but I don’t remember if that was at this gathering or some other time.
Back in 1984, I was envious of Dana. If I recall correctly, both of her mother and father were entertainment lawyers and based on their nice apartment in New York City, they seemed successful at their jobs.
They also had connections, so I was envious that Dana had opportunities that I did not have. My family could not fully foot the bill for my education even with financial aid, so I had to earn money to pay for part of my tuition and all of my expenses.
The waitressing job I had was essential because I made well above the minimum wage there. The tips were great because the Emerson Hotel was popular and busy, and I was a pretty young woman. It would have been stupid and dangerous for my future to blow off my job to stay with Michael Hutchence.
Some books by Jean Paul Sartre, French Existentialist
After thinking about it, I went out and purchased another book by Sartre so I could read it and then also give it to Michael. I didn’t write any of this down, so I no longer remember the name of the book I bought but I believe it was a different book in Sartre’s trilogy of novels than the one Michael showed me that night.
It was quite nice of me to spend some of the little money I had to buy a book for someone who had a hit record album in Australia. And it wouldn’t be the last time I gave him a book or spent money on a book that I tried to give to him when I barely had money myself. Lots of fans give gifts but I think Michael misconstrued what it meant when I did it. In a way, I was like Oprah Winfrey and wanted to share books I loved.
Waiting for INXS in the lobby of their hotel
At some point before we expected INXS to arrive from Richmond, Terri, Jess, and I got back into the car and drove to the Barbizon Plaza Hotel where INXS was staying.
A screenshot from the website nycago.org with a photo and description of the Barbizon Plaza Hotel.A screenshot from the website nysonglines.com that shows that the Barbizon Plaza Hotel was across from the Helmsley Windsor Hotel back in 1984
As we waited in the hotel lobby, Jon and Garry walked in and walked straight into an elevator. When Andrew walked by, he said hello to us. Then Timmy and Michael came into the hotel and the two of them looked extremely tired.
We stopped Michael and asked him to please wait because we had something to give him. Jess left to go to the car and retrieve the books and magazines. I asked him if he had read “Nausea” and when he said he had not, I told him that I had it for him.
I think it’s funny to say that I gave Michael Hutchence nausea.
Here is a video about the book. It’s a weird book.
Jess came back with the three Jean Paul Sartre books and also a couple of magazines about flying airplanes that she had found at her house in the den. She brought them for him because Michael had said he wanted to fly a plane that night when we were all in his room.
Michael’s manners
Michael said, “I’m forever in your debt” after I solemnly handed over the books to him. That was a bit much although I think it turned out to be true in the end. He was using the manners he had learned somewhere whether from his father or from the British community in Hong Kong.
Many people have remarked upon his somewhat unusual way of behaving. In this case I would describe him as being dramatically debonair. To me, it was memorable but weird. A regular “thank you, that’s nice of you” would have been better. I suppose I was being weird too by acting like books are holy. But they are!
Someone came over to ask us about Michael Hutchence. This person wanted to know who he was, so I said he was Michael Jackson and he was playing across the river. Michael Jackson and his brothers were doing a concert at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
We left the hotel after that because Michael had gone to his room to sleep. I have no idea what we did until it was time to see the concert. Maybe we grabbed something to eat or went back to Dana’s apartment? If Dana lived on the Upper West Side, then we would have been able to walk from her place to the theater.
Beacon Theatre
The Beacon Theatre was and still is at 2124 Broadway between 74th and 75th Street. In Manhattan, 20 north-south blocks equal one mile. It would have been no more than fifteen blocks to walk there. But that is another thing I no longer remember.
Like I said earlier, we had front row seats, and they were near the middle of the stage. At least six of us, perhaps even a couple more girls I didn’t know, were there too. The concert itself is another thing I don’t remember. I’m sure I enjoyed it. If INXS had not been a good live band, I would not have wasted my time going to eleven shows that summer especially after Kirk Pengilly had brought his girlfriend over for the tour.
Screaming girls
The main things that I disliked were when girls screamed or jumped on stage to attack Michael and when Michael messed up the words. And by screaming, I don’t mean cheering. I didn’t mind cheering. Some of the girls let out the loudest, high-pitched screams like they were seeing the Beatles and while I hate to describe it as hysterical, the word fits. It was painful and I think it damaged my hearing.
Nile Rodgers, former guitarist for Chic and famous record producer, came onstage and played guitar when INXS performed Original Sin. The photo at the top of the page is from the concert. Nile Rodgers had produced the song almost a year earlier in New York City at the Power Station.
If it wasn’t for the letter from Maria that she wrote on 9/26/84, I wouldn’t know that Michael Hutchence came over to me during the show and sang The One Thing right into my face. She wrote, “Something like that is hard to forget!” and yet, over the years, I forgot!
The Beacon Theatre stage door
After the show, we waited along with dozens of other INXS fans on 75th Street where the stage door to the Beacon Theatre is located. There must have been some kind of lounge on the second or third floor where the band was hanging out.
There were windows facing 75th Street and we saw Tim Farriss at one of the windows. He was looking at the crowd of fans who had gathered and he yelled, “No shit!” to all of us because he was pleased to see so many fans.
Michael then leaned out of the window and threw a bunch of white, rectangular cards that were about 3 inches by 5 inches in size. We grabbed some and saw that it was an invitation to an after-show party at some club called Pizza A Go Go.
The invitation to the INXS concert after-party that Michael Hutchence threw from the window of the Beacon Theatre.
When Michael saw Terri, Jess and I, he tried to pour beer on us from the bottle he was holding. He missed. That was not the kind of behavior that I found amusing. It was not something that would win me over. Just the opposite-it was the behavior of a 12-year-old boy in middle school who was a jerk, and I hated those boys.
After a while, everyone with INXS came out from the theater except for Timmy and Jon. We stayed and waited for Timmy because Jess and Terri wanted to show him a list of VHS videocassette tapes they had made with movies and shows on them and find out which ones he wanted.
When Timmy and Jon came out of the stage door, some weird guy walked by and asked us where the stars were. I pointed to the sky and told him, “Up there.” Timmy had hurt his head somehow, so he didn’t want to look at the list of tapes and we let them leave.
Pizza A Go Go
We decided to drive downtown to check out the club. When we got there it did not look interesting but then I saw that Ronald, a guy who sold t-shirts for INXS, was there and that seemed like a good sign so we decided to stay for a while and see if anyone from the band would show up.
We greeted Michael and he kissed each of us hello. Michael was wearing a bright blue shirt. When a song by the Talking Heads started playing, all of us went out on the dance floor and danced together. The lead singer of INXS danced in the club the same way he danced when he was performing onstage.
Nile told me he didn’t remember me after I said that I was not the girl with the shaved head. You can read about that day in the studio in Blog Post 5. He was friendly and nice, but I don’t think we talked for long after that. Maybe I talked to him about the concert, but I don’t remember.
We saw Gary Grant making out with Ellen, someone we had met in Philadelphia, so we left him alone. Bonny and Franny were glommed on to Jon Farriss, same as they were in Philadelphia, and they also recognized me from there. They were talking his ear off again, so we spent most of our time at Pizza A Go Go chatting with Garry Gary Beers.
On that day in Florida, the tour with the Go-Go’s was close to its end and Garry had told the woman who took care of the Go-Go’s clothes while on tour that he would be breaking things off with her and she was very upset about it. He felt bad about that so that’s why he didn’t feel like talking.
Terri, Jess and I left the club before the band did and drove home. Timmy had not shown up at the club so there was no reason why Terri would want to stay.
We had spent a lot of time with Garry Gary, so Jess was happy. I didn’t have to work the next day for a change, but I usually didn’t want to be out with INXS in the first place, so I didn’t mind leaving.
We needed to get some rest because we would be driving to Toronto, Canada in about 24 hours, on the night of August 1st, to see INXS play at The Concert Hall in the Masonic Temple. It was going to be an eight-hour drive.
Gary Grant, The co-manager for the rock band INXS, holding a sales award for The Swing, at his office, Hay St, Neutral Bay. September 16, 1986. (Photo by Adrian Greer Michael Short/Fairfax Media via Getty Images).
There aren’t many photos of Gary Grant out there so I am borrowing this one from Getty Images so you can see what he looked like.
When we arrived, we picked up a rental car from Rent-A-Wreck so we could keep the costs of our trip low. The car really was a wreck. It had no radio and the handle for the window fell off when I closed the car door. Back then, most cars had crank windows that you had to open and close manually by turning a handle on the inside of the car door. Electric windows were a luxury item.
Chasing the mail carrier
The three of us drove over to Jen’s house in Tampa. Jen realized that she had given a letter meant for Jon Farriss to the mail carrier. Jackie sent it from Chicago, and we were supposed to deliver it to Jon when we saw INXS. So, we got back in the car and drove around near Jen’s neighborhood until we spotted the mail carrier and retrieved Jackie’s letter.
Anyway, the hotel gave us a room on the same floor as INXS or at least that was what we hoped. The band was not there when we arrived. INXS was still the opening act for The Go-Go’s on their tour. They had played at the Sunrise Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on July 22 and July 23. On July 24, the band had to travel four hours by bus to get to St Petersburg for the show on the 25th.
Our room was large and had a king-size bed. There was a large mirror on the ceiling over the bed. Once we got up to the room, we waited. Our window looked out over the front of the hotel, so we spent our time looking out the window. Terri started to worry that perhaps we were not at the right hotel.
But then an RV pulled up to the front door and we jumped around and screamed when we saw it. We opened the door to our room so we could see what was happening. Vance, the roadie, walked by our open door and went into the room next door to ours.
INXS arrives
Tim Farriss (fake name Alvin Purple) was the first member of the band to see us in our room. The details of what happened are lost now. Garry Gary Beers and Kirk Pengilly walked by, and we all said hello to each other, but they didn’t stick around. At some point Andrew Farriss popped into our room and remarked that our room was nicer than his and he wanted to switch rooms with us. We kept our room.
Gary Grant, the INXS manager who was also the tour manager for this tour, stopped in and told us that Michael Hutchence and some of the other band members would be busy doing telephone interviews with Australia for most of the night. We never even said hello to Michael or Jon Farriss because they didn’t come up to their rooms on the tenth floor with the rest of the band and we didn’t see them at all that night.
I removed my contact lenses and stored them in their case with some contact lens saline solution. They were soft contact lenses but they were not extended-wear lenses so they could not be worn while I was sleeping. Disposable contact lenses had not been invented yet.
Gary Grant wakes me up
We turned on the TV and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson came on at 11:30pm. I fell asleep on the floor. A short time later, I woke up because Gary Grant was standing over me in our room and screaming, “Wake up, Donna!” So, I got up off the floor and put my contact lenses back in because I am very near-sighted and couldn’t see without them.
David Letterman came on and Gary Grant stayed in our room to watch it with us. He was supervising the radio interviews, so he had to stay up for as long as the band were up doing them. When he wasn’t off checking on the band members, he hung out with us in our hotel room.
David Letterman with Billy Idol
The Late Night with David Letterman show aired at 12:30am ET on NBC. It was a late-night talk show hosted by a comedian who also did celebrity interviews much like all late-night talk shows on TV in the United States.
Billy Idol was on the show that night. He looked wasted and it seemed like he had been using cocaine before his appearance because he kept touching his nose. I thought he was a moron. The video appears below so you can judge for yourself.
July 24, 1984, David Letterman show interview with Billy Idol
Another segment of the show was a comedy bit where David asked the audience to pick a new catchphrase from a bunch they came up with. Number 3 was “They pelted us with rocks and garbage.” That was my favorite and it won. It made me think of INXS because of the stories they told the media about their pub shows in Australia. It was pretty much the only history of the band they had to talk about with anyone.
Before there was the internet and internet memes, I combined David Letterman’s catchphrase with a photo of INXS and made my own meme of sorts to use as stationery when writing friends and pen pals.
A photocopy of a magazine photo and the David Letterman show catchphrase, “They pelted us with rocks and garbage” combined to make some fun INXS stationery!
Seeing Vance the roadie again
When the show was over, Gary Grant had to leave to check on things. Terri, Jess, Jen and I decided to go out to Burger King. I desperately needed some coffee if I was going to stay awake and help keep Gary Grant company. We were not people who used cocaine or took pills to stay awake. Not party girls or groupies either.
But he was right; he did hassle me. That he barely remembered after being on the road for a couple more weeks means that he probably just took his shot because I happened to be there and it’s what he did out on tour whenever he had a chance.
Burger King
At Burger King, I acted like a nut. Back then I could be described as “out there” because I loved comedy and I tried to be funny as much as possible. I was like a performance artist in many ways.
Jess had a little stuffed koala and I put it in the breast pocket of my shirt, so its head was sticking out. When I got to the counter, I asked for eucalyptus leaves because that is what koalas eat. Not a joke that was likely to be understood in Florida. And I also ordered coffee, of course, so I could stay awake.
There was a stack of Burger King crowns on the counter-the thick sheets of paper with slots for sizing that sort of look like a king’s crown. I took one, turned it into a hat and then wore it back to the hotel and in the room.
A stack of old, paper Burger King crowns
Gary Grant returns to hang out with us
Gary Grant came into our room again. Our room also had a table and two chairs next to the windows. He sat down in one and I sat in the other while Jess, Terri, and Jen sat on the bed, and we all chatted.
Our room with its mirror over the bed, came up in conversation. Gary too thought it was a better room than his and he wanted to switch with us. I made a joke that I had better be careful in case there was a hidden camera behind the mirror because I might want to be Miss America someday.
The Vanessa Williams Miss American scandal
That was a reference to Vanessa Williams. Her Miss America scandal was fresh, as she had resigned the title the day before. I’m pretty sure David Letterman made jokes about it on the show we had just watched.
Vanessa Williams was the first black woman to be crowned Miss America. She was crowned in September 1983 at 20 years old. She gave up her crown on July 23, 1984, at 21 years old when Penthouse magazine announced it would publish nude photos that had been taken when she was 19. Some of the photos included simulated sex acts with another woman.
Vanessa did not pose for Penthouse but for a photographer she was working for who said that the photos would be artistic, and she would not be recognizable. He also said that no one else would see them. He lied but she had no recourse because she had signed a release form. Scumbags like that guy were numerous in the 1980s.
I told Gary Grant that I had been awake for more than 24 hours already because I stayed up watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show until it was time to leave for the airport.
Gary Grant said he hated Mary Tyler Moore because “she is such a dag.” Dag is an Australian slang word, and the meaning definitely came across as negative-like witch or bitch or ugly. It actually means “uncool.”
Now I wonder what it was that made her a dag in his opinion. Was it her feminism? Was she uncool because she wasn’t some rock and roll sexpot? Was she uncool because she stood up to men or stood up for what was right?
I’m pretty sure I spoke about paying for my flight using the one dollar bills I had in the suitcase in my closet and that led to me talking about my waitressing job at the Emerson Hotel which was not an actual hotel but only a restaurant. Gary Grant asked, “What hotel?” because I think he just wanted me to repeat the name. But I was always worried that people would think I worked at a hotel so instead of saying the name again, I replied, “It’s not a hotel.”
I forgot to mention that earlier in the day, before we checked in, my friends and I walked along the pier in St Petersburg which was not far from the hotel and did some shopping. I bought a silver ring with a black diamond-shaped pattern on the top side. Black and silver is a favorite combination of mine. In the room, I showed it to Gary.
REM
We heard some stories from him. For instance, they had gone to see REM in concert on one of their nights off and his opinion was that they sucked. INXS was much better live.
Burn For You
INXS now had a video for Burn For You and it was made in the style of a home movie. You can see that for yourself here. We didn’t know it yet, but we were going to see the new video the next day.
The underwear thrown on stage
Gary Grant also told us that Kirk’s girlfriend, the future mother of his child, Karen, who was still along on the tour, tried on the underwear that was thrown on stage by the crazed female fans to see if it fit her. I can’t believe he told us that!
Before Gary left us for the night, he gave us more details about the three nights INXS would play in eastern Canada in about a weeks’ time. INXS would be finished touring with The Go-Go’s after four more shows and then immediately do their own tour in clubs and small theaters.
The morning of the INXS concert
When we woke up on the morning of July 25th, we watched TV, and I also did some crossword puzzles. I had one of those soft covered books of crossword puzzles that you could buy at the newsstand. Perhaps I bought it at the airport to keep me busy.
Once again, we propped open the door to our hotel room so we could see if anyone from INXS walked by. Around lunch time, the four of us walked down the hall to Timmy’s room and knocked on his door.
Hey Timmy!
He opened the door, and he was nearly naked! All he had on was a pair of tiny shorts. His short shorts were even shorter than the short shorts I was wearing. My satiny shorts had about a two-inch inseam.
Tim had been reading Shogun by James Clavell and he was still holding the book. Shogun was a best-seller and had been turned into a hit TV mini-series in 1980. The mini-series had the second highest ratings in the U.S. after Roots. A third of America had watched Shogun.
Lunch with Tim Farriss
Timmy suggested that we all go to the restaurant downstairs, so we waited in the hall for him to put clothes on and come out. Then we went downstairs to the restaurant which was called the Greenhouse.
I sat on the other side of the table from Tim Farriss and I don’t remember where anyone else was sitting. In my diary it says that Tim drank some chocolate milk while I ordered strawberries and cream and only ate some of it. Tim was mostly smoking cigarettes and telling stories.
Animal Cruelty
My favorite story was about Timmy’s job at a chicken farm. The farm had a system where they would put a peg on a chicken’s cage if it didn’t lay any eggs. If the chicken received a certain number of pegs on its cage it would be killed for not laying enough eggs.
Sometimes there were chickens that would peck him so Tim would get revenge by taking pegs off another chicken’s cage and put them on the cage of the chicken that pecked him.
Tim picked up a butter knife from the table and demonstrated how the chickens were killed. Then he said he used to eat eggs in front of the chickens and tell them it was nothing personal.
He told us that he owned a ranch with an orchard and a vegetable garden. His cat was named Cat, and his dog was a boxer named Samantha. But he hated the dog so he would kick it and he would not let the dog come into the house.
Touring America
Jess said that she would make INXS some videotapes so they would have something different to watch while they were traveling on the tour bus. She asked Tim to tell her what she should tape for them, and he said, “you know what we like.”
Then he said that he would hate to tour America constantly. “With the exception of you guys, of course” he added when he realized how that sounded.
Kirk slits Michael’s throat
We also heard more about their videos and music. For example, I wrote in my diary that Tim told us that Kirk slits Michael’s throat in the Dancing on the Jetty video. I don’t know if that is what Tim really said or if I just remembered it wrong when I wrote it down because Kirk slits Michael’s throat in the video for Melting in the Sun and not Dancing on the Jetty.
Melting in the Sun was clearly filmed in London along with the end of the Burn For You video. The parts of the Dancing on the Jetty video with INXS in it look like it could also have been filmed in London at the same time so maybe Tim was confused.
Melting in the Sun video
More INXS music and video info
Tim told us that his son James Lee was in the video for Burn For You and also that his wife Buffy didn’t like it that there were women singing backup vocals in the song. I don’t think she had anything against the singers themselves-just that she would not have had singers from outside the band doing the vocals.
The only other stuff I wrote down was that Tim’s grandmother took him to see The Sound of Music and that American milkshakes are thicker than Australian ones.
He also said, “if you hear some songs that sound like us but are under a different name, it could be us.” I guess INXS had talked about doing some kind of project where they put out music under a different name, but I have never heard anything else about that other than what Tim told us. There is no music out there under a different name and no mention of a plan to do that in any books or articles.
Strawberries
While we were sitting at the table with Tim, Kirk and Karen walked into the restaurant. They sat down at a nearby table just to the right of where I was sitting. From where she sat, Karen could see that I had stopped eating my strawberries.
When Karen stood up from their table, I noticed it, and it looked like Kirk felt embarrassed and was trying to talk her out of doing what she was about to do.
Karen walked over to our table and asked me if I was finished eating my strawberries. She said that it was hard to get good, fresh food while on tour and asked if she could have the rest of my strawberries.
Kirk was looking sheepish. He knew what had happened between us and so did I, but I don’t think Karen did. Even though she was with Kirk instead of me, I didn’t mind at all that Karen asked for my strawberries. I was finished with them, and I gave them to Karen so they wouldn’t go to waste.
When Tim went back upstairs, we stayed behind for a few minutes. I took the cigarette butts that Tim had smoked out of the ashtray and put them in my purse. There were either two or three. I told Terri that I wanted to do something with them, but I didn’t know what yet.
Bumping into Jon Farriss
We went back upstairs and bumped into Jon Farriss in the hallway. My crossword puzzle was giving me some trouble so I said to Jon, “Can I ask you a question?” He said okay, so I asked him, “What European capital starts with the letter T?”
Jon didn’t have the answer and said, “At least you didn’t ask a question like, ‘Where did you get your name?’” Terri was confused and said, “What, Jon??”And he said, “No!! INXS!!” It seems that Jon was sick of being asked how INXS came up with their name. I don’t remember if Jon was given the letter from Jackie-maybe that happened when we were on the bus with INXS a short time later.
We had yet to see Michael Hutchence at all in the whole time we were there but now he was awake, and it was time to leave for the venue. He looked into our room as he wandered past the open door, and he was surprised to see that we were there.
Michael came into our room to chat for a couple of minutes. He also blatantly ogled me, taking a good look at me from my feet to my face and back again. It was quite rude, but I let him get away with it.
I was still wearing the short shorts and a cropped t-shirt. My wardrobe was quite modest, so my shirt wasn’t cropped very much but I was showing more skin than I ever had before because it was Florida in July.
The only thing my diary mentions besides the ogling is that Michael told us that he had been up all night doing interviews.
We all went down to the lobby together on the elevator. Once there, I stood by the elevator panel and held down the “door open” while my friends exited the elevator. Michael waited for me to get out and he put his arm out to keep the door from closing while he followed me. Gentlemanly, yes, but also a bit self-serving perhaps. Trying to earn brownie points for being polite while also having a view of my backside.
Watching Burn For You on the tour bus
The band was about to see the video for Burn For You for the first time and they invited us to get on the bus to watch it while they made their way to the Bayfront Concourse theater.
Michael sat down near the front of the bus, and I sat down next to him. He opened the book he brought with him and started reading. He never even looked up to watch the video.
Someone said that The Go-Go’s were getting emotional about them leaving the tour but I didn’t write down who it was.
Tasteless, Sexist Joke
There was something I remember that I never wrote about in my diary so I can’t be sure when it happened. I wrote about it in some of my letters because there are mentions of it in the replies from friends. But I have no way to determine exactly when it happened. It happened while we were on their tour bus, so it was either this day or another time in 1984. I’ll just assume it happened in Florida.
We were on the INXS tour bus and Jon Farriss was holding a dish that had some kind of pasta with a thick, white cream sauce in it. Perhaps a fettucine alfredo. He stuck the tip of his index finger into the sauce and then licked the sauce off. Then he said, “Tastes like fish!” Obviously making a crude sex joke about women’s vaginal secretions which can taste like fish if they have bacterial vaginosis.
My friends and I paid close attention to the music video, and we were able to watch it twice before the bus stopped and dropped us off outside the theater. The bus and the band proceeded into an underground parking garage.
What I did with the cigarette butts
A few girls were already outside and set upon us when they saw us get off the tour bus. They asked us questions about what we were doing. They seemed like they might be the kind of hysterical girl fan who annoyed me and that I liked to imitate and mock. So, I took the cigarette butts out of my purse and told them that Tim Farriss had just smoked them.
