My musical career during the 1970's. Part 2 .

"Living in the 70s".

Part Two.

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In January 1975, I set off on a 1 month Honeymoon  trip by boat to London, England with my loverly Cherie. We would sail via Fiji, Acupulco, Panama and Miami Florida and reach London in early February 75. Whilst onboard I would occassionally act as "DJ Compere" where I got to play recent recordings by Australian Artists and Bands ( Renee Geyer/ Jim Keays/ Glen Cardier/ Doug Ashdown/ Kerri Biddell/ Sherbet and Ross Ryan "  from my record collection that I was taking to England.

 These recordings would get me in the Front Door of all the major record companies and even some Press Reports and radio interviews.

One memorable event was when we went ashore in Acapulco and bought half a pound of the best local ganga for only $20. At night we would go on top deck of the ship and get stoned off our tits with hippie friends we had befriended onboard. 

We drank like fish and ate like pigs and made love like whores .

 
We sailed through the famous "Bermuda Triangle" during a huge hail and lightning storm and escaped being kidnapped by all those strange aliens out there.

 
The Panama Canal was unreal and Panama City a frightening place to be, whilst  Miami, Florida was a great place and where we got to take a swim at one of their beautiful beaches. Miami was so clean; sunny and full of "head shops" and groovy hip people.

 We had a whole month of love, happiness and joy before we embarked in Southampton, England.

 Unfortunately we had to dump half a pound of great weed overboard before we docked . The ballad of Brian and Cherie had begun.

We caught a bus to London and stayed in a hotel for a few nights before we found an affordable "Flat" in Maida Vale; St Johns Wood.

 Within 3 days we both had employment and our own place and things were looking great.

Meanwhile I contacted the Bee Gees manager, Robert Stingwood  at RSO and arranged a meeting to discuss my musical talents/songwriting and maybe signing other Aussie acts to his lable. The meeting went ok, they listened to some of my home recordings of my songs on cassette and played a number of the albums I took along of other Australian artists/bands. I left feeling optomistic.

                            ABBEY ROAD.

I also visited EMI records and visited Abbey Road studios, which was located only a few hundred yards from where I was living. 

PAUL McCARTNEY.

 After visiting Abbey Road I was exploring the area when I came across this beautiful big white house and decided to try and peer over the huge fence around it. Suddenly a guy yelled out "Hey man, what are you doing?".  I said I was admiring the house and I was just exploring the area as I had just arrived from Australia.  "Australia" he asked and then said that he was Australian too.
He asked me if I wanted to come inside for a chat and cup of tea and I said "sure" and I made my way into this beautiful huge home.

 We sat in the downstairs kitchen at the rear of the house where we shared a cuppa and had a good chat about OZ and he told me that he was only the "Caretaker" of the premises and that the owner was himself visiting Australia. I told him that I was a Singer/Songwriter and had come to England to try for a Record deal.

. He said for me to come upstairs to the "music room" for a jam and a smoke; " so I went upstairs, had a smoke, somebody spoke and I fell into a dream".
The room was full of expensive guitars including a "Hofner Beatle Bass", "6 string Rickenbackers","Fender and Gibson acoustic and solid body guitars". We smoked and jammed for a couple of hours before it was time for me to head home to my awaiting wife.

It would be a few years after this event that I would discover that the house I had been in was owned by "Paul McCartney" and that I had played on a number of guitars that he has played and recorded on. WOW. At the time McCartney did employ an Australian couple as "Caretakers" of his London home in Cavendish rd, St Johns Wood. At the time "Paul & Linda McCartney were touring Australia with their group "Wings".

I also visited Decca Records whom told me Solo Artists were on the way out and ragtime was on the way back; ha ha, I thought.
I remember doing a couple of radio interviews and receiving some mention in the Press of the day, but bugger if I can remember the names and dates of these events. 

ARIEL.

I also visited my old friends "Ariel" (Spectrum) whom were recording at Abbey Road and doing a number of promotional gigs around London.

LED ZEPPELIN.

