1970's - LEARNING TO PLAY PIANO / FIRST BAND PERFORMANCES
Somewhere around 1970, my brother, Chris and I, were watching World Championships Wrestling when Dad entered the room.
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He casually mentioned that Grandma had offered to buy us a piano - if we would learn it. And so, with nods of our young and unsuspecting heads, we returned to the entertainment provided by Mario Milano, Killer Kowalski, Spiros Arion and their esteemed colleagues.
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And it soon came to pass, an upright piano was there in our home. And my brother and I had apparently entered a non-negotiable agreement to learn to play said piano. So learn we did ... to hate the damn thing!
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All those little black dots, scales, technique, and lots and lots of boring practice. In reality, practice was probably only 30 minutes a day, but to a couple of young blokes, who were far more interested in football and cricket, it was sheer, bloody torture.
If I was not inspired to learn classical music, then Chris was even more put out.
Mister Bliss in action
Somehow, by way of whinging and whining, showing little aptitude and talent, Chris was offered a target, upon attainment of which, he would be permitted to abandon "Fur Elise".
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And so Chris battled on, completed the prescribed piano grade, shut the piano lid - and has never opened it again to this very day. Regrets? Nup!
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It may have ended similarly for me, because a clear precedent had been set, and I set forth to follow my big brother to freedom. And so it was, after some 6 years of learning classical piano, I passed grade "whatever" and was done ... or so I thought.
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You see, I was a rebellious, free-thinking, not shy, kind of guy. So at school in about 1976, when a bunch of aspiring rock stars needed a singer, I was somehow recruited; although it's more-likely I volunteered my services.
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In those days, I was into Bowie, Bryan Ferry, and bands like The Stones - but Lennon and McCartney's individual efforts were never far from my heart.
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That said, I only recall that "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd was on the set list. And so we did a few numbers at a school thing, and I'd caught the bug! School was now superfluous. Previously a bore, it was now a complete waste of my time - and I was soon on my way to a higher calling.
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And it occurred to me that I could play the piano a bit, and by extension, a keyboard too. This might be useful after all?
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Note: It's taken me years to comprehend what the scales and keys actually meant in terms of playing popular music. Teaching myself to play Beatles songs from guitar chords was where I started, but it's a never-ending journey, a quest that continues today. My golden rule - If it sounds right, it is right! I don't always know why (theoretically).
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In 1977 (ish), I was more interested in being an artist, than a musician. I wrote songs, and my first post-school band was called "Mister Bliss" - and we only played original songs. Subsequently, we changed the band's name to "Enigma".
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We played at a few parties, but I do remember playing at the Willoughby Hotel, across the road from where we were living and smoking way too much of that wacky-tobacky.
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How we scored the gig at the pub in 1978, I have no idea? I was still underage and I'm sure we played for free, but we'd covered every telegraph pole in Chatswood with posters, and it really went off at the Willoughby that night. We were surely headed for super-stardom!
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But who would have guessed it, at some point in 1979, the band broke up and Enigma was a toast.