Famous Frankston gigs: AC/DC, Johnny Rotten, Don McLean and Betty Boo
From lip-synching scandals to a groupie setting her hair on fire these are the wild Frankston gigs people still talk about. Were you there?
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It might be hard for the teens and 20-somethings to believe, but Frankston was once a
‘must-stop’ for the biggest bands in Australia, and beyond.
INXS, AC/DC, Midnight Oil, The Angels, Dragon, Skyhooks, Sherbet and Cold Chisel, along with scores of international acts, all journeyed down the Nepean Highway to enjoy an evening with the locals.
Enjoy this “best of” cassette tape of memorable gigs – from lip-synching scandals and fading rock gods to some of the most memorable gigs of the 1980s and 1990s.
Betty Boo, 1991
Betty Boo rolled into town on the back of a trio of hit singles, including the highly forgettable Doin The Do, in the early 1990s. More “Betty Boop” cartoon style than substance, the UK singer took to the stage at the 21st Century Dance Club in July 1991.
Her set had barely started when the singer dropped her microphone.
To the shock of everyone in the audience, her voice continued to be blasted through the venue!
The show, and tour, ended at that moment (the singer blaming illness).
The Betty Boo lip-synching scandal is now a piece of pop music folklore.
Cold Chisel, 1981
Jimmy Barnes has settled neatly into a role as an elder statesman of Aussie rock, but there was a time when whiskey and vodka would fuel fevered and sometime violent Cold Chisel gigs.
Such was the case in 1981 when Chisel were right at the peak of their success and arguably the hottest band in the country as they rolled into the Pier Hotel.
It’s said that Barnesy told the packed crowd that one of their roadies had been hit by a bouncer before taking off to join the melee backstage.
We’re not sure if there was an encore that night.
Public Image Ltd, 1984
After the implosion of punk gods the Sex Pistols, lead singer Johnny Rotten aka John Lydon formed Public Image Ltd (PiL) in 1978.
By the time they hit the stage at the Pier in 1984, Lydon was the only original member and the band consisted of hired hands for the tour.
Despite the recent success of their biggest hit This Is Not A Love Song, barely 50 fans were on hand much to the chagrin of the enigmatic Lydon.
Other notable events that night included a young punkette setting her own towering hair alight and Lydon being struck by a flying shoe.
The Sweet, 1990
In the early days of Countdown, The Sweet were a constant as they turned out hit after hit – from Ballroom Blitz to Fox on the Run as glam rock peaked in the mid-1970s.
But like many bands of the day, they struggled to retain an audience as new genres took over the airwaves.
The Sweet’s demise was clear for all to see when lead singer Brian Connolly took to the Pier Hotel stage in July 1990.
His body racked by years of alcohol abuse, Connolly was hospitalised straight off the plane before returning to the stage in Frankston after his release.
It went as well as you might imagine.
AC/DC, 1975
Before AC/DC went on to rule the world, they were one of the hardest working bands in the country throughout the second half of the 1970s.
Their touring schedule included several visits to Frankston, including a memorable and very loud gig at Karingal High School in July 1975 as part of their High Voltage Australian Tour. It’s said students had a choice between Skyhooks and AC/DC but chose the latter as they were a few hundred dollars cheaper!
AC/DC also played at The Big Fish school dance at Frankston High School in the same year.
Don McLean, 1986
You’ll find little evidence of this concert ever happening – even the artist’s own archives don’t mention it.
But thousands of Frankston-ians remember stretching out on the luscious expanses of the Kars Street Oval for a night with Don McLean, the man who provided DJs across the globe with a toilet break thanks to his 8-minute, 46-second worldwide hit American Pie.
It was also a boon for those without a ticket, as hundreds simply set-up a fold-out chair and listened in for free.
McLean agreed to three shows (Frankston, Rosebud and Portarlington) after a request from a marketing company to promote the virtues of Port Phillip Bay.
Dead Kennedys, 1982
This is another show that falls into the “did it really happen?” category.
There’s no record of the American punk pioneers the Dead Kennedys playing in Frankston but we’ve heard from enough “witnesses” to declare this myth busted.
It’s said not much more than a handful were on hand to watch the controversial Jello Biafra and bandmates churn through some cuts from their latest release Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, which included I Kill Children, Let’s Lynch the Landlord and Stealing People’s Mail.
The gig supposedly took place at the Pelican Bar, but the jury is still out on the exact location.
The San Francisco band’s lyrics and artwork would eventually lead to an obscenity trial that ended in a hung jury several years later.
Sunnyboys, 1984
The rise of Jeremy Oxley and his band The Sunnyboys was rapid.
Formed in 1980, they had a pair of infectious hits in 1981, Happy Man and the iconic Alone With You.
Like many of his contemporaries, Oxley fell victim to the excesses of the time complicated by then-undiagnosed schizophrenia.
When The Sunnyboys hit the stage at the Pier in 1984, Oxley could barely stand and bumbled his way through a couple of songs, even talking like a pirate until the gig was canned.
Oxley went missing for several hours and was eventually found in a broom cupboard.
The band imploded soon after but Oxley sought help and recovered, recently celebrating 40 years of The Sunnyboys.