I also tried to catch up with the guys from Led Zeppelin ( whom i had met in Sydney in 1971 )at their concerts at Earls Court but was denied entry backstage. Bugger, they had forgotten all about me and yet I hadnt forgotten about them; lol .

 The gig was fantastic and they played many songs from their mammoth double album "Physical Graffitti" and its was a real buzz seeing them perform for the 2nd time.

I also attended concerts by "Yes", "Genesis", "Seals and Croft" and "Electric Light Orchestra" to name the few I remember.

 The "Genesis" concert showcased the entire songs from their mindblowing album "The Lamb lies down on Broadway". I remember we got so fucking stoned on black hashish before the concert and were blown away by one of the greatest English bands of all time. They were fucking awesome.

HASHISH.

During this time I smoked a lot of hashish, took a few trips and with my wife visited many of the famous tourist attractions. The Tate Gallery was the most memorable of our excursions; seeing such the works by artists such as "Monet and Turner" was amazing.

We visited my Grandparents in Yorkshire for a day and my Granny told me that when I left England to come to Australia in 1955 I told her that I would come back to see her when I was grown up.

PINK FLOYD.

   I also met a distant cousin whom had connections with the band "Pink Floyd". Apparently a close friend of hers accidentally "erased the original mix" of their "Dark Side of the Moon" and the band had to re-record sections of the album and re-mix it a 2nd time.

SUZIE QUATRO.

 
Two doors down from where we were staying lived "Suzi Quatro" who was riding high in the charts at the time. The area was a haven for Rock Stars and Celebrities and every local pub would have hot up n coming bands playing every weekend.

 

IN SICKNESS & IN HEALTH.

 We both loved London and things were showing real promise when suddenly I became seriously ill and was admitted to hospital for 2 weeks. My poor wife was left alone at nights whilst I lay in a hospital bed some miles away. After 2 weeks of medical tests and observation I was "discharged" from hospital and went home.

When I was only 7 years old I was diagnosed as suffering from a rare blood disease similar to Leukaemia and my body would become so run down at times that I needed hospital care. At that time, I had my spleen removed and doctors believed that I may not live a long life. Between the age of 7 and 15 I was hospitalized several times and underwent numerous blood transfusions; in fact, Ive had more transfusions than Keith Richards.lol.

Whilst I was away, my wife had become homesick and wanted to return home to Australia. My love for my wife was far more important than "chasing my dreams" and wanting to make her happy.

 I agreed to return to Australia after only 8 months in London.

 My health was of great concern to us both and we agreed that we could always return to London in a year or two.
Within 2 weeks we were on a plane flying to Sydney, where we would stay with some in-laws  in Palm Beach until we could find our own Unit and employment.

 It was late 1975 when we moved into a great Unit in Melrose Pde, Clovelly. Directly across the road was "Gordons Bay" where we would swim and relax on a regular basis; weather permitting.

INDOOR PYRAMID.

The unit was a 2 bedroom unit, so in the spare bedroom I set up a huge indoor Pyramid which I would meditate under each day. During these meditation sessions I would experience "images of future events and audio communications from an unknown source", which I began to write down.

 
Using a technique known as "Automatic Writing" over a period of a few months I has written a tome titled "The Universal Wisdom of the Masters". The tome contained cosmic scientific information and spiritual insights and remains unpublished to this day.

I began to feel that perhaps I was destined to pursue a different direction in life and that perhaps I needed to "postpone" a career as a musician/singer/songwriter. Something strange was taking place and my mind was being taken over by all this Esoteric knowledge I didn't fully understand. I thought that perhaps my seachange may have been due to the numerous "alien encounters" that had plaque my life since the age of five.

ALIENS EVERYWHERE.

Only recently I have began writing about these "alien encounters" and much forgotten details have begun to shine through and clarify what took place during these events. It seemed strange how ones life can change course and head in a direction that one never dreamed of; life can be "stranger than fiction".

1975 was coming to an end and little did I know that 1976 would bring a change of direction and make me a National celebrity. 

End of Part 3.

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