- Hi again to you folks
Well I finished the last newsletter in Derby in Western Australia
…and from there we travelled to and played concerts in Fitzroy
Crossing, Darwin, Tennant Creek, Mount Isa and the Winton Outback
Festival … then back to the Gold Coast for a show at Bribie
Island, then to Sydney for a show at Fairfield R.S.L. before
travelling to Victoria for 29 shows in Melbourne and country
Victoria for Tattersals. Some of the places we played included
Watsonia, Ringwood, Glenroy, Benalla, Pascoe Vale, Ferntree Gully,
Essendon, Wonthaggi, Sunshine, Williamstown, Dandenong,
Yarraville, Deer Park, Northcote, Sabastopol at Ballarat,
Lilydale, The Alma Club, Box Hill, Bairnsdale, Dandenong again,
Chelsea, Noble Park, Warracknabeal, Shepparton, Albury, Mount
Beauty, then up to Sydney to Wentworthville Leagues Club, then
Logan City Diggers in Brisbane, and Caloundra R.S.L. and a private
function near Gympie, then back down to Sydney to Smithfield R.S.L.
… then home to the Gold Coast. So as you can see, we have
travelled many-many Kilometers … in fact, all in all just over
23,000 kilometers … and it has all be hassle free with absolutely
no problems with the Jayco Motorhome or the Fiat Ducato vehicle …
and we were able to keep in touch with radio stations, newspapers
etc all the way thanks to the Codan High Frequency radio and
Radtel transmitting our calls.
O.K. I may be biased, however it has been such a pleasure to drive
the JAYCO all the way … and as a motel on wheels … yes it is 5
STAR … as my dressing room … yes, it is 5 STAR … if only I had
learned years ago that this is the only way to travel … and as a
lifestyle, meeting so many great folk from all walks of life,
well, words cannot describe it … oh well, better late than never
eh.
I forgot to mention in the last newsletter that I caught up with a
lovely lady called Lorraine Wolfe who has been a loyal fan for
many years. We first met at Roman’s Nightclub in Perth many years
ago… and she is the tiniest “little person” I have ever met,
standing only three feet (or roughly 275cms) tall. It is always
great to catch up with Lorraine and she was once again, this time
on her birthday, at our concert in Albany in Western Australia.
Following on from the concert I received an email from her which I
would like to share with you.
Dear Jade,
Hi there! Well at long last I've found some time to sit down and
email you a line or two along with the photos taken at the show
last Saturday night. I think they are great even though we are
both, (well I know I am) showing our age just a little bit. I had
a really great time, (as I always do at your shows) and can
truthfully say it would have to be one of my BEST Birthday's yet.
We all went back to our place for coffee and reminisced about
Romano’s (Romano’s Night Club in Perth) nights and how good they
were, even though the meals were not 4 stars and the wine was
el-cheapo it didn't seem to make much difference to us as we
always had lots of fun. I was trying to work out the first time I
went to see you there and I reckon it was in 1979. I remember we
were living in a tiny town called Frankland (one shop, church, and
a Town Hall and about 800 residents). It's about 400 miles from
Perth and the morning we left it was pouring with rain and we were
worried that we might not get there as we had heard there was
water across the road at different sections of the Albany Highway.
Anyway it goes without saying that we got through okay even though
we did have to go through one section of water. During the show
you made mention of how far we had traveled and came off the stage
and gave me 3 orange lilies. Once again you made my night and made
me feel special. When I got back home to Frankland I went crazy
with the camera and took I don't know how many photos. I ended up
pressing the lilies and I still have them. I loved the part of the
show on Saturday night when you talked about meeting Buddy Holly
and how Johnny O'Keefe gave you the name Jade. Even though I've
been going to your shows all these years you had never mentioned
it and I just felt like we got to know you a little better and it
really hit home what a genuine, thoughtful person you are. I've
always held you in high regard as nothing seems to much trouble
for you and you take the time to talk, even though at times all
you probably want to do is get home and unwind.
Anyway Jade I hope the rest of your JAYCO tour goes well and trust
we will see you back in Albany or Perth in the near future, though
I had the sad feeling that you were hinting that this might be
your last traveling tour. Take care, don't go over doing things
and enjoy life but most of all just keep on being you ... “Jade
Hurley" Australia’s King of Country Rock.
Love Always
You’re Friend Forever
Lorraine Wolfe
Thank you so much Lorraine … it was lovely to catch up again.
I have been in the world of showbiz for many years … and every now
and then (like in the case of Lorraine above) I am reminded of
some occurrences that have happened down through the years. At our
concert at Mount Beauty a couple of weeks back, a man by the name
of Jim Treacy who used to live at Kerang but now live at Bendigo,
reminded me of one of the most unfortunate nights that I ever had
to perform. With only about 10 minutes before I was to go on stage
at the Oasis Hotel in Swan Hill in Victoria, a man collapsed with
a heart attack and died. Jim reminded me that I paid tribute to
him and played a piece on the piano. For obvious reasons it was so
hard to go on stage and smile and perform that night. It was a
very sad show.