When I said, “Here, you can have them” and handed them to the girls, they squealed and screamed, “Oh my God, Oh my God!!” Then they asked if I could get them anything else from the band.
Inside the theater, it was general admission near the stage so there were a lot of people packed into that area. We were not at the very front for the show but somewhere in the middle.
Assault
Jess held up a small tape recorder and taped INXS. There were three guys behind us, and I felt someone touch my ass. I was furious so I turned around and yelled, “Don’t touch me!” Those assholes played innocent and denied it.
It wasn’t long before I felt a hand reach up the leg of my shorts to touch my private parts. Immediately, without turning around, I kicked back with one leg and threw both of my elbows back as hard as I could into the guy directly behind me.
When I turned around, the guy I hit whined, “I didn’t do anything!” I said, “I don’t care. If anyone touches me again, I am going to hit you again.” The jerks kept their hands to themselves after that.
If I had a time machine, I would go back there and kick all three of those guys in the nuts because I was not violent enough. I regret having been too nice to boys and men and just hitting that one guy was me being too nice in that situation.
Bootlegging
After the show, we waited for the band outside as usual. My diary says I was keeping myself occupied by balancing on a plank because I hated hanging around to see the band.
Someone must have seen Jess holding up the tape recorder during the show because when Gary Grant saw her, he came storming over. He was very angry. He said, “So, you’re a bootlegger, are you? Is this what it’s all about?”
I think he noticed that we all got quite upset because the last thing we wanted to do was make INXS or Gary Grant angry with us. We were on the verge of tears.
Jess said that no, she was not a bootlegger and was only making the tape for our personal use. Then she took the tape out and told Gary that he could have it. Gary didn’t take it. Instead, he said, “I trust you this time, but I don’t ever want to see you with a tape recorder again.”
We kept our promise to keep that INXS concert to ourselves.
In 2006, I sent the cassette tapes of the INXS concerts from 1983 and 1984 to a place that converted cassettes to CDs.
The CD I had made from the cassette recordings I had of two INXS concerts. I put the CD and case on my scanner bed and scanned it.
There’s nothing in my diary about hanging out with INXS after the show so I don’t think we did. I think that after Gary Grant yelled at us about taping the concert, INXS took off for Atlanta.
The Go-Go’s and INXS had a show the next night, July 26, in Atlanta, which was at least a seven-hour-long bus ride from St Petersburg, Florida.
Terri, Jess, and I did not follow INXS to Atlanta. We stayed in Florida for a few more days.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kirk Pengilly, guitarist, saxophonist, singer for INXS, photo by Terri, Atlanta 9/5/1983
Before I even went to any INXS concert in 1984, I had asked my boss at the restaurant for the day off on July 7 so I could go to the INXS concert at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia. So, I was planning to go to this show before I ever saw Kirk or Michael and I liked to stick to my plans.
After what happened with Michael Hutchence in his hotel room on July 2, I went to work from 12pm to 9pm and my friends went to see INXS in East Hampton, NY on July 3. On July 4, Kirk Pengilly turned 26, INXS traveled to the Midwest, and I went to work from 11am to 8pm. The Go-Go’s and INXS played Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 5 and I had the day off from work. I was back at work on Friday, July 6, 1984, from 5pm to 1am while INXS and the Go-Go’s did a concert in New Haven, Connecticut.
Ticket for The Go-Go’s and INXS concert at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia July 7, 1984. Not my ticket. I got this photo from the internet.
The concert in Philadelphia was on Saturday, July 7. It took Terri, Jess, Jackie, and I about two hours to get to the Mann Music Center by car. The Mann Music Center was an outdoor theater located in Fairmount Park in West Philadelphia.
The route from Hillsdale, NJ to the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia from Google Maps.
Do I have to be harassed everywhere?
When we arrived, we all had to pee, so we walked into a seedy-looking bar in the neighborhood. It was five o’clock somewhere, but I don’t think it was five yet when we got there.
The bathroom was too small for all four of us, so Jess and I had to wait near the bar. Sitting at the bar was a skinny black guy (we were in West Philadelphia where most people were black). This guy looked like he was in his late 30s and he was drunk.
When he saw me, he asked if I was married. Jess told him I was engaged. He said I should break up with my boyfriend and marry him instead because he had a great chest. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off to show me his bare chest! Pointing to his chest, he said, “Does your boyfriend have anything as good as this?” It was scary. What is wrong with men? I couldn’t even use a bathroom in peace.
I had no choice but to be as polite as I could be until the bathroom was free and I could go in it. After that we left as quickly as we could and walked back to the Mann Music Center where we found out that the INXS tour bus had already gone inside.
Hey, Timmy!
We were still outside the venue, but we could watch INXS do their soundcheck from there. Timmy heard us all yell, “Hey, Timmy” in unison. He waved to us and then raised his fist in the air.
The Hooters
As usual, our plan was to find seats down near the stage so we were sad to learn that The Hooters would be going on before INXS. The Hooters were a popular Philadelphia-area band, so a lot of people showed up early to see them and that messed up our plan.
Philadelphia rock band The Hooters
The Hooters- All You Zombies
Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, the founding members of The Hooters, went to my school, The University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, but at least ten years before I was in college. They met each other while at Penn. They formed The Hooters in 1980.
INXS on stage
When INXS took the stage, I decided to stay in the seat I had a ticket for. It was about twenty-five rows up from the stage. Terri, Jess, and Jackie decided to see what they could find near the stage, so they left.
After a few minutes, I saw them waving to me, urging me to come down. They found seats in the second row on Timmy’s side of the stage and there was one for me too. So, I got up and walked down the aisle to where they were. When I walked down the row to take my seat, Michael saw me, and I noticed it when he recognized me.
I also noticed Michael looking over at me from time to time during the concert. One time, he was in front of us when “Dancing on the Jetty” started. I was standing there swaying to the music at the very beginning of the song and Michael was staring at me. I was feeling the music. Then he stopped staring and sang the song.
Dancing on the Jetty
There were a lot of screaming girls at the concert. Girls acting all hysterical over seeing INXS or any other musician never made sense to me. Really, I don’t get it at all. Why scream because of some guy? I wrote in my diary that those girls made me laugh and that I thought INXS liked us because we treated them like they were normal people.
Following the bus again
After the concert, we had to follow the bus again because we didn’t know where they were staying. This time there were guys in a car behind us and they also followed the bus because Belinda and Charlotte from The Go-Go’s were on the INXS tour bus.
It was an exciting ride as we were following them through the streets of Philadelphia. We ran a couple of red lights so we could stay right behind the bus. The destination turned out to be Rittenhouse Square and the Barclay Hotel. At the time, it was the classiest hotel in Philadelphia. Or if not the best, it was the most famous.
A picture of the Barclay Hotel on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia that I took from the internet. The bar was on the right side of the ground floor.
The Barclay Hotel impressed me when I saw it with its marble floors and palace decor. I don’t think I had been in any hotel as expensive-looking before.
Rittenhouse Square at 18th and Walnut Street is a small park and one of the original squares William Penn planned for the city in the 17th century. It’s one of the best and fanciest neighborhoods to live in or hang out at in Philadelphia.
The two guys who ended up at the Barclay with us seemed to be the same age as we were-between 18 and 21. I wrote in my diary that Charlotte was on the bus, but today I don’t remember seeing Charlotte at all.
When Jackie and I reconnected on Facebook, she said that she remembered being on an elevator with Belinda Carlisle and that she wanted to punch Belinda.
The first thing many members of INXS did when they arrived at the hotel was look for a cigarette machine. The hotel did not have one. We gave Gary Grant a bottle of wine to thank him for being so nice to us. He had just gotten Jackie into the show on Long Island. Gary gave Jess a kiss so she must have presented it to him.
I had nothing to do with buying the wine other than chipping in to pay for it. Terri and Jess did all the planning and were the ones who contacted Gary Grant. If they had not done those things, I wouldn’t have a story to tell. I was just along for the ride.
After we gave Gary Grant the wine and the band went to their rooms, we waited around in the lobby. It wasn’t long before Kirk came down and said hello to us. In my diary, I wrote that he was wearing an ugly outfit. Unfortunately, I didn’t describe it at all. I wish I had. The members of INXS often wore clothes that we didn’t like, and I often never described the clothes and just wrote my opinion. If I had a chance to go back and do it again, I would write down more descriptive details!
We headed north on 18th street towards Chestnut Street and Kirk walked very fast. It was almost hard to keep up with him. After a couple of blocks, we found a store that sold cigarettes. Kirk bought a pack of Vantage cigarettes and we all headed back to the hotel.
While we were walking back, the two guys who were fans of The Go-Go’s asked Kirk several questions about them. Again, the actual questions and answers were not written down by me so I no longer remember them. All it says in my diary was that Kirk was nice and he answered the questions about what The Go-Go’s were like.
When we got back to the hotel, the guys didn’t come inside with us, and when they were gone, Kirk laughed about them asking him those questions. Before he went upstairs, he told us he would come down to the bar later and then we did not see him again. Just like that night five nights earlier, he didn’t come to the bar.
The hotel bar
Jackie and I decided to check out the bar which was on the ground floor near the lobby. When we looked in, we discovered that Jon Farriss was at the bar so we went in and sat down at a table near the entrance.
Jon Farriss was sitting at the bar with two older women in their thirties. Jackie bought him a drink and when he got it, he looked over at us and smiled. I got up and sat at a table near where the three of them were talking at the bar so I could eavesdrop on their conversation.
That’s how I found out more about those women. One was named Bonnie, and the other was Franny. I don’t remember who was who but one had been a former model who now had a business baking brownies. The other woman was acting like a fool in love or a crazy fan. She told Jon very seriously that she knew his soul because of the way he looked at her. Then she said that she could sense that there was something between them.
I’m sure I looked like I wanted to bust out laughing. The woman saying that nonsense noticed that I was sitting very close by and listening so then she told Jon that she felt like she was making a speech and that I was taking notes to write an article for the National Enquirer. The National Enquirer was a weekly tabloid paper mostly devoted to celebrity gossip.
A photo of an April 1984 edition of the National Enquirer that I found on the internet.
After she said this, Jon turned and threw a swizzle stick at me. It didn’t hit me, but I got the message and went back to the table my friends were sitting at. But I don’t think he was upset because a little later he came over and sat with us.
Chatting with Jon Farriss
When he told us that the men’s bathroom was incredibly fancy and had a spiral staircase made of marble, Jackie and I went out to look for ourselves. There wasn’t anyone in there, so we went in and looked around right quick.
All the conversations I write about here were a lot longer than what I remember of them or wrote about them. What I remember is a minute here or a minute there and I rarely took note of what my friends talked about in my diary because it was my diary. Sometimes we spent a lot of time in the same room with members of INXS without talking to them. Other times we hung out with them for minutes or for hours.
During our time with Jon, he talked about his American girlfriend from Texas named Lisa. He met Lisa when INXS toured the United States in 1983 and they were still together. Jon was upset that Lisa was going on a ski trip with two guys and he would not be there. He didn’t trust those guys and was worried something would happen. He told us that one of the guys was Swedish, had big thighs, and only had sex on his mind. It’s in my diary because I found the jealousy to be amusing and his concern to be stereotypical: guys only want sex. And it was a surprise to see a handsome, attractive guy like Jon Farriss be insecure like that.
We were ready to leave and make the two-hour drive back to North Jersey and were saying goodbye to Jon when some girls outside of the hotel started banging on the window because they saw Jon. He decided to leave the hotel with us to meet his fans.
Belinda asked us “what day is it?” (which I thought was pathetic) and we told her. I think Michael said they were going to buy cigarettes and then the three of them started skipping down the street towards Spruce Street. That was the wrong direction to go if they wanted to find cigarettes. They were headed to a residential neighborhood. None of us stopped them.
Going home
Jackie cried for the whole car ride back because she was going home to Chicago and would not be seeing Jon Farriss again. I had to be at work that day but not until 5pm for a change so I had 10-12 hours between getting home and starting my 8-hour waitressing shift.
The concert had started at 8pm and likely lasted three hours. We would have gotten to the hotel around midnight. Bars in Philadelphia closed at 2am so we likely left the hotel around the time the bar closed. I don’t know how long we stayed outside because I just didn’t write all those details down.
My diary entry for an INXS concert later in July mentions a woman named Ellen who we had met in Philadelphia so we could have been talking to her. Anyway, it was another two hours or so to get back home so I don’t think I got back until 5am.
Information gleaned from old letters
At the end of the summer of 1984, having met many new people while going to 11 INXS concerts, I had many stories to tell them. I wrote a lot of letters when I got back to college to tell them of my adventures, and they wrote back. Because of that, I believe that the mystery woman with Michael and Belinda, a woman I saw with Michael again later in July, was someone named Sherri.
A letter, dated September 26, 1984, from a woman named Kirsten (also known as Kira) who we met in Connecticut and who was from there mentions a woman named Sherri. Sherrie was described as being extremely sleazy-looking and a druggie. Kira said that she had “seen/heard of a woman named Sherri who supposedly gives Michael drugs and sleeps around with him throughout the tour!”
Kirsten told a story that she had heard from a friend. This friend named Corine told Kirsten that she was in Tim’s dressing room and Michael and Sherri were also there. According to Corine, Michael and Sherri went into the bathroom several times to fuck.
This was something I had not heard until after we stopped following INXS that summer in 1984 so while I had some idea of what Michael was like based on my own experiences up until then, I was still quite naive and my opinion of him was too high.
Tim Farriss plays guitar for INXS at the Jag Club in East Hampton, NY. July 3, 1984. Photo taken by Terri.
Where I left off
On the very early morning of July 3, 1984, I had just left Michael Hutchence’s hotel room after he reiterated that he wanted to have sex with me while outside Jess was yelling, “What about Kirk?”. Terri drove us back to New Jersey and I went to my waitressing job as scheduled after a couple of hours of sleep.
Jackie, Jess, and Terri slept for a few hours before getting back in the car and returning to Long Island. If they left around 1pm they could make it there before soundcheck. Even though I wasn’t there, I was told about their adventure afterwards. But I don’t remember, and I only wrote down a couple of details. Did they leave later so they could sleep longer and then miss the soundcheck? Don’t know.
The route Terri, Jackie and Jess would have taken to get to the INXS concert at the Jag Club in East Hampton, NY.
INXS would have left at 2pm or 3pm to take their tour bus to the Jag Club if they planned to do a soundcheck. The Jag Club was in East Hampton, Long Island which is out on the eastern end of Long Island, 100 miles from New York City.
This is the route INXS would have taken to get from their hotel in Rockville Centre to their show at the Jag Club in East Hampton, NY
The Jag Club
Articles about the building that used to be the Jag Club
The Jag Club did not impress my friends. Terri told me it was a dump. They wouldn’t let Jackie in. Gary Grant snuck her into the club so she could see the show.
Why didn’t Kirk come to the bar in Rockville Centre?
Kirk talked to my friends. I don’t know if he approached them to explain why he never showed up in the bar the night before like he said he would or if they approached him. In any case, he told them that he didn’t come to the bar because he had gotten sick. Food poisoning or something. Or maybe that was just an excuse because he was with Karen, and he didn’t want to come down. It’s possible I would have asked him if Karen was his girlfriend back in September 1983 or questioned him about what his intentions were towards me back then.
But really, there was nothing for Kirk and me to talk about. It’s not like I would have been interested in arranging to see him at some other time when his girlfriend was not around. Being some Australian jerk’s side piece was of no interest to me. Not that he would even propose that- I have no idea what that conversation would have been like if he had come down to meet us. If he had come down, I think we would have left afterwards and the mess with Michael would have been avoided but who knows?
When Kirk saw my friends in East Hampton, he asked, “Where’s Donna?” They told him that I was at work, and he told them to tell me that he said “Hi!” I wonder about that now. Was it his way of saying, “What about Kirk?”
Did Michael talk on the tour bus?
Because Michael didn’t convince me to stay with him and therefore, I was not on the tour bus with INXS when they drove to East Hampton, I assumed that no one would hear about what happened. That Michael would not say anything about what happened. But, in doing my research, I have discovered that Michael was quite a blabbermouth, and my assumption could be wrong.
I had already been acting like nothing ever happened between me and Kirk Pengilly because I was going to be cool and protect him from his girlfriend finding out. If I had a time machine and I could go back there, I would do that again even though no man deserves to be protected that way. But only because Kirk and Karen eventually had a daughter named April and I wouldn’t want to prevent her from existing.
Now I was about to pretend that nothing happened between me and Michael when I was around INXS. I walked out of his hotel room with a permanent case of mixed feelings and conflicted about what I should do.
Why so negative about Michael Hutchence?
Many people have complained to me that I only have negative things to say about Michael. Well, that’s because there are a lot of negative things to say about Michael but also, if I really had thought highly of him, things would have turned out differently and I think people would have heard of me because I would have gotten involved with him. The negativity is an essential part of the story.
Before July 2, 1984, my situation was disappointing but fine. I liked Kirk a lot but when he wrote me a letter it was merely friendly, and he didn’t give me any way to write back to him. I would have liked to correspond and maybe have a relationship that way. Then there was the article that Terri’s Australian pen pal sent that said he had a girlfriend. And then INXS came back to the NYC area and Kirk’s girlfriend came too. The “next time” that Kirk had suggested back in 1983 was not going to happen.
After July 2, 1984, my situation was complicated and absurd. I was still a virgin who had never had a boyfriend, but I managed to get entangled in a love triangle of sorts with two members of my favorite band. One of whom, Michael, has often been described as enigmatic and he left me confused. What happened with Michael also messed up any chance that I could be with Kirk Pengilly in the future. Sometime when I would be older and more experienced and maybe he would be single.
Bullshit narratives
No Filter podcast with Mia Freedman- The Four Women in Michael Hutchence’s Life. An interview with Richard Lowenstein
There is a part of this podcast around the 11-minute mark that mentions that Michael was like a serial monogamist and that he wrote letters to Michele Bennett, his girlfriend from 1982-1987, apologizing for some occasion when he slipped up and had sex with someone else.
Richard Lowenstein doesn’t say when those letters were written or how many there were. I think those letters were written because Michael knew word was going to get back to Michele about what he did, and he was trying to get ahead of it to make himself look better.
The idea that Michael was trying hard to be faithful to Michele and then would slip up from time to time after a long dry spell on the road is a giant load of crap. One of the reasons I am writing this blog is to push back against the bullshit narratives that people like Richard Lowenstein are trying to sell.
Michael’s behavior: it seemed insane
Michael found a steady companion in Belinda Carlisle only a couple of days after they met. Now maybe he had been a bit lonely between the time INXS left Sydney and Michael left his girlfriend, Michele, for Tokyo at the beginning of May 1984. INXS toured through Europe and spent some time in London working on videos after that. It was a whole six weeks of being away before Michael met Belinda on June 22, 1984.
But when he came after me, he had only just left Belinda behind that day, July 2, 1984, and they were reunited again on July 5, 1984, in Milwaukee. I always thought he was bonkers over me so maybe that explains why he acted so desperate. Or maybe he had serious problems with being alone in his bed for even one night. Whatever it was, it seemed insane.
My experience with Michael showed me a lot about him and I have spent a lot of time now finding out about other people’s experiences to help work out the puzzle.
Many people have said that Michael was “in love with love” and that he did not like to be alone. He seemed to have an especially hard time being alone in hotel rooms while on tour.
I think he did what he did and said what he said because he had experience manipulating young women into situations that would get him what he needed. I didn’t fall for Michael because he was a great person and the kind of guy I was looking for because he was not. I fell for him because he pushed me. He knew what to do. If he fell for me, it was partly because I was awesome and partly because he had some psychological issues that caused him to be “in love with love.”
What Belinda Carlisle said
In Belinda Carlisle’s book, she wrote that she and Michael were attracted to each other from the moment they met. So, that’s different from what happened between me and Michael. My attraction only happened after the staring and the kissing and that was instigated by Michael.
His attraction to me could have started the first time he saw me in May 1983. It was only later, when reading my diary in 2020, that I noticed that Michael picked me to interact with out of all the women and girls in the audience during both shows I went to in 1983.
Belinda wrote that Michael was not a good person to be serious about and she only chose to have sex with him after she was sure she could protect her heart.
She wrote that he told her he had a serious girlfriend and that he also had a lot of “friends”- other women in his life with whom he had sex. It sounds like he told her this before they started having sex two days into the tour, but I can’t be sure.
I don’t know if Belinda found out about Michael’s “friends” before he got her into bed or before he tried to get me into bed. But if she didn’t already know, she was about to find out about Michael’s “friends.”
Michael Hutchence, INXS. Photo by Terri. July 3, 1984
This photo of Michael was taken by Terri on July 3, 1984 at The Jag Club in East Hampton on Long Island.
When I ended the last blog post, Michael had gone into the hotel with his British friends and left Terri, Jess, Jackie, and I standing in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn in Rockville Centre, NY. We got into the car so we could find a fast-food place and grab something to eat. On the way out, Jess and I got out of the car and made sure there wasn’t anyone from INXS in the bar and there wasn’t.
There still wasn’t anyone from the band in the bar when we came back so we sat down outside for a while. Danny, the old-guy bartender from the other night, wasn’t working so we didn’t have him to talk to.
Eventually, Michael came back down and went to the bar. That’s when we decided to go inside and sit down at a table. Michael was sitting next to Vance, the INXS roadie. The two of them were sitting on the left side of the bar so they did not have their backs to us. I was sitting in a spot at the table where I was facing the bar, so I was looking in Michael and Vance’s direction.
Vance the Australian Roadie for INXS
I watched Vance talking to Michael and from time to time, Vance would turn his head and smile at me. After a while, Vance got up from his seat and came over to our table to talk to me. He sat down and we had a conversation. I wasn’t going to be rude and tell him to go away or anything. For my part of the conversation, I talked about what life was like in America and that I had to work so I could pay for college. He told me he got into the music business when he was 19. Vance had a very optimistic view of things and told me that if I wanted to do something then I should do it. I heard from him that Australia is the best country in the world and that he wouldn’t be back there until October or November because of the tour.
Then he asked if I had any drugs with me and he asked if I ever smoked pot. I told him that I didn’t have any drugs. I’ve already mentioned in other blog posts that my friends and I weren’t illicit drug users. My friends didn’t usually drink either because they were driving while I sometimes had a drink when the bartenders were lax and didn’t check ID. Legally, I was too young at 19. Jackie was still in high school. Terri was too young at 20. Only Jess was 21 and allowed to drink alcohol.
I told Vance that I smoked pot once in a while but that was a massive exaggeration. Marijuana was another thing I decided I didn’t like after I had tried it a couple of times. But I didn’t want to say that and look uncool. Vance asked me if I wanted to go up to his room with him to smoke pot. To me that sounded more like an invitation to have sex with him, and I didn’t want to have sex or smoke pot so I said I wasn’t sure, and I would think about it. That was my way of saying no without saying no. Rejecting a man can be a dangerous thing so it’s often best to do it in a way that doesn’t seem like rejection. Vance told me he was in room 599 and then he left and went to his room.
William the Roadie for The Stray Cats
Once he was gone, I ordered a drink at the bar- a drink I knew of as a Southern Belle. It was a drink made with Southern Comfort, Amaretto, and pineapple juice- very sweet. These days the drink is known as a Hawaiian Hooker.
