Sexism, Bruhs, and Rock n Roll

Tag: Soccer

Blog Post 13- INXS concert June 28, 1984

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.

6/4/84

I just got my grades. 2 Bs and a C. I passed management and got a C in Buyer Behavior. Those were the only ones I was worried about. My GPA is a 2.5 now which is decent.

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.

6/24/84

Jackie is seeing INXS in Chicago. I’m dying to know what is going on.

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.

Here is an article about the Weekly World News

https://time.com/archive/6908434/the-late-great-weekly-world-news

Welcome back to New York City, INXS!

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.

Leona Helmsley video

We were in the lobby when the band arrived. Kirk Pengilly said, “Hi, Donna,” and gave me a kiss. Then he said, “I hope you aren’t parked in a towaway zone.” So, he remembered me and made it clear that he remembered what had happened the last time I saw him nine months ago.

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.

October 4, 2025
Blog Post 11- Soccer in New Jersey- The Cosmos

Jackie Fuhrmann and Victor Nogueira

Jackie Fuhrmann with Victor Nogueira, the goalkeeper for the Chicago Sting. He is from Mozambique. I think he was Jackie’s favorite player. He was a good-looking man. He is also in the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame which seems to only exist on the internet.

https://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/home

On March 11, 1984, while I was in Tampa, Florida for spring break, I wrote in my diary that a certain soccer team was in town yesterday and Mr. X didn’t even try to pick me up! “I guess he knows better at this point, so he doesn’t bother. At least I didn’t have to pay for the game.” Mr. X was a married soccer player from a foreign country who was 13 years older than me.

We went to an indoor soccer game after some player that we knew gave us the tickets. The visiting team won the game. After the game we went to a bar called Whiskey Joes. My diary says that I didn’t talk to any of the players.

It was towards the end of my time as someone who went to soccer games as both the New York Arrows of the MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League) and the entire NASL (North American Soccer League), which played soccer outdoors during the summer, folded after the 1984 season.

Cosmos History

The New York Cosmos and the best and worst of American soccer

Giants stadium, in the Meadowlands, opened for business in 1976 when the New York Giants football team played its first season there. The stadium was in East Rutherford, in the southern part of Bergen County, the county in New Jersey where I grew up. The New York Cosmos professional soccer team started playing there in the summer of 1977.

The Cosmos team was started by the Ertegun brothers of Atlantic Records fame along with several other executives from Warner Communications, which owned many entertainment companies and later merged with Time, Inc. to become Time Warner. The team debuted in the NASL in 1971. They were losing a lot of money from the beginning, so it wasn’t long before the founders basically signed their stakes over to Warner Communications.

A history of the Cosmos can be found on Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cosmos_(1971–1985)

Franz Beckenbauer Farewell Game

My Beckenbauer Farewell game ticket stub

Video of Franz Beckenbauer farewell game highlights with some weird narration.

Keeping a diary wasn’t something I did until I was a junior in high school and that was only because my English teacher had us write during class every Wednesday. So, I don’t know for sure if I went to soccer games during the summer of 1980 or not. The players I met at were all on the Cosmos roster in 1980 and 1981. My diary contains a couple of hints that perhaps I did go to at least one game before the Franz Beckenbauer Farewell Game on September 24, 1980. If not, then I went to at least one of the Cosmos fan club meetings with Terri.

Press release announcing that Pele will come back for the Beckenbauer farewell game

Franz Beckenbauer was a very successful and famous German soccer player. The New York Cosmos lured many players from other countries to play for them, such as Pele, usually towards the end of their careers.

Video tribute to Franz Beckenbauer when he died January 7, 2024.

Meeting some soccer players

After my junior year in high school, I stopped writing any kind of diary. I didn’t start again until 1984 so I only have my old memories to go on now. I think it wasn’t until after junior year of high school that I went to more games and met some of the soccer players. Terri and I were in the same grade in school, but she was many months older than me. She was able to drive before I was.

Our high school (Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, NJ) started a girls’ soccer team in the fall of 1980. My diary says that I considered trying out for the soccer team, but I joined the cross-country track team instead. I was already active in indoor track and spring track but that is the subject for another post.

