Part One - Quimble

My friends and I had been to school in Brisbane together, dropped out of university together, got drunk and all lost our virginity on the same night at an exceptionally memorable party. Much of that party did not feature in my own memory but I was told I was no longer a child. We all worked as shelf stackers at one of the big supermarkets in Brisbane, Australia.

In the evenings before we went to work, we practised our music in a genuine garage on the small farm where Terry, our lead guitarist, lived. We did covers of hard rock songs and a bit of Goth music and had already played at a few parties and birthdays around the area.

Our biggest problem originally was that we did not have a name for the band and had endless arguments about this. We had invented stupid names for our few gigs but none had stuck. How could something so simple be so hard? Then, one day, we were having our usual heated discussion when Bruce, the rhythm guitarist shouted “Why the hell do we quimble all the time over this! Sorry. I meant quibble.” We all looked at each other and Terry told him he was a genius and so, the band was now to be known as Quimble. We worked hard at our playing and started to get some regular gigs along the Gold Coast tourist strip, playing five nights a week in different venues. We did well enough to leave our employment and concentrate on being stars.

After a couple of nights when a couple of the band were less than professional and the venue owners complained, we made a solemn pact to stay off the booze on working nights and things went well for a few months. We started getting gigs in Brisbane itself which was good as we didn’t have such a long drive to get home in the early hours. We found that our repertoire of hard rock with a little bit of goth rock did well but it was our good list of sixties to eighties songs and a solid section of twelve bar blues usually got everyone dancing. We started getting attention from the promoters, the newspapers and the girls. I, for one was having the time of my life.

I suppose I had better introduce us at this point. I am Stuart Simpson and I play bass. We have Terry Jenkins on lead guitar, Bruce Anderson on rhythm and vocals, and our drummer was Steve Franks. Although we did some of the Goth music, we could not replace Steve and his drum kit for an electronic version that was not as annoying as he owned our band transport, an aging Transit that was well past its use by date.

One night, at a gig on the Gold Coast, a particularly noteworthy girl was out front and dancing by herself. She was noteworthy because she was a full blown Goth girl, not a common sight among the tourists. At the end of our set she came up to us and asked us if we did more Goth songs and we told her we did but they did not go down well in these venues.

She told us that she was called Lesley Craven and not only played keyboards but sang as well. She wanted to join us at one of our practise sessions and try out her singing. We had got our own list down pat so readily agreed to let her try out her voice with us the following Friday afternoon. We gave her the garage address and she was smiling as she left us.

On that Friday afternoon she brought her keyboard and amplifier and we worked through our Goth list, most of which she knew. We stayed in the gentle Goth vein; a bit of Siouxsie and the Banshees, some Cure for the old stuff and some Evanescence, Velvet Underground and Alice Cooper for the more modern to hard rock. We did love Nick Cave songs, especially his Birthday Party era of the early eighties. As the afternoon progressed we came to realise that she was really good and made a significant difference to our sound. As we packed up we talked to her about joining us and told her that she would have to fit in with the rock and cover stuff as that was where the money was at the moment. She thought about it for a while and said she would try to lower herself to our musical level but warned us that she would try to get us playing more Goth.

A few weeks passed by and she worked really hard to pick up the rest of our repertoire and, when she finally joined us on stage, we became a very successful band in the local area. Bruce had been busy writing new songs and we gave him the opportunity to try a couple out. We were all surprised at how good they sounded so we started to put them into our set. One night a promoter took us aside after the gig and told us that a friend of his had a studio and wanted us to record two tracks for a single. We did the recording session and, a few weeks later, heard ourselves on the radio. It was an amazing experience and we had a little celebratory drink.

After a few weeks we heard that our record had been picked up by radio stations interstate and we were told that we now needed to have our own agent. We chose a local guy, Adrian Southcliffe, who managed a few other bands and he got us a good regular gig in Ipswich, a town a bit out of Brisbane. We were signed for every Friday and Saturday evening for three months and it was interesting as we needed to make sure we mixed up our playlist so we didn’t sound the same every night. For a bit of fun we put in more of the tuneful Goth songs. It is no good doing the hard-core ones as revellers do not like it when you hit them with a dirge about death and disaster when they are out clubbing. We knew that there are places where this sort of music was played but knew of no places in Australia at this turn of the century.

At the end of the engagement he got us into a two month gig in Brisbane city and one thing I noticed was that he was bringing Lesley to the venue and taking her home. Six weeks into this gig he announced that we were booked to do a tour around the country. He showed us a poster he had produced with a picture of Lesley to the left and the rest of us with our instruments on the right. Above us was the words; ‘Goth Rock Chick Lesley and her Band Quimble’. The last two words were under the rest and there was a blank space for a sticker showing the place and date of the show. When we complained that we were the original band members and she was an extra person he told us that we had only got ahead because of her in the band and to suck it up. Also, at this time, we went back into the studio and recorded an EP called “Goth Quimble” with the four songs being ‘Black Lipped Lovely’, ‘Pale Face’, ‘She Wears my Ring (In her Nose)’ and ‘What Chu Lookin’ At?’

We were mollified by the news of the country tour. The route was down to Sydney for a week, on to Canberra for a week and then down to Melbourne for two weeks. There was an option to go to Adelaide but the promoter did not think the extra five hundred miles each way would be worth it. The return trip was up to Bendigo and then to Wagga Wagga before finishing in Tamworth. He had organised a van that would do the journey and arranged cheap lodgings for us all. We had two weeks off after the Brisbane gig and then got ourselves ready to leave on the Wednesday to drive to Sydney.

The gigs went well; our having a new record out helped in getting fans through the doors. The distances we travelled were daunting, having never been outside of Queensland before, unless you call going across the border at the bottom of the Gold Coast; something we did every year to get two new years in an hour apart, due to daylight saving in one state and no daylight saving in the other. We played to pretty big crowds everywhere and the general rock songs went well. Melbourne was happy with the Goth songs and we did play our singles and the EP tracks at every gig.

When we finished the tour and handed the truck back we were at a loose end for a couple of weeks and Adrian finally got us a month at a pub in Toowoomba. During this period he hit us with a bombshell. He had been in touch with a promoter in England and we would be going to the UK for a tour of the Goth festivals and other venues in the English summer. Goth was still very strong in the UK and they thought we would be able to draw some crowds being a bit of a novelty. I did not think we would be a novelty as there had been lots of Aussie bands in the UK who did well, but who was I to question their ideas if it meant a trip to the Old Country.

Marianne G 2020

Part Two – The Old Dart

We were told that we only needed to carry our guitars on the plane as amplifiers and drums would be rented while we were there. Lesley had her keyboard packed in a case to go in the hold as well.

We tidied up our affairs and paid our various bills in advance as it was expected that we would be away for three months. Steve sold the Transit cheaply to a friend who needed to move house and the rest of us parked our old cars in Terry’s garage.

The day we left we went to the Brisbane airport by the shuttle and lugged our gear into the departure area. I think we were all a bit worried to see our instruments going out of our sight on the conveyor as we made our way to the departure lounge. The flight took us first to Hong Kong and we spent a couple of hours in the biggest building I have ever seen. I believe that the way they held up the massive roof had won an award. Then it was a fourteen hour trip to Stanstead Airport in England, arriving very early in the morning. We creaked and crawled our way out of the plane, unwinding after so many hours cooped up.

After a trip to a decent toilet we waited at the carrousel for our bags and looked around, this was us, on the ground in England. Finally we picked up our guitar cases, Lesleys’ keyboard, and our bags before we went through passport control and out into the departure hall. There was a guy there with a board that had Lesley Craven written on it and we went to him. He looked a bit oddly at us but led us to a minibus without any comment. Driving out of the airport he took us to our destination, the Walden Manor and Pleasure Park, and our host for the immediate future, His Lordship Algernon Transgerant. I gathered that he could trace his family back to the Norman Conquest.

We were keen to see the countryside but the motorway going north was as dull as the motorways back home. I didn’t know whether to be disappointed or bolstered by this. We turned off at a place called Wendens Ambo and ended up near a village called Hadstock. On the way we passed signs that proclaimed the Walden Manor Goth Festival on the following weekend. This was to be our first gig in the UK and it was His Lordship who had arranged our tour.

Our silent driver had a grin on his face when he pulled up at the front door of a massive house. He beeped the horn and the door opened to reveal a bearded gentleman who looked like an ancient wizard, behind him were three girls, all in full Goth dress and make-up. The driver opened up the door of the bus, and the man looked in and said “Who the hell are you lot?” Terry said that we were Quimble, the band as expected and the reply was “But you are an all-girl Goth band, that’s what your poster said and that is how we have been advertising your gigs. You can’t be chaps!”

Terry told him that we were who we were and that there never was an all-girl band. The wizard then, grumpily, told us to get our bags around to the guest wing and James, our driver, would show us our rooms and then lead us to the library for a meeting. We picked up our stuff and followed James around to the side of the building where there was a modern extension with a number of bedrooms. He showed us our rooms and we divested ourselves of our bags and then followed him through a corridor into the main house, eventually entering the library. It was a genuine library with walls of books and a number of leather armchairs arranged around low tables. We were told to sit and we did so, waiting to hear our fate. Lesley was muttering something about Adrian promising her that she would be a star and that, if he had truly stuffed us up, he was toast when we got back.

When we had sat, his Lordship held up a piece of paper with the left hand side of our poster printed on it. It showed Lesley with the bold words above ‘Goth Rock Chick Band Quimble’. Terry pointed out that it was only half the poster and Bruce had a full one folded up in his pocket which he brought out and showed the wizard. The man sat back and cursed his secretary of the time. It seemed that he went through secretaries as quickly as he changed his cape and this one had been particularly inept. He then said “Well, we have advertised you as an all-girl Goth band and, by God, that’s what you damn well will have to be! I am not going to lose face, nor am I going to lose any money, so the money you would be paid for playing at my festival will now be used to make you appear as advertised!”

We protested that we were boys, had always been boys and would stay boys. He came back with the promise that, if we let him down, we would be liable for all the costs incurred so far and he would make sure we would never play in public again. Lesley then spoke up and told us that we were the key to her success and that we were a great band and, as we didn’t sing much, it would make no difference to the music if we all wore dresses. She said it may even improve our popularity.

I asked how he was going to perform this miracle, would he just wave a wand over us, and he looked at me sternly and said “Do not mock the dark arts, young man, there are forces about that you have no idea of.” He then told us that we would be transformed by his three daughters into state-of-the-art Goth women. He said that it was lucky we had a few days before the festival started as it gave us time to get used to this fact as we would need to be in character for the whole tour. The three girls were Felicity, Fiona and Faith, all born of his first wife, Felice. We found out, later, that Felice had gone off with her personal trainer after five years of marriage, citing a need to be normal; leaving His Lordship to bring up the three girls in his own fashion. The girls were all about our age and I wondered if they all took after their mother as they had no family resemblance to the wizard at all.