After Vance left, we talked to the guy named William. That was probably how we found out that he was a roadie for The Stray Cats. I don’t remember much about the conversation. My diary says that William told Terri that she wasn’t pretty but that she had interesting features. He should have kept that to himself.
While we were talking to William, Vance came back; I think it was to check on me. But first Vance and William made jokes about sex because Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” was playing on the jukebox. The actual jokes went unrecorded in my diary probably because they were tacky and gross.
Vance again
Vance invited me up to his room again and this time I said, “I don’t think so.” He left the bar and didn’t come back again. Michael was still sitting at the bar in the same spot. While I was finishing my drink, I saw Michael look over at me a couple of times. Kirk had not come down to the bar, so we were thinking about leaving for home.
Saying goodbye to drunk Michael
Terri wanted to wait a little longer because she said that a drunk Michael saying goodnight was something else. I think what she meant by that was that Michael was extra friendly and liked to kiss people when he was drunk. Terri had enjoyed a previous experience of saying goodnight to drunk Michael. Must have been one of the times when I was not there in 1983.
The Ant Shirt
When we got up to leave, Michael came over to us and we told him we were leaving. Michael was wearing a white shirt with bugs on it. I asked him, “Are those cockroaches?” and he said, “No, ants.”
This video of INXS performing “I Send A Message” on television in 1983 shows Michael wearing the shirt. The lighting is good, so it is easy to see the pocket on the shirt.
We were standing around talking about what Michael was wearing and someone asked him about his shoes. He said something about his feet, and I said, “Oh! is that what they’re called? Feet! I’ll have to remember that.” I was trying to be funny by pretending I had no idea what feet were, and it seemed like Michael thought it was funny. Then he told us that he had to wear braces on his feet when he was young because he couldn’t walk right. Back then I took everything he said at face value and what I am writing here is what Michael said. But it turns out that what he said was often fabricated, embellished, exaggerated, a lie, bullshit, or whatever you want to call it.
Michael’s Hair
Terri just loved Michael’s hair a lot and I think she was the one who took the opportunity to touch his hair. Then Jackie and Jess also touched his hair. I did not have a crush on Michael or his hair like so many girls and women did. To me he seemed kind of dumb, kind of crazy, and kind of a jerk and I didn’t think he was as good-looking as Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, or Garry Gary Beers. He was kind of cute sometimes.
But I thought I should play along and touch his hair while also showing my disdain for what my friends and I were doing. So, I grabbed a strand of hair from near his shoulder, taking it between my thumb and my index finger at the bottom of the strand, and I rubbed it between my fingers once before letting it go. Like whoop-de-doo it’s hair.
Michael doesn’t feel like sleeping
After that, we announced we were leaving. Michael kissed Terri on the cheek and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. We were about to walk away but then Michael said to all of us, “Would you like to come up to my room? I don’t feel like sleeping.” So, the four of us looked at each other and we all seemed fine with it, so we accepted his invitation. It was a friendly invitation, and it didn’t sound the slightest bit sexual.
Cigarette machine
Before we went up to his room, we had to find change for the cigarette machine so Michael could buy cigarettes. William threw some change down on a table. The cigarette machine was just outside the entrance to the bar. I was feeling tipsy and silly because of the drink I had. Michael stood in front of the cigarette machine looking at the choices and I stood there next to him. It was taking him a long time to decide so I said, “I vote for Marlboro Lights”, and he responded, “Oh, you vote, do you?”
Finally, he pulled the knob and a pack of Vantage cigarettes came out. As you can see from the photo, the graphic on the package looks like a bullseye, so I said we could use the package for archery practice. That led Michael to ask if he had mentioned archery earlier (when he was drunk in the parking lot), and I told them that he had talked about archery. Have you ever met a chatty five-year-old who wanted to have a conversation with you and show you his toys? That’s what Michael was like sometimes.
A 1980s advertisement for Vantage cigarettes.
This is how children and teens could buy cigarettes back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Funny video of how to use a cigarette machine.
Going Up to the Fifth Floor
Now that the cigarettes were bought, we had to make our way to an elevator. While I was walking behind Michael, I imitated the way he was walking. He was quite peculiar back then- he was like a fairy from another planet and he often seemed to be prancing on the balls of his feet. I stopped imitating him when we all got to the elevator.
Once we got in, Michael slid down the wall and sat on the floor. When the elevator got to the fifth floor, he was able to get up. We weren’t sure he would. The corridor we walked down was open on one side- the rooms were all on the left and the night air was to the right. Michael stopped at a door and started to open it (the door was unlocked) and we were all ready to follow him inside but when he opened the door halfway, I could see there were people inside. He realized it wasn’t his room, so he shut the door. I didn’t think to look at the room number to see if it was Vance’s room. It’s bothered me since because I’m wondering if he made a mistake or if he opened the door to that room on purpose so the people in there could see that I was with him. Because who knows what Michael and Vance were talking about in the bar.
Michael’s hotel room
Michael was in room 589. The room had a low dresser and a desk on the left wall as you walked in and two double beds on the right wall. There was a nightstand between the two beds and the bathroom was on the right past where the beds were. We looked around and saw that Michael’s belongings were strewn around on top of the dresser and the desk. I described the room as messy in my diary.
All five of us sat down on the beds. I sat on the bed closest to the door right up against the nightstand. Michael sat in the same spot on the other bed. When I sat down, I looked at what was on the nightstand and that’s when I saw the gun. It was a toy gun made of black plastic and there were several one-inch white, hard-plastic bullets on the nightstand with it.
Michael’s gun
In those days, I would do whatever I needed to do to protect myself and I didn’t trust Michael Hutchence so I discreetly scooped up those loose bullets and put them in the pocket of my shorts so he wouldn’t be able to shoot more bullets than what was already in the gun. They looked dangerous.
I was wearing Bermuda shorts and a light gray top that was slightly cropped. It was boxy but fit very tightly around my shoulders-it had been very difficult to put my arms through the armholes when I put it on that day. It was not revealing.
Michael picked up the gun from the nightstand and shot it towards the dresser a couple of times. The bullets looked like they had a high velocity. It looked like it would hurt to be hit by one and I was thinking about that when I said, “I wonder what it would feel like to be shot by one of those bullets?” Michael immediately put the gun against my knee and said, “Do you want to find out?” I quite adamantly said, “No!” He immediately changed his tone from being mischievous to being all sensitive and caring. “I would never do that. I would never hurt you”, he said, really emphasizing “never.” It was weird.
Nick Cave
Also on the nightstand was a Polaroid picture of Michael wearing a t-shirt with a guy’s face on it. I asked him who was the guy on the t-shirt in the photo, and he said it was Nick Cave who was the singer for The Birthday Party. I’d never heard of either of them. According to Michael, Nick Cave was a friend of his. He said, “He’s a genius and a heroin addict but we have fun together.”
I think it was a Polaroid from a photo shoot for Star Hits. A picture of Michael Hutchence wearing a Nick Cave t-shirt appeared in the October 1984 issue. Star Hits was a short-lived American version of the British music magazine Smash Hits. They produced the magazine in New York City which was where INXS was at this time. It makes sense that the band would have done promotional work like this while they were in town.
The Birthday Party
Michael got up and grabbed his Sony Walkman. The cassette tape in the Walkman was Junkyard by The Birthday Party. He offered it to Jackie so she could listen to it. Then when Jackie was done, I put on the headphones and listened for a minute. The song was Dead Joe which has something of a fast, hardcore-punk sound. I nodded my head slightly in time with the fast beat. It just so happened that I listened to one of the few songs I like.
My friends and I started getting Michael’s life story as he brought out different items he had with him. He had at least two watches with him. One was a watch that his father had given to him. “This was one of the first thin watches”, he told us. We saw a family photo from when he was ten. I think he told us the story about his sister Tina being a go-go dancer. It’s not in my diary but I knew that story long before I ever read about it in any of the books that came out after his death. We were in his room for at least two hours so there was a lot of ground covered in that time and I didn’t write it all down.
Michael’s girlfriend
Michele, Michael’s girlfriend in Australia, became a topic of conversation. Michael wanted us to be impressed by her, I think. He showed us a wallet-sized photo of the two of them together. We were told it was taken when “she was 16 and still a virgin.” Which was wild to me because Michele and Michael were topless. They were embracing and their chests were touching so that Michele’s breasts were not visible. Their faces were turned towards the camera. It was a different pose from a similar photo that was published in “Just A Man”, the book by Michael’s mother and sister that came out after his death.
Michael kissed the photo and exclaimed, “I love her!” and said, “she’s very intelligent.” He told us that she knew how to speak Mandarin and I said, “Wow, she speaks Chinese?” We heard that she was in “The One Thing” video but that she didn’t like to do that sort of thing. So, she was too cool for music videos, and she was so smart that she could speak Chinese.
In “The One Thing” video, Michele is the woman sitting between Kirk and Garry Gary.
Michael’s net worth
There was a leather folio lying on one of the beds and it looked like it was there because Michael had been looking at it earlier. The folio was like something a lawyer would carry to hold documents-it looked fancy. Michael picked it up and asked us if we wanted to see how much he was worth. I was studying at the Wharton School of Finance (Michael Hutchence didn’t know that) and I had already taken a financial accounting class, so I said, “Sure!” It would have been interesting to me as a real-life example of finance. He changed his mind about showing us right after I said yes. I asked, “Is that your portfolio of investments?” Michael seemed amused that I used that lingo.
Michael’s book purchases
Next, he pulled out a couple of books he had bought, maybe to try to show me that he wasn’t stupid. My diary does not say the titles of the books probably because it was something I thought I would remember forever. That’s a problem now because there are some key bits of information that I cannot recall no matter how hard I try.
Anyway, Michael pulled out a slim book written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I looked at it and said “Wow, Dostoyevsky!” Jess looked at it and said, “I can’t even pronounce that!” The book was likely “Notes from Underground”, but it could have been “The Gambler.” There’s no way based on the size of the book that it was “Crime and Punishment” or “The Brothers Karamazov.”
Jean Paul Sartre and Existentialism
Then he pulled out a book by Jean Paul Sartre. I’m pretty sure it was one of the three novels from The Roads to Freedom series. It was not one of the two books I had read- “Nausea” or Sartre’s autobiography “The Words.” I saw the Sartre book and got all excited because I loved books. Books were holy to me. I was waving my arm, pointing, and going ooh, ooh, ooh. “I just read Nausea!!” After hearing that, Michael came toward me and hugged me while saying, “This could be true love!” Both of us had been standing when he was showing us the books.
It was back to sitting on the beds after that and Michael and I talked about existentialism for a bit. What I wrote in my diary was that Michael said he used to be into existentialism but now he thought it might be silly, so he wasn’t into it anymore. The way he described existentialism was more like mindfulness. He moved is foot forward and said, “Now I’m doing this” and then he moved his foot back while saying, “And now I’m doing this.” I laughed and said, “yeah.” Because there is an element of what he described in existentialist philosophy.
I also told Michael that I had read “The Words” by Jean Paul Sartre and told him what it was about and that it was good.
Around this time, I got up to use the bathroom. Later, after we had left, I heard that while I was in the bathroom, Michael started telling Jess, Terri and Jackie that he liked me. He said, “I like Donna. She’s lovely.” Things got weirder from there.
Smoking
When I came back, I sat down on the bed opposite of the one Michael was sitting on. He had the pack of cigarettes he bought in the chest pocket of his shirt. I wanted to smoke a cigarette, so I reached over and took the pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket without asking first. That caused Michael to say to me, “You’re wonderful.”
Terri was upset and said, “Since when do you smoke?” and I said, “For a while now.” Back when I was smoking clove cigarettes in school, I mentioned it to Terri, and she said that I had better not start smoking or else. She was correct that smoking is a terrible habit, and no one should do it but that didn’t stop me. I had not been smoking while at home for the summer because I would have had to hide it from my mother, and it wasn’t worth the trouble. It wasn’t an addiction for me yet.
Michael asked me if I smoked because I needed to do something with my fingers and I said yes. His question made me think that one of the reasons he smoked was to keep his hands busy. He told me that I shouldn’t smoke so I didn’t open the pack of cigarettes and put it down. Maybe on the nightstand where earlier I had discreetly removed the plastic bullets from my pocket and put them back where I found them.
It was a surprise when Michael declared that if he was president, he would make cigarettes and alcohol illegal. He said it was hypocritical for those things to be legal when other drugs were illegal and that they both killed a lot of people.
I don’t remember the conversation that followed except that I said I thought hypocrisy was a basic trait of mankind and you had to expect hypocritical behavior from people but that religious people were the worst hypocrites.
My friends were part of the conversations, but I don’t remember much of what they said. My diary is largely about me so…but I did write things down about them here and there.
Staring and smirking
Things were getting to a point where every time I looked over towards Michael, he was looking at me, but I’ll get back to that.
There was this one conversation that we were all participating in, and I can’t remember what it was about except it was about something mundane, some everyday kind of activity. First Terri said something and whatever it was made Michael start smirking. I could tell that he was turning her words into something sexual; either about the first time she had sex or the last time she had sex when there was nothing sexual about them. Then Jess said something about the same subject, and he smirked some more. Same thing when Jackie spoke. My turn came and I looked at Michael, shook my head, and then mouthed the word no. I was not going to fall for that shit.
Girls jumping on stage
Terri brought up what happened at the concert at Radio City Music Hall where the one girl jumped up on stage and grabbed him more than once. At first, he said he didn’t mind and that there was nothing he could do about it. We hated it when girls did that stuff because it’s rude and it messes up the show and we said so. After that Michael said that he had wanted to tell her to fuck off. She was pinching his ass, but he still felt he wasn’t allowed to do it.
I told the story about what happened to us on the night before the Radio City show when we hit a pothole on the way home and how I used my belt to tie the oil pan up so it didn’t scrape the ground and we could drive home. Michael said I was clever.
Sometime during the hours, we spent with him Michael yelled “Jackie Muthafucka” very loudly at Jackie. He was doing an imitation of an American inner-city black man.
Flying planes
It’s possible that INXS thought we were rich because they saw us in so many places, but we were economizing in many of the same ways that they were. We shared hotel rooms or just drove back and forth from New Jersey and split the gas and toll expenses. Terri and I both had jobs. Jess and Terri had economy cars and I had no car because their parents were well-off compared to mine. I was lower middle class, and they were more like regular middle class or upper middle class. We shopped in New York City sometimes, but it was to find bargains on clothes. No expensive designer stuff for us.
But I think that was why Michael asked us if any of us knew how to fly an airplane. He said he wanted to learn how to be a pilot. The answer from us was no. I said to him that I didn’t think I was allowed to fly a plane because my eyesight was very bad. My impression was that there were restrictions for people who did not have 20-20 vision. I told Michael that I was wearing contact lenses and he looked into my eyes. When I said that I was afraid I would go blind someday, he looked very sad and said, “Don’t say that!” which I thought was weird. Then he said, “You can’t go blind” like that would be a tragedy for him so right away I told him, “Don’t worry, I won’t go blind” just to make him feel better and so he could stop being weird.
The conversation got around to my job as a waitress at the Emerson Hotel. Whenever I mentioned the Emerson Hotel to someone who didn’t know the place, I said that it’s not a hotel, it’s a restaurant and I said that to Michael. I said it was on Emerson Road in Emerson, New Jersey. He repeated, “Emerson, Emerson, Emerson” like he was trying to memorize it and he said he would come visit me at work.
Graveyards
I also talked about my love for the Old City neighborhood in Philadelphia. When I was in the city for school I liked to go down there and look around. The burial ground of Christ Church is where Benjamin Franklin is buried. I liked to hang out in that graveyard and when I said that Michael said “Wow, you like graveyards?” He looked and sounded smitten.
More staring
Around this time is when I noticed once again that when I looked his way, he was staring at me. I thought, “You want to stare? I can stare!”- like a staring contest but I didn’t know I was about to make a big mistake. As many, many people have said, Michael Hutchence could be quite mesmerizing so staring at him was not the smart thing to do. But I did it. Because I intended a staring contest, I stared back at him for a long time and then it had the effect that he wanted it to have. I started smiling at him. And then I got up and sat next to him on the other bed.
Attempted seduction
My friends now had to watch as Michael and I ignored them and focused on each other. I asked him, “Besides the Birthday Party, what are you into?” My desire was to get to know more about him. He answered, “You.” His desire was to seduce me. It’s hard to know if he had asked me if I had ever had a tan during this time or if it had happened earlier in the evening. But I see that now as “negging.” My skin was very pale and maybe he thought I was insecure about it but unfortunately for him, I was not an insecure person. Inexperienced was more like it which worked in his favor too, but not as well as insecurity would have.
Michael’s approach to seducing me was like a pick-up artist. He flattered me and laid it on thick. He said he loved me and that I was sweet, gorgeous, and he told me, “You understand things.” I said to him something like, “Gee, I’m flattered.” Not because I felt flattered but because he was obviously trying to flatter me, and I was trying to be polite. When he saw that I wasn’t buying it, he said, “You probably think I’m throwing you a bush but I’m not. I mean it.” The way he said it was like he really did mean the compliments he was giving me. But still, for me, it was hard to believe.
Kissing in front of my friends
The flattery wasn’t working so next he whispered in my ear, “Give me a kiss.” And that worked on me. I turned and looked at him and I gave him a kiss. When I gave him another kiss he put his tongue in my mouth. It was very enjoyable, so we made out for a while. I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath. After the second time I put my hand underneath his hair and held the back of his head while we kissed.
My poor friends. Michael was getting out of control. He started stroking my inner thigh and he grabbed my shirt and started tugging on the side it. He then grabbed the neck of the shirt and pulled it towards him while trying to stick his other hand down the front of my shirt. It was then that I smacked his hands off me and told him to “cut it out!” I realized that this had all just happened right in front of my friends and it seemed like he would have had sex with me right in front of them if I had not stopped him.
Trying to get me to stay
After I stopped him, he basically told all of us that he wanted to make love to me. I looked at my watch and I no longer remember what time it was exactly but it sometime between 3:30am and 5am. So, I told him that I couldn’t because I had to be at work in a few hours and we still had to drive back to New Jersey.
My friend Jess suggested that I call out sick and stay. She had the idea that they could pick me up in East Hampton. Michael jumped all over that idea and said that I could stay and then ride on the tour bus to the show in East Hampton and meet up with my friends there. I said that I would get fired if I didn’t go to work.
Michael suggested that my friends could sleep in one bed and that he was willing to have one guest in his bed-he meant me, of course-and he said that we wouldn’t do anything; we would just sleep. I insisted that I had to go home. He said, “It’s okay, I understand.” The way he said that bothered me-like he was a great guy for being so understanding. It was like he was giving me permission to go home.
He offered to give Terri some cocaine to help her stay awake for the ride home. We never saw the drug because Terri immediately declined. While we were in Michael’s room with him, nobody drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or did drugs of any kind.
Telling us what to wear
Now that it was clear that we were going to leave, the talk turned to clothes. Michael said, “Two years from now, I’m going to see you in a club in New York City. You will be wearing a tight, metallic, 50’s style dress that is down to your knees, and you are going to look unbelievable.” Then he told me that I should go to New York City and buy the dress on Broadway. I guess that was where the band shopped for clothes. He told Terri that she would look good in a cheap, black suit.
Time to leave
It was time to leave so Michael hugged Terri, Jess, and Jackie and they left the room. Michael wanted to know if my parents were the reason why I wasn’t staying and I said, “No, it’s my friends.” It was a lot more complicated than that but throwing my friends under the bus was the easy thing to do at the time.
We kissed a little more, but I was too distracted to enjoy it because Jess was yelling, “What about Kirk?” and Terri was yelling something too and I was worried about them waking up the other hotel guests.
Michael asked, “Will I see you again?” and I said yes. “Maybe” would have been a more honest answer because he was really asking if I would sleep with him in the future and I was going to consider it. Technically speaking, what I said wasn’t a lie because I already had plans to go to more INXS concerts and he did “see” me. He kissed me again and called me “smiley”. Before I left, he took my hand in his and bent down and kissed the back of my hand and then he said, “I want to ravish you.” I think I laughed and told him I had to go. And then I walked out of his hotel room and met up with my friends.
I felt about bad about what happened. I didn’t think I was the kind of person who would be rude enough to ignore my friends and then make out with a guy right in front of them. I didn’t want to be that kind of person either. In the car, Jackie told me that she would have done the same thing if she had been in my place.
Terri took this photo of Michael in front of Toad’s Place in New Haven on August 15, 1983.
This photo of Michael Hutchence was taken by Terri on August 15, 1983. INXS played at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut. I was not there but my friends were. That INXS had just seen them on the 15th probably explains why they let us into soundcheck on the 16th in Poughkeepsie (see Blog Post 3 for more).
I have this photo because I bought it from Terri back in the 80s. Both Terri and Jess sold photos that they took of INXS to fans to help defray the costs of film and developing. I think Terri got this shot when Michael was posing for some other photographer because a similar shot ended up in some magazine somewhere.
To get to the Garden State Arts Center, we drove down the Garden State Parkway. The Parkway has always had tolls. These days many of the tollbooths have been removed and replaced by sensors and you don’t have to stop at the ones that remain if you have EZ-Pass. You can drive right through at a slow speed.
Back in the 1980s, if you had exact change then you could stop and throw coins through your open car window into a bucket before proceeding. If not, then you went to a tollbooth with an attendant who could take your money for the toll and give you your change.
An example of what we threw our coins into from the car window.
This photo of the toll booth coin bucket is from this article-
You can see the route and distance to get from home to the INXS concert in Holmdel, NJ.
On our way down, we noticed that some of the tollbooths had posters advertising the concert we were going to. Jackie wanted one so the next time we saw one at the toll plaza, she got out of the car and took down the poster while we were stopped at the tollbooth.
The warning from The Go-Go’s bus driver
When we arrived at the Arts Center, we walked over to the backstage door. It wasn’t long before we were told to leave but that didn’t happen until after we spoke to The Go-Go’s’ tour bus driver.
My impression was that he was in his forties- old enough that he could have been our father. His name was Frank. We told him we were there to see INXS, and he said, “Watch out for that singer.” It was weird when he said something along the lines of “he was in some pants he couldn’t get out of.” I’m not sure what exactly he meant by that, but it was clearly something sexual. Now, at this time, none of us had any idea that he was messing around with Belinda Carlisle, but it turns out he was. Did he have his hand down her pants and wouldn’t or couldn’t take it out? We did not ask for clarification. Anyway, The Go-Go’s’ bus driver felt the need to warn us about Michael Hutchence. He told us to be careful and “don’t get hurt for a night of fun.” Clearly, he didn’t think that Michael Hutchence would have our best interests in mind.
I’m grateful for the warning even though it didn’t work at the time. It’s illuminating now. Frank was the bright spot among the men we met while we were doing this stuff. I don’t even know how much he would have seen. INXS had only been part of The Go-Go’s tour since June 22- eleven days at that point. Was he even their bus driver for the whole time? Who knows?
Ever since I watched the Richard Lowenstein documentary, Mystify: Michael Hutchence, in 2020, I have been doing a lot of research so I can know as much as possible about what really happened in 1984 and beyond.