That fall, Terri and I went trick-or-treating at Andranik Eskandarian’s house on Halloween. He was a defender for the Cosmos who came from Iran, and he lived nearby. I dressed as a runner for my costume. His wife was home, but he was in Europe because the Cosmos went on a tour where they played twelve games against teams in Europe and North Africa.

Here is link to a story about Eskandarian’s soccer store in Hackensack, New Jersey.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/hackensack/2022/12/16/world-cup-fills-his-nj-soccer-store-he-endured-sports-rocky-early-days-new-york-cosmos/69725566007

There were a couple of Cosmos players from Paraguay who were only two or three years older than us. Julio Cesar Romero and Roberto Cabanas. Roberto Cabanas was like the Jon Farriss (drummer for the Australian rock band INXS) of the Cosmos-the one I thought was the best-looking and the one closest to my age. Neither of the guys from Paraguay spoke much English and Terri and I had chosen to study French in high school so spending time with them was a bit awkward. We did try though. I vaguely remember going with Terri to Guttenberg, NJ where Romero lived, and we had lunch with him.

In the front row of this photo are Seninho(11), Johan Neeskens(13), Julio Cesar Romero(7), Giorgio Chinaglia(9), Ricky Davis(17), Bogie(8). In the middle row are David Brcic(21) and Hubert Birkenmeier(1). In the back row are Roberto Cabanas(19) and Eskandarian(2). Those are the players I remember meeting or who are mentioned in this post.

RIP Roberto Cabanas, 'an idol wherever he went'

The Front Row bar at the Meadowlands

There was a bar on Paterson Plank Road, near Giants Stadium, that was owned by two football players who played for the Giants- Brad Van Pelt and Doug Van Horn. It was called The Front Row, and it was a place where soccer players would hang out after the games. I remember spending time there with Terri and her mother, who used to drive us places, and some other fans after games. I thought it was funny because we were still in high school. We didn’t drink though.

It was a good place to observe behavior. Most of the soccer players were attractive-in their 20s or 30s, athletic, fit, some tall, some handsome. Not all of them were single. I saw how the women who were there to pick up one of these men were dressed. One woman wore a shirt that had a see-through plastic window in front. That was most memorable. I don’t know if that always worked to get the attention of men in the bar, but I knew that dressing like that was meant to get a sexual sort of attention. I never dressed that way, ever.

George Katakalidis. New York Arrows indoor soccer

This is me in high school after a New York Arrows indoor soccer game. I’m on the far left. The man is George Katakilidis, one of the players. The other girls are Rena, and Linda, I think. My diary mentions them, but I don’t remember them. They didn’t live in our town. The Arrows played in Nassau Coliseum out on Long Island but my diary mentions a game in Madison Square Garden so I don’t know where this was taken. I’m wearing what I typically wore in high school when I only owned two pairs of jeans and they were identical. They were cast-offs as were most of my clothes back then. I didn’t get contact lenses until I went to college so I always wore those eyeglasses except when I was running.

Married man leaves bad impression

My first encounter with Mr. X happened at the Front Row bar when I was a senior in high school. I think I was standing on the dance floor when I talked to him, but I don’t remember why I was talking to him or what about. The only part I remember was when he asked me how old I was. I told him I was seventeen. He said, “Seventeen? What a beautiful age.” Just imagine it sounding icky because it came across as gross and inappropriate. I don’t think he specifically mentioned sex at all, but it was meant as a sexual comment.

Perhaps things got a little more serious the next time because he figured I was over eighteen by then? Who knows? Some men will target the younger girls while others are more cautious and only prey on the ones over 18. When we went to see Mr. X’s team sometime after I graduated from high school, we were in a hotel bar with some of the players. Mr. X was there, and I did look at him because he was good-looking but I was not flirting. So, it was a shock when a bit later, one of the other players came up to me and told me that Mr. X was waiting for me in his room. That was crazy to me, and I was embarrassed. I didn’t go. Later, Mr. X came back down and lured one of my friends by promising to give her a jersey or something. So, she left with him to get it, and he tried to kiss her.

None of that kept us away. We still wanted to support the teams and be friendly with the players because we could get free tickets and afford to go to more games that way. Plus, most of them were okay to be around and we would have fun. If we took precautions and avoided certain situations with certain players, then the assaults were kept to a minimum. This kind of behavior from men was so common and so normalized that we just put up with it and excused it if they were drinking alcohol. When I was 18 some 32-year-old soccer player put his hand over my mouth and then kissed the back of his hand. Stuff like that just got laughed off.