The four of us were taken upstairs to a big bedroom where we were told to strip to our undies to be measured. This we did with much embarrassment. Then Lesley was sent, with Felicity, into Norwich where there was a shop that catered to Goths so they could get us our costumes. They had a list of our measurements and also our shoe sizes. Fiona and Faith then took us, two at a time, into the bathroom where we had to lose our underwear as well and were plastered with a strong smelling gunk before washing it, and our hairs, off in the shower. When Terry and Bruce came out of the bathroom they had clean hair, smooth skin and a satisfied smile on their faces. Steve and I were next and found out that, prior to the gunking, we needed to be relieved of our tensions by oral stimulation. We also had smiles on our faces when we assembled in the bedroom.

The girls found us all some black panties to wear which they told us were control briefs. After we had put them on they laughed and told us that we were all now under their control. Three of us were sat on the bed while, one at a time, we were subjected to hair brushing and styling. As we were a rock band of our time, we all had long hair and it didn’t take them long to achieve a more feminine look. We were told that when Felicity came back she would do our faces as she was better at that but we would now be subjected to nail polish. We sat, with our hands out, to be all painted with a primer, followed by three layers of dark black, on our finger and toe nails. Bruce complained that we would not be showing our toes on stage he was told that we may be showing them around a pool one day.

After our nails had dried and hardened we were each given a razor and told to go into the bathroom, one by one, and shave our faces absolutely smooth. There was before and after cream on the shelf next to the sink. When we had completed this task we were all given a robe to wear and went down to the kitchen for a bite of lunch. We were instructed on how we walked, talked and ate and also given instruction on how to flick our hair away from our face as we leaned forward; it now having a tendency to fall in front of our eyes.

By the time we had finished, Lesley and Felicity came back loaded with bags and wicked grins on their faces. They complimented Fiona and Faith on the job they had done on us and then we were taken back upstairs. Fiona took Terry into her room, Faith took Steve and Felicity took Bruce. Lesley and I were shown another room which may have been one of the mothers and she put some bags on the bed. “You have all been fantastic with this” she said “I really appreciate what you are all doing for me and I am sure that when you hear the fans screaming your names you will be happy you have made the change.” As she said this she was taking off her own clothes and then proceeded to let me know just how much she appreciated it. I was surprised, as she had never shown any sign of kindness with me before but I suppose she was confirming her power over me; something I didn’t mind at all. We showered together and she scrubbed my back and front, inspecting me for stray hairs. We dried and we dressed together, each item of clothing being described, with its use and methods of attachment.

First was a corset, which was tightened so I could hardly breathe. I was told to stretch myself taller and would be better if I did. Then I had some falsies put into the cups. She, of course was already endowed. Then I was instructed on the right way to roll on my fish-net stockings and attach the tabs. Then it was the control brief for me and bikini panty for her. She then put back on the lace slip she had taken off previously and I had one of my own. Here we diverged; she put her long black dress on while I was given a straight leather skirt, in black, of course, that finished above the knees and had a studded belt. I was then given a pair of mid-calf black boots and told to walk around a bit on the three inch heels. Finally came a black, silky, long sleeved top that showed my new cleavage a bit and felt very nice on my, now smooth, arms. She sat me at the dressing table and worked on my face, giving me a very pale foundation with black lips and plenty of eye liner and shadow, finishing off with lots of mascara.

When I stood up and looked in the full length mirror I could not see Stuart there at all, just a rather plain Goth girl. Lesley then gave me the final part of the costume, a long sleeveless tunic in black, with astrological signs on it, and with a peaked hood. “This is your stage gear” she said, “we also got you some things for normal day use, including a long dress.” We left the room just as Terry and Fiona came out of hers. I could see straight away that Terry had also been shown some appreciation but he now stood there resplendent in a similar out fit to me but with a dress instead of a skirt and top. We looked at each other and he told me I looked hot so I returned the compliment.

Bruce and Felicity then came out into the corridor and he was dressed in a similar way to Terry. We both told him that he was hot and I think that he may have blushed under his pancake make-up. Finally, Steve and Faith joined us. He was in black leather jeans and Lesley explained that this was because he was the drummer and had to sit with his legs wide at times. He still looked good, though, and the three of us told him so. Felicity then told us that girls tend to hug and that, before we go any further, a hug session must be completed. It was OK hugging each of the girls but we were a bit stilted hugging each other and were told to do it again until we satisfied our teachers.

We were then led down to our rooms where we picked up our instruments and then out into the parkland where a big stage had been erected. There were a few workmen still on site and we were a bit slow so Felicity told us that we were a Goth Band so be strong and walk like we owned the place. We went up on stage where the amps were already on and plugged in. Steve got behind the drums and re-arranged them to his liking. We all tried a few chords and Lesley tested out her keyboard. “Right” she said “why don’t we do our stuff as we practised it before we left, starting from the top?”

So we started playing our set. It was a bit odd with the tunic and the hood but it certainly gave us a Goth look. The sisters were grooving in front of the stage and Felicity was taking pictures of us as we played. The further we got into it the better it sounded and, by the time we got to our six recorded songs we were flying. I had started to move around in a way I never had before and I notice Terry and Bruce were bending forward to display their cleavage and shaking their hair about. This was weird, maybe there were dark forces at play here. When we finished there was a smattering of applause from the workmen and I saw His Lordship standing with his daughters, all smiling broadly.

We unplugged and left the stage and our host greeted us with “Now you look the part and you sound good as well, that is greatly satisfying. I think that you will do well during the tour. Now, I think, we need to give you proper names!”

Marianne G 2020

Named and Sorted

“Why do we need names?” I asked. “Because you have never seen a girl called Stuart.” I was told “Come on back to the library and we can talk about it, I think I need a drink after the relief of seeing you play as girls.” So we dropped our guitars in our rooms and went to the library where we all sat around and tried to relax.

I think that the rest of the band was on a high after our first practise on English soil, I know I was in a swirl of thoughts. It was only after I had sat did I realise that I had done so daintily, so as to not show too much leg. “O.K., let’s get down to brass tacks” said Algernon “your first gig is here, at my festival, over the coming weekend. You have just one day to settle yourselves into your characters and I suggest that this will be better served in shopping for some more clothes and some time in a salon to dye your hair black. There are places, so my daughters tell me, in Norwich where you will fit right in. Now, as to names, I am going to christen you in a way I can remember. Stuart, you are now Susie as you look a bit like Suzy Q with your bass. Terry, you can be Tess. Bruce, I am calling you Brianna, or Bri for short; and Steve, no real change for you as you are now Stevie. No arguments, please. After you leave here we have got you a minibus to use that is big enough to take your instruments and a few amps, with enough room for the drums and keyboard. My girls have told me that they will travel with you and Felicity will drive the bus as she has the correct licence. I trust you will all enjoy yourselves but I do not want any bastard grandchildren after you have gone home.”

His three girls gave him a big smile and promised that they would be good. From the look on the other three band members I guessed that when they were good, they were very good. We were dismissed so he could get on with his organising and we walked back towards our rooms. When we got there the four girls took control again and we were changed into long black dresses and our stage clothes were hung away. Felicity had been on the phone to a salon she frequented in Saffron Waldon and we were put in the minibus and taken into the town. She had booked all four of us for a hair dye and ear piercing. We had all drawn the line at other piercing. They also did some work on our lips and when we walked out, we were all black haired with kissable lips and sported five studs each side.

The shops were closing so we were given a reprieve and just had a walk in the town. It is a lovely, quaint place and I was taken aback to see a plaque on the wall of a building in the town square that denoted that someone had been burnt at the stake where I was standing, before Australia had been discovered by Cook. Back at the manor house we found that we had been supplied with nightwear as well and our cases were now going to be impounded after we had removed the bare necessities. It seemed that His Lordship was really serious about us living the parts we had been allocated. I made sure that I had my passport and all of my cards and the cash I had bought from home.

Looking in the bags that had come back this morning I found a handbag and purse so I put all of my worldly goods into it and wondered when I would be able to use my own wallet again. I looked at myself in the mirror, wearing the long dress and now black haired, and realised that my own mother probably would not recognise me now. Thinking about the other band members I knew that Terry and Bruce would pass after some practise but Steve would have to be our group tomboy.

We all sat down for a good dinner and the wizard proposed a toast to a successful tour of five talented girls. We sat around chatting for a while and we found we had to lay our heads down after a very long and tiring day. We were accompanied to our room by the girls and shown how to remove the make-up and take care of our skin and clothes. Lesley gave me a kiss before she left me, saying that we needed to be up early in the morning to get our shopping in.

I slept remarkably well for being in a nightdress for the first time, and woke just before dawn. I lay there thinking of what we had done to keep the tour going. It had been a shock to the system to be dressed as a woman but I realised that the whole band had taken it well. I thought of the time we were on stage and realised that Terry and Bruce acted like girls while we played and then, also, remembered our time in the salon yesterday. We were all spoken to as if we were normal women and there had been no snide remarks. I didn’t think we could have done that in Brisbane; some areas in Sydney maybe but never homophobic Queensland.

I got out of bed and went to the toilet, making sure I sat down to pee and practised making sure I tinkled. There was a robe on a hanger and I put it on over my nightie, put my feet into some scuffs by the bed and went outside to take in my first sunrise in the UK. As the sun rose Lesley joined me and we stood, holding hands. I asked her why she was attaching herself to me and she told me that I had proven to be a good friend as well as a good person and that she was fed up of going with chancers like Adrian. I told her that I was glad she had picked me as I had always admired her and we stood together and kissed. I said “Good morning, darling” and she replied “And a good morning to you, my love.” That sent shivers up my spine. We went in and found that the kitchen was already cranked up with tureens of food ready to eat.

As we ate our breakfast the others all joined us and then we went back to our rooms to prepare for the day. Lesley told me to get dressed in the long dress and wait for her to finish my face. I showered and used some smelly underarm deodorant before putting on the corset, stockings, panties and boots. I dropped the slip over my head and followed it with the dress. I then waited until Lesley came in and made me up. It took me a few moments to realise that today I was Susie and the girlfriend of Lesley. We gathered outside and Felicity got the minibus for us to drive to Norwich to do some shopping.

When we got there she parked the bus a little way out of the city centre and we had a bit of a walk to get to our destination, a shop that specialised in all things Goth. The four of us were taken around and asked what we liked and a pile of clothes were gathered for each of us. We then had to get into the changing rooms and try on our selection, coming out every time so that the girls could check us out. I ended up with a mid-calf skirt, another long dress in a dark grey, a couple of tops and a pair of very tight leather jeans with studs around the waist. The shop had a range of accessories and I browsed with my purchases were being parcelled. I was drawn to a pair of earrings that were black, plastic crosses with a red stone at the intersection. There was also a pendant in the same style. I paid for them out of my own money and, when Lesley saw them she decided that we should all have something similar as stage wear. In the end we found another set for her and three similar sets in blood red for the other guys.

I was sure that we would be called out as we walked around the city, but no-one even looked twice at our group of eight girls who were actually four of each. We stopped for a bite to eat at the main shopping centre café and discussed what we needed to do. As we were to play tomorrow afternoon at the festival, we said we needed to have another practise session, if we could, and work out a presentation that was more girl than usual. So, after a final shop up for shoes, we got back in the bus and returned to the Manor.