Mystify: Michael Hutchence documentary trailer
What I didn’t know about Michael and Belinda in 1984
Belinda Carlisle’s autobiography contained the most useful information of the books I have read by members of The Go-Go’s. Kathy Valentine’s book didn’t have much useful information to offer about INXS. Gina Schock’s didn’t either-there was nothing that I didn’t already know.
The Go-Go’s started their tour with INXS as the opening act on June 22, 1984 with two nights at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Michigan about 40 miles outside of Detroit.
Belinda wrote that she and Michael hooked up about two days into the tour. So, around the time that Jackie saw INXS in Chicago on June 24, the third date of the tour, is probably when Belinda and Michael started having sex.
As I wrote in my first blog post, I joined a Facebook group for INXS fans back in 2019. One of the women in the group shared a story about having seen Michael Hutchence and Belinda Carlisle in a club in Cleveland and they were rolling around on the floor together. Belinda in her book said that she was partying even harder than Michael was at the time and both were partying very hard. They had a show in Cleveland on June 26, 1984, so this sighting occurred either that night or the previous night if both bands had already arrived in town from Chicago.
On the morning of June 27, 1984, INXS did a live show for a Cleveland radio station. I have the CD from that show. Michael mentioned in an interview during that concert that the band had to catch a flight to New York. They did and we met them when they arrived at their hotel in New York.
The cover of the INXS CD of the special morning radio concert at the Cleveland Agora on June 27, 1984Screenshot from Amazon that gives information about the concert CD.
Based on what Gina Schock wrote in her book, Michael and possibly other members of INXS went out to clubs with her and Belinda that night. This was not something we heard about when we saw them. We weren’t invited and I’m not sure we would have gone if we had been. It would have been boring for me as it usually was because I didn’t care for clubs and bars. I only drank a little and I didn’t do drugs and neither did my friends.
The drummer for The Go-Go’s, Gina Schock, had a book published.
According to Andy Warhol’s diary and Belinda’s book, there was a party thrown for The Go-Go’s after they played Radio City Music Hall on June 28th at a club in New York City. I don’t know if anyone from INXS was invited or was at the party. The books don’t say.
I ordered Belinda Carlisle’s book to read on my Kindle.
Now that I am done adding some information that pertains to Michael and Belinda and the tour up until now, I will get back to the story.
Back to July 2nd. Birthday Presents for Kirk
After we were kicked out from the area near the backstage door, we stood near the road where the tour bus would have to come in and we waited for INXS to arrive. When we saw the bus, I think Terri waved to get the bus to stop. We had presents to give to Kirk for his birthday on July 4th. The bus stopped and Gary Grant opened the door. Jess was the one who handed him our gifts and told him they were for Kirk’s birthday. My friends told me that everyone in the band waved to us from the bus windows, but I only saw Andrew Farriss wave.
I gave Kirk a coffee mug, an American flag, sparklers (for the 4th of July), and an entire issue of The Weekly World News. The main story was about a priest who burst into flames while performing an exorcism.
The actual cover of the Weekly World News I gave to Kirk Pengilly.
Security was a pain at this concert too. It was very difficult to find seats down in front when everyone was forced by security to sit down and there were more people than there were seats. We didn’t have tickets for seats near the stage. Jackie, Jess, and Terri had to move around a lot. I spent most of the show over on Kirk’s side of the stage and I was able to do that because a nice girl named Joyce let me share her seat with her when we were told to sit down.
During the show, the band noticed where we ended up whenever we had to move. It was always fun to interact with them. Sometimes, we would put our arms up and sway or clap and some members of the band would pick it up from us. Other times, the band would do something, and we would copy them. During the song “I Send A Message” my friends and I would all yell “Hey, Timmy” just before his guitar solo.
While INXS played the song “Original Sin,” Michael Hutchence came over to Kirk’s side of the stage and he noticed that Joyce and I were sitting together in the same seat. When he did, he smiled at us, and I smiled back at him. When the show was over, I asked Joyce for her address so I could write to her. She gave it to me. I think I might have told her that we knew the band and I would write to her about it.
Following the bus again
Once again, we waited in our car for INXS to leave the Garden State Arts Center in their tour bus and we followed the bus when it left. This time we lost the bus for a bit after we stopped in a highway rest stop and made a wrong turn. But we found them again when we saw the tour bus stopped at a different highway rest stop. We pulled over on the shoulder of the highway and then waited for the tour bus to return to the road. Once it did, we pulled out behind the bus again and followed them-we didn’t know where we would end up.
The time and distance between the INXS concert and their hotel on Long Island.
INXS gets out of the bus at their hotel
All of us got out of the car and went over to the bus to wait for the band to emerge. I no longer had a big problem with doing it as we seemed to be welcome. Kirk and Karen got off the bus. Karen was holding the American flag that was part of my birthday present to Kirk. Kirk thanked us for the presents. He said, “I got the whole paper”, and it sounded like he was bragging. It was also a reference to the fact that Garry only received part of the Weekly World News when I gave him a birthday gift. Yes, Kirk was my favorite, and I gave him a much better present than the one I gave to Garry Gary. Kirk told us that the paper was passed around the bus so everyone could look at it during the ride. He also said that he would stop by at the bar later, but he never showed up. More about that in a future post.
Jon Farriss got off the bus and we talked to him. We asked him where INXS would be playing on their own the next day, July 3rd. He said, “I don’t know. East Hampstead, New Hampshire, East Hamster, something like that.” The official list of concert dates that INXS compiled has the wrong town listed too. They played in East Hampton on Long Island the next day. More about that in the future post I mentioned. I bought the deluxe edition of Calling All Nations from INXS because I wanted the list of their shows which they call Gigography.
It seems that Michael spent the long bus ride drinking alcohol and having his hair braided by Karen. At that time, Karen was a hairdresser. I don’t remember how I knew that-did someone from the band tell me or my friends or did we read it somewhere- I have no idea, but it was something I knew.
Michael drunk on the pavement
Michael came out of the bus, and he was very drunk. He took a few steps and then decided to make himself comfortable on the pavement near us in the parking lot. He was lying on the ground. The rest of the band just left him there and went about their business.
Garry Gary came off the bus and he was carrying his bass in a case. Michael saw that and said that Garry had a gun. Then Michael started babbling about the gun that he had. It was the replica of a Russian gun, and you could flip up one of the pieces, etc., etc. I had no idea what he was trying to describe to us.
Michael was still on the ground when he took out a cigarette and a lighter. Jackie ended up lighting Michael’s cigarette for him while he insisted that he was able to light the cigarette himself. But people were happy to do things for him and always willing to do things for him and to give things to him. Jackie wanted to do it.
He made a very interesting remark about the drunken state he was in. He said that if he kept up what he was doing that he would be an alcoholic by the end of the year. But we shouldn’t worry about him because he would not keep it up. Incredible that he would say that to us when he barely knew us. Did we look so concerned that he felt he needed to say that? Or was he just kidding himself that he didn’t really have a problem?
Eventually he stood up and he continued to talk to us. The subject turned to cars, and he told us he had a Citroen and that he was going to buy a new car when he got home- a five speed. We also heard about Kirk’s old car and how they used to drive it at a low speed and then one of them would jump on the hood of the car and then roll off it on the other side-like stunt men in the movies getting hit by a car.
Michael acting stupid
When a big car drove by us as it was leaving the parking lot, Michael went to jump out in front of it like he was going to demonstrate what he and Kirk did but then he stopped. After that, I thought Michael was fucking crazy. Then he said that the car that drove by was “awful.”
Michael told me that he saw me in the audience at the show and noticed that I was sharing a seat. I’m sure I told him all about that. Terri asked Michael to take his hair out of the braid it was in because she didn’t like it that way. And Michael did it while telling us that he doesn’t care about hair. He said in his soft, lispy, voice that he was trying to grow his hair long like a hippie and that many people complained to him that it “looked uncool or something.”
I decided to get lottery numbers from Michael, so I asked him to pick a number for me. Jackie suggested 69- ha, ha, ha, get it? The first number he chose was 4. I told him I already play that number so he should pick another one. He picked 8. Then I asked him if he could even count as high as 36. (The NJ Pick-6 Lotto at the time had numbers from 1-36.)
What I said was a joke that was meant to mock him and insult him because I didn’t have a high opinion of him, and I didn’t like or respect him. Michael was offended and hurt by it. He seems to have thought that everyone considered him stupid. I had touched a sore spot. He said, “I’m not dumb” and asked, “why do people always think I am?” His reaction told me something about him. He cared too much about what other people thought of him.
Michael’s British friends show up
Our time with Michael in the parking lot came to an end when three British guys who knew Michael showed up. One guy was named William, and he was or had been a roadie for The Stray Cats. Michael went into the hotel with them.
INXS opened for The Stray Cats a few times in 1983 when they came to the United States for the first time. First, they opened for Adam Ant. Then they opened for The Kinks for one show, played at the US Festival, and opened for The Stray Cats before going back to Australia in June of 1983. So, he would have met William then.
This story will continue in the next blog post because the night is not over for us.
Photo by Jess. Jon Farriss playing drums at a concert in September 1983
The day after the show at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, June 29, 1984, INXS opened for The Go-Go’s at a show in Boston. That day, I waitressed at the Emerson Hotel from 5pm until 1am. The restaurant closed at one but if I still had customers I would have to stay until they left. If I was scheduled to work until 2am, that meant I would have to stay until after all the customers left, and then put all the chairs on top of the tables before vacuuming the entire dining area. The only reason I survived the summer of 1984 was because I was 19. And even so, I almost didn’t survive because I almost fell asleep while driving home from my 11th INXS concert in August. More about that in a future post.
June 25- July 1, 1984. Donna’s calendar. INXS and work.
The theater in Jones Beach is about 57 miles from Hillsdale, NJ and because one must drive through New York City to get there, it takes an hour and a half to two hours to do it.
An idea of how long it takes to drive from Hillsdale, NJ to the Jones Beach theater and the route.
When we arrived at the theater, Jess drove the car into a parking lot that was close to the backstage area and parked the car behind a dumpster so we would not be seen because we were not supposed to be in that lot.
Then we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited for quite a long time. Somehow, we knew what the RV that the roadies for INXS used to get around looked like and noticed when it arrived at the theater.
I decided to get out of the car and move closer to see if anything interesting was happening while trying to stay hidden by crouching behind the other cars. When I got close to the road, two guys saw me. I could tell that they saw me, and I had nowhere to go so I decided to bluff my way out of it by walking over to them and asking if there was a bathroom nearby.
One of the guys walked me out of the backstage area parking lot to the front of the theater. He asked me if I had parked in the lot where he had found me. There was no way I was going to divulge where my friends were still hiding so I told the guy I was there by myself, and I had parked my car “out there” while waving my arm towards the parking lot in front of the theater.
Waiting for my friends to come out from behind the dumpster
There was nothing I could do but stand around and wait for my friends. I had no ticket, no money, and mosquitos were eating me alive. Two other girls were also waiting in front of the theater, so I spoke to them. They told me that they were supposed to be going backstage, but they couldn’t because Atco had not put them on the guest list. Again. So, they were annoyed.
Eventually, Jess, Terri and Jackie drove out from the backstage area because it was getting late and INXS had not arrived. By the time INXS arrived, it was too late for a soundcheck. We were standing near the road to the backstage area and when their bus drove by we waved at them, and they waved back at us.
A clever plan
We had a situation with our seats where Terri had a seat down in the front section of the venue and the rest of us had seats on a higher level. Once we went into the theater, we devised a plan so we could all get down in front. The great thing about INXS being the opening act was that there were plenty of empty seats near the front of the stage that we could take if we could get down there.
So, we all went to the concession stand and we all bought soda and popcorn, so our hands were full. Then we walked down to the section where Terri’s seat was, and she showed her ticket stub to the usher. She told him that we were with her, so the usher let us follow her. It worked exactly as planned and we found ourselves seats on Timmy’s side of the stage in the third or fourth row.
INXS on stage
INXS arranged themselves on stage in the same way at every show. If you are looking at the stage from the audience, Jon, the drummer was in the center at the back. Garry Gary, the bassist, was to the right of Jon. Andrew, the keyboardist, was to the left of Jon. At the front of the stage, Michael, the singer, was in the center, and the two guitarists were on either side- Timmy to the right and Kirk to the left.
Kirk Pengilly was my favorite member of INXS, but I almost always watched the show from either the center or the right side where Timmy and Garry Gary were because I went to concerts with Terri and Jess and their favorites were Timmy and Garry Gary, respectively. So, I was outnumbered.
The concert
Once the show started, the guys doing the security for the theater did their best to make sure the audience did not have fun. They were jerks who constantly came around and told people to sit down.
Michael Hutchence kept making comments like “seatbelts off!” because he wanted people to get up and dance. I would stand up again whenever the security guy walked away after making me sit down. Michael even gave that guy the middle finger when he made people sit down.
I wrote in my diary that Kirk came over to our side of the stage when he was playing a guitar solo. He looked at us and raised his eyebrows a few times.
The last song
INXS was known for ending their sets with the song “Don’t Change.” That didn’t always happen, but it usually did. Certainly, every show I saw in 1984 ended with “Don’t Change.”
When INXS started playing “Don’t Change”, I left my seat and went into the aisle so I could dance. The security guy came over and told me to go back to my seat, so I did, but only for a moment. I went back into the aisle again and I decided I would stay there.
There’s an instrumental break in the song where Jon is only playing the bass drum- two beats in quick succession and then three even beats. During that part I raised my arms over my head and clapped my hands to the beat of the bass drum. I watched Timmy while I was doing this.
The security guy came over and started yelling in my face to go back to my seat, but I kept clapping. Then he grabbed my arms while they were still over my head and started pushing me backwards. At that moment I looked at Timmy and he smiled at me. I smiled back at him and started walking backwards to my row while the security guy was still holding my arms and threatening to kick me out. I felt very defiant and heroic.
INXS video of Don’t Change
This video of INXS playing “Don’t Change” live during the portion of Live Aid that was performed in Australia in July 1985 shows where the band members typically stood on stage. Also, it shows Timmy doing the clapping during the instrumental break. It’s also a performance where Michael gets the words slightly mixed up. “Don’t Change” is a simple song and it was one of their most performed, but Michael often messed up the lyrics. It was one of the first things I noticed about him. I knew the lyrics better than he did.
The Go-Go’s
It would not have mattered if we had been kicked out because we were leaving anyway. We did not stay to see The Go-Go’s perform. Not that day or any other.
The Go-Go’s on the Tonight Show with Joan Rivers, August 7, 1984 after INXS split from their tour.
Near the backstage door
We walked outside to where there was a backstage area of sorts and stood around waiting outside of a chain link fence. I did not want to be outside waiting for the band because I didn’t think it was cool to be waiting there with a bunch of screaming girls. Expressing my displeasure didn’t do me any good. My friends wanted to do it, so we did it. Terri had something she wanted to give to Garry Gary or to have signed by Garry Gary-something like that.
The t-shirt guy for The Go-Go’s (the guy who sold their merchandise) talked to me. About what, I no longer remember. My diary says that I told him that I wasn’t waiting for INXS-my friends were waiting for them.
I also talked to Tony, the guy who sold the INXS t-shirts. Tony was looking around for the 14-year-old girl he wanted to pick up. Disgusting! In my diary I wrote, “it made me ill to listen to them” talk about the girls who were there. But I never called them pigs or said anything about how disgusted I was by what I saw and heard. I only noticed all of it, and wrote it down, and remembered it. The 80s were a time when women and girls smiled, laughed, shrugged it off, took it. I wish I had done more fighting or screaming or something.
Tony asked me if I wanted to dance and I said, “not now” and he said, “Oh, after the guys go by?” I said to him, “I don’t care.” Because I didn’t care if I saw INXS or not. I had already met them, and I didn’t want anything from them. Kirk had a girlfriend, and she was with him.
When INXS came out from the theater, Terri yelled “Garry!” several times from where we were behind the fence- trying to get his attention. Later we found out that Gary Grant thought that Terri was yelling at him to try to get him to come over. I have no idea if Garry Gary or anyone came over or not because I didn’t write it down. I don’t think anyone did.
Following the bus
We ran off to get into the car so we could be ready to follow the tour bus when INXS left Jones Beach. At the time, we did not know where they were staying. I was embarrassed that we were following them like they were the Beatles, and we were crazed fans because we were not. While our car followed right behind them, we could watch the movie that was playing in their tour bus. There was a TV, and we could see it through the back window of the bus. It was National Lampoon’s Vacation, a comedy that starred Chevy Chase and that was released in July 1983.
I think this gave Jess and Terri the idea to tape TV shows and movies for INXS to watch while they traveled by tour bus. It wasn’t me because I didn’t own a VCR. My family had cable TV but no way to record anything. Money was too tight to buy a VCR. Later on, they presented the band with videotapes. I remember that Jess gave them a tape with the mini-series Shogun on it. There were others but I don’t remember how many or what was on them.
The Holiday Inn, Rockville Centre
The bus arrived at the hotel and so did we. I was so embarrassed about following INXS that I didn’t want to get out of the car. But everyone else was getting out and then when we saw Timmy, he invited us to come to the bar and have a drink with him, so I got over it.
A route between the Jones Beach theater and the Holiday Inn in Rockville Centre.AI Overview of the original Holiday Inn that existed in 1984 and the hotel at the same location today.
Andrew, Timmy, and Jon Farriss were the only members of INXS who were on the bus. Gary Grant also came back to the hotel after the show but the other three did not. We heard that Kirk and Karen went off on their own to New York City. Michael and Garry stayed with The Go-Go’s and also went to the city. My internalized misogyny makes an appearance in my diary from time to time like when I wrote that “Michael and Garry were in NYC with The No-Go’s and fat Belinda.”
The bar was in a building that was separate from the hotel rooms. Walking in, the bar was at the back of the room with the long side facing the door. It wrapped around on the left side and met the wall, and it had an opening on the right side for the bartender to go in and out. On the right side of the room there was a small open area with a jukebox, a drum kit, and dance floor. There were several tables on the left side of the room.
I ordered a drink right away and met the bartender who was an old guy named Danny. He had white hair, so he seemed to me to be over 60. The guy was chatty, and he made a lot of jokes.
Tim Farriss
Andrew, Timmy and Jon sat at the bar. Timmy was with a woman named Barbie and we were told that she was from Boston and in the music business. She must have traveled with INXS from Boston since that’s where they were the night before. In my diary, I called her a bitch. She was unfriendly and I don’t think she wanted us around.
Timmy thanked Terri several times for the “Stay Young” t-shirt that Terri made for James Lee, Timmy’s firstborn son, who was only about two years old. James Lee was taking after his uncle Jon, according to Timmy. He told us how James Lee took cooking pots and set them up on the floor in the kitchen and then asked for sticks so he could bang on them.
Gary Grant
The first thing Gary Grant did when he saw us in the bar was to yell at Terri about what she had done earlier in the day. It was not okay for her to call him over. He didn’t want people to know who he was, and also- he was busy. Terri apologized and explained that she was trying to get Garry Gary to come over and not him. Then she said she understood that he had a hard job and bought him a drink. All was forgiven.
Gary Grant then started joking that he had terrible problems; his wife had been raped, his house and kids had been burned, and he was going to die in an hour.
In the spirit of the Monty Python skit where four Yorkshiremen sit around and tell increasingly horrible stories of what they endured in order to outdo the other guys, I told him I was going to be tortured and die in three hours. He said I beat him.
The Four Yorkshiremen Monty Python sketch
Soon it was just us, Jon, Gary Grant, and a roadie for INXS named Vance in the bar. Timmy left with Barbie and never came back. I don’t think Andrew stayed long in the first place. Andrew wasn’t sociable and he didn’t seem to want to be on tour, so we mostly left him alone.
Vance the roadie
Vance was a good-looking guy; also, Australian. I noticed that he was “giving me the eye” like he was interested in getting to know me. I deliberately avoided making eye contact with him because I was not interested.
After a while, all I wanted to do was go home because I had to start work at noon the next day and work straight through until nine at night. It was a strenuous job-on my feet all day and walking around carrying heavy trays full of plates. I didn’t know how I was going to get through my shift. I was bored and tired, so I walked outside where I sat on some steps that led to the rooms. My head was down, and I was resting when Vance came out to talk to me.
I complained to him that I was tired, and I had to be at work the next day. Bars in New York stayed open until 4am so it was possible to stay out very late. Most of what we might have talked about has been forgotten. What I wrote down was that Vance told me to look on the bright side of things and he suggested that I should have another drink.
That seems like an innocuous thing to say, right? But it’s not. It’s the kind of thing that predatory men do so they have a better chance of getting what they want. Maybe I would loosen up or become interested if I drank more alcohol. When I went back into the bar, I didn’t have another drink.
Gary Grant, on the other hand, was quite drunk. He was singing along to the song “Mona Lisa” that the jukebox was playing and that was funny. Either I blurted out that it was Nat King Cole, or someone asked if I knew who the singer was, and I said it was Nat King Cole. Anyway, Jon was surprised and impressed that I knew it was Nat King Cole.
Mona Lisa video
That was one of many, many things that annoyed me out of everything that happened. Because Jon was only three years older than me and no one in INXS was even born when “Mona Lisa” was released in 1950. The song was a big hit. It was number one for five weeks and it won an Oscar. Why wouldn’t I know it?
Playing the drums
At some point, I got so bored with being in this bar that I took a seat behind the drum kit, picked up the brushes that were there, and started playing along to the music from the jukebox. I was playing a cymbal with my right hand and the snare drum with my left hand.
Gary Grant took a bowl from the top of the bar and placed it on the floor in front of the drum kit. Jon came over and gave me some pointers and complimented my drumming quite often. He told me to use my left hand for the cymbal and my right hand for the snare, so I started drumming that way. But when he told me to start playing the bass drum with my foot too, I was too scared to try because I thought it would be too difficult and I would fail.
Jon told me that I needed some practice, but I would be stupid if I didn’t take up the drums. He said I have rhythm and “when you have it, it’s easy.” “When I show you something, you pick it up right away. A lot of people would sit there and say ‘duh.’”
When I finished playing, I picked up the bowl. I made 47 cents and a piece of popcorn. Not bad.
Finally, it was time to leave. Danny, the old guy bartender, said he would take me to see the next INXS concert and then we would hang out with Jon in the bar and Jon would give me more drum lessons. As usual, I humored this old guy-just laughed along and agreed. It was just easier to go along in the moment and then either not take it seriously or just not do it because I didn’t want to. I didn’t even know if it was meant seriously anyway.
You Never Used To Cry
Jackie started to cry after Jon kissed her goodbye. She loved him. I did the same thing to Jon Farriss that I had done to Andrew and Timmy. I held out my hand and told him my name. “Hi, I’m Donna!” Jon and I shook hands. Then we left and drove back to New Jersey.
Michael Hutchence, INXS, July 1984, Photo by Jackie
Where I left off:
Sophomore year of college has ended, and I have returned to Hillsdale, New Jersey for the summer. I’m waitressing at the Emerson Hotel (which is not a hotel but only a restaurant) for the second summer in a row. My friends and I are waiting for word on when INXS will tour.
5/29/84
I just pigged out on Doritos and two candy bars. Now Frank keeps telling me I’m going to get fat. No way. I’ve been working a lot and also doing stretching and exercise as well. I just have to get a haircut and I’ll look great.
Meatballs is on TV. I’m reading the Weekly World News. I’m getting slightly bored. I shouldn’t have eaten so much. I’m drinking Dr. Pepper to stay awake.
