ABSENT FRIENDS

 

Absent Friends perform "Nobody But You" on The James Whale TV Show in Leeds, England on the 2nd December 1990 (my birthday!) on the eve of the NEC gigs while on their European tour with INXS.

ABSENT FRIENDS won the 1991 ARIA Single Of The Year with their smash hit "(I Don't Want To Be With) Nobody But You" from the album, "Here's Looking Up Your Address".

After a phone call from Sean Kelly I found myself in the band playing keyboards (after a fashion) and later, touring Europe as part of the massive INXS tour of Europe 1990.

I would like to thank Sean Kelly and Wendy Matthews for including me in the cast. What a time it was.

It turns out, as fate would have it, that I actually kept a daily diary for the whole European tour. I recently came across it (nearly two decades later) and found it quite interesting. I thought I'd put it in on line as some others may find it interesting too.

 

This is the live Absent Friends album we recorded at The Kardomah Cafe in Kings Cross, Sydney in late 1990.

 

"Harmony" from the Absent Friends album, "Here's Looking Up Your Address"

 

THE DIARY

INXS TOUR OF EUROPE 1990
with special guests
ABSENT FRIENDS
(as seen from Geoffrey Stapleton's corner of the bus)

26th October - 21st December 1990

 

THIS IS DEDICATED TO MY ABSENT FRIENDS

SEAN KELLY, WENDY MATTHEWS, RON FRANCOIS, MICK KING AND JOHN MACKAY.

ALSO TO MALCOLM "MAL" WILLIAMS AND DAVE BROOKS.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ANDREW FARRISS, KIRK PENGILLY, JON FARRISS AND TIM FARRISS

AND ESPECIALLY TO

MICHAEL HUTCHENCE.

BUT FOR HIS TALENT AND CHARISMA, NONE OF US WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE.

ALSO THANKS TO CHRIS MURPHY, GARY GRANT AND RHETT HUTCHENCE.

 

* Please note - The events depicted in this diary are through my eyes only and are not neccessarily as others would have seen them. I've tried to transcribe it as honestly as possible with out incriminating anyone or meaning to cause offence but if you would like any references to your self removed I'm happy to do that. Contact me at geoff@ganggajang.com.

Please check back as I'm regularly adding new pages and filling in the days until they're all up there!

 

 

1990
Flying to London and Background Briefing.
Arriving in London and Geoff's Sightseeing
London - First Rehearsal And A Party in Soho
London - Second Rehearsal and Camden Markets
Zurich, Switzerland - "Ron and The Chef"
Hamburg, Germany - Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark
London - "Red Hair And First Wembly Arena Gig"
London - "Brown Hair And Second Wembly Arena Gig"
Dublin- London - "The Crash"
 
 
 

Wendy Matthews and Sean Kelly

Wendy's Website

http://wendymatthews.com/

* If anyone has any photos or movies of this time, please forward a copy to me!