When we got there we asked His Lordship if we could use the stage again and he said we could, but he wanted to go through our introduction with us. “As this is the first time you play in public, I think that I should go up and announce you myself.” He then said that we would have our guitars already on the stage, in stands, and that he would go out the front, give his spiel, and introduce us, one by one. “What I want you to do is come out on to the stage and stand by your instrument and give the crowd a wave. As I am introducing Lesley, you can strap up and Stevie can sit herself behind her drums. I will introduce Lesley, who goes to her keyboard and then give the big ‘here they are, Quimble!’ and you start playing as I walk off.”

We all thought that this was a bit over the top but went along with it. We grabbed our stuff and went out to the stage where we just played our six recorded songs, trying to make us look like girls playing. When we got back to our rooms we found that another couple of bands had arrived and were settling in. It seemed that we were to share our stage with a UK band called Fields of Nephilim and a Norwegian group called Theatre of Tragedy. Sounds like it will be a fun time to be had by all!!

Marianne G 2020

The First Gig

Because there were so many of us in the guest wing, we were given our dinner in a big tent that would be the food tent for the festival. I found out that there would be three local bands in the afternoon, with us playing after a tea break and the other two bands after we come off. The other guys were fun to talk to and had lots of stories about playing at festivals all over Europe. We knew that Goth was still in vogue here but had not realised just how big it was. If we could crack this market we may never have to go home. I also found out that we fitted into the ‘soft-goth’ niche and that there were shades of darkness beyond this to the very dark music. I had heard of Inkubus and Nosteratu but was told of a few bands where just being in the audience was a near-death experience.

The festival site was coming together and the vendors were setting up their stands. I noticed that there was a pyrotechnics van next to the stage and was told that I had better not get frightened by loud noises as the flares, smokebombs and flame generators were triggered by a technician, purely at random as he saw fit, and that I would have no warning. I told the others about this and they said that a little bit of banging would not worry them. Only Lesley caught the worry in my voice and told me that she was sure we would get through it. We took ourselves back to our rooms for an early night, Lesley not going to her own room for an hour.

On Friday morning I woke to the realisation that I had woken on a day that I was to play a live show, in England, as a lead-in to two well-known Goth bands. It was a bit hard to believe, even harder was the fact that I would be doing it in a skirt. I shaved carefully, showered and dressed myself in the grey dress and then brushed my hair for a while. I thought that I would try my hand at a little make-up so used the foundation first. It took a while to do the eye liner and shadow but the mascara was easy. After I had put on the black lipstick I sat there and told myself that this was just for a couple of months. Somehow it sounded hollow as I admired the girl in the mirror.

As I left the room I ran into Lesley and we went to the big tent for breakfast. A couple of guys from one of the other bands joined us and I suddenly found myself as one corner of a foursome, chatting in a quiet voice to a chap who looked like he ate anvils for lunch. He asked me about Australia and I tried to convey the true nature of the country and I think he was not happy about the lack of ‘good music’ there. We walked around the vendor area, now set up and open for business, and, after we had looked at some jewellery, he took my hand as we walked. I noticed that Lesley was doing the same with her chap and she winked at me when I looked at her. This was getting really strange and turned even stranger when I saw the rest of the band walking with other guys. The three daughters were no-where to be seen as I gather they were deep into the organising.

We all met up at the tent for lunch and then got ourselves a spot to watch the first bands. Terry whispered to me that he certainly did not see why we were doing this but that it was important we didn’t break our cover. I agreed but told him not to let things go too far or else there may be more than our cover broken. We sat out on the grass and watched the first two bands play. They were pretty good but seemed to be novices at the actual playing, even if they were really good ham actors. I was sat, leaning against Sven, with his arm about me and was really quite comfortable when I announced that we needed to go back to our rooms to prepare for our part of the show. He squeezed me and surprised me by giving me a kiss before helping me up. The rest of us stood and we gave the boys a hug before we went back into the house. Lesley waited until we were inside before she said “Well done, you lot. You acted just like the girls you are and no-one suspected a thing. Just remember that you promised your mothers that you would remain virgins until your wedding night and you won’t go far wrong.”

The three sisters had seen us leave and joined us in the rooms, each taking over our transformation into Goth Rock Chicks. We stripped and showered, shaved again and started the reassembly of our persona. Lesley came in and helped me with the more dramatic make-up, gave me a spritz of perfume, replaced one pair of studs with the crosses and announced that we would now be ready to take on the world. Right at this point I felt that I would come out worst in a fight with a teddy bear, let alone the world. We picked up our instruments, made sure they were in tune and went back to the stage area just as the third band was finishing. We left the instruments in the hands of the stage guys and then went for a bite to eat before our show. We were settled on a table with his Lordship and the sisters and I could see that Sven and his pals were not pleased but they stayed away while we ate. Then it was time to play. As we followed our host to the stage area, Sven and the boys came over and gave us all hugs, wishing us luck and telling us they were looking forward to hearing us play. The sisters looked quite put out!

We gathered, out of sight, in the back of the stage, and His Lordship went out front to a large gathering of Goth fans. “Dearest Brethren” he shouted “I welcome you to the main part of todays’ entertainment. Tonight we welcome an all-girl, all- Goth, all talented, band from Down Under. They will be household names by the time they finish their tour in this country but, tonight, you are the first to appreciate their music. Firstly, let us welcome Stevie Franks on drums.” Stevie put his hood up, his hands in a pious position, and glided out to stand behind the drums before giving the applauding crowd a wave. “Now we have Suzie Simpson on bass”. I followed suit, standing beside the bass before giving my wave. And so it went on; Brianna Anderson on rhythm; Tess Jenkins on lead and finally Lesley Craven on the keyboard. As she walked to her position we strapped on our guitars and Stevie settled on her seat. As the wizard shouted “I give you the band Quimble!!!” a flame thrower on each side of the stage went off and we could feel the heat as we started to play. We had pretty good responses to our set as we worked through it. The odd gush of flame or the wafting of smoke across the stage did not help my nerves or my sinuses but it must have had an effect on the fans as we got to our own half a dozen songs with a roar of approval at the end. With the last chord sounding, there was a short pyrotechnic display that I thought would set our hair alight but we got off the stage after giving a couple of bows.

Sven and his friends were on last so they wanted us to sit with them while the other band was on and, as we walked back to where we were to sit we were high-fived and hugged by lots of fans, It was a strange, but interesting, experience. When we got back to the boys, Sven stood up and gave me a big hug and a full mouth-to mouth kiss that made my toes tingle. “That was fantastic” he said “we all think that you will go far. You just need to play more of your own music.” We sat with them until they needed to go on stage themselves. As they stood I got up and gave Sven a kiss and told him that we would be watching the first part of their show but would be going back to our rooms as we needed our beauty sleep as it had been a very big day and I had the feeling that we may all have jet-lag. He looked a bit down but needed to get moving to get ready. As I sat down Lesley said that I had done very well as we could slip away without upsetting anyone. We did see some of their show but it was a bit too dark for us, even though they were not as dark as it got.

Lesley helped me undress and I helped her as we kissed. Afterward she asked me “How long have you been dressing as a girl?” I said it must be all of two and a half days, now. She said “Impossible, you have the moves, the thought processes, even the shopping is there. If you tell me that you can knit, sew, do laundry, vacuum and cook I will declare you a natural.” I thought and then said, “Does four out of five count?”

Marianne G 2020

Saturday Sensation

Next morning we all slept in. After I had showered and shaved I opted for my black jeans with the boots and a black tee shirt. I would have not picked the tee shirt if I actually was a girl as it showed the outline of my corset at the bust line and I got a lot of interested looks from all of the fellows. Lesley told me I was brazen and Tess said I was hot. Sven and his band had already eaten their breakfast and left, as they had a gig in Holland tonight. That was, I thought a real slice of good luck. The sisters were happier about that as well.

Tonight the Theatre of Tragedy was to be replaced by Alien Sex Fiend, a band that had been around for nearly twenty years by now. I had never heard their music but had been told that it was heavily synthesiser and computer based. After breakfast Felicity asked us what we wanted to do and four of us said we had planned to visit Duxford while we were here. Lesley was unsure but came along anyway. It was not far from the Manor and it was not long before we were wandering around the old aircraft. It had been a WW2 fighter base and is a huge collection of aircraft from the early days, right up to the Blackbird high altitude spy plane. I had looked forward to the visit but had never thought I would be one of eight girls walking around. We had three hours there before we needed to get back to the Manor and it wasn’t enough. We did manage to see all of the hangers as well as the big American hanger but did not have time to hike down the end of the place to the Land Warfare Exhibition.

Back at the Manor we had lunch in the big tent and sat around for the first band to start. Another local band, they were pretty good but played a lot of music I had never heard, I suppose that they were covers of the hundreds of Goth bands that were around. Once again we were on straight after tea so went off to our rooms to get dressed. Lesley told me to just change from the jeans to my leather skirt as the top half had been a hit and she thought the crowd would like it too. When we assembled I saw that Tess and Bri now had short skirts and fishnets on as well and we all looked very sexy. As we made our way to the tent we attracted quite a number of whistles; I think it would be an interesting set tonight. We had a quick tea and it was again time to go on. His Lordship did introductions again and we got going with the music.

As we played I saw the crowds’ positive reaction and thought that we may be in with a chance during this tour. At a particularly loud cheer I looked across the stage and saw Tess and Bri standing with their legs wide while they played. Now that is one way to get a crowd response. Stevie was as solid as usual and Lesley was giving it her all with the vocals. I hoped that her voice lasted the tour and wondered if there was a way the rest of us could help out with the singing; after all, it was only us that sang before she joined. When we finished our set we went back down onto the grassed area to be mobbed by fans, mainly male, who wanted to congratulate us on our music as well as trying to get a kiss. We all tried to accommodate them as we had never had fans who wanted to kiss us as a crowd, before. When we extricated ourselves and got to our rooms we were dishevelled and most of us had smiles on our faces. Stevie was less enthused and said that he never signed on to be a homo. Faith took him by the hand and pulled him into his room to prove to him that he was as straight as ever.

In fact, we all had our companions with us as we undressed and wound down and it was a much calmer band that gathered back on the grass to listen to the last band. I have to say that I was not impressed; two people on stage with a bank of electronics could not be, to me, entertainment. The actual ‘music’ also left a lot to be desired. Perhaps it was our upbringing with the party and twelve bar scene that had stained our psyche. Or maybe we were just too conservative.

Sunday was low key. There were the locals once more; followed by us starting a little later and then the Fields of Nephilim took the festival to its conclusion. On Monday morning the wizard told us of our tour plans for the next eleven weeks. We would be starting by staying at the Manor for three of them, going out to the gigs in the bus. We were booked for three nights this week at a club in Cambridge, followed by a night off and then three nights in Luton. All were easy drives by main roads. Then we had two nights on Braintree and three nights in Chelmsford, a night off, then four nights in a club in Colchester.