I got out of work late today. The party wasn’t too much work. I made $21 today.
I’m still waiting to get paid from the school. Hopefully the financial aid thing will come soon so I know how much I need to save this summer. Then when I’ve saved that I can buy things.
Time to go to bed. After tomorrow I will have worked seven days straight. Kim B has broken my 100m record. [One of my high school track records.] It makes me nauseous.
The trailer for Meatballs from 1979
More diary entries
In this entry I am sitting in Friendly’s eating a Sunday for some of the time. I mention opening a bank account because I had to hide my tip money from my brother (not Danny). This brother would steal various things like my coin collection or money so he could buy pot (marijuana). He would also eat the food that I bought. During both summers I was home waitressing I hid money in a suitcase in my closet-much of it was in dollar bills.
5/30/84
For the third day in a row the weather has been for the ducks and other amphibious creatures. I just saw Mr. DeCaro in Westwood. [A teacher from my high school.] I’m surprised he recognized me.
Sammy (one of the Albanian kitchen workers) kept saying “You get mashed potatoes for lunch”. He made sure I’d get some because I didn’t yesterday. He is nice. I still don’t understand him half of the time like when I was leaving, he said something about plants or something. Who knows?
David [Head cook at the Emerson Hotel] is starting in again with the still waters run deep stuff. Now I’m a prostitute in NY on my days off. Alicia [a fellow waitress] is the only one David treats halfway nicely, and he does it to get whoever he can steamed about it. He fed her Veal Parm a couple of times.
I should open a bank account and get my money out of the house.
Original Sin made it into the 50s and is now falling.
I’m at Friendly’s now. Another fit of hyperactivity and a whipped cream craving brought me here.
Gary Grant called Terri today. It seems that June is the month. I wonder what the future will bring?
Oh gee, I think life is just too exciting for me. I pity the people who work here. If I had to deal with all of these definite psychopaths every day, I don’t know what I’d do. They probably think I’m one of them. At least I’m quiet.
At least where I work, they’re too old to be rowdy. Too much excitement and they’d probably have a stroke. I should check out the parking lot in front of Medi Mart to see the lake.
Hillsdale is such a beat town. Two rednecks followed me in Music Merchant today. Where are all the real men? If I get some definite plans soon, I can arrange for days off. I love when people in jogging suits come in for a sundae.
David was saying how Alicia came in and told everyone she played the flute. The skin flute? These people must make garbage money. There’s another lone girl drinking coffee and smoking.
5/31/84
I said I wasn’t going to waste time, but it is three o’clock and I’ve done nothing. I just went to Quick Chek [a convenience store near Friendly’s. Half a mile from my house] to get lunch. Maybe I’ll go for a long walk later. I slept until after noon. It was so cold and dark outside I just couldn’t get out of bed. That is a habit I must break if I want to make the best use of my time. I made an appointment to get my haircut on Saturday.
I went up to PV [Pascack Valley High School where I went to school. Eight-tenths of a mile from my house] and looked to see if the record board was on the wall. It wasn’t. I jumped over a hurdle a few times and took a couple of long jumps. I jumped almost fourteen feet in my estimation. That’s pretty good for not having trained for two years and for wearing pants. There’s junk on TV as usual. I’m watching Oh Heavenly Dog. On my second walk I watched a rabbit eat.
6/1/84
I’m going to see Breakin’ today. I spoke to Terri on the phone recalling past stupidity over the wire like when someone called for Nora and I said, “She’s not here right now”. “When will she be back?” “Actually, she doesn’t live here”.
Breakin’ had good dancing but not much plot and terrible acting.
INXS is going to be here in the next two or three weeks. They have a date in Seattle on June 21.
I’m kind of depressed. I’m going to sleep now.
Trailer for Breakin’
Jean Paul Sartre and a new haircut
I needed to cut all my permed hair off because it looked like this. This photo also shows the hat I wore to the first INXS concert I went to in 1984. More on that soon.
At Jes’ house in 1983. Old photo. Donna. Sometime after start of sophomore year at Penn.
6/2/84
It’s almost time to get my haircut. My hair will probably never be this long again. I hope it turns out nice.
I finally finished Nausea. Roquentin’s life is over even though he is still alive because he has discovered that existence is meaningless. He thinks he is superfluous. “Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.”
A YouTube video about Jean Paul Sartre’s novel, “Nausea.” I chose this video because it features a real person and isn’t created or narrated by AI.
6/3/84
Another Sunday over and done with. In twelve hours, I will be back working. I hope I don’t have dreams where I wait on people all night like last night. Everyone has complimented me on my haircut. It is very short, but I like it a lot. I have to see how punky it can get.
One table of Joanne’s was very nice. The woman said I could be a model pretty much because I am tall. “Tall is in”, she said. I suppose I can stop in at Reinhard’s [the Philly modeling agency] when I get back to school. It couldn’t hurt. I’d like to do a commercial or get into acting maybe. I wonder where I’ll be when I’m forty.
After the haircut
My new haircut. I am next to my brother Danny.
Mostly entries about work
I’ve included these to give an idea of what my job was like and how much money I made. Also to show that I did not have my own car and I had to share the cars with my mother and my mother’s husband, Carl. He had a vintage Mercedes that he brought to the marriage. He was not at all wealthy though. As a baker, he worked long hours and very hard, but he made very little profit. My mother was the primary wage earner. She was a chemist at a paper company.
Some guy was choking today. Jackie [a fellow waitress] tried to help him, but she wasn’t strong enough. Some man gave him the Heimlich maneuver and got the food out.
Yesterday, the police and ambulance were there because some old lady looked like she had an attack. She was OK too. It was a decent lunch today-$23. Usually, I only make about $15. I was worried this morning that I wouldn’t get to work because Carl took the car somewhere, but I made it.
I just went up to the track and ran a mile in 7:06. I’m not in terrible shape but I’ll be sore tomorrow. I saw Mr. Heinz [a teacher from my high school and one of my track coaches] and he told me that Kim B broke my 100 and long jump records. Heinz thinks it will take two more years for her to break the rest of them.
6/6/84
I hate working parties at lunch. Alice [my boss] wanted me to work on Friday, but I said no because I’m going to be up all of Thursday night. [Going to see Thomas Dolby in concert.] Alice is such a bitch. She doesn’t tell us anything and then chides us when we make a mistake. Jimmy (the owner) was getting on my nerves too. I don’t like people talking condescendingly to me. David (the cook) got on my nerves too. I want to get my ear double pierced tonight. Terri was bothering me about getting my hair cut short, but I told her to shut up until she sees it tomorrow.
6/7/84
Good morning. Off from work at last!
I went to Nanuet last night and got my right ear double pierced. People lie when they say it doesn’t hurt. I also bought a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I’m listening to Taking Tiger Mountain, the Brian Eno tape I bought yesterday. All of his records are the lowest price on the chart at Music Merchant.
Mom better not be getting nosy in my stuff because it is not her business. If she does then no way am I coming back to live here again if I can help it. Time to eat and watch the soaps. I have an hour to kill before I have to be at Terri’s.
Thomas Dolby concert & INXS is coming soon!
6/8/84
In three weeks, they are here. [INXS] June 28 at Radio City. June 30 at Jones Beach and July 2 at Holmdel.
The concert last night wasn’t as good as the other one I saw. It was too hot and sticky and hard to see. I’m sure that girl keyboard player is a transvestite. If she isn’t then she is an extremely ugly girl. My stomach acted up on me again. I missed Windpower because I had to go to the bathroom.
Terri and Jess seem to be sticks in the mud. I’ll deal with it if the time comes to. Driving in NYC is enough to give anyone an ulcer or heart attack. The drivers are crazy. We drove through Harlem, and it was really sad. Some places looked like they’d been bombed. We drove past an open fire hydrant and Terri said “Open the window” so I did, and we got soaked. She was only kidding but I’ll do just about anything if it is suggested.
Windpower video
Soccer
6/10/84
It has been a long day. It went by like it was three days instead of ten hours. I didn’t make much money today. My tables were cheap tippers. I told people I was getting a tattoo because Toni [a fellow waitress] is my idol. I was afraid to ask Alice for days off, but I did it and she marked it down in the book. I used Jackie Fuhrmann as my excuse.
It is so fucking hot. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well tonight. Yesterday was the Sting game. Karl Heinz Granitza gave us some tickets and so did Seninho. Karl Heinz gave his jersey to Terri. The Sting left right after the game. We hung out and then went to the Front Row and talked.
My dad was a psycho
6/12/84
I woke up early today because Mom needed a ride to work. She is going to be away until Friday. I drove the Mercedes for the first time. It is easy to handle but it moves by itself, and I get startled every time it shifts gears on its own.
Yesterday, Danny drove me into Westwood. I went to Berkeley elementary school. It is a lot smaller than I remember. Of course, everything looks big when you are small. I can’t imagine myself that short. I went down by the brook and saw the waterfall. There was a no trespassing sign and a bunch of geese. I thought they were patrolling the property because they came towards me when I stepped on the grass. I don’t know why I was afraid of them. They don’t even have teeth. I walked back home and then ate dinner. I have to get out of the house when everyone else is there.
I went to the diner with Danny and Steven Flood. I think we were a bit loud while we were there. We were reminiscing. We talked about the old neighborhood in Westwood. We talked about the crazy and delinquent things that we did and about how psychotic my father was. We went driving in NY state and then came back here. We brought back Bill with us. He is also a busboy at the diner.
We played a game of Trivial Pursuit. Steven won with the help of a few lucky guesses. I came in second. Danny finally came in third at 2:30 in the morning.
I think I will close tonight at work. I don’t mind because I get a break to eat. Everyone there keeps saying how I talk more now and I’m getting wise. I can talk to other people easier. I’m more friendly than I used to be.
More harassment in New York City
6/13/84
I’m getting a taste of the days when there was no electricity. There was a huge storm when I was in NYC, and I guess that caused a power outage. I don’t think people ate Chef Boyardee mini ravioli in those days. I’m writing by candlelight-how romantic.
Terri and I went into the city to shop for clothes. I bought shoes, shorts, a dress, and some tops. It was hot earlier. Terri wore shorts but she regretted it when the comments and looks started. I bought a bird whistle from a man with one arm, and I decided to give it to Garry Gary for his birthday. Terri bought James Lee a red shirt and is going to put Stay Young on it and give it to Timmy. Someone gave me grapes for free and some other people offered us coffee. I don’t know why.
Working Tuesday night was a bitch. I got stuck with a lot of parties at one point. I had a fucking jerkoff table of six that left me $4.50 on a $70 check. Dicks.
I have to copy some good Ed Anger phrases so I can remember like “I’m sicker than a hog with a belly full of wild onions” and “Madder than Richard Simmons with a run in his leotard.”
I don’t think I would be able to survive without electricity. I’m too accustomed to it by now. I can still play my Casio because it has batteries.
Financial Aid
6/14/84
Someone is paving our driveway, and it is very noisy. I made a lot of money in May, but I haven’t saved much. I should enter the MTV party house contest. I would win a house in Indiana! Oh wow! Then me and John Mellencamp would paint the mother pink.
I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with my wardrobe. I still need something decent to wear. The dress I bought was too small and I don’t like it. My stomach is a pain. I don’t look good in some things because of it and buying pants and skirts is a pain. I’m not satisfied with much of anything today.
I got the good news from the school. The grand total for my fine institution is $15,200. [That’s equivalent to about $47,400 in 2025.] I have to come up with $1300. [I paid a share determined by the university. My mother paid a share determined by the university. The rest was covered by financial aid, grants, and student loans.] That’s not too bad. I’ll have that in two weeks.
I finished reading 1984. It is a great book. I don’t know how easily I would succumb to doublethink. I did solve a mystery because of that book. I read about the snakes and ladders game which in this country is called chutes and ladders. I’m restless again. I feel like going for a walk or staying up all night.
A video about Chutes and Ladders. George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, mentions a game called Snakes and Ladders and I was able to deduce that the game was the same as the one in America called Chutes and Ladders. The INXS song “Melting in the Sun” has the lyric, “take a snake or take a ladder” and now I knew what that lyric meant. I had never heard of Snakes and Ladders before.
6/16/84
Bridget [fellow waitress] was encouraging about my future. She said I would get a new wardrobe, a good job, make lots of money, take vacations. I guess I should want that. I don’t know. She was encouraging me to go to Florida. [To see INXS in concert.] I suppose I could afford another trip.
I bought gray pants today. I have my outfit for Radio City. I keep going back and forth between thinking I look good and thinking I look awful. People are overly critical about their own looks. I saw Kathy [member of my high school track team] where I bought the pants. She works there doing the same thing as Terri-straightening out the racks and shit. We don’t have much in common besides track.
6/17/84
Home at last. Work sucked as it usually does on Sunday. I forgot Dad on this Father’s Day. Out of sight, out of mind.
6/18/84
Jackie will be here a week from tomorrow. I might go to Florida. [To see INXS in concert.] I have enough money for school, so I just need money for Florida. I’m going to see Ghostbusters tonight. There is too much to do. I want to be wealthy-then I wouldn’t have to work and could spend time on more important things.
Fun in New York City
6/19/84
Tomorrow I’m going into the city again. We are going to check out Canal St. I have a month to save the money for Florida.
6/20/84
I’m so tired. I got a message that Alice [my boss] called. She must have called this morning, but I’ve been in the city all day. I didn’t get back until 11:30pm.
I met Dana, the INXS Alliance girl. She has a job with the booking agent for The Go-Gos. That is a good job to have. I can’t afford to have a job just for making connections.
I’m not in the best of moods right now. It’s the usual anxiety attack.
I’m listening to a Chinese tape that I bought in Chinatown. I had fun today. I bought some earrings that mean happiness in Chinese. The owner translated all of the earrings for us. I also bought a Chinese mask. I got my fortune at a Buddhist temple for 50 cents. It says-“Probability of Success- excellent. Wherever in the world you may travel, some mystery you sure will unravel. A simple mallet dug out from gravel may turn to be a president’s gavel.” Some Chinese woman got me to buy four chicken sandwiches for her.
I met a guy who works security during concerts in the city. He will be doing Michael Jackson’s shows. He is into the martial arts. He told us not to be strangers but to keep being strange.
I’m getting sick of people calling me strange. Strange is the guy who asked me if I ever had frozen pink. He said I should put Jess’s Dekadance t-shirt in the freezer and then cut out the pink and eat it.
Danny is graduating from high school tomorrow. Dr. Poli [the high school principal] has banned cap throwing. Danny looked forward to chucking his cap and the whole place away.
Jess’s Dekadance t-shirt had a picture of the album cover on it. INXS released two different versions of the Dekadance EP. The one released in the U.S. had remixes of songs from Shabooh Shoobah.
INXS
6/22/84
Today is Garry Gary Beers’ birthday.
Yesterday I went to Danny’s graduation and saw some people I knew and then went to Terri’s to pick up my Casio.
I’m not in a good mood today. I hope I get my period soon to get over this soon. [PMS] I have to go to work today.
I got the concert days off but not the days around them. It’s going to be interesting. Terri called Gary [Gary Grant, INXS tour manager] in Michigan. He said Original Sin went to number one in France, but I didn’t see it.
Freddie Soehnlein [a family friend] died in a swimming pool. I read that in the paper while I was on the phone with Terri.
I made a ton of money today. $110. [The equivalent of $343 in 2025.] Somebody left me a $26 tip. It is pouring rain outside, or I’d go out. Van Halen is annoying me on MTV. I’m not into the videos they play these days.
I asked for July 7 off so I can go to Philly. [To see INXS in concert.]
I asked Aunt Barbara for my oboe back so I can get into it again.
6/25/84
I bought five tapes and went out to dinner at the diner. Then I went to see The Karate Kid and now I’m at home watching David Letterman.
6/26/84
I’m hyperactive now. Only 24 hrs. or so to go. I can’t wait. Jackie talked to them, [INXS] and they remember Terri. Terri is getting all of the inside information no problem.
The bird whistle
The plastic whistle that was shaped like a bird was extremely cheap. It wasn’t something I wanted. I only bought it on June 13th out of pity for the one-armed man who was selling them on the streets of New York City.
To turn it into a gag gift for Garry Gary for his birthday, I placed the whistle in a shoebox along with some articles that I cut out from the Weekly World News. I wrote a note from Eric, the bird whistle, that explained he was an orphan whose owner had been killed in a tragic boating accident. I named the toy, Eric, because I loved Monty Python’s Flying Circus which I watched as a kid. Channel 13 was the PBS (Public Broadcasting) channel in New York City, and they started showing Monty Python in 1974.
Channel 13 promo video
The sketches that included animals named Eric:
Fish License sketch video
Eric The Half a Bee video
I wrapped the shoebox in the cover of an issue of The Weekly World News. The headline was “Jealous Computer Kills Top Scientist.” I can’t find a photo of that issue on the internet.
Here’s a photo of a different issue from that time.
The cover of the Weekly World News tabloid paper from June 26, 1984.
On June 27, 1984, Jess, Terri, Jackie, and I went to New York City in the evening to wait in the lobby of the hotel where INXS would be staying. Terri drove us. I wrote in my diary that it was the Windsor Harley Hotel, but the internet tells me that the Helmsleys owned a hotel named Windsor and a hotel named Harley and not a hotel called Windsor Harley. My best guess is that INXS stayed at the Helmsley Windsor Hotel on 58th St and 6th Ave just up the street from Radio City Music Hall where they were to open for The Go-Go’s the next night.
Everyone had birthday presents for Garry Gary so what I remember is all of us being around Kirk and Garry while we gave him his gifts. Michael came over and planted a kiss on my cheek. Not something I was interested in because I still didn’t like him. The wrapping on my shoebox gave everyone a laugh. The gift though? Maybe not. It was weird.
Kirk told us that he had to go to the airport and pick up “the little battler.” That’s some kind of Australian slang that seemed kind of misogynistic or insulting like “the ball and chain” or “the old lady.” Not being Australian, I had no idea what he meant. The internet says that he called her a working-class person.
He was talking about his girlfriend, Karen Hutchinson, who was flying in from Australia to spend some time on tour with Kirk. Pretty clear message there that nothing further was going to happen between me and Kirk Pengilly.
I think I had already gotten that message though after getting the friendly, polite letter with no contact information and the revelation in the magazine that he had a girlfriend.
Before Kirk left, I told him that I had started playing the lottery and I asked for a number. He picked 26 which was his age. I also asked Gary Grant for a lottery number, and he picked 27 which I believe was also his age.
Scary drive back to New Jersey late at night
While Terri was driving north on Amsterdam Avenue to get to the George Washington Bridge, the car hit a huge pothole. I don’t know if we were in Harlem or already north of Harlem when it happened. Afterwards, we heard a scraping noise of metal in contact with the road. Terri pulled into a gas station, and we wanted the attendant to help us, but he refused to leave the booth he was in. That was a sign that we were in an area that had a lot of criminal activity.
Jackie was panicking and she lived in Chicago, so it was surprising that she was so frightened. The rest of us were also frightened and it only got worse when a car full of Hispanic guys stopped and asked if we needed help. Because now we have two problems; a broken car and several men we don’t know who might be looking to take advantage of an opportunity to hurt us.
Terri and I put on our toughest tough girl attitudes and Terri said no to them. She told them to go away very firmly when they asked again, and thankfully they did.
A piece of the car was hanging down and touching the ground. It turned out to be the oil pan, but I didn’t know what it was at the time. I had the idea to tie it back up to the underside of the car using my belt. I had a cool-looking hip belt. A hip belt was not worn through belt loops but was worn slung around your hips. My belt had a bunch of silver-colored rings about one inch in diameter and they were connected by strips of black leather. It was a sturdy belt.
An example of a hip belt from the 1980s. Mine had similar rings but they were held together by strips of black leather.
So, I took off my belt, got on the ground, and managed to loop the belt through some part of the oil pan and then loop my belt through some metal part of the underbody so the oil pan was not scraping the ground. Then I buckled the belt to secure it. After that, I bought a quart of oil from the attendant in the booth just in case the car was leaking oil, and we would need to add some on the way home.
We got back on the road and didn’t have any more problems getting back to New Jersey. Terri had to take her car to the shop to have the oil pan fixed, so we had to use Jess’ car to carry on with our adventures.
The INXS concert
The next day, June 28, 1984, was the day of the concert. Jess drove Terri, Jackie, and I into New York City in the afternoon and we parked in the Port Authority Bus Terminal lot.
When we went to Radio City Music Hall, we discovered that we had missed the soundcheck, so we walked over to the hotel. I wore big black felt hat with a flat top and a wide brim that I found at a thrift shop in Greenwich Village. It was similar to the hat that Michael Hutchence wore in the INXS video, “The One Thing” except that it didn’t have a band and the brim was wider. My shirt was black and gray striped-it was sleeveless, and it came up to my neck in front but was low-cut in back. Paired with gray cropped pants and cheap black sandals that looked a little punky because they had cheap metallic bits sewn to the straps across my feet. Around my hips was the famous belt that I had removed from underneath the car.
While walking to the hotel, we just happened to pop into a pizza parlor and Andrew Farriss was in there. Andrew wasn’t much into socializing, so we didn’t bother him often, but I took the opportunity to walk over to him to introduce myself. I extended my hand and said, “Hi! I’m Donna,” and we shook hands. Because other than Kirk, I don’t think any of them knew my name and they all already knew Terri, Jess, and Jackie.
We ran into Michael Hutchence on the sidewalk outside the hotel. I was surprised by how nice and friendly he was when we were talking to him because he had come across as arrogant in the past. This was the first time I had something other than a negative impression of him. As a person and not as a singer, that is.
He told me he liked my hat. I loved my hat! Terri often asked him, other members of the band, and Gary Grant, the manager, to do things for us. She told Michael that we did not have good seats near the front and asked him to tell the audience to move up to the front when he got on stage so we could move up closer. I can’t remember if he did that, but it was definitely something he would be willing to do.
The only thing I remember from the show is being angry because there was one girl who jumped up on stage and ran up to Michael three different times. Now, instead of singing the song for everyone, he had to hug the girl to try to be nice and then deal with her grabbing onto him until someone could pull her away.
The third time she jumped onstage, several other girls joined her, so Michael had multiple girls mauling him when he was trying to sing. They ruined more than one song. We hated that. It’s so rude in so many ways. Fans like that are a terrible problem.
After the show
We left Radio City Music Hall before The Go-Go’s took the stage and waited outside for INXS to leave. Gary Grant came out and we talked about the girls jumping onstage. He was also very angry and used rude language to talk about those girls. Called them all sorts of names.
Kirk Pengilly was outside signing autographs for some fans. He had his head down while doing it. I went over and said something like, “Kirk, you’ll never believe what happened to us when we drove home last night.” Without looking up he said, “What is it, Donna?” So, I told him the story about how we hit a pothole, and I used the belt that I was wearing to tie up the bottom of the car so we could drive home. For the second time in a row, we had a problem with the car when we went to see INXS. I had to tell him because it was like a thing now.
I’m sure plenty of other stuff happened but I was too busy to write it all down and I don’t remember anymore. All I know is that we took a horse-drawn carriage to get back to the car at Port Authority. It was fun but not at all scenic.
Here is a photo from 1991 and the black hat is sitting on the coatrack. You can see that it was collecting dust and I eventually got rid of it because I didn’t wear it and it did was take up space and collect dust.
My room in the apartment I shared in West Philadelphia. My hats and also some INXS stuff on the exposed drywall.