Rolling into Darwin on this “ROCKIN’ IN THE JAYCO MOTORHOME” Tour
brought back some wonderful but horrific memories. The last time I
was there was a couple of days after cyclone Tracey devastated the
city … and boy what a surprise it is now. I would rate Darwin as
one of the best kept secrets in the WORLD … compared to all other
cities in Australia, Darwin is MINI by comparison … you are only
20 minutes from anywhere to anywhere else … and the markets and
food are the absolute best in the country. Something happened to
me that could only come under the category of “it could only
happen in Darwin”. Judy had flown home to Sydney to work on more
tours, and Barbara flew up from the Gold Coast to finish this leg
of the tour. We went into the city for lunch and a stroll down the
main street mall. We found a nice little food place and had a
lovely sandwich and cappuccino and the café gave us a Mintie each
with the coffee. I ate mine and Barbara didn’t want hers, so she
gave it to me … so I started chewing … but all of a sudden I had
mouthful of grit. I had broken a filling in a tooth. Oh God … what
was I going to do?
- Here we are in a strange city not knowing where a dentist
was, and I have to get something done ASAP as we were leaving the
next day for Katherine for our next show. At the top of the mall
was an information desk, so we went there and spoke to a lovely
lady and explained what had happened and could she offer some
advice. She directed us around the corner into the next street
where there was a dentist … so we followed her directions and
found the place, walked in and explained what had happened with my
tooth ... and 1 minute later was sitting in the chair getting
“drilled”. You wouldn’t believe it … from the time I chewed on the
Mintie and broke the tooth until it was fixed was on and hour …
try getting that done in any other place in the world.
Sue (Sooz) Camilleri is a showbiz publicist and journo and all
round “super bird” (she won’t mind me saying this) in Darwin … and
we ran into problems with promotion with our show in Darwin … so
we gave Sooz a call and explained the situation and she did
something I will be forever grateful for … she dropped almost
everything and worked her backside off promoting the concert.
Thank you so much Sooz … you are a real love and now great friend.
Mount Isa produced one of the most unfortunate
situations/conflicts in all my years in the entertainment
business. Glen Shorrock, Doug Parkinson and Wendy Matthews had a
show on the same night as ours … which is the worst thing that can
happen. As it turned out one had to be the loser … and
unfortunately for Glen, Wendy and Doug, it was them as they
cancelled their show due to a lack of bookings. We had a terrific
show at the Irish Club however it is really regretful that this
sometimes happens … and I wish Glen, Wendy and Doug all the best
the next time they plan a show in Mt Isa.
I came across a newspaper article of my shows with Johnny Cash at
the Cork Opera House in Ireland in 1983. Thanks to my mate and
country music journalist and great guitarist Bob Howe for allowing
us to re-print his report.
Thank you so much to those of you who have sent Christmas cards
and gifts … your thoughts and gifts are really appreciated. To my
team, who without each our shows would never go on … thank you so
much for the past year. Judy (my Manager) for setting up the shows
and tours, Jimmy and Carol for setting up all of the stage gear
and making each show sound and look great. Carol will not be
travelling with us any more, so thank you Carol for your past
efforts. To Ian and Margy who look after all the gear and set up
each show in and around Sydney and Newcastle etc … thank you so
much. To Royce who also helps Ian with the Sydney shows as well as
looking after the Friendship Club … once again Royce, thank you.
To the many friends in mainstream radio folk who play my music,
and allow me to be part of their shows for a chat and to publicise
our shows … thank you so much as without this publicity, it would
be so hard to maintain any profile. To those loyal friends in the
Community Radio stations right across Australia … God love you
all.
To my friend Bert Newton who is moving from the TEN Network back
to the 9 Network after all these years, it has bee such a joy to
sit with you on the many shows we have done together with all the
un-predictability that comes with performing with the “Master
Showman” … how can I ever thank you. I must say that I have had
the opportunity to perform with so many fabulous performers in my
career both here and overseas … but there is only ONE MASTER
SHOWMAN left … and this is Bert. Bert … I just hope that I get the
opportunity to perform with you again in the future.
I would like to once again say how appreciative I am to my major
sponsor JAYCO … and moreover personally to Gerry Ryan who
developed and owns Jayco. Boy, what a great Aussie success story.
Gerry has gone from building his first caravan in a shed in the
backyard of his home to developing the most modern and
sophisticated manufacturing plant in the Southern Hemisphere …
where each 5 star caravan and now motorhome plus other tourist
related products are manufactured … and employing over 600 people
along the way. If it wasn’t for a 5 minute phone call with Gerry,
we wouldn’t be driving the fabulous Jayco Motorhome. Thank you so
much Gerry. Also to FIAT … for their fantastic DUCATO vehicle
which carries the JAYCO HOUSE … plus my other sponsors including
CODAN, who supplied us with their high frequency radio which
allows us to keep in touch with radio stations and the general
media as well as our families nationwide … and RADTEL, the great
Newcastle based company which has set up relay stations situated
in various places around Australia to accommodate the transmitting
of the Codan High Frequency radio calls. To Rob Wilkinson and Bill
Johnson from Toshiba … thank you so much for looking after my
fabulous Satellite M30 Laptop … as without it running at it’s peak
24 hour a day, we couldn’t handle all of our business right around
Australia.
Well, that’s about it for 2005 … oh by the way, after traveling
about 23,000 kilometers around Australia; we finally saw our FIRST
LIVE KANGAROO … just outside Roma in Queensland … how incredible
is that.
I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas … and that 2006 is a
great year for all of us.
We are off to the TAMWORTH COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL in January. Stay
healthy and safe … and Love always from your friend.
JADE
- Print out and have the
memories
Tamworth
Rage Page