We had one night off and then moved to Birmingham and digs to play at three different clubs in the area, followed by a trip north, to Blackburn, for nearly a month playing at five different clubs there. We had two days off while relocating again to Bristol for a five night gig. Then we went along the south coast for three nights in Southampton, three in Portsmouth, four in Brighton. The last four nights were in a Goth Club in London. It was a pretty full list and I knew we would be tired at the end of it.

We had a couple of clear days so the sisters took us into London for some sight-seeing. I must say that prolonged walking on pavements were not all that good, I don’t know how girls do it all the time. On the first day we spent a lot of time at the Tower of London and I felt it was really creepy when we went into some of the rooms where famous people spent their days, waiting for the chopping block.

We took a ferry from there up to the Westminster Pier and spent a good five minutes circling in the middle of the river while the helmsman told us that they were all poor lightermen and his companion trawled the passengers for gold coins. I thought it was a real cheek considering how much we had paid for the trip. As we were getting off the ferry, the Big Ben struck midday. That made the whole trip worthwhile as I had sat by my radio as a young lad and heard the chimes. Here I was, in London and standing at the base of the tower with the chimes vibrating my body!

We found a little café to have a lunch before touring the Abbey and the Parliament. Then it was home to the Manor. I don’t know how we would have done it without the sisters and their knowledge of the myriad tube lines. The following day we went back into London and then took the tube to Waterloo Station to get a train to Hampton Court Palace. While we were waiting some chap tried to get us to sign up for a new credit card and we strung him along. He gave up with a huff when we told him that we lived in Australia.

It was a smooth and pleasant ride to the terminus, then a walk over the bridge to the Palace itself. We spent all day there and I was amazed at the displays of spears, swords and flintlock guns that adorned the walls. We had our lunch there before wandering the gardens. I particularly loved one sunken garden that I thought was beautiful. Lesley and I sat on a bench there and I told her that if I was ever rich, something like this would be my first priority, before any big house or fast car. In fact, I realised that I had no desire for a fast car any more, was the girl cooties overcoming my senses?

It was real wrench to leave but they were starting to ask people to leave. We walked back to the station and waited for the train. I went up to each of the sisters in turn and gave them each a hug, thanking them for bringing us here. Tess followed my lead but Bri and Stevie sat chatting. Of course, eight girls waiting for a train had to attract the attention of some boys so we were joined for the ride back to London, having a good time with the lads. Stevie stayed aloof but the sisters, Lesley, Tess and I were happy to play our part. When we told them that we were a band the boys said they would try and get to one of our gigs. We parted on the platform at Waterloo and when the boy I had been chatting to mostly took me in his arms and gave me a tongue kiss I reacted as I should. While he hugged me he said “What’s with the surly one, then?” I told him that Stevie was in her time of the month and was a total bitch for more than a week when that happened. “It does improve her drumming as she tends to take her aggression out on them during that time.”

Marianne G 2020

The Tour Proceeds To the Conclusion

The first set of gigs went well; we travelled to the venue in the bus, did our show, and came back again. Cambridge was full of drunken students and Colchester was full of drunken soldiers but the others were good. It was when we went up to Birmingham that things went strange.

We got settled into our digs and went to the first club on the list, the Angels Club, and found that, once again, we were not what they expected. The curse of the lazy secretary had struck again. They were the first of eight clubs that she had block booked us into, but the people she had dealt with had all thought that they were getting an all-girl band, no Goth was mentioned. These were all clubs that were similar to rugby leagues clubs back home, only smaller. We knew that the crowds there would not appreciate Goth music at all.

We had the rest of the day and all of Saturday before the show to sort something out. Felicity rang her father to explain the position we were in and he told her to do her best to turn us into an all-girl party band. We removed our white make-up and black lipstick and were taken to a local salon where we were turned into normal girls and came out with enough make-up to last us the next three weeks. Then we hit the dress shops and got ourselves short skirts in black, with bright red tops and red boots to wear on stage. Stevie got shorts. Then we needed a supply of nude and dark tights to go under the skirts and a red scarf to match. Then we changed our cross earrings for dangles and hoops and left out the top three studs. We also got day dresses to wear and some normal jeans and tops. We went through our old play list from the Gold Coast and sorted out a set that Lesley could lead. We then had a number of songs that needed one of us singing so we practised singing in a girly voice. After a while Lesley thought we could get away with it, especially if we left them to later in the night when everyone was drunk.

Our first night at the Angels was really good and a relief for us, especially after our problems. The crowd liked our old songs, the twelve-bar and even our soft-Goth. Tess and I sang a few songs being as girly as we could and our mini-skirted look carried the day. When we finished the manager thanked us and gave Lesley a jar of tips. The next three nights went well also, and we were carried the vibe through the next week at the two following clubs.

We then went up to Blackburn and it was as expected at the five clubs there. We played as an all-girl party band and the nights were good. Everyone, who could, danced and drank and the managers were all appreciative. I had found that I was really comfortable in my skirts and dresses and looked forward to looking in the shops at the big towns we stayed in. Tess was also collecting a range of nice clothes and Stevie stayed in her shorts and jeans. I often found that Lesley and I went out in similar colours and styles and started to look like sisters. What we did at night was certainly not sisterly, though!

Down to Bristol and it was back to the Goth look for the shows. We all stayed in normal appearance during the day and could walk about without being stared at. We spent our down time looking at the Great Britain in her dock and walked the city. We found the main shopping street and discovered the group of barrel-like bollards that were called nails. They were outside the old shipping office and we found out that deals were struck here by putting your ‘cash on the nail’. I had always wondered how much you could balance on the head of a nail.

Then we did the group along the coast. Brighton was interesting as we were quickly outed by the very gay community and then were well received as a tranny Goth band, much to Lesleys’ annoyance. Brighton also provided another couple of fundamental changes. Tess met Charlie, the owner of the club we were playing at, and they fell in love. Tess had been really strong in our bid to be the best girl band we could and was speaking most of the time in a girly voice. I suppose that she and Charlie saw something in each other that they wanted. I know that two of the nights we played there Tess did not come back to the digs until breakfast time and immediately went to her room to shower and change. It was Charlie who told us just how non-PC our band name was in England. We found out that we had used the old slang name of a part of a womans sex organs, no wonder we had louts in our audiences chanting ‘QUIM-ble, QUIM-ble'.

The other thing that happened was that Brianna and Stevie were out walking the town one morning when they were set upon by a bunch of skinheads who had been to the club the night before. They were close to being beaten up when a group of Goth bikers, who had also been to the club, intervened and created a bit of havoc among the skinheads. This, we could all see, had put the wind up our two band members and they seemed a bit remote on the last night we played there.

Then we had our last four nights in London, playing at a Goth nightclub. Charlie came up to London each night we were there and was often seen kissing and cuddling Tess before and after the set. After London we went back to the Manor and our reversion to being a boy band with a girl on the keyboards.

When we got there I found that I was enjoying the life I was now leading. Lesley and I were definitely a couple and I felt no compunction to be drab Stuart again. Steve and Bruce couldn’t wait to get their old clothes back and presented the rest of us with a couple of big bags of their female wardrobe and jewellery. They decided that they were going home and, after our host had given them their share of the profits, we took them to Stansted to get their flight. Steve hugged Lesley and Faith but would only shake hands with Tess and me. Bruce was a bit easier and was able to hug us all. It was sad to see them walk through the door to the departure lounge. The band was no more!

We got back to the Manor and sat down with His Lordship. He said that he had received good reports from the owners of the venues we had played and that he thought he could get us into the European festivals next summer if we wanted. When Tess said that she wanted to stay in England and would be living with Charlie in Brighton, I thought it was the final ending but she then said that she would be still available to put new songs together and would be happy to play if we could get gigs. Then Faith said that she had been playing drums for a while and would be happy to take the place of Steve. Felicity said she would be happy to take over our management and Fiona said that she played rudimentary guitar. Tess and I promised to get her up to performance standard if she was prepared to work at it and she agreed to practise every day from now on.

Algernon sat back and said “It looks like my girls have finally got something to do with their days that will take them out from under my feet. I will allow you, Susie, and you, Lesley, to stay here over the winter as long as you work with my girls on joining the band. Felicity will be able to work towards your bookings for next year, knowing what she does now about the things that can go wrong. I will want you to see if there can be some new songs that we can get recorded and out on the market before the New Year. Thank you for being so resilient in the last three months and saving the day twice. You three are stars and I am proud of my girls for supporting you. Well done all.”

And so it went on. Lesley and I moved into a big room in the house, Tess went down to Brighton, coming back for practise and a couple of recording sessions of songs that Lesley and the sisters wrote. We put out an album of the new songs along with a couple off our previous EP and it sold well. This allowed Felicity to book us a good set of gigs starting in March in the South of France. Fiona became a good rhythm guitarist and Faith was actually better than Steve – and a lot less annoying. The two sisters changed from being groupies to being part of the group and turned out to be talented songwriters as well. The other three of us were able to get paperwork to continue to work in the UK and in Europe. When we hit the road we were a tight band and knew where we wanted to fit in the Goth spectrum and were, almost, a genuine all-girl Goth band. We restarted our careers with a solid month at Charlies’ venue in Brighton and the sisters became entertainers on that stage.

I stayed totally as Susie and eventually managed to get a name change to Susan Craven and my own paperwork. Lesley and I presented as sisters and that made it a bit awkward when she announced that she was pregnant towards the middle of the year and we looked forward to our junior Goth in the New Year. She played the last few festivals in a maternity dress and looked radiant. All in all, that lazy secretary had actually done some of us a favour.

The end.
Marianne G 2020

All right. I know that I listed the previous post of this story as the final chapter. It was - then. I also thought that it finished in a bit of a rush so here goes with more from Susie and the band. Marianne G

Part 7 The Story Continues

It was deepest winter in England and I was starting to miss the sunny days in Queensland at this time of year. I didn’t miss the cyclones or lashing rain though and snow did seem somewhat peaceful from the inside of a heated house. It is now pretty close to a year and a half since the band broke up and yet it seems like yesterday.

After we had trained Fiona to play the rhythm guitar and Faith had mastered the drums, we had gone back on the road, still as Quimble, but now with three out of five of us being genuine girls. Tess and I were the only ‘girlalikes’ left in the line-up. Although, with Tess the way she looked now, you really could not see the difference these days. After we had played a month at Charlies’ club, he had sold it and had become our road manager full-time. This was very handy as we had been booked to play a number of festivals over last summer across Europe and Felicity had us booked into clubs on some of the weekends we had off.

Tess and Charlie got a tent and camping gear and drove the van we had bought for the equipment while the rest of us made do with public transport, managing to get back to the Manor when we could. While they were travelling Tess and Charlie became a genuine couple and Charlie used some contacts to get her some hormones along the way. By the end of the summer she was developing a serious pair of breasts and was starting to look good, even to me. I, on the other hand, stayed just in the transvestite stage but was starting to lose my own libido. Lesley had got me on a menopause pill that contained plant extracts to help me cope and I must say that it improved my sleep. Before we started the season I had been to a clinic and had some sperm bottled so was sure that we could have another child in future.