The fourth album by the Australian rock band, INXS.
This post contains diary entries and a letter. There is information about the Australian rock band, INXS, and about what I was doing, thinking, and feeling.
Working graveyard shifts
It’s towards the end of spring semester of my sophomore year in college. I am working at my work-study job for West Campus which oversees the student dorms in the western part of Penn’s campus. That includes the three high-rise apartment buildings where I worked and lived.
Here are a couple of diary entries from when I was working the overnight (graveyard) shift at the desk in the lobby of one of the high-rise buildings. There was an intercom system that broadcast into the stairwells that could be switched on at the desk. There was a hand-held microphone at the desk that was part of the system. It was there for fire safety. During fire alarms, the students were trained to leave their rooms and wait in the stairwells. The intercom could be used to tell them to evacuate the building if it was necessary. Usually, it was used to tell them to remain in the stairwell.
The two tall buildings in the bottom right are High Rise North and High Rise East. West Campus. University of Pennsylvania.
4/27/84
Another night, another graveyard. INXS is keeping me awake tonight. Now I’m playing with the mike and singing to the lobby. A guy with a New Order and Bauhaus tape left me the case and took my INXS one. He said I had a pretty good voice and asked if I was in a band.
All the weirdos are out tonight. Some guy wanted to know if I did crank. I said no and he said, “what are you doing tonight?” Nada. INXS and Dr. Pepper make for a natural high.
Time to wake up Ralph-he’s coming in to replace me at 4. Someone showed me a death star instead of ID. Very comforting.
4/28/84
I’m at work again. I’ll be at work later tonight. Hopefully I won’t be incoherent by the time I finish tomorrow.
It’s graveyard time again. I’ll probably be incoherent soon. At 2am it will instantly be 3.
It’s 5am and I’ve lost it completely. Don just left. We had an interesting conversation. I bought a pizza at a discount. I don’t know why because I ate three pieces and gave the rest away and it cost five dollars. Someone could sell me the Brooklyn Bridge at this point.
A guy claiming to be a social worker almost duped me. Luckily, Victor was around because he found out that the number the guy was calling was for a Honda dealership. The guy left. I am very stupid when it comes to believing people.
I don’t think I’ll remember anything if I study. Just have to keep awake. I’m glad the elevators are here to swallow up the people as soon as they come in. I wonder if my saying I like graveyards is a form of relieving dissonance. I don’t think so because I do like the peace and quiet. I’m the owner of the building. I’m in charge-I put my feet on the desk and blast music. It’s all mine. People think I’m crazy when I say I have fun. I’m getting paid for hanging out and having a private party. I only have to stay awake to make sure that only Penn jerks get in and not jerks off the street.
I’ve been up for 17 hours. That’s not even close to a record. Why it’s nothing really. I should be sharp as a knife. I think I own a dull blade.
The sun is peeking out from the horizon. This dawn used to be sunset in Australia. It’s amazing what a little light does to me. Sunrises are amazing.
It’s fun whirling in my chair. If I ever become an executive- God forbid, I want a chair I can spin around in.
I’m ruining my teeth drinking all this Dr. Pee Pee. Here comes Mr. Sunshine. Here comes Mr. Rainwater. Here come the Anarchittys running up the street.
The trees are a nice color green today. I don’t want to study my schoolwork. I want to be rich. I want to go traveling. Gonna blast some German music. [Falco] I wish I knew the words. My bladder is becoming really efficient because of this job. There’s a funky pigeon outside the door. I’m having a Dr. Pepper overdose. When I go home this summer, I’m going to have nicotine and pepper withdrawal.
4/29/84
It seems these past couple of days I was either sleeping or at work.
Well, I just got up, so it is off to work in a few.
Original Sin finally debuted on the charts here at #87.
I’m getting depressed. I have to figure out a way to get out of lunches at the Emerson Hotel. Fran is going into the hospital, so they’ll probably want me to work as soon as I get back. Terrific. I just have to think of the money. The whole thing is depressing.
I spoke to Mom on the phone. It doesn’t help my mood at all. Sleep will be good tonight. I’m so tired. I won’t dream. I won’t think. I’ll have an eight-hour vacation from this world.
The weather is nice. A cool breeze is coming in through the door. Danny is getting a computer. I might be able to use it over the summer.
Chris invited me to an EST meeting on Tuesday. I haven’t gotten mail in two or three weeks. I want my Trouser Press. I have to subscribe to it again.
From my collection of Trouser Press magazine. October 1983 issue.
5/1/84
Another graveyard. This one hasn’t been much fun. It is 6:20am. I want to die. I have so much work to do.
I went to an EST guest seminar, and everyone gives me the hard sell to do the training. I don’t know. I feel like hell.
5/3/84
It is 2pm and I’m about to take a nap because of a graveyard tonight.
I’ve been keeping weird hours. I worked graveyard Tuesday then slept from 8-3 then stayed up until midnight and got up at seven this morning for my Sociology final which went OK. I got my paycheck today.
Some woman from EST called here to talk to me. I don’t know how she got my number, but they better stop bothering me.
5/4/84
Nan just told me that the light under the desk was on meaning that everything going on at the desk was being broadcast into the stairwells- how embarrassing. A girl came down from the stairwell while I was playing INXS and singing to it and she said I had a good voice so it must have been on then. I wondered how she was able to hear me. It was bound to happen sooner or later. A total of about seven people offered to get me coffee or breakfast. I never expected so many considerate people to be around.
5/5/84
It is almost 10 pm and once again I am behind the desk. My feet are vibrating because they are on top of the refrigerator. I’m listening to the Swing. I made a special trip downtown to buy it. I told Chip from WQHS it was a great album so maybe they will play it. I should be getting paid for PR work.
Letter from Terri
A letter from Terri who was still in school in Florida arrived. It seems to be the last letter from her for the next few months. We were both about to go back to New Jersey for the summer, so we didn’t need to communicate by mail once that happened.
Terri gave me news about INXS. She said that “The Swing” was supposed to be out in a few days. One of her pen pals in Australia recorded it on cassette for her so she had already listened to it and said it was great.
Gary Grant was still in Australia, so she was not able to speak to him when she called Atco Records. The receptionist finally put her through to someone else and whoever it was said that “there was nothing definite, but there was talk of a spring tour with the Cars. If they plan to come in OUR spring, they better get something settled soon!!”
A friend of hers left for Australia so Terri told her about Gary Grant and gave her the address for their office in Sydney so she could go there if she had a chance. I don’t know if she actually did.
An MMA Management ad from Billboard magazine. Date unknown.
Terri heard “Original Sin” on a “real” radio station for the first time in Tampa- on a commercial station and not a college station. “They are still trying to figure out who Inkses is in Florida, for the most part!”
An Australian friend sent her a nice poster of INXS, and she told me all about it. The Farriss brothers looked stunning. Timmy looked cool. Jon’s hair looked like it did this time last year at the Ritz. Andrew had shaved and looked adorable. “Michael is too busy looking evil, so the heck with him.” Garry looked like he had a cold but his hair looked good. Kirk’s hair was going back to brown. She didn’t like the haircut, “but at least he doesn’t look like a lawn mower’s been in his head! And a new pair of frames-this guy is the Elton John of INXS!”
The back of the poster contained information about the band. The members of INXS chose their favorite songs from The Swing. Kirk chose “I Send A Message” while everyone else chose “Dancing on the Jetty” except for Michael who couldn’t decide.
Everyone but Andrew gave the names of their girlfriends. Terri wrote, “I won’t tell you Kirk’s unless you want me to!” She also wrote about some of the answers the band members gave when asked what their first love was. Tim said Annette Funicello and Garry Gary Beers said surfing and surfboards. Jonathan James Farriss said, “My first orgasm, I guess. When I was fourteen and a half!”
Almost time for my management final. I’ve been up at 5:30am for the past two days because of finals. Tomorrow is the last one and then I have to pack up my shit and hit the trail back home. I’m just so excited. I hope I can stay awake for this exam. Hopefully I can answer the questions.
I want simplicity, doldrum, sleep, boredom, to twiddle my fingers, to watch TV, to avoid thinking, to avoid this.
5/10/84
Last day of finals, last full day in Phila. There must be more important things in life than brand loyalty.
Back in Hillsdale, NJ for the summer
The portion of Hillsdale, NJ that includes my house, Terri’s house, Friendly’s, the supermarkets, library, and my high school.
I had to walk to many places. The supermarkets were half a mile from my house. The Hillsdale Library was three-fourths of a mile away and Terri’s house was another two hundred yards further up the street from the library.
5/11/84
I’m watching MTV. That’s right I’m home. I just got back and already I’m scheduled to work tomorrow and Sunday. Keep thinking of the money-what I can do with it, where I can go.
Saw “Eat It” for the first time. [Music video by Weird Al Yankovic. A parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”] I’m going to miss school. Well maybe not the work. I better get used to not eating. I made myself a hamburger omelet- it was good at least for scrounging. It takes so long to walk to the stores. This is going to be a long, long summer. I hope it doesn’t kill me.
I’m going down to the Meadowlands tonight with Terri and Jess to hang around and maybe see Randy and Eddie Money. I’m dressed to kill in my fedora and Michael Jackson earrings. [Randy was the keyboard player for Eddie Money. Terri and I met him when I was thirteen and Terri was fourteen and we went to Central Park for some soundcheck.]
Randy Nichols, keyboard player for Eddie MoneyEddie Money backstage at the Wollman Ice Rink in Central Park. NYC. Dr Pepper Summer Music Festival. August 9, 1978
5/12/84
11am- Just got out of bed. I could sleep all day, but I have a lot to unpack before I go to work. Urgh. My feet are aching in anticipation.
5/13/84
I’m exhausted. I worked Sat. night until one am. and then today (Mother’s Day) from 12-9. I made $90 which makes it worth it. It wasn’t really hectic tonight. I was managing OK. My brain is in a daze and my body hurts. My feet ache and itch and they swell up after I work.
5/14/84
Ho hum. Going to NY [New York City] tomorrow perhaps to spend money on whatever. I have been spending money so fast because there is so much to buy. I’m becoming manic again. I want to get away from here, but I know I’m stuck for now. I’m looking for a way to be free and hopefully I’ll find it. Mother dear better keep her nose out of my journals.
Showed Terri where Kirk and I ate. Stopped by INXS’ record company. Dirtbag men followed us in Greenwich Village.
5/15/84
Next summer I’m definitely going to stay in Philadelphia. This place is going to drive me nuts. My only desires are becoming food and sleep. There is no privacy here. I can’t live my own life here.
I’m going for a walk as soon as I get dressed. I need to get out. I want to cry again.
I’m in Lisa’s Pizza before I go to Terri’s for a Cosmos meeting. This area is the pits. If I don’t go nuts, I’ll be thankful. I’ve been debating whether or not to buy cigarettes. I bought a Lotto ticket instead.
In Music Merchant [Record store in downtown Westwood, NJ that survived until 2024] some people were trying to decide what record to buy for some kid as a gift. I suggested the Swing. I don’t know why I should bother.
This meeting tonight will probably be boring. I don’t think I’m going to shake my mild depression but at least I’ll be bored and depressed away from home. I don’t belong there. I’m too used to being on my own and now I have to tell mommy where I’m going when I leave the house. I should have been born with money. I know money doesn’t solve all problems, but I would be better off with it than without it.
I wish there was a decent cafe around. Somewhere quiet that I could go to for a cup of coffee and some inspiration. I sound like a member of the coffee generation. [Reference to a “Coffee Achievers” TV commercial for the coffee industry.]
Coffee Achievers video
5/17/84
Eskie [Eskandarian] and Johan [Neeskens] [NY Cosmos soccer players] were at the meeting but I spent the time rewriting the Swing album. I did three songs. I’m beginning to feel panicky about everything. NAUSEA. I am hyper. I just got back from Bamberger’s. [A New Jersey department store owned by Macy’s. All the stores were renamed as Macy’s in 1986] I lost my card, so they gave me a temporary one but the Casio thing I want to buy is out of stock. [Casio portable music keyboard]
I have to save up for tuition. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Now I’m becoming vain about my appearance. I shouldn’t worry because I can’t change what I was born with, and I didn’t get a raw deal so why this urge to look in the mirror all the time? Maybe I’m going through adolescence at the age of 19.
Rewritten songs from The Swing
Dancing on the Jetty video-INXS
Walking off the Jetty [My version]
Why don’t you take a long walk
Off a short pier
Who’s gonna teach you
Teach you how to swim
You could talk forever
Just never get tired
Listen to your words
Find out why you get us down
Long stories, bad jokes
Loud clothing
Go walk off the jetty
Cause we’re sick of you
Why don’t you take a long walk
Off a short pier
Who’s gonna teach you
Teach you how to swim
You told your life story
You started years ago
Prayed like hell that you’d shut your mouth
Another story and I’d kill myself
Bore the world, too sorry
Give anything
for a moment’s silence
We want to stop you from making noise
Nothing but trouble, leave town
Don’t you come back
We hope you got the hint.
INXS Video Melting in the Sun
Lying in the Sun [My version of Melting in the Sun by INXS a la Weird Al Yankovic]
Sung to the tune of Melting in the Sun by INXS
More from the diary
5/18/84
I just got out of work. I go back to work dinner in a couple of hours.
My Michael Jackson t-shirt came out well. Mom and Dan thought I bought it with sunglasses and burning hair.
I hit four numbers the first time I played Lotto. I’m psyched.
I’m back from work. I got a tip from one of my customers that included a balloon cat and mouse. It was great.
5/19/84
A Saturday night off! This event should be marked down in history. I have to eat dinner soon. I’m starving. I’m sitting on the living room couch. Junior [our dog] is lying on the floor next to me and my mother is in the kitchen. Barbara Streisand is blasting on the stereo.
My mother changed the record to Neil Diamond. I bought a Weekly World News at Quick Chek. The headline is “Famed Psychic’s Head Explodes”. The National Examiner had an interesting story about Jesus’ secret life, but I didn’t buy the paper. I think it is owned by Rupert Murdoch, the wealthy Australian newspaper magnate, who wanted to buy Warner Communications. All My Children [my favorite soap opera] had on someone named Hubert Drydoch-I think that he is supposed to be Murdoch because of the accent and the allusions about newspapers and magazines.
[I was wrong about the National Examiner. The tabloid was never owned by Rupert Murdoch. He owned The Star. Read about it on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Examiner]
Dr. Pepper tastes best when it is warm and flat. Gary Grant is supposed to be back in America sometime in the next couple of days. I had a really severe muscle cramp in my leg last night. I thought I would never be able to use my leg again.
Tonight, I’m going to read my paper, watch Tootsie on TV, and then INXS on MTV. [I don’t know what MTV showed. Maybe the debut of I Send A Message? INXS were in Europe at the time.] Tomorrow is going to be a long day, but I should survive. I hope I’ll get decent tips. I’m only halfway through Nausea. [Book by Jean Paul Sartre] I hope Mom and Carl leave soon. I like having the house to myself.
Cover of the Weekly World News from May 22, 1984
5/20/84
I like my job for the most part. It is just very painful to the feet and back. To most people there I am still a baby. I’m not supposed to know about sex and all of the other grownup things. I’m too young. They should think back to the time when they were my age. Some of them were already married. My job is less frustrating and easier than last summer. I even found out when I was home for Christmas that I could handle five tables no sweat. Now that it has gotten easier, it is also more profitable.
5/22/84
I was just at the Emerson Hotel nine hours ago and I’m going back in another hour to work lunch.
I would rather be reading
5/23/84
I slept so late this morning. Carl is home. [My mother’s husband. The guy who owned the Ho-Ho-Kus bakery.] I’m so tired. I bought my Casio thing yesterday. I have to figure it out. Junior is barking now. He is such a pain. One minute he wants in and then out again. I hope I get my paycheck from school sometime soon. This town is getting boring. I need to find a place to go away from here where I can sit and think or read. Maybe the library is open. Maybe I can go see a movie tonight.
I wonder if I am sane. I was walking backwards down the railroad tracks singing earlier this afternoon. I went to the bank and just made it into Friendly’s before it started to pour. The lightning was really close. It scared the shit out of me. I had a cup of coffee and now I’m at the library. I brought my backpack just in case I found some books to take out.
There are so many things I should read and learn and know about that it all gets overwhelming. Insignificant things like working to earn a living and sleeping get in the way.
[Friendly’s was an ice cream place with food that was half a mile from my house. The one in Hillsdale closed and is now a Chipotle.]
Modeling doesn’t sound so great
5/24/84
Lunch was sooo dead today. I only made ten dollars. I have to go back in two hours and work 5-10. I’m working in the middle, so I have two big tables and three little ones. I hope I’m not run to the ground tonight although I would like to make some money.
I told them about my school job. They listened to me like I was E.F. Hutton. I guess because I don’t talk much. I don’t know why they expect me to talk more. What am I supposed to say? Frank and Toni always tell me to shut up because I’m talking too much or giving them a headache. They must tell me this at least ten times a day. It’s getting on my nerves.
I read a book about modeling, and I don’t know if I want to be bothered that much. Every part of your body has to look perfect. You have to get test shots and then maybe you’ll get some work, but it is long hours. I don’t know how much money it takes before I would even get work. My waist is too thick. The book talks about how guys that are halfway decent are almost impossible to find if you are a model. How about decent guys are hard to find period? Everyone tells me how lucky I am not to have a boyfriend. Freida, Joanne, and even my grandmother approves of not having one.
Well, I’m not a millionaire this week. I only got one number. I might have been a bit richer if we weren’t on pool. I had eight tables, and we were busy. I worked extremely hard and I’m tired. On one twelve-dollar check the people left me a twenty-dollar tip. That has to be the best tip I’ll ever get. I had to give it in to the pool. I’m expected back at work in eleven hours. Tomorrow, hopefully it will be busy for two hours then I can get paid and leave. I’ve certainly changed. Work is not as bad as it used to be, and I’ve become almost ambitious.
5/26/84
I try to convince myself that school is worth the cost. I’m sure I won’t regret it later so I can’t be too impulsive now. I went to a store on Route 4 and played with some keyboards. Today’s technology blows me away. It is so cool.
5/27/84
It’s good to be home. Work was long, slow, boring, and not very profitable. I’m tired from standing around all day. At least I got out around 8:15 and didn’t have to do ketchups. I had to eat Cornish hen because they didn’t sell any. Yuck. Everyone has been giving me compliments on how good a waitress I am. Barbara is back for the weekend and then she goes back to school for the summer. A new girl named Valerie is starting on Tuesday. I’m still the youngest there. Joanne thought I was about 22. I’d like to be 21 so I could do anything I want without a hassle. Tomorrow, we have to be in at 4:45 in case the rush starts early (if there is any).
I must stop thinking before I depress myself. I can see where drugs might come in handy at times like these-to forget everything: good, bad, or otherwise.
[The restaurant used to have bottles of ketchup on the tables and we would have to fill them up by pouring the ketchup from almost empty bottles into half-full ones to fill them up. I didn’t like to do this task.]
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.
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.
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 1984Big 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.
A lot of material was covered in every class, so it was bad that I skipped classes to go see Kirk Pengilly in New York City. Especially my finance class which was very difficult. On my first test, I scored 13 points out of 100 but because the test was graded on a curve, it was a passing grade. It was a D. That means that most of the students got low scores but did somewhat better than I did.
I had to get a work-study job for the first time to pay my expenses. Freshman year I didn’t work during the school year. I seem to recall that I was getting a check from Social Security because my father was disabled but the law was changed in 1981 and that payment was being phased out for college students so maybe I remember it wrong.
Diary entries from this period were few-maybe one per month. So, whatever I might have been thinking about Kirk Pengilly was lost to time. I saved some letters from my friends though and through their responses to my letters I can glean some information.
Long-distance phone calls-an 80s thing
Jess wrote to me on September 16, 1983 which was two days after we were at the Power Station music studio together with INXS. She had to write a letter because she couldn’t afford to make a long-distance call to me to say what she wanted to say.
It was so long ago that I don’t really remember exactly how the phone company billed for calls. Back then the telephones were attached to wall in the house. If you had more than one phone, then you were financially well-off. An unlimited number of local calls were allowed for a monthly fee. The area around your home that was considered a local call was a small one. Every other call was long-distance, and those calls were expensive and charged by the minute unless you were calling a toll-free number.
Things in the 1900s that we no longer say… Long distance calls. 80s kids had to be super quiet when parents were making a long-distance call. Stick around to see the 3 new additions to my Phone collection. #80saesthetic#80snostalgia#longdistancecall#vintagephones
Jess gave me her address at her college in New Jersey so I could write back to her. She wrote, “Dear Donna (Pengilly),” and said she was feeling guilty and wanted to apologize for not finding a way to give Kirk and I more time alone. She thought she should not have gone out to dinner with us.
I must have given her $50 towards the fee she had to pay to get her car back after it was towed from a parking spot near the studio because she said she put it in her account but would not touch it and offered to give it back to me.
She mentions a couple of things from the studio. One is a slightly different take on what I wrote in my diary- Jon says, “It makes about as much sense as natives wearing turquoise and silver” when asked about the “dream on white boy, dream on white girl” lyric. Jess remembered Michael’s answer the same as me-“You have no idea what I’m talking about.”
Jon Farriss was making a reference to the INXS song, “Old World, New World” from the album Shabooh Shoobah.
While we were in the lobby area of the studio, “the guys” (some number of the band members of INXS) sang “like an animal.” Jess asked me if I remembered that and “what that was for or from?” We would not have an answer to that until the album (The Swing) came out and we heard the song, “I Send A Message” because it’s from that song.
Someone must have said something about Andrew having a good head on his shoulders because Jess quotes that in her letter after expressing her disappointment with Garry Gary Beers. The way he acted towards her made her feel that he didn’t like her. That Garry knew she liked him and was avoiding her to the point where he could not be friendly or have a normal conversation with her. She said would forget Garry and pick Andrew as the band member to like instead.
The letter from Jess ended with her saying she can’t wait for the new INXS album to come out. Original Sin was an excellent song that should be even better with the vocals.
Another bit of information that didn’t make it into my diary was that Michael Hutchence said his mother had run away before he was born. He just came out with that while he was out there in the lounge- probably when he was telling those high school girls that were his guests about the Chinese restaurants in Australia.
Apparently, I had written to Terri and told her “Weird INXS additions.” I also wrote to her about “Krik.” She wrote, “I don’t mind your talking about ‘Krik’ or whatever he calls himself (Bob Smith?) He’s a doll, I like Kirk.
Terri told me that she found the single for To Look At You in the New Releases section at a record store in Tampa. The B-side for that single was “The Sax Thing”, an instrumental by Kirk Pengilly. She couldn’t tell me what it sounded like. Said that she would have to bring it to Jen’s house to listen to it. She said that she had a bad feeling that it might be a saxophone version of The One Thing and that she liked to hear singing and not just music.
While she was there, she saw an issue of Trouser Press magazine with the Flock of Seagulls on the cover and asked me if I still get the magazine. The answer was yes. I had a subscription to Trouser Press magazine up until the time it went out of business. Terri said that I would notice that my Shriekback was profiled and also New Models. Both bands were now connected with INXS. Shriekback because it led to everything that happened with Kirk Pengilly and New Models because they opened for INXS at the Ritz in New York City. If you have it, do me a big favor and xerox it for me, is what she wrote.