After a Chicago Sting indoor soccer game somewhere with Dee, Frankie, Jess, and Frankie’s mother in the early 1980s.

This is a photo of me, Dee, Frankie, Jess, and Frankie’s mother Fran. Taken on some road trip to go to an indoor soccer game when I was a freshman in college. I wore contact lenses.

Visiting Tampa, Florida

Before I went back for the spring semester of my sophomore year of college, in December of 1983, I took a trip to Florida where Terri was going to college. Jackie was also visiting. We stayed at Jen’s house. Jen babysat for one of the soccer players on the team in Tampa, so we hung out with her at his house. She knew all the players and we saw several of them during our time there. There isn’t anything in my diary about any of them bothering me which was not always the case. I think this photo of Jackie and Tatu of the Tampa Bay Rowdies might be from this time. Tatu is from Brazil and he too is in the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame.

Jackie Fuhrmann and Tatu of the Tampa Bay Rowdies

You can read more about Tatu on his Wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatu_(footballer)

A bit of harrassment

On August 15, 1984, I wrote in my diary that I went to a soccer game because I was bored and that it was a big mistake. This was just a few days after we were finished going to INXS concerts for the summer. Terri was friends with a player on the opposing team, but she told me that she wasn’t going to go out of her way for him. He ended up keeping us out until 6am and I wrote that I almost died when I was at work four hours later.

We went to the Front Row bar after the game and Terri spoke to this guy while we were there. Then he, his teammate, Terri, Jess, and I all went to a restaurant in Clifton, NJ called Bogie 8. It had been recently opened by one of the captains of the New York Cosmos, Vladimir Bogicevic. His nickname was Bogie and the number on his jersey was 8 and hence the name. I didn’t enjoy it.

After leaving the restaurant, we went back to the hotel where the players were staying. We took two more players besides the two we were with back to the hotel with us. Those two players were in the backseat of the car with me. One of them attacked me. He started kissing my shoulder and asking me for a kiss. I didn’t kiss the guy. The two of them said I looked like Julianne McNamara.

Julianne McNamara was a famous American gymnast at that time. She was on the US Olympic gymnastics team.

We got rid of those two players once we reached the hotel. According to my diary, “I made it there relatively unscathed.” Jess went home from there. I had come with Terri so I couldn’t go home if I wanted to. The four of us went out to a diner.

New Jersey is well-known for its diners. There were loads of diners in New Jersey in the 1980s. Many were open 24 hours a day. Most served breakfast at all times of the day.

I thought it was funny that Terri kept talking about Timmy Farriss of INXS in front of her friend. Timmy was Terri’s favorite member of the band and we had just spent a lot of time with them.

The four of us went out to the parking lot and played some soccer. There must have been a soccer ball in the car. I walked away with the guy who was from Brazil so Terri and her friend could be alone for a few minutes. We sat down in the parking lot in the middle of the night and waited. It was kind of awkward. We did our best to have a conversation. It was one of those times when I wished I had stayed at home in the end or that I had my own car so I could leave.

August 30, 2025
Blog Post 10- Waiting for INXS, Spring 1984

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

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

Letter from Terri about INXS

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

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

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

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

The jerk from Scotland

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

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

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

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

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

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

Billboard magazine

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

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

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

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

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

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

Original Sin

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

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

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

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

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

Big Country

Big Country. Trouser Press magazine. March 1984

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

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

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

Me with Big Country singer Stuart Adamson in Tampa, Florida

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

Big Country video

Graveyard shift

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.reinhardagency.com

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

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

Jackie with Jon Farris of INXS in 1983

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

Link to Wikipedia page about Poplar Creek Music Theater

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

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

INXS who’s who

Rick Sales- tour manager for 1983

Gary Grant- co-manager of INXS and MMA

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

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

Jon Farriss- drummer and youngest of the Farriss brothers

Kirk Pengilly- guitarist, saxophone player, and vocalist.

Garry Gary Beers- bassist

Michael Hutchence- lead singer and main lyricist

October 11, 1983

Hi Donna!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 12, 1983 10:20 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 29, 2025