Ah! Another child? Yes, Lesley had given birth to little Cate Craven just before Christmas and we loved her to bits. Luckily it did not stop our touring but she did have to do the last few gigs on a stool behind her keyboard. I have told you that we had got paperwork that allowed us to continue working in the EU but I had gone one step further. When I went to Australia I was just a baby and so had dual citizenship. I had come to the UK on an Aussie passport but had changed my name by deed poll to go from Stuart Simpson to Susie Craven. I now applied for a UK passport in that name and showed my name change so now had a UK one with a girl in the picture but still M as the sex. Lesley was OK with her Aussie passport and Tess had still not done anything about hers.

I had kept in touch with my parents and had sent them pictures of us playing, having to point out which one I was after my mother writing back to ask me if I was the one taking the photograph as she couldn’t see me in the band. I think that they were all right with the playacting and I didn’t tell them that I was now Susie 24/7. They were much happier when I sent them a picture of Lesley and Cate after she got home. Tess had also kept in touch with her parents and we had got them to sell our old cars and have a garage sale of the possessions in them and to keep the takings. She had told them about Charlie and I am sure that they were not impressed that the eldest son had turned out queer. Over the summer both Fiona and Faith had short flings with guys from other bands but were now ‘between blokes’. Felicity had taken up with a chap from Cambridge and was going steady.

Now, our summer of festivals gave us a basis to go to another level. Lesley was able to stay with us long enough to record an album before Cate came along and we had released it in the New Year and it was selling well. Funnily enough, a couple of the songs that Fiona and Faith had written were commercial enough to get general airplay and we were steadily climbing the charts. Even the songs that Tess and I sang came across as being a girls voice. We did not play much cover stuff as we had a good catalogue of our own these days and we did not even play the early songs that Bruce had written any more.

Felicity had already locked us in for a series of festivals and other gigs over the coming summer so we were able to look at our future with confidence. The day things got skewed was the day she told us that our album and singles had been released in Australia and New Zealand and were doing very well, so well that they had re-released our first album as well. It was March when my mother wrote to angrily ask if I was writing bull-shit to her as she had just read a new book on the market about the band and, if I was doing half of what was written, I was no son of hers.

I had no idea what she was talking about but the answer came in the post just a couple of days later. It was a parcel from Bruce that had the book in question as well as a CD. In the letter he said that he was now sorry he had gone back to Australia as he didn’t realise just how much he enjoyed being Brianna. He was now living in Sydney and was Brianna full-time and playing guitar in a Goth girl band called Spittool. He said they did his Quimble songs as well as covering some of our later stuff and that, since the book came out, he had become a minor celebrity at The Cross. The CD was a recording of them and when I played it to Lesley we decided that we must sound good as these covers sounded good.

The book, however, was another thing altogether. Steve had left the UK as an angry young man who had been taken to his extremes having to play as a girl. The fact that he had never worn a skirt or a dress did not matter to him; it was his having to wear jewellery and make-up that left a mark on his psyche. He had opened up to Adrian, the could-have-been who had got us the gig in the UK in the first place. I am sure that Adrian was still mad at Lesley for tossing him to become my partner. I gather that he had a friend who was a budding author as the drivel in the book was never Steves’ own words. The photos were good, though, and showed us in OZ when we toured as well as some pictures of us in the UK, even some of us when we were not on the stage but still were wearing dresses as we looked around the tourist spots.

The book was called ‘I Was a Quasi-Queer Drummer in Quimble’ and was supposed to be an expose of our tour. However, there was a lot of queer sex by everyone and Lesley was purported to be a lesbian dominatrix while I was a put-upon slave to her evil desires. It had heaps to say about poor Tess and Charlie, describing unbelievable goings-on under the stage as well as drunken parties with gangs of queers. Brianna came out best as just being a simple soul who had sold herself to the devil to just get through before gallantly casting off the shackles of femininity to escape. I wondered if we had grounds to sue or whether the case would never have a good hearing as we had, actually, dressed as women for the tour and the photos backed that up. Funnily enough, there was nothing in the book about his own times when he was shacked up with Faith but Felicity came across as a bossy woman who made us do things that no self-respecting male should do. His Lordship became an evil wizard who cast spells over everyone for his own good.

After all of the others had read it we had a meeting where we decided that it was too hard to fight it with us here and him there. Lesley was doubly angry at Adrian as she had told me that she had written him a nice letter to tell him she wasn’t coming back but had not called him any names, even though she wanted to. Tess was in tears after she had read it and vowed to stomp Steve with her high heels if she ever saw him again. Charlie said that it was unlikely to see light of day in Europe as it was printed by a small publisher in Brisbane so we would not have to worry about it being a problem for our future gigs. His Lordship took the book and, after reading it, had a jolly good laugh and promptly sent it to his legal friend to see if we could put out an injunction.

When I played Briannas’ band CD we all thought that he was still good but needed to start writing more of his own songs. After that meeting we all put the book on the ‘too stupid to worry about’ pile and I wrote back to my mother to tell her that most of it was made up for effect and that my letters gave a more truthful account. I did, however, confirm that I was living as Susie full-time and was now supposed to be sisters with Lesley. I included another picture of Cate for her to frame and said I hoped that one day she could meet her grand-daughter.

In April we started the summer of touring. Felicity looked after Cate while we were away and Tess took to the road with Charlie again. We started in Whitby at the twice a year festival and then left for the South of France again and worked our way north At the end of May we played at the Wave Gotik Treffen which was one of the wildest shows I had ever seen. In mid-June one of our songs hit the top ten in the general pop charts and we were being touted as a ‘breath of fresh Goth air’ by the music papers. Faith and Fiona, along with Lesley, were busy writing new material which we trialled on stage before thinking about recording them and we built up a repertoire that was almost twice as much as we needed for a stage show, allowing us to mix things up if we played more than one show in any one place.

In July we had a call from Felicity to tell us that we were wanted for a tour of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan over the southern summer, our records doing so well we needed to show ourselves on stage. It would start in Cape Town in the middle of November, going to Johannesburg and Durban before going to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane for Christmas before heading to Auckland in mid-January with the last show being in Christchurch before transiting through Australia to Tokyo and coming home via Hong Cong. The money offered was very good and, after some discussion, we told her to go for it.

Marianne G 2020

Big Changes

This threw Tess into a frenzy of activity. Our last show was at the end of August and Felicity had stopped booking us to give us a bit of a break before heading to South Africa. Charlie and Tess moved mountains to get her in for the SRS in early September so that she could be fully recovered before we left.

Lesley and I had a long discussion about my future and she told me that while she loved me, my lack of sexual needs had made her think that I was well on my own way to being female. It was a decision I had not thought I would have to make and we managed to get me into the operating theatre only a few days after Tess. It would be a genuine all-girl band that would tour. I did not tell my parents that I was doing this as I was sure they would not fully understand.

When Tess and I were healing, we applied for new passports showing us as female to use on tour. We had both had a decent set of breasts; mine added during surgery and no-one could tell that we had ever been boys. In fact, when Lesley and I were in Cambridge one day shopping for gifts to take with us we were hit on by a couple of fellows and Lesley encouraged them to the point that they took us to their home and she disappeared into a bedroom with one, leaving me to deal with the other. It did not take long for him to start fondling and kissing me and I was almost thinking about smacking his face when a feeling of desire came over me and we ended up in his bedroom for me to lose my virginity again. This time I remembered it with absolute clarity as it was one of the best events of my life so far. That day Lesley and I became true sisters and saw the boys a couple of times again before we left.

We had made time to go into the studio again with the idea that we would make a single but it ended up as four songs which we released in Australia just before we left. It was called ‘Quimble Coming Down-Under’ and was a limited edition that sold out within a week. It was all looking good and our traveling group had grown with the five of us in the band, Cate, Charlie, Felicity and Algernon as well as a couple of roadies who went separately with our equipment. The tour organisers had us finishing each show with a local band opening and had organised all of our accommodation.

We left Heathrow in the first Wednesday in November to fly directly to Cape Town. When we arrived it was a marvellous sunny day that greeted us after the cold of London. The promoters had booked us a small convoy of mini-bus taxis and we were taken to the Sun Square Cape Town hotel where we settled in for a rest before dinner. In the evening we were taken to the stadium where we were to play and caught up with our roadies and equipment. We did a short sound check and went back to the hotel.

The promoters were a bit unsure of us as we wore only normal clothing and make-up when off stage these days. The next day they had us booked to do a session with the local pop station, 94.5, which had been playing our songs so we dressed in our full stage gear for them. The interview went well and we went directly from the radio station to the stadium where we did a full sound check and checked the lighting and effects. The promoters were now smiling. We had the afternoon free so went back to the hotel to laze around their pool. I had to buy my first bikini and felt fabulous.

That night we got back into our stage gear and make-up and were taken to the stadium where we stood in the wings to listen to the local band that were opening the show. They were called Shamble and were a cover band of our stuff. They had enough of their own material to put on a set and were good but insipid compared to us. After the break we went on and showed them what Goth Music should sound like. With the lighting and pyrotechnics we blew them away. The crowd really got behind us and carried everyone along, it was a great show.

Next day was the Friday and we were taken, in the mini-busses, to the cable car station at the bottom of Table Mountain for a trip up. The view from the top was magnificent as the whole area is very mountainous after the flat of East Anglia. The promoters were really happy this morning as there was a full page in the Cape Argus, the English language paper, about our rise to fame and a good write-up about the show, with some good pictures. That night we did the second show to a bigger, and more enthusiastic, audience.

Saturday we were taken to Camps Bay where we could spend some quality time on the beach. The promoters laid on a good lunch in one of the many restaurants there and then we went back to the hotel for more pool time before a solid session in the hotel salon. That evening we did the last show in Cape Town to a great audience. The opening band had raised themselves a couple of notches as well and sounded much more aggressive on stage. I thought that they would benefit greatly from the three outings.

Sunday morning we all went to the airport for our flight to Tambo International at Johannesburg. This was a lot different to Cape Town in climate as it is the Highveld and a lot cooler, especially at night. It was also a much more sophisticated city with lots of skyscrapers. Once again we had the mini-bus taxi fleet to take us to the Ecotel Southgate Hotel, a great building that reminded me of the houses in Gone with The Wind. We were set to play on the Monday to Wednesday at the Joburg Theatre Complex so had an interview set up for YFM Radio that evening. We stayed in our normal clothing for that and they didn’t seem to mind.

Monday we were taken to the Carlton Centre where we went up to the look-out on the fiftieth floor. Once again I couldn’t believe the views and had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. We had a good lunch and then went to the Theatre to do a sound check. After dinner at the hotel we all got ourselves dressed and painted and went to the Theatre and again heard a local band that were good but not where they could be. We did our thing after the break and I could see the other band members in a huddle when we had finished. The promoters were also in deep discussion and the next day they asked us if we didn’t mind it if the band that opened in Cape Town did the same in Durban as they now knew that the band they had booked were really not in our league. We told them that they should not drop the Durban band but suggested that they add them to open before the second band and that we would go later in the evening with our set. That way it would be a bigger spectacle to finish in South Africa.

The Tuesday show was much better for the opening band as they seemed to now be really trying, not just performing for a bunch of friends. During the day we were taken out to the Lion Park Nature Reserve where I lost count of the number of lions I saw. Cate wanted to stroke the big pussies. One thing that I liked about Joburg was the layout of the city because it was a grid pattern, a bit like Melbourne and was very easy to locate oneself. The rest of the place was on a scale I had never seen before, the place covered, I was told, over five hundred square kilometres and looked to be going on for ever.

We had Wednesday as a rest day at the hotel to catch up with our letters and postcards. Brianna had written a letter which I had got just before we left England. She said that Spittool had been booked to open our show in Sydney and Brisbane and wondered how much of our music we would let them play as they were mainly a Quimble cover band. I posted my reply from the hotel, telling her what our play list would be for the two shows and told her to play all of the early material if they wanted. I also told her that we were looking forward to meeting up again.

At our Wednesday show the other band really put on a performance and we were happy for them as it would be a good help in their future gigs. Thursday morning we flew out of Tambo and into King Shaka International in Durban. The promoters had told us that they had originally intended for us to play Friday to Sunday but the ticket sales had allowed them to go to Monday as well. We were to play at the Moses Mabhida Stadium so they were extremely happy with the result and promised us a bonus. When we arrived there was the usual fleet of mini-bus taxis to take us all to the Breakers Resort. I nearly had to put on a second pair of sunglasses when we got there as the hotel was extremely white and literally shone in the sunlight. It had several pools and, as we were now back at a decent height, it was up in the low thirties centigrade, ideal swimming weather.

Shamble was already there and we all got together for lunch. Over the meal we talked about the music they played and we discovered that they did our songs with an African slant. One had a cassette player with a few of the numbers that they had recorded at one of the practise sessions and we were blown away with how different they sounded. Algernon was extremely interested and asked them if they would consider going to England in our next summer if he promoted an African themed festival. Felicity wondered if we could do a jam session when the stadium was set up and see what the combined bands sounded like. We spent the rest of the day around the pool. Well, some of it. We were chatted up by a bunch of very fit lads who were in town for a basketball double-header and ended up pairing off for a late afternoon bout of sex, the only girl not joining in being Tess who took Charlie up to their room so she didn’t miss out. We left Cate with Algernon to look after, something he didn’t seem to mind lately. He was starting to act like her grandfather.

Friday morning we all went to the stadium where we met the local band. We took it in turns to do a sound check and it was obvious that the locals were outgunned. We all tried to give them pointers on how to improve the performance and they did a second check which sounded much better. The promoters were again smiling. We then got on stage with Shamble and had a go at their version of one of our songs. It took a couple of tries before we got into their rhythm and I thought it sounded good. We then did a second song which came good much quicker. The promoters said that there was a studio in town where we could record the result and that they would put it out as a single as soon as they could. Lesley suggested that we bring Shamble back on stage at the end of the shows here and that we would finish with the two songs. It was decided that the band on the disc would be Quamble and that we would share any profits. The local band was amazed at how quickly we had ‘perfected’ an obvious local hit record.

Marianne G 2020

Back Home Again

For the Friday show we had asked that all three bands get full use of the lighting effects, rather than saving them for us. We let Shamble have some of the pyrotechnics as these could be recharged in the break. The stadium was at near capacity and it lifted everyone, the locals outdoing themselves and they were followed by a totally recharged Shamble.

Our second half held nothing back and, at the end, when we called Shamble back on stage and announced that we would now play two songs that would be in the shops soon, there was a great roar that was only eclipsed by the roar when we finished.

Saturday saw us in the studio to get the two songs on tape and, while we were about it, we recorded a couple of our later numbers in the same vein as a follow up if the sales were good. The Saturday night show was packed and very vocal and the locals moved up another notch. There is nothing like a screaming crowd to pull you up. Shamble was amazing and had become very wild in their stage movements while we did our second half with full effects and great feed-back from the crowd. When we called Shamble back for our encore songs it had the same effect as it had on Friday. I saw the promoters smiling after we finished as they could count the money that would be flowing. Sunday we had a session with East Coast Radio, the English speaking station and they were full of the concept of a joint record and even happier when one of the promoters pulled out a cassette with the raw recordings from Saturday. They were played for the first time that morning and before we had left the station their phones were going crazy.

Sunday afternoon we had a quieter time, being taken to the beach for a swim. We were then taken to a place where we were taught how to drive a Segway before going on a tour on them. It was great fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be. Of course, all the time we were out we had a small group of security guys looking out for us as Durban is almost as bad as some American cities when it came to murders. Sunday nights’ show was as good as Saturday and I thought that we had put on a good showing for the public. Just one more show and we would be flying to Perth – going home again after too long.

The Monday was again a quiet one around the pool. Our basketballers had left so we had to remain chaste. Lesley, Tess and I were on tenterhooks with the thought of flying back to Australia and had to be calmed by the sisters. We just had to get through another show and it didn’t come soon enough before we were painted and dressed and off to the stadium. This time it was as packed as the last two nights and it looked like a typical African street party was in full swing outside. What took me by surprise was seeing a few people with ‘Quamble For Ever’ signs and I knew then that we would be back in the New Year as a supersized group, just for local consumption. In the stadium the guys from Shamble were beside themselves with excitement and I saw Algernon and Felicity in a deep conversation with the promoters.

That Monday concert was a tour de force and will remain etched into my brain until I die. The locals went full on for the first time, now having all shackles released, and were really good. Shamble was manic and had lifted another notch, making us almost overdo our own act to keep up. At the end we had to do all four songs that we had recorded as Quamble and the crowd went wild. When we finished all of us girls had tears in our eyes as we hugged the guys from the other band right there on stage while the crowd roared approval.

Luckily we had all of Tuesday to settle down as our flight to Perth was on Wednesday, our first show there being Friday. The roadies had already left with our gear. Shamble was heading home today and we all had breakfast together. The one question they had was how we could stand the pressure of such adoration and we answered that they should try some of the festivals in Europe where there may be twenty bands as good as us, or even better, and once you had lived in that world, you would not want to live any other way. The promoters joined us and announced that they had organised a recording session in late February, here in Durban, and expected that we would come up with a joint Quamble album if we added another eight songs to the four we already had. We exchanged addresses with the main guys at Shamble and promised to send our thoughts, as well as tapes of any of our new songs that we thought would suit. I knew that Shamble was going to be very busy over the next few months.

Wednesday morning we said our goodbyes to the South African promoters and they gave us each a pendant that had a local diamond as thanks for a great series of shows and, even better, a good profit. They promised to send us the final cut of our four new songs as soon as they could. The flight was long and boring and, as we were flying into the approaching sun, we lost another six hours on top of the fifteen that the flight took. This meant that it was Thursday morning when we landed in Perth; luckily we were in business class so we had all had enough sleep. Even Cate was good and we were all glad at that.

The Australian promoters collected us at the airport and we had a full sized coach to take us around. Because of the long flight they had thoughtfully allowed us the whole day to get over it and we knew that we would not play well if we all had jetlag. We were taken to the Murray Hotel near the city and it had a nice pool so we took time out sunning ourselves. We had a good lunch and then decided to go for a walk. It was a good stroll from the hotel to St Georges Terrace, the main street, and we walked along looking at the shops and pointing out some of the differences to the sisters. Back at the hotel we had a good meal and an early night as we had a busy few days ahead of us.

We were to play the Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Subiaco Oval and it had been given a raised stage at one end and seats on the grass. On Friday morning we met up with our roadies and did a sound check. The local band was there as well and was pretty good. When we were resting and talking about the coming shows I was totally amazed at seeing Steve walk up to us. No more the cocky drummer of old but a somewhat abashed and shambolic person that looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Tess turned her head but Lesley and I got up and went over to him and hugged him, saying that we knew that it wasn’t him who had written the book and that we knew he wouldn’t say the things that were said. He brightened up considerably then.

“Oh, thank you” he sobbed “you have no idea how much this has taken out of me. I only chatted with Adrian for a few days and gave him copies of the pictures and thought nothing of it. To be labelled a quasi-queer in the title has ruined my life. I am shunned by all of our mates because they think I shafted the rest of you and I can’t get anywhere with girls because they think I’m gay. I didn’t even get paid from the book sales. I nearly topped myself a couple of times and fully expected to come here and get beaten up, it’s only right if you wanted to do that.”

While he was saying this I saw Faith out of the corner of my eye. She was starting to tear up and I realised that his leaving was harder on her than it was on us, no wonder she couldn’t find a steady guy. I waved her to come over and said, in a loud voice “Everyone, Steve has apologised for his part in that book and I believe him when he says it was all down to Adrian.” At that Faith threw herself at Steve and hugged him so hard I thought I saw his eyes pop.

When we had all settled down again he told us of his having to leave Brisbane and his anguish at seeing Brianna in her band in Sydney, knowing that no band would ever have him again. He had been living on the streets in Melbourne for a while and had hitched to Perth as soon as he heard we were coming. He did pong a bit so we took him back to the hotel with us, organised him a room and cleaned him up. We then took him back to the shopping area and bought him some new clothes and shoes, his old ones having holes in them. We told the promoters that he would be part of our party from now on as an extra roadie and we wanted him to have accommodation and transport to go with us all the way to Brisbane, if not beyond.

When he was clean and tidy Faith took him into her room to find out if they still had the hots and when they came down for dinner she has a gleam in her eyes that told us that they were still made for each other. At dinner Steve was introduced to Cate and he was smitten by our little Gothette. It was so good seeing him that I almost broke down myself and Lesley had to take me to the toilets to allow me to get control of myself. I was overtaken, for the first time, by the female hormones and vowed that I would never go and see a weepy chick flick in the future.

It was while we were sitting with our coffee after the meal that we told Steve that the whole band was now female in body as well as mind and he came over to Tess and I to hug us and gave us both a kiss on the cheek, saying that he was so sorry about his attitude in the past, our acceptance of him now showed what wonderful girls we all were. Algernon told him that if it wasn’t for him leaving he would still have three daughters around his neck with no purpose in life and we all had a giggle. We now had to get ready for our Friday show and when we presented ourselves at the coach it blew Steves’ mind at how we had progressed. We were all now women and proud to flaunt it and he shakily said that he could never have gone this far, himself.

The opening band did a good job getting the crowd going but we made certain that we nailed our set and showed the Aussies that a quasi-queer band was not to be messed with. When we came off stage Steve was open mouthed and had a glazed look in the eyes. “I had no idea of how good you were” he said “Faith is a magnificent drummer and the new stuff you do has everything.” The promoter said that we had a session with the local radio station in the morning and that we were certain to be asked about the book. We told him that we would be happy to answer any questions they may have and that we had the ‘author’ on hand to back us up.

Marianne G 2020

Who is That Girl

Saturday morning saw us all at the local pop radio station in our street clothes. Faith was now clinging to Steve like she didn’t want him to get away again. Of course the subject of the book came up after we had said how happy we were to be here and that the crowd last night was fantastic.

I told the DJ that they had got the title wrong and had missed a golden opportunity. He, of course, asked me what I meant so I said “Well, they called it ‘I was a quasi-queer drummer in Quimble’. If they had called it ‘I was a quasi-queer Queenslander drummer in Quimble’ it would have been a genuine ‘four Q’ book, instead of the load of codswallop it is.”

The DJ laughed and said that he wondered what the author would say at that so I pointed at Steve and said “Why don’t you ask him?” He looked at Steve and did ask him what he thought and Steve gave it to him both barrels. He said that his input was minimal, he had been defamed himself and that the only bits of the book that were genuine were the photos. He then went on to say how it had destroyed his life while the real authors got away with it and that he was truly overjoyed at how we had forgiven him after all this time. Before we left the studio one of the nation-wide legal companies had rung in to offer Steve a no win no cost legal battle with Adrian to get his money owed at least, if not considerable damages. They also offered us a chance to be part of a class action.

We still needed time to get our breath back so spent the rest of the day around the pool. Steve was again slack jawed when he saw Tess and me in our bikinis. We made time to get a cassette player and ran through the four songs that we had recorded in Durban. He was amazed at how different we sounded and I told him that there would be space for him on extra percussion if he wanted to be part of our special album, seeing that the other half of Quamble were all blokes. Saturday evening we played to a packed crowd and I could feel that the Perth fans were building.

Sunday we were taken out to Rottnest Island to pat quokkas for the media. The paper next day had a wonderful picture of Cate, wide eyed, with a quokka while Lesley and I looked on with smiles. It was shown next to a picture of us all on stage in our Goth gear and the comment was made that we were all suffering with a split personality. The radio interview also got some column inches with the comment being made about unscrupulous ghost writers getting away with murder. As the newspaper was also part of a national group I wondered if the articles had been sent interstate.

The Sunday show was really good and on Monday we all flew to Adelaide. The flight only takes a couple of hours and the time difference is minimal so we landed in time for a late lunch after we had been checked in at our hotel. We had been put into the Royal Coach Motel just off the city and it was quite comfortable. The promoter took us all to a restaurant in Glenelg and it was great to be sitting with your meal and see a tram rumble past. We spent some time after lunch having a walk by the sea and relaxing. Later on we were back in the bus to go to one of the local pop radio stations.

Here we had a mixture of questions about what we thought of the country after being away (for half the band) and what we thought of the country having seen it for the first time (for the other half). The topic of the book came up and we told the DJ that we were not going to talk about it as we now had a legal action pending. We were to play at the Entertainment Centre on theTuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so were out and doing the sound check on Tuesday morning, meeting the band who would be opening for us both here and in Melbourne. They were a mixture of Adelaide and Melbourne members and already had a couple of records in the charts so didn’t need any more than the minimum sound check themselves. We were then taken, in the coach, to the Barossa Valley for some wine tasting and lunch. With so many wineries in that region the tour took all afternoon, Algernon and Charlie making the most of the tastings, becoming quite jovial by the time we went back to Adelaide. We had a light meal and got into our stage gear for the show, going in the coach.

The opening band was, as to be expected, a professional performance and after the break we gave it our best as well. I can’t say it was one of our greatest performances but we didn’t let ourselves down. Wednesday morning we were shown the review in the papers which was, if not glowing, was pretty positive. We walked across the parklands into Adelaide City which is another one of those grid-pattern cities. It was very pleasant and we were taken into the Botanic Gardens where we had a lunch at the café there. The show that night was better for us as we were overcoming the feelings of our poorer showing the night before.

Our Thursday was another easy day at our request. I took Cate over to the parklands to play in the playground while Steve and Faith just strolled and talked. It was a good break for everyone and it showed in our last show in Adelaide where we nailed it for a sell-out crowd. Friday we flew the hour or so into Melbourne and were taken straight to the Radisson Hotel next to the Flagstaff Gardens and only a walk to our venue, the Festival Hall in Dudley Street. This one was an older venue that had once been a boxing ring, I believe, and, although it showed its age, still had a good vibe. The roadies were immediately taken over to the hall with our gear as our first show was tonight. We had a little while to settle in until we got the message that we could go for a sound check.

When we were in the café area of the hotel we were approached by one of the staff with a phone in his hand. He asked which one of us was Susie and I put my hand up. He plugged it in next to my seat and lifted the receiver for me. On the other end was Brianna who was in tears. She said that her drummer had broken her ankle playing squash and that they will have to pull out of opening for us. I had a big smile on my face when I asked her if she would accept Steve if he was available. She was taken aback and asked how this could be so I told her of Steves approach to us in Perth and his real shame in being a small part of the book.

She said that she would love to see him if he wanted to play so I asked Steve if he would like to be a drummer again in a Quimble cover band. His face lit up while Faith looked shocked and he said he would do anything to play again. I handed him the phone and said “You need to convince Brianna as she is the guitarist and writer”. To say he was gobsmacked would be minimising it but he gamely took the phone and spent about five minutes apologising to her. In the end we convinced Faith that she would see him again in Sydney and then made arrangements for him to fly to Sydney tomorrow where Brianna would take him under her wing.

That done we were then advised that we could go to the venue for the sound check. We walked to the Hall and did just that, walking back again through the gardens to have our dinner. Once we were dressed and painted for the show we took the coach the two minute journey for our first night in Melbourne. Our opening band was bigger here than in Adelaide so we had a good crowd in for them as well as for our own show. The night went well and we were as good as we could be. Steve was now getting hyper at being around the bands again with the prospect of playing. He was getting worried that he wouldn’t be able to do it properly now and I told him that Briannas’ band did a lot of our early stuff so he should get up to speed pretty quickly. In the morning he was taken off to the airport and Faith came down for breakfast with an unusual walk, much to the amusement of her sisters.

The Saturday we had a radio interview; as well as a session with a newspaper photographer in the Flagstaff Gardens. We made sure that we all dressed nicely but the kicker came when he wanted some homely pictures of us with Cate next to a flowerbed. The Saturday show was really good and the crowd was with us while the Sunday show was even better. Monday morning we flew to Canberra for shows on the Tuesday and Wednesday night at one of the leagues clubs. There was no opening act for this one so we did an extended set that put us on stage for two and a half hours each night. It was a good change from the bigger venues and we had a packed venue both nights with almost as much noise from the crowd as some of the bigger places we had played.

Thursday we flew into Sydney for our shows there. We were to play the Friday through to Monday and then we would fly to Brisbane for Christmas before our shows there. I was getting more worried about meeting my parents than anything else. We were taken to Darling Harbour and our hotel first while the roadies went straight to the venue, the Horden Pavilion in Moore Park, where we had played when we toured as a boy band with a girl on the keyboards. Once we had settled in we had a message from Brianna asking us if we could come over to where Spittool was practising so we gave our coach driver the address and he took us there.

It was an old industrial building and, when we arrived, Brianna rushed out to hug us all with a special hug for Felicity. She was in tears to see us and was also ecstatic that we had sent her Steve. When we went in there was an amazed look on our faces when we saw Steve in a dress. “Well” he said “I said I would do anything to play again so here I am, in another all-girl band.”

Marianne G 2020

Sydney Showdown

Faith rushed over to him saying “Oh Stevie, you’re back!” and enveloped him in a huge hug. I must admit that they had gone to town on him; his hair was a very feminine cut and he obviously was wearing shapewear as he looked every inch a girl.

The funny part of it all that he moved in a much more confidant fashion, as if this may have been the real Stevie after all and the antics on the original UK tour had just been envy mixed with the shame of not having the gumption to go all the way. We were introduced to the rest of the band, who were somewhat shocked to be this friendly with the rest of us. They were now very good friends with Brianna and had been now playing with Stevie for a week but meeting the band that you cover on stage would be a bit un-nerving for anyone. The next two gigs would be different in that it will look like one big Quimble show being played by two different bands so we needed to sit down and work out a presentation that would define each band. It helped that they modelled themselves on our early music and we asked if they could do more that Brianna had written so that when we did the later stuff it would be different enough.

As they used the same set-up as us we played them a couple of our latest songs that had not yet made it to record to show them where we now were and then they did a couple of songs that Brianna had written since joining them and we all decided that there was enough difference. Stevie was back behind the drums and had regained all of her skills but I still thought that Faith was a little more polished these days. Brianna had gone from rhythm to lead guitar and was really very good at it. We all agreed that it was going to be fun here and in Brisbane.

Before we left we had Felicity take photos of all of us together and then we went back to the hotel for dinner and an early night. Friday saw us at the Horden Pavilion for the sound check. It became evident that the two bands were so similar we only needed the one set of drums and amps on stage and that it would only be guitars and the keyboard that needed swapping during the break. The promoters had been talked into letting both bands have equal lighting effects and that Spittool would get some pyrotechnics that could be recharged in the break and I must say that we all looked forward to tonight.

Stevie was still dressed as a girl so I understood that it was 24/7 until the show was over. Spittool had all their stage gear with them so they came back to our hotel for salon sessions and dinner before the show. This meant ten girls at a long table chatting merrily, much to the amusement of fellow guests. The looks on their faces when we came back down in our stage gear was a sight to behold. Spittool had full Goth long black dresses and our original capes while we were all fishnet and mini-skirts. We were all now heavily made up and literally draped in jewellery. Everyone piled into our coach and we set off to Moore Park.

There was a big crowd around the entrance as we drove by on the way to the rear. I saw several with Spittool tee shirts as well as a lot of Quimble gear. Everyone was a bit hyper when we got to the dressing rooms and Lesley took over, getting both bands sitting down and taking deep, slow breaths. When it came to time to open the show we all had a group hug and Brianna led her band to the stage. There was a roar from the crowd as they opened up with some of our early numbers, especially the ones from the original EP. As they continued I could tell they were really getting into the act and the smoke and lighting would have been something different for their own fans. By the time they finished with one of Briannas’ new songs, the crowd were really pumped.

We opened up the second half with the songs from our limited edition record and then followed it up with several songs that the fans would not have heard yet but it didn’t deter them from being enthusiastic and loud. We finished off with our latest couple of hits and, when the smoke cleared, brought Spittool out on stage for a group bow. The audience still would not let us leave the stage and Lesley suggested we do a couple of our original songs with Brianna and Stevie with Faith and Fiona and the other girls from Spittool as backing singers. Everyone thought that it would be a blast so I went to the front of the stage and tried to quieten the fans down.

I thanked them for being a fantastic audience and that we were very happy to be in Sydney again, seeing that the last time we were here we were playing pop songs. I said that there was a magic in the air that had brought Brianna and Stevie back on stage and that, as we didn’t have an encore number on tap, we would like to turn the clock back three years to the time when the world seemed much simpler. I went back to my place as the roar built and we launched into a song from when we were young and male and the other five girls formed a line across stage to supply the shoop shoops and doo wops as needed. It was good fun and the smile on Stevies face was worth every minute of being out of character. When we finished we all formed a line across the stage and bowed as the curtains closed. It was a spontaneous and heartfelt group hugging session that followed as the tensions eased.