Postcards were mentioned. Terri told me to let her know if “Krik’s” postcard arrives before March! (I think we had heard that INXS would come back in March?) She mentioned that Jess told her about the postcard I sent to her that was wacko, I’m sure. I wrote and drew lot of strange things back then. The postcard said something about Andrew Farriss. The two main songwriters for INXS were the two people in the band I didn’t like. I seem to have drawn a cartoon about Michael Hutchence that I sent to Terri. Mocking him, I’m sure. Terri said she sent a copy of it to Michael with my name on it. Then she said she was just kidding. (Terri had an address in Australia where she did write to members of the band.) She also told me I have nerve to say Michael is strange. That’s because I was strange, but I liked my kind of strange and not his.
Another letter from Terri is dated October 23, 1983. This letter was written on homemade stationery. We used to xerox photos of INXS (or others) at the top of the page and then write the letter on the rest of the paper. Terri used this photo and called it “To jump at you!”
INXS stationery, photocopies of pictures
This letter informed me that I had sent a 90-minute-high fidelity blank cassette tape so Terri could record The Sax Thing for me on a low fidelity stereo. I really wanted to hear the song! She taped it three times for me so I wouldn’t have to rewind it as much. Very thoughtful. Terri complimented Kirk’s song and said she played it over the phone for Jess to hear it. My friends were great-they shared their music purchases with me. We all shared as much as we could with each other, but my resources were the most limited.
I tried to make up for it by being entertaining. I wrote poems about INXS, and I drew cartoons. Pretty sure I wrote a poem about Michael Hutchence called “The Drug Thing”, but I don’t know if it was what Terri referred to in this letter. She wrote, “Like I already told ya, I lurved your poems. Write anything on rhymable Kirk yet?! What the heck does Kirk rhyme with? Jerk, perk, clerk, turk, work; not normal words, fer sure! And what of this story you mentioned- I’m almost afraid to ask!” It would be nice if I had an answer to the question about the story I seem to have written way back when. Not a clue what it was.
My work-study job involved checking IDs to keep people who weren’t students out of the dorms in the western part of Penn campus where my dorm was. Sometimes I would work behind the front desk at the high-rise apartments that were dorms where I would answer the phone, etc. I would write these letters and create my poems, drawings, and cartoons while at work instead of studying for class or doing my homework.
About my cartoon, Terri wrote, “You were right-I did hang it up! Thanks for your highly unusual ‘masterpiece!’ I’m so proud to be the owner of the original-this thing will be worth big money someday! I had to share it, tho, so I xeroxed it for Jackie and Jess (haven’t sent it to Jess yet)…I laughed so hard. I especially got a kick out of “Garry Gary Baah” and the bit about Andrew…that was really funny, probably because it’s true!! Thanx very much, Mrs. Penguinilly!” I can only assume that I turned every member of INXS into some kind of animal in the cartoon.
There was a part of the letter where Terri talked a lot about music because she had finally found a radio station in Tampa that played new wave music from midnight until 3am. She taped it so she could listen to it and find new bands. “Soon we MAY see the days when I get to name some obscure band and maybe someone will take notice of ME! I can dream, ya know!” That’s what happened with me and Kirk Pengilly. One night Terri called the new wave program and requested INXS- supporting our band!
I must have mentioned that I was smoking clove cigarettes and that made Terri angry. She was right- it was a bad and stupid habit. Yelled at me that she would fuck me up and that Kirk would think he was kissing a dirty ashtray. It turned out that I was never going to kiss Kirk again, but we didn’t know that at the time.
One last quote from Terri’s letter, “When Jess and I were talking about the band taking turns on the b sides of the single, we couldn’t help but wonder what the hell GG might come up with. We figured, maybe “The Bass thing” of all bassline! (His spine is the bassline) And what of “Duh” Hutchence? He doesn’t write music, to my knowledge. That is, what will he do-recite poetry or something? “Gimme drugs…I need some Silly Shit!!””
Kirk writes Donna a letter from Japan
And then one day in November 1983, I checked my mailbox and there was a letter from Kirk Pengilly. I still have it and I’ll say what is in it because it’s not some kind of personal love letter but I’m not going to share it. Here is a picture of the envelope instead.
Envelope from Kirk’s letter
As you can see, it was posted on November 2, 1983, from Akasaka in Tokyo, Japan. The letter was written on November 1st on one side of one sheet of hotel stationery from The President Hotel. The hotel’s address was 2-2-3 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Located kind of in between Meiji Jingu and the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. There is still a building at this address today in 2025 but it is no longer a hotel.
The site of the hotel where INXS stayed when they went to Japan to shoot videos for Original Sin and I Send A Message in November 1983
Kirk apologized that he had not written sooner. He said that the day after we had visited him in New York City and the car had been towed, that his wallet had been stolen. No story about how that happened-just a list of what went missing: money, credit cards, passport, and my address. That was the day (September 14, 1983) when they were back in the studio at the Power Station recording the vocals with Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates.
Now in New York City back in 1983, especially in Hell’s Kitchen, there was a lot of crime, so the story was believable in that respect. So many years have passed now where I didn’t even think about INXS or what transpired that I can’t remember what I knew back then when I received this letter. But I surely would have known which address was on which piece of paper that I had given to Kirk. The bank where I had my checking account was near the Penn campus in West Philadelphia. That’s where I lived for most of the year. My school address would have been on the deposit slip if there was an address on it.
If Kirk really had had his wallet stolen, and he wasn’t just writing this letter to me to be polite because he said he would write to me, then he could have told me his address and asked me to write to him and give him the contact information that was lost. Besides just trying to let me down easy, I think he did what he did because he was living with the future mother of his child, Karen Hutchinson, before he even met me. And that’s what bothers me today. Neither of us women deserved to be treated like that.
Even if they had some kind of understanding with each other about activities on the road, I wasn’t part of that. It wasn’t fair to me. I deserved respect. Toby Creswell interviewed Karen for his book, “Shine Like it Does: The Life of Michael Hutchence”. On page 105, Karen said, “You’d be crazy to think that twenty-year-old guys who had it thrown at them every night were not seeing other people occasionally.” That was not what happened between Kirk and me. I was pursued just because I was there and too pretty to be left in peace; it was not by invitation. We weren’t there for sex and they knew it.
Kirk was not a pig about it and didn’t obviously salivate over me the way Michael Hutchence was going to a year later. If he had done that then I would not have liked him. He wasn’t coming on to me. We were having conversations and I enjoyed them. I thought Kirk Pengilly was interesting. But now it seems that the goal was to take advantage of being out on the road. I’m not going to let women take the blame for these guy’s behaviors. INXS as a rock band was not as badly behaved as Mötley Crüe. That’s a fact. But that doesn’t make them good guys or excuse them.
Back to the letter- Kirk wrote that he was in Japan for one week and INXS would be making a couple of videos. The recording of the album was going well and after Japan they would be going back to Sydney to finish the album (The Swing). He hoped that school was going well for me.
He had fun in London where he spent all his money on clothes and saw the band Big Country in concert. And that’s pretty much all he wrote. He said he hoped I was well and happy before signing off. Of course, I was happy to get a letter and I told my friends immediately!
While INXS was in Japan they made videos for Original Sin, and I Send A Message. I lived in Japan from 2021 until 2024 so I visited the temple where I Send A Message was filmed. Gokokuji Temple in Tokyo. I have Matthew Marsland to thank for that. I didn’t know where the video was filmed but he did.
Location of the temple where INXS filmed the video for I Send A Message
Matthew Marsland’s Facebook post about visiting Gokokuji Temple
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
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!
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.
Kirk Pengilly and Rick Sales, Stone Mountain, Georgia, photo by Jess, 9/5/1983
Photo of Kirk Pengilly (guitar, saxophone, vocals) of the Australian rock band INXS and Rick Sales, their tour manager. Arriving for the soundcheck at Harlow’s Club in Stone Mountain, GA (15 miles east of Atlanta) on September 5, 1983.
This was the last INXS concert on their first tour of the United States. I didn’t go to this concert, but Terri and Jess did. So did someone by the name of Tanya. She was friends with Jess. I don’t remember anything about her such as where she lived or how she knew Jess. It’s my understanding that a bootleg tape of some of this concert was recorded by her.
Not the actual postcard but something like this.
When I found out that my friends were going to Atlanta to see INXS, I bought a postcard with a map of New Jersey on it to give to Kirk. New Jersey was part of our conversation and I had even drawn a crude map for Kirk so buying it for them to give to him seemed like a great thing to do. On the front of the postcard, I made a mark in the area where Hillsdale was located and I wrote, “This is where I live” with an arrow pointing to it. I wrote my address on it. I can’t be 100% sure anymore if it was the address of my mother’s house in Hillsdale but odds are that it was. If I wrote anything else, it would have been that I enjoyed talking to him or something like that. I no longer remember some specific details, but I remember how I was and how I behaved. The guesses I make are based on my likely behavior.
By this time, the band recognized Terri and Jess. When they showed up to do their soundcheck, my friends were already there. Jess took photos of everyone in INXS except for Timmy. Jess gave my postcard to Kirk, and he must have known that they were going to be recording at the Power Station in New York City with Nile Rodgers by that time. He asked Jess for my phone number. She gave him the phone number at my mother’s house in Hillsdale.
If my friends told me details about the show, I did not write them down. They were invited back to the hotel lounge after the show by INXS. I’m sure they went. I was happy to know that Kirk asked for my number because I thought we had hit it off. He was interesting. And then he called!!
After this last INXS concert, the band went to Florida to write songs for their next album, The Swing. Where in Florida? No idea. Kirk called on Friday September 9, most likely because I know he called the day before I had to leave Hillsdale and move into my dorm room in Philadelphia. My mother worked so she was probably taking me on Saturday. My mother answered the phone and then gave it to me. She was not amused to find out that the man who called was a member of an Australian rock band. Some man fucking up my life was not something she wanted for me.
Kirk invited me to visit him at the studio in New York City. He told me where they would be and when they would be there. INXS were scheduled to be at the Power Station on Tuesday, September 13 and Wednesday, September 14, 1983. I told him that I couldn’t go because it was the first week of classes. The professors take attendance during the first couple of weeks of class and if you miss class then you risk being dropped from it so someone from the waiting list can take the class. And I was afraid of that. Money was tight and I couldn’t afford to make a costly mistake.
University of Pennsylvania Academic Calendar 1983-1984
It’s possible he called me a couple of days earlier and I went back to school a couple of days earlier because that would have given more time for my roommate, Dohi, to perm my hair using a store-bought kit. That was something that happened before I went to visit Kirk. It was a bad perm. I looked like I stuck a fork into an electrical outlet.
This is a photo of me from a month after I went to NYC so you can see my perm. My mother married the man who owned the HoHoKus bakery. They are the two sitting next to me. It’s from the wedding reception.
Mom and Carl’s wedding reception at the Iron Horse in Westwood, New Jersey. October 1983. Me and my perm.
But then I told Jess, and she was willing to do whatever needed to be done to make it happen. I thought about it and changed my mind. Somehow, Terri had the phone number for the rehearsal studio in Florida where INXS was. She had already called there to talk to Timmy- maybe? Terri gave me the number and I called to talk to Kirk and tell him I was coming. When I called, he wasn’t there so I left a message with the person who answered the phone that I would come to the studio after all.
On Tuesday, September 13, I took a train from 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to Newark, New Jersey. While I was waiting for my train in Philly, I browsed at the newsstand, and I saw the Weekly World News for the first time. It was a black and white tabloid paper full of ridiculousness. The cover said, “I AROSE FROM THE DEAD AS A ZOMBIE.” I bought it. The paper was a mix of strange but true stories and crazy stuff like Elvis sightings and space aliens. I loved it. I had a subscription to it a few years later.
An example of the Weekly World News tabloid paper from the 1980s.
Jess drove to the train station in Newark to meet me and we had lunch at Burger King before going into New York City. The Power Station was in Hell’s Kitchen and back in the 80s, it was known to be a dangerous area of the city. Jess drove us into Manhattan and drove around the block where the studio was supposed to be. It didn’t look like there was anything there. There was a school with a playground on one side of the street and graffiti-covered buildings on the other.
Jess parked at a space with a parking meter, and we walked around until we found the building. The window on the door was boarded up. We didn’t know what was going on because we expected something that didn’t look abandoned.
I was extremely, extremely nervous and I kept saying, “I’m not going in there.” That’s because the sex part of this trip just got real. They were in a rock band after all and that was what I felt was expected in this situation. Kirk didn’t say on the telephone to come spend the night with him, but I felt it was implied. And I wanted to do it, but I also didn’t want to do it. I was a lot more interested in finding a boyfriend before I took that step. At 18, almost 19, I was still a virgin and had now kissed two guys, one of them being Kirk Pengilly of INXS. Jess insisted that I was going in there.
Jess rang the bell, and someone opened the door. She pulled me into the lobby. There was a camera focused on the door, so I smiled and waved to it. Later, I noticed the monitor for it in the studio. Jess asked the guy in the lobby if INXS was in the studio. He picked up the phone and asked who was here to see them. She said, “Jess,” and quickly added, “and Donna.”
When he got off the phone, he told us to take the elevator to the third floor “but do not go into the recording studio.” The elevator doors opened into what looked like a living room. On the left side there was a couch against the wall and the door to the recording studio. Straight ahead were other couches against the wall. To the right, there were windows that looked out to the street, more seating and a low table. There was also a kitchen area with countertops and a refrigerator. And there was a bathroom.
We walked in and Jon Farriss, the drummer, was sitting on the couch in front of us. He was talking on the phone with his girlfriend from Texas, Lisa McCormick. When he noticed Jess, he said, “Boy, you really get around.”
Garry Gary Beers, the bassist, was also in this lounge area. He was talking to a man about getting a sponsorship to play their bass. Jess asked Garry if Kirk was around, so Garry went inside the recording studio. There were no windows so we couldn’t see what was happening in there unless we were in there.
I sat down on the couch near the elevator and started reading theWeekly World News. It was 3pm and I thought about how I would be in my finance class right now if I had not come to the studio and that I probably should have gone to my class instead.
Timmy Farriss, the guitar player for INXS, came out and came over to me. He said, “Hi! How are you?” I think he remembered me from that night in Poughkeepsie. Timmy told me that Kirk was busy “at the moment” and that he would come out as soon as he could. I showed Timmy the Weekly World News and he said, “Wow! This is great! Can I take this in to show the guys?” Of course, I was going to let him take it. I said, “Sure” so he took the paper and went back into the recording studio.
Jess and I were just sitting there along with Garry and the guy he was talking to about the bass sponsorship. There were other people in the lounge and the studio from time to time. Jess recognized Neil and Colin who were part of the INXS road crew. And there were three girls there who were invited by Michael Hutchence, the lead singer. One girl had part of her head shaved like Anabella Lwin, the singer for Bow Wow Wow, so Michael called her Anabelle.
From time to time, Jess had to leave the building to feed coins into the parking meter. Kirk came out of the studio when Jess was outside. He poked me in the stomach with his index finger and said, “What are you doing here?” I told him I came to say hi! He said I should have called Florida like Terri had done and I told him I had and that I left a message. Kirk didn’t get the message. He told me he was sharing a room with Garry and that it wasn’t possible to switch because Tim already had a guest staying with him. He asked what I did to my hair, and I told him the story.
Jess came back in and told us that her arm had been hit by a passing car while she was out there. She didn’t need medical attention. She was only slightly hurt. Kirk offered us something to drink. The choices were beer, vodka, mineral water, or milk. Now I’m very picky- there are many things I cannot eat or drink. And when I am nervous or stressed, my stomach and digestive tract cause me all sorts of problems too. Carbonated beverages are something I avoid so the beer and the mineral water did not appeal to me. Straight vodka tastes nasty, and I don’t drink a lot of alcohol. But if there had been some orange juice or cranberry juice, I would have had some vodka with that. That left milk. So, yes, I went into their rock and roll studio and had a glass of milk. Kirk laughed when I chose milk but then he brought me a glass of milk.
We spent almost no time in the actual recording studio that day. That I didn’t want to leave Jess by herself after she came back from dealing with the car was one reason. I also didn’t want to get in the way of the work. We saw Nile Rodgers, guitarist from Chic and the producer of Original Sin, but we didn’t interact with him much.
Jess and I were sitting in the lounge on the couch near the elevator and we were laughing hard at something when Nile came out. He saw us cracking up and he said, “And I thought I was really happy.” He thought we were high on something like he was. Nile Rodgers referred to cocaine as “silly shit” sometime during our time there. I don’t remember the details.
Tim Farriss came out to do a line of coke on the low table that faced the windows. The windows looked out onto the school playground so when he got up, he said, “Hi, kiddies!”
Michael also mentioned cocaine. He told his three young guests that he had bought some Peruvian Marching Powder (his term for cocaine). He said he was saving it for when they went slam dancing later.
There was a time when I was chatting with the three girls. I don’t think anyone else was around. It was how I found out that they had been invited to the studio by Michael when they saw INXS play at Mississippi Nights, a club in St. Louis on August 31, 1983. That was two nights after my friend, Jackie, saw them open for Men at Work in Chicago. I’ll tell her story from that concert in another blog post.
These girls were claiming that they had just graduated high school. Well, that was me the previous summer, so I started asking questions to find out what we had in common like where they were planning to go to college. Stuff like that. One of the girls decided to confess that she was fifteen and about to be a sophomore in high school. She was not the girl with the shaved head. They had told their parents that they were going on a trip to Chicago when they were really going to New York City because that way the parents would allow them to go. I was told that they would not have been allowed to travel to New York City if their parents knew that was where they were going.
It wasn’t very hard for me to get the truth. I wonder what the band knew or believed or if they even cared. The people in the music industry back then were quite disgusting and perhaps only cared about not getting in trouble when it came to messing with their young fans. I didn’t do anything about it at the time, but I also never forgot about it. Given Michael’s reputation when it came to having sex, it’s hard to believe that nothing untoward happened but maybe nothing did. Still, why did this 23-year-old man invite high school girls to hang out with him? At least Kirk knew that I was in college and over 18. But I can still find fault with Kirk too because he was 25 so I think I was too young for him.
Michael was telling them some weird things. What I wrote down was that he said that all the animals in Australia except for rabbits are protected so you aren’t allowed to kill them. And then he said that no one ate at the Chinese restaurants in Australia after they heard that the restaurants were using possums in their dishes.
At one point Jess and I were in the lounge by ourselves. Jess went out to deal with the parking meter again. Kirk came out and asked if I wanted to come inside the recording studio, but I said I would wait in the lounge until Jess came back. Then I was alone and, I looked at the sheet of paper that Michael was writing the lyrics on.
I sat down on the couch again and waited for Jess. Michael came out to work on the lyrics and I ignored him. He wasn’t the reason I was there, and I was still very nervous about what would happen with Kirk. Michael asked, “How is New York treating you?” I answered him by saying, “Is that a question?” We did not have a conversation.
A little later, Michael sang the Led Zeppelin lyric, “Big-legged woman ain’t got no soul” from the song Black Dog. And you should know that I have extremely long legs, disproportionately long legs. They are my most distinctive feature. The feature that caused me to be called “Daddy Long Legs” like the spider and that meant I often wore “high water” pants because I couldn’t find pants that were long enough. They looked fantastic and they were why I was a track star in high school but nevertheless, I was highly offended by this. I felt that Michael Hutchence was singing to me that I had no soul. I glared at him, and he said, “Sorry.”
Jess came back and she was very upset because her car had been towed and it was going to cost $110 to get it back. Kirk came out again and he almost stepped on my bare feet. Apparently, I had taken my shoes off at some point. It’s likely I was wearing sandals, but still, it could be considered a weird thing to do. The three of us discussed what happened to the car. Kirk offered to pay the money. Jess declined his offer. I told her that in her place, I would take the money and Kirk said that he would do that too. Still, she said no and left again to retrieve the car.
Kirk invited me into the recording studio again and this time I went in with him. I stood near the control panel. Timmy was playing his guitar part for the song. Garry was sitting on one side of me, and he was reading the Weekly World News. He laughed when he read the story about two lovers lying on a beach on Long Island who had their heads run over by a garbage truck and survived.
Nile Rodgers was into the music. He kept saying “Dis shit is happening” and “Bingo, this is fucking happening!” I loved it and started using those phrases whenever possible going forward. Andrew Farriss was sitting down eating a sandwich and making suggestions to Tim about his guitar work. I heard Timmy play one part of the song about twenty times.
Kirk asked if I wanted anything so I said I would have some mineral water. He got a glass of water and brought it back to me. I only took two sips of it because it tasted awful. We went to check the lounge to see if Jess came back and when she did, she came into the studio with us to watch for a couple of minutes. Then Jess and I went back out to the lounge to talk about the car.
We both sat on the couch by the elevator door again where we had a view of the kitchen area. Michael came out and went to the refrigerator where he took out a beer. Michael was looking around for a bottle opener but did not find one, so he started banging the top of the bottle on the edge of the counter to try to open it. Jess said, “Michael, I have a knife. Do you want it?” He said, “No, I enjoy whacking” while he continued to hit the counter. He said it in such a way that it was clear he was talking about masturbation. Then he was successful at opening the beer bottle and at that time he looked at me and smiled and said, “I love getting tops off.” It was clear by the way he said it that he meant he loved taking off the shirts that women are wearing. It was gross and I didn’t appreciate it. He was about as mature as some stupid boy from my junior high or high school.
Jon, Kirk and Timmy came out and Michael wanted to know what they thought about his lyrics for Original Sin. At that time, the lyrics said, “Dream on white boy, dream on white girl.” He asked, “Do you think it sounds okay?” Jon replied, “It’s no different from ‘natives wearing turquoise and silver.’” That lyric is from the song “Old World, New World” which is on their Shabooh Shoobah album. Michael got frustrated and said, “You have no idea what I’m talking about.”
Perhaps that led to Michael adding the “dream on black boy, dream on black girl” part that Nile Rodgers mentions in the INXS Access All Areas podcast. Because I don’t remember that part from the day I was there. Maybe Michael added it that to make it clearer that the dream was for some kind of paradise where all races got along together. Nile Rodgers says he talked them into mixing up the races even further within the lyrics and that is how the song was recorded. I wasn’t there for that because the vocals were not recorded until the next day. More about that in the next blog post.
The guys all started talking about the song. They were very excited about how it was going. They wondered if Original Sin would go to number one on the charts-they all wanted it to be a big hit.
Timmy said that Nile was in the studio playing some guitar lines to add to the song. He said that it would make the song harder to reproduce live, “but who cares as long as it sells more records.”
Kirk said he wanted to be famous, and that he also wanted to buy a house. Andrew started talking about how Nick Launay (the man who was about to produce the rest of their album, The Swing) and his girlfriend are a team and that they go everywhere together. Andrew didn’t want the band to pay to fly Nick’s girlfriend from London to Australia. Kirk said, “Why not? It’s only $1500.” Andrew suggested that they should wait until the album was recorded and then tell him that they won’t pay for his girlfriend. Andrew thought that if Nick knew this before they recorded the album that it might affect his work.
Someone in the band popped a cassette tape of Original Sin into a boombox and we all listened to what had been completed so far. The song didn’t have any vocals, but it sounded good. The work was done for the day, so everyone left.
In the podcast, Nile Rodgers said that it was a late night, but it wasn’t. Maybe the next day they ended late, I don’t know, but it was no later than 8pm when we left, and I think it was more like 7pm.
Terri, Jess, and I had to wait outside of The Chance in Poughkeepsie, New York for the INXS concert. We stood in line at the door. One of my college roommates, Karen, who lived in Newburgh, NY when we weren’t in Philadelphia at college, came to The Chance. Terri’s sister, Renee, and some of her friends, also came up to see the show.
The doors opened and the doorman wouldn’t let me in when I showed my Penn ID card. Terri was 19 and Jess was 20 so they were legal and got in. My roommate, Karen, was also only 18 but she wasn’t carded at the door, and she got into the venue. Renee and her friends were even younger than me and they were not allowed inside so they decided to go back to New Jersey.
I waited for a little while and then I took off my hat and got back in the line. When I got to the door, the doorman recognized me and said that there was no way I was getting in to see the show. I decided to wait for the band to show up. Because Kirk had talked to me at soundcheck; I thought he might let me go in with him if I asked.
I must have had a notebook in my purse along with my pen because I wrote this:
8/16/83
In a hundred words or less-Why America stinks. 1. Too many laws. Fuck it.
I can’t take all of this hypocrisy anymore. I am old enough to drink one hour and then I’m not old enough an hour later. I’m going to cry soon because this world sucks. It has to be a joke. I mean what kind of God would expect us to believe that we are here for a reason. There are no reasons for this insanity. God must be a sadist because you can’t win. Either you live under communist oppression, or you live under democratic oppression. I can’t believe that they won’t let me in on the ID that I have. Gimme a break. What’s the use of being alive when you can’t do what you want? If there is some reason, I really would like to know it.
It’s quite dramatic-so dramatic that I have to laugh at it now. I was so angry that they would not let me in to see INXS after they had let us in earlier in the day and served me alcohol during the soundcheck.
After I sat down near the stage door, some local guy who was doing the sound for INXS sat down next to me. I think his name was Jim. He sat down next to me and started asking me very personal questions. Being young and inexperienced, I sat there and answered them. Questions like “Do you have a boyfriend?” and “Are you a virgin?” The answer to the first question was no. I did not have a boyfriend. I told him that I had never done anything but kissed. That first year of college, I had kissed a guy who lived a floor above in the dorm. Jim told me that he had a girlfriend and that they liked to have sex. He said he wanted to take me to Great Adventure (A Six Flags amusement park in New Jersey) and show me a good time but that he wouldn’t try anything with me. I declined his offer.
Jim told me that he had been on tour as the sound mixer with the Thompson Twins and that every show of theirs was the same because the whole thing was on tape. Obviously, I wrote down that fascinating bit of information for posterity.
I explained to him about why I was stuck outside and that I was waiting for Kirk Pengilly from INXS to arrive so I could ask him to let me in to see the show. While I was waiting, the opening band took the stage and began playing. At that point, the sound guy decided to let me in himself.
He opened the stage door and told me to follow him inside. Then he told me to go along the side of the stage and down the steps. I thanked him several times because he solved my problem and made me happy. Terri and Jess saw me back there and waved and yelled. I walked along the side of the stage (the left side if you are facing the audience) in full view of the audience while the opening act was playing right next to me. As quickly and as carefully as possible, I made my way down the steps to the floor and joined Terri, Jess, and Karen in the front row. We were up against the stage.
I don’t remember much from the concert. When the band started playing Jan’s Song from Shabooh Shoobah, Michael Hutchence (the singer) plucked the hat from my head and wore it on his own. One of the lyrics from Jan’s Song is “She puts her hat on; looks in the mirror”, so my hat was an appropriate prop.
When Michael finished the song, he handed my hat back to me. While he was doing this, he said something to me. I have no idea what he said because I couldn’t hear him well enough. That was something that would happen again in the future.
During one song, Timmy Farriss, one of the guitarists, (we always called him Timmy and not Tim) threw some guitar picks into the audience. Karen caught one and gave it to me. A couple of months later, I gave it to Terri because Timmy was her favorite band member.
After the show, Jon Farriss, the drummer, was onstage for a minute, so I asked him to autograph my ticket. He said, surprised, “This is a whole ticket from tonight’s show!” and signed the ticket. He said he liked my hat and I said, “I like yours. Do you want to trade?” He said no because the hat was a gift from someone, and it had sentimental value. I don’t know what happened to the autographed ticket. I no longer have it. Perhaps I gave it away like I did with the guitar pick.
A photo of Jon wearing that hat from 1983.
The doorman saw me and said, “So, you managed to sneak in somehow. It’ll never happen again.” That was true because I never went back to The Chance. There was a fire there about a year later and it was badly damaged.
We went into the ladies’ room and a few other young women were in there. They knew where INXS was staying, and they told us. Karen decided to go home. Terri, Jess and I decided to go to the hotel.
We waited in the lobby of a Ramada Inn somewhere in the area. When the band arrived, some of them complained that the Holiday Inn they had stayed in the night before or whenever wouldn’t allow them to bring guests upstairs. Pretty sure Michael was one who complained, perhaps also Timmy or Kirk.
They went up to the floor where their rooms were, and we followed them, along with some other people who were in the lobby with us. At first, everyone stayed out in the hallway. Michael spoke to me and said, “Thanks for the use of your hat.” I told him, “Anytime!”
There was a room for business meetings at the end of the hall. Timmy opened the door to that room, but he couldn’t find the light switch. Then I went in to look for the light switches. I found them and turned on the lights. Timmy, Kirk, my friends and I went into the room. Perhaps some other fans came in, but I don’t remember. Most of the fans stayed out in the hall with Michael.
In the room there was a cart on wheels. Something similar to a hotel luggage cart-it was for transporting something. I got on it and started pushing it around with one leg-like a scooter. I stopped after I ran into something with it. Kirk called me a vandal when that happened.
There was also an easel with white paper and markers and a watercooler in this meeting room. It seemed like a good idea to play a game of hangman, so I drew the gallows. I had been a bit obsessed with the phrase, “the best thing since sliced bread.” To me, it was a weird saying. So, I chose “sliced bread” as the puzzle. Timmy was the one who guessed the answer and won the game. I think we played another game of hangman but it got boring, so we all went to Timmy and Kirk’s room. Back then they were two to a hotel room to save money. The door stayed open, and it became another area for the party.
Michael was just outside, still in the hallway, with a bunch of fans. He was playing the Talking Heads on a red Japanese boom box. Timmy told us how exciting it was for him and the rest of INXS to meet the Talking Heads. He was acting like he was a huge fan when he told us about it-just the same as how their own fans were when they met INXS.
Michael Hutchence holding the red Japanese boom box.
Someone turned on the TV and we looked for something to watch. There was a show where a woman was giving birth. Another channel was showing an Aussie-rules football game (I think that is what ended up staying on). Terri wanted to watch the channel that was showing the colored stripes signal instead, basically expressing her displeasure at what was chosen. I was tired so I stretched out on one of the beds (I sat up against the headboard and my legs were on the bed and stretched in front of me) and watched TV. It was the bed farthest from the door and closest to the TV. I think Kirk and Timmy were sitting on the other bed or maybe just standing around with three or four other young women. I think Terri and Jess were sitting near the desks on the chairs.
It wasn’t much of a party. No drugs and no alcohol that I can recall, which was fine by us because we didn’t use drugs or even drink really. I think Andrew, Jon, and Garry went to bed. I don’t recall them being around. I was just waiting for Terri and Jess to be ready to go home. I wasn’t even talking to anyone.
Timmy must have been bored also because he decided to put on a mix tape that someone had given to him in Los Angeles. He said that it was a great tape. I sat there listening, but I was getting more bored by the minute because I didn’t recognize any of the songs and none of what I heard interested me. Then the fateful moment happened. A song came on that I knew and liked. Finally, something interesting was happening! I got excited, pointed at the boombox and said, “Hey, Shriekback!!” The song was “All Lined Up.”
Kirk heard me say that and I guess it was the opening he was waiting for. He walked over and said, “Move over, darling!” so I moved over, and he stretched out next to me on the bed. His first question was about what other music I liked. I mentioned several bands, but I only know for sure that I mentioned XTC. I don’t think I asked him about his musical tastes. After a day filled with events and conversations, it is impossible to remember everything even as soon as the next day.
I was having fun talking to Kirk. I told him about toxic waste in my home state of New Jersey. It’s kind of what the state is known for. New Jersey has the most Superfund sites of any state-those sites are the most polluted with hazardous, toxic waste. In the 1980s, the air smelled bad as you drove on the NJ Turnpike past refineries, etc.
The Emerson Hotel and my job there as a waitress was another thing we talked about. Kirk said, “I bet you’re good at it.” I said, “No, I bump into the chairs.” It was my first summer at that job and I was still learning. It was a popular restaurant, so I made good money which I needed to pay for college. My mother worked there as a second job, and she got me in. I told him that I had $600 in one-dollar bills stored in a suitcase in my closet. I didn’t tell him that I was keeping it hidden from one of my brothers who used to steal from me to buy pot (marijuana). I was not a fan of people who smoked pot because of that. It wasn’t until many years later that I found out that many of the members of INXS liked to smoke pot, including Kirk.
Sometime during our conversation, I asked for Kirk’s autograph. I don’t know why. He seemed disappointed that I did that. He signed a piece of paper from a note pad that came from the Emerson Hotel anyway.
Kirk Pengilly autograph
From time to time, Kirk got up to check on the shirt he had soaking in the bathroom sink. It was a red button-down shirt with little horses on it. Another thing I wrote in my diary was that he said he wanted to name his future children Billy and Milly Pengilly. I’m glad he didn’t go through with that.
Garry and Kirk, INXS, photo by Terri, 8/1983. Kirk wearing the red shirt with horses.
After a while, I got up and left the room to get a paper cup from the meeting room. I was thirsty. Terri and I also wanted to see what was happening out in the hall. Kirk followed me out.
Terri and I stopped to talk to Michael. I didn’t like Michael. He walked funny-like prancing on tip toe. To me, he seemed arrogant and obnoxious. Michael seemed to like to tell people how to dress and I think he said something about what Terri was wearing when we were in the hall talking to him. I can’t remember what exactly-only that he said something insensitive about the dark color of her skin and Terri was hurt by it. Something along the lines of whatever color Terri was wearing did not go well with her dark skin or maybe he said a different color would go better. I think he was clueless and didn’t notice that he hurt her feelings, but I noticed, and it made very angry. It was another mark against him in my book.
When we went back into the hotel room, we all sat around and talked to Timmy. We didn’t even know it was his birthday that day. I don’t think he mentioned it either. Someone at this party offered Timmy a piece of gum but he didn’t take it. He said he was allergic to artificial sweeteners.
Timmy told us a story about a guy named Simon. My diary says Timmy said he knew him growing up but now I wonder because I read an anecdote in the Story to Story book from when INXS played mining towns and it was similar. Timmy said that one of the things Simon used to do was put spiders in his mouth and then freak people out by having them crawl out of his mouth. I said, “I wonder what he does for kicks now”?
Timmy also told us that he, Jon, and Andrew had found out that their grandfather had died. They had had a concert a couple of days before and they were told about their grandfather’s death after they finished the show. I felt sorry for them because they were so far away from home and there was nothing they could do about it. Terri and Jess didn’t know what to say after hearing about Timmy’s grandfather. I said, “That’s a bummer.” Timmy said, “Yeah, it is.” I still say that when people tell me bad news sometimes.
Other random things- For some reason, during some conversation, I said, “It beats the heck out of me!” and Kirk laughed at that. I guess it’s not something they said back in Australia. Also, Kirk and I drew on the paintings on the walls in his hotel room. This was something that surprised me when I read my diary after so many years. I don’t remember doing it, but it sounds like something I would do back then. I wonder what we added to those paintings. Was it mustaches on people or flowers or what? Did Ramada Inn ever notice?
Before we left, I took a blank piece of paper from the notepad in the room. Terri took some of the hotel writing paper home with her. When we said that we were leaving, Kirk walked us out of the hotel. We stopped just outside, and Kirk said goodbye to Terri and Jess. They headed to the car. Then Kirk said, “And you!” and he sort of grabbed me. He put a hand on each of my arms near my shoulders, pulled me to him, and kissed me. I think I would have been justified if I slapped his face for doing that but instead, I kissed him back because I liked him a lot. We made out in the parking lot there for a minute or two before I said goodbye and walked to the car. Kirk walked back inside the hotel. I should have left it at that but I didn’t.
Australian rock band, INXS, finished the first leg of their first U.S. tour about a week after they performed at the US Festival in California on May 28, 1983. The band went back to Australia where they had some time off and then did shows in Melbourne and Sydney for the last nine days of July before coming back to the U.S. to perform. They played again in California on August 4, 1983
US Festival
Jackie came out to New Jersey from Chicago to visit us in June. When INXS left, their co-manager, Gary Grant, stayed behind and MMA Management opened an office in New York City in the same building as Atco Records. Atco Records had signed INXS to a record deal in the U.S. in 1982. We didn’t know that Chris Murphy and Gary Grant had done this until the day we walked into the office of Atco Records.
Terri, Jess, Jackie and I went into the city to have fun. We walked into the building where Atco Records was located. We went to Atco Records and asked the receptionist when INXS was coming back to America. She called Gary Grant on the phone, and he came out to meet us. He invited us into his office. I didn’t write about this day in my diary, so I don’t remember anything that was said. I don’t know if we got an answer to the question of when INXS was coming back to America.
Did Gary Grant ask us about ourselves and why we liked the band? Probably. He was there in America to help with relations with their record company, do promotions, and increase their fan base. Gary Grant was sent to New York City by Chris Murphy who became the manager of INXS through MMA Management in March 1980. He brought in Gary Grant as co-manager after a year or so as the INXS tour manager.
Gary Grant gave each of us an INXS promotional poster. The poster was hung on my wall when I met my husband eight years later in 1991. I think I threw out the poster at the same time I threw out the Tropicana juice bottle (internal link) I was married, and we were moving often so I threw some things away. Jess had her poster autographed by all the band members-probably as soon as they returned to America.
Before INXS came back, I went “down the shore” with Terri and Jess one day. Jess brought a boom box and a tape of the first INXS album. The first two INXS albums had not been released in the U.S. at that time, but it was easy to buy imported albums where we lived. Jess bought them and also INXSive which was a compilation album that had We Are The Vegetables and Simple Simon on it. I remember listening to INXS multiple times that day and I liked it, so I was ready to see the band in concert again.
INXS came back to America in August 1983. I didn’t see an INXS show until August 16, 1983, when they played at a club called The Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY-about 60 miles north of Hillsdale, New Jersey.
Terri and Jess saw INXS a couple of times before I did. On August 13, 1983, Terri, Renee (Terri’s younger sister who went to school with my younger brother, Dan), and Jess went to see INXS open for Men at Work at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia. There is a mention of this in one of Terri’s letters. Jess gave Garry the INXS pillow that she made. They gave the band carnations. There was a photo in a magazine that we think is from backstage and shows their carnations and the pillow. Terri made a photocopy of the photo from the magazine and then wrote a letter to me on the rest of the paper.
INXS stationery, photocopy of magazine photo. L to R- Gary Grant, Michael Hutchence, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss
I think they also saw INXS play at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut on August 15, 1983. I surmise that they spoke to the band again and perhaps met Dana there.
On August 16, 1983, Terri or Jess drove us up to Poughkeepsie from New Jersey and we waited outside of The Chance for INXS to arrive for their soundcheck. This was a routine way of doing things by that time. We had done it in May at the Ritz, and we likely did the same thing when Adam Ant had a concert in November 1982. Terri told me in a letter that she got me a ticket for the show at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ on November 20, 1982, and that the plan was to wait for Adam Ant to come for soundcheck to try to meet him. It was a Saturday, so I came from university in Philadelphia, but I don’t remember what happened and I did not write it in my diary.
When INXS arrived, we went inside with the band. I think they let us in because they recognized Terri and Jess already. And my impression was that they were quite friendly and liked to meet their fans. Inside there was a bar and then a section with tables and then the dance floor and then the stage. I bought a screwdriver (vodka and orange juice) at the bar. I was only 18 and the drinking age in New York was 19 but they served me without question. We sat at a table that was behind the table where Kirk Pengilly, Jon Farriss, and Michael Hutchence were sitting. I sat facing their table and the stage. I was minding my own business. Terri and Jess went off to an area on the right that had video games. They either played or watched someone else play.
I sat there with my drink and took a pen from my purse. I amused myself by taking one of the Rockbill magazines that were on all the tables and drawing on it. I liked to draw women’s hairstyles on men’s pictures. Sometimes I also drew on some eyelashes or eyeliner. I also liked to fill in the holes in the printed letters. I was altering Sting’s picture on the cover when Kirk came over. I had given Sting a Fu Manchu mustache and a long, pointed beard and I was coloring in his hair. Kirk asked me what I was doing so I showed him. He said, “Oh, Sting is Chinese now.”
Kirk sat down at my table, and we talked. I talked to him about our car ride up to Poughkeepsie-how long it took, etc. I drew him a crude map to show him where we were in New York and where we had come from in New Jersey. I told him that we had to make a U-turn in the middle of the highway (I guess we had to go back for something we forgot?). Kirk said that the tour bus did that once, but it wasn’t on purpose.
He told me that I looked like I was going to a cricket match. I was wearing a white t-shirt, a denim skirt, white sandals, and a camouflage bucket hat. Terri and Jess came back to the table and apologized for interrupting us. I told them that they were not interrupting. Kirk left our table after a minute. I guess he took my comment to mean that he should go away. Even though Kirk Pengilly was my favorite member of INXS, I wasn’t there to hook up with him or anyone else so my friends were not interrupting.
The band started doing the soundcheck. Garry Gary Beers was up on stage. He was replacing the strings on his bass. He threw the old strings off the stage, and they sat there on the dance floor. Jess said that she wanted to have those strings. Garry Gary was her favorite band member. She felt it was too embarrassing to go get the strings. I did not care what any of them thought of me, so I got up and walked onto the dance floor; picked up the strings and brought them back to the table. I kept one and gave the others to Jess. From then on, we all made jokes about having Garry’s G-string.
One of the memorable events of this soundcheck happened when the other members of the band started scolding Michael, their lead singer. He was not participating in the soundcheck. He was playing around instead. He was refusing to sing. Andrew Farriss said something like, “If you aren’t going to sing then you should have stayed at the hotel.” Others in the band chimed in and said, “yeah, go back to the hotel.” It might have been Tim Farriss and Kirk or maybe all of them. I can’t be sure anymore.
This was probably my first impression of Michael Hutchence as a person, and it wasn’t a good one. He was screwing around instead of taking his job seriously- acting like a child instead of an adult. And I got a close-up look at the band’s dynamic; their interactions with each other. I found it interesting. I was definitely on the band’s side.
After the soundcheck was finished, we left the building to go grab something to eat. When we came back to The Chance, the people working there would not let us back into the building. We had to wait outside until they opened the doors again for the show. The rest of the story will follow in the next post.
The photo is of me and my friends before an INXS concert in 1984. I want to introduce the people in it. Jess is not in the photo because she was taking it. I met Jess through Terri. Terri is third from the left, wearing the purple shirt. Terri and I met in the seventh grade when I moved to Hillsdale, New Jersey. Jess, Terri and I met a few years later because of a mutual interest in soccer and the New York Cosmos. Jess lived in Wayne, New Jersey.
Jess, Susan (fourth from the left, between Terri and me), and Dana (far right, wearing the Relax t-shirt) can be seen in the Wham documentary that is on Netflix. add link? They are in the footage from an autograph signing at Sam Goody at the Willowbrook Mall in New Jersey. I was at school in Philadelphia, so I wasn’t there.
Maria, first on the left in the photo, was a fan of Kirk Pengilly, same as me. We met her at an INXS concert earlier in 1984. I think we also met Susan at a different INXS concert or maybe she was a friend of Dana’s. I don’t remember. Dana had some kind of INXS fan club going. I think it was called INXS Alliance. We either met her because of that or at an INXS concert. Jess, Terri, and Dana all saw INXS open for Adam Ant at St. John’s University in April of 1983 and met members of the band but I don’t think they met each other.
Jen, second from the right, lived in Tampa, Florida which is where Terri went to college. Jen also had an interest in soccer and music. I don’t know how Terri and Jen met. It’s possible that they were pen pals long before Terri went to Florida.
What I remember most about the day Terri, Jess and I went to the Ritz to see INXS in concert was how tired and uncomfortable I was. We didn’t just go there for the show. We went early (around 3pm) and waited on the steps in front of the Ritz for the band to show up for soundcheck.
My mother’s future second husband owned the Ho-Ho-Kus Bakery and he gave me a job there during the summer between high school and my freshman year of college. Now I had just come back home from finishing freshman year of college and I worked at the bakery that morning from 6am until 1pm.
We were eating while sitting on the steps when INXS showed up for soundcheck. Tim Farriss, the guitarist, said, “Are you having a picnic?” I was wearing a sleeveless shirt with a blue diamond pattern and long pants. Jon Farriss, the drummer, looked me up and down when he passed me and he said, “Hi!” I said, “Hi!” back. I didn’t mind because I thought Jon Farriss was the best-looking and sexiest guy in the band. But we weren’t there for that. Nothing else happened as far as I can remember.
The band left and we still had hours to wait. I had to pee, so we pleaded with the doorman to let us in to use the bathroom. When I got in there I couldn’t go. Either my bladder was shy, or I was holding it too long. I couldn’t stay in there for long so I went back outside and had to wait a few more hours before I could try again. It was not fun. I thought I damaged something in my body.
We were first in line so when the doors opened, we took spots up against the stage. We still had to wait for a while. I was able to use the bathroom successfully. What a relief! We met another girl named Donna- Donna B while we were waiting for the show to start. We went to future shows with her too and she is also part of my story.
First the opening act, New Models, took the stage. I was so tired that I put my head down on the stage while they were playing. I was oblivious until Terri tapped my arm and told me to get up. I looked up to find the lead singer jumping up and down two inches from my head. I think he was trying to wake me up.
INXS came on and I listened and watched- no sleeping. They were good. I liked them. A couple of times when Michael Hutchence, the lead singer, was in front of me, I touched the top of his shoe with my index finger. No screaming, nothing crazy, just a tap with my finger.
Later on during the show, Michael drank some water from a glass Tropicana orange juice bottle and then handed it to me. I was thirsty so I drank some water and then passed the bottle to Terri. She drank and then passed the bottle to Jess and she drank. They passed the bottle back to me and I drank the rest of the water and then kept the bottle as a souvenir. I threw the bottle away a few years later.
We hung around near the stage after the show and the band came out onto the floor. I don’t remember anything about that except that Kirk Pengilly (guitar, vocals, saxophone) was standing around and I took a close look at the back of his head. He had very short hair in back and there were zig zag designs cut into his hair there. He turned around and said, “Hi!” I said hi and told him that I liked his haircut. He said, “thanks.”
I have no idea what time it was exactly, but I would have been awake for close to 24 hours at that point. I don’t know how long it took me to write anything down from this night. If I was really busy, I would just jot down notes and not write out the whole story until later. I was probably too tired to remember much. Maybe Terri or Jess talked to some of them. I don’t remember. We made it back to New Jersey without incident. I don’t remember who drove. I just know it wasn’t me because I didn’t have a car. I could use my mother’s car to drive to work but that’s it. Terri had her own car- a little Datsun, back when those existed!
