Just reminiscing here, I remember a couple of stories from that tour.
1. I was almost responsible for Supertramp not going on in Adelaide! We all arrived back at the hotel after sound check and there was a representative from the Musicians Union there waiting ... for me. I was still not a member ... I had arrived from Canada a year or so earlier and never even thought about joining. The rep said that if I didn't join right then and there, they would have to prevent Supertramp from performing, and that joining entailed a fee of ?? 56$ ?? ... can't quite remember, a lot of money back then, like a day's pay.
Needless to say, I joined.
2. There was a Sydney Harbour cruise organized by the record company for the band and crew at the end of the tour, and we were invited along. I was sitting at one stage with the English truck driver. He had never tasted prawns before (big shrimp for those who don't know what prawns are, about 4 or 5 inches long) ... I said to him, 'Well here's your chance to try one out', pointing to a bucket full of unshelled, fully whiskered and well shod prawns. So this -- without meaning to be cruel -- thick crew member picked one up and before I could say 'Stop! Take the shell off first .. ' was crunching through it like plate glass. 'I don't think I like them' he told me ...
3. Our True Blue Aussie keyboard player, Wayne, challenged Supertramp and their crew to a beer drinking contest on a day off. He lost the contest and all credibility when he was caught pouring his beer into a potted palm in the pub.
