No Age Limit For Groupies
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(Above, one of those pictures with Darren in that black, semi-transparent top. And the beanie. The caption: Funny, dwon to earth and sexy: Darren Hayes garners another fan.)
By Sarah Henderson Unlike most of my friends whose bedrooms were plastered with posters of Skyhooks, Cold Chisel, Blondie, AC/DC and the Rolling Stones, I didn't see the sense in covering perfectly good walls with rock stars I would never meet, who weren't particularly nice, and who didn't care two hoots about their fans. While my friends rocked to the Eagles, Australian Crawl and even that dreadful Black Sabbath, I sang in a madrigal school choir and tapped away to the Bay City Rollers, Leif Garrett and ELO. The closest I got to pop star adoration was Garth Porter, the keyboard player of Sherbet. But even that all went horribly wrong when, as a 12-year-old, I managed to squeeze into the fourth row of a small hall in Geelong to see Daryl and the band, with my 10-year-old sister Jodie in tow. Within minutes of Howzat, Jodie burst into tears and wouldn't stop crying until I took her to the back of the auditorium, well away from all the noise. I never met Garth or got an autograph and from then on my enthusiasm for such pop fizz waned. Unlike most kids, my autograph book contained the likes of former Victorian governor Sir Henry Winneke. And my only childhood obsession was the midday television king, Mike Walsh. Oh, and I didn't mind Geoff Harvey, either. Yes, you say, I was a bit of a dag. Last week, I realised just how much I had deprived myself of such teenage joys when a close friend of mine and photographer to the stars, Myrna Suarez, won a job to photograph a new CD cover for Darren Hayes. Darren, of course, is the hugely successful Australian singer and songwriter from Savage Garden who's just released his debut solo CD, Spin. I ended up assisting as producer on the shoot, dealing with the various logistics that come with hiring crew and shutting down the main street of the tiny Queensland town of Harrisville. Darren Hayes was a delight. Funny, down to earth and sexy. At that point he was frantically preparing for his first world tour. He'd been in rehearsals for a solid month and was tired and run-down. It rained on and off all day and by dusk everyone was cold and damp. But he kept his sense of humour. And at the end of it all, he made a point of visiting the owners of the local cafe and pub and hair salon to thank them for being so helpful. Darren's first concert in Melbourne was sensational. No silly gimmicks. No sparkling costumes. Just great music and a great performance from a really talented bloke. In the audience was a young girl called Cansu (pronounced Jansu). She had managed to squeeze her way down to the front and cried for most of the show. But not for the same reason as my sister. Cansu was overwhelmed with excitement at being so close to her idol. After the show, she breathlessly managed to persuade Myrna to introduce her to him. Cansu's dream came true. A photograph with her hero, autographs and, between more tears, two big hugs. And the look of shock on her face as she came to grips with it all. Imagine missing out on all that excitement! Well, I've decided to make up for lost time. Tomorrow night I'm off to see Darren Hayes again, as close to the front as I can get. More than 20 years on, I've officially become a teenage groupie. Sarah Henderson, a lawyer and former journalist, is Director of Kudos Management Group. shenderson@kudosmg.com (All that was info was included at the end of the article and I figured I'd post it here incase anyone wanted to thank her for the article *grins*) |