The promoters had organised a signing session here and we were inundated from the moment we appeared. We all had lots of shirts, programmes and records to sign and it was well after midnight when we were back on the coach. Spittool came back to the hotel to change before the coach took them to their homes and the rest of us just got out of the stage gear, removed the make-up and fell into bed. I think that I must have smiled all night as, when I woke up, my jaw was hurting and the pillow was wet from drool.

At breakfast on Saturday morning the promoters came to our table and wanted to discuss the events of last night as it had exceeded all their expectations. We told them that the songs with the old line-up was a one-off and we didn’t want it to happen again as it took us out of character. They agreed and wanted to know what we could do as a joint group encore. Lesley suggested that we play two of the Quamble songs if we could get Spittool up to speed with them. They were both from our older material and they already played the normal version.

Mid- morning we were all at the industrial building again, this time we talked about a proper joint encore and we played them the African version of the two songs which the girls from Spittool instantly loved. While we could do them with two leads, two rhythms and two basses, we only needed one drummer and keyboard player. Stevie volunteered to play bongos so that Faith could drum and the girl keyboard player from Spittool offered to play a tambourine so we got the promoter to rush off to collect these from a music store. We spent the rest of the day perfecting the two songs as well as trying the other two that we had recorded. Once the other girls had picked up the different rhythms that made African music distinctive we moved on quite quickly. We had lunch on the run and, by mid-afternoon, we knew we could do these with ease and it didn’t need either band to be out of character.

Spittool joined us at the hotel for dinner before the show and it was a boisterous affair. The girl who was their usual drummer had been released from hospital today and joined us on crutches. She was staggered at how friendly we all now were and quickly was caught up in the mood. She came with us to the venue and was sent off to sit with Felicity, Charlie and the promoters. I could imagine her surprise when her band played with a full light and pyrotechnic effects. Algernon was, by now, staying behind with Cate as he said that the excitement was getting to be a bit much for him in his dotage.

The show followed the same path as Friday night, if a bit louder on both sides. When we finished the second half and had a full line across the stage the crowd, again, did not want to let us leave. Once again I went to the front of the stage while the others sorted themselves out and called for a little quiet. When I got it I said “Thank you all for being a great crowd tonight. Last night we did an encore of a couple of the old bands songs, before we were truly famous. Tonight we have prepared a real treat for you as we are going to play you a couple of songs that have been recorded and released in South Africa next year. We were joined there by a cover band called Shamble but have now, with our Goth magic, turned Spittool into African maidens so here we go!”

We launched into the songs with gusto. As they were already old Quimble numbers the crowd could sing along with them and did so. It was a totally different feel to the Goth style and was much more welcoming and inclusive. I think that it made a lot of the audience think hard about themselves as we set them swaying and singing. At the end of the first two songs they wanted more so we did the other two and it was a magic moment for us all to be playing together as a Quimble supergroup.

This time we did not wait for the curtains to close before launching into a group hug session and, when we got down to the signing session, we had a huge number of fans asking when the songs were going to be released in Australia. When Kaye, the Spittool drummer, reached us she was crying her eyes out and said that it was with joy at being there tonight but thought she may be now replaced. Brianna told her that Stevie was only filling in before she could get back behind the drums as she was sure that Stevie would have lots more things to do after the shows.

It was another late night and this time I laid awake a while wondering at what direction we would take after this tour. The African sound was tempting, after all, Paul Simon did well using it some time ago, but then I realised that we were now branded as a Goth band so it would make it difficult.
In the morning we had a big surprise as the promoters had brought all the girls from Spittool to the hotel for breakfast with us. They announced that they were taking a leaf out of the Durban book and Spittool would join us on stage, along with the local band, for New Zealand and Japan as the feedback from last night was so positive. Everyone had a group hug again and Algernon was looking very thoughtful. Afterwards he got Lesley and me aside and asked us what our thoughts were of a Quimble spectacular to tour the UK and Europe next year with Spittool and Shamble on the bill as well. Now there’s a thought!

Marianne G 2020

A New Direction?

On the Sunday we had a big spread in the papers, photos of both bands and a good review of the show with a special mention of the last four numbers and how different they sounded.

In the morning both bands were taken to Taronga Zoo where the media took pictures of us cuddling furry animals and especially Cate enjoying herself. I think that the girl will have a scrapbook bigger than an encyclopaedia by the time she can read. One of the newspaper guys had a small radio with him and he called for us to listen as an overweight, overblown, red-necked has-been ranted on about our show. He had obviously not seen it and was only going by snippets of information. However, when he brought up the book and the terrible goings-on we just laughed. Whatever he was trying to do, painting a Goth band as over the top and wild was just good publicity. The newspaper guys asked us about the book and we told them it was a load of bunkum.

The Sunday show was great and the crowd seemed to have a few darker faces among it which made me think more about the new sound. Monday morning we were visited by a legal type from the law firm regarding the book. He had a Justice of the Peace with him and we all sat in a private room while we went through the book he supplied, highlighting all the lies and fabrications while signing bits of paper for the JP to show that we had done the highlighting under oath and that the bits we had highlighted were not true. By the time we finished the book looked like a redacted report from a security service to the government. The only white bits on some of the pages were the margins.

The promoters wanted us to record the new sound as soon as we could and I thought that it would be a very good boost for Spittool. I was not happy about the way the sound was moving and, over lunch, made my thoughts clear. The rest of our band agreed as we had worked hard to get where we were today. Tess came up with the idea that we record it and it would be a Spittool and friends release. With that thought I suggested that we rethink the one with Shamble and allow them to hog the Quamble image as well. It would be like we had mini-Quimble groups around the world doing songs that were like us, but not us, and that we had better come up with a new direction in our own material. This gave everyone a thoughtful moment. Fiona suggested that we rework a couple of our really old songs in a Japanese vein to play as the encores in Japan next year. Tess said that she had some old school friends in Brisbane who were Japanese and it was decided that she get on to them for tips.

When Brianna and the rest of her band were brought to the hotel to change we asked her if she would like to take on the African style songs for their own and her whole band was excited by the prospect. They had already started to rethink a few of her own songs into the genre and thought that it would be a good boost because of the increasing African population in Australia. The promoters told us that we had all day Wednesday in the studio so we set ourselves to get a good number of Spittool songs on tape.

The Monday evening show was different in that there were a lot of darker faces in the crowd and the encore numbers had a lot of the audience on their feet and swaying. During the post-show signings we made sure that anyone who asked about the songs was told that it would be a new Spittool release in the New Year. Tuesday we had a day off and our coach took us into the Hunter region and the Blue Mountains where we stopped at a number of wineries for Algernon and Charlie to hone their tastebuds and for the rest of us to take in the sights. It was a good day and we all realised that, after the recording session tomorrow, we would not have to play again until the show at the Carrara Stadium in early January.

The Wednesday saw us all in the studio bright and early and we worked non-stop until we had good recordings of the four songs with Brianna and her band out front. We then had time to work on the four songs of our original EP and, as we already knew them, had them in the can by late afternoon. We all went back to the hotel for a well-deserved dinner. Brianna and Stevie were coming with us to Brisbane while the rest of her band was having their Christmas at home. Kaye, their drummer, would be back behind her kit for the Brisbane show so was very happy about that. She said that the moon-boot would be an advantage with the bass drum pedal.

On Thursday we flew to Brisbane and our first meeting with our families for a couple of years. Tess and I knew just how much had changed since we last saw them and we were both very anxious about the welcome we may receive. We needn’t have worried as all of our folks were there as we came off the plane, along with a barrage of reporters and TV cameras. As far as they were concerned, we were a Brisbane band who went to England as nobodies and were returning as stars and they ‘owned’ us as their own. It was absolute bedlam for a while until the airport security asked us to move outside as we were blocking the walkways. My parents almost smothered me with hugs and did the same for Lesley but the main attraction for them was their grand-daughter Cate, who lapped it up like the little diva she was.

Charlie had a cooler reception but Tess’s parents soon warmed to him when they realised just how much in love the two were. Even Briannas’ folks were there as she had taken herself to Sydney under a cloud but they had come to realise that they loved their child, whatever gender it was. We answered a lot of questions from the press who were amazed that Stevie was with us after the book release and that she was wearing a very nice blouse and skirt combination and was being closely held by Faith. We told them all that we just wanted some quiet time with our folks and to show our English members around our home town and that we were happy to receive the media in smaller numbers for discussions over the next few weeks. The only odd thing about our welcome was my seeing Adrian standing by a car, a little way away, with a scowl on his face as a couple of security guys stopped him from coming over. I wondered if the legal firm had foreseen his wanting to confront us and had organised protection.

We had been booked into a hotel in Broadbeach, not far from the stadium, and we had a coach for us. All of our families followed on and a few of the press did as well. Once we had been settled in we all walked to the Broadbeach Bowling and Social Club where a big table had been set up for us. I asked Stevie why she hadn’t been met by anyone and she told me that her parents were really mad at her about the book so I suggested that we ring them from the reception counter and invite them over for the lunch.

She did that and when they answered she handed the phone to me as she was having a fit of nerves. I explained to her folks that Stevie was really not to blame for the book and that it was a load of lies that will be contested in the courts soon. I asked them if they wanted to come to Broadbeach this afternoon and see just how their child had changed and how much we had forgiven her. When I said her there was an intake of breath on the other end and her mother demanded to speak to her child. I handed the phone back to Stevie and let her explain that she was a girl at the moment for the shows with Spittool as the replacement drummer but was now feeling that a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her parents said they would be with us in an hour or so.

That done we had lunch and then spent a lot of time with the media talking about our career so far and our thoughts on our future. When I could I managed to sit with my parents, my mother having her grand-daughter on her knee. I quietly told them that, thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, I was now just another girl in an all-girl band and my mother put Cate down long enough to give me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, saying “welcome home, my daughter, I’m so proud of you and Lesley, you are all stars.” I sobbed and told her I loved her and Dad and hoped that I didn’t disappoint them. My father also gave me a big hug and also said he loved me and I was almost awash when Lesley came over to receive hugs as a wonderful daughter in law.

Tess and Charlie were in a similar position with Tess’s parents and I could see Algernon and the sisters in deep conversations with the press when Stevies parents walked in. Her mother went straight to her and enveloped her in her arms while her father had a look of anger mixed with awe. I excused myself from my folks and went over to him to placate him. I knew that he would have a problem with it all as he was a surfer type and had been one of our biggest fans when we were all still lads. I suspected that he may secretly have a few of our records stashed away now.

I went up to him and welcomed him to the lunch and introduced myself as Susie, once known as Stuart. He was gobsmacked and blustered “If you hadn’t told me that I would never have known. I have come here expecting to see a bunch of queers in dresses, even though I like the music, and I thought that the photos were all played with. Then here you are as much of a woman as my wife!” I pointed out Tess and Brianna and told him that he was looking at Terry and Bruce and then he really noticed the girl his wife was talking to and stuttered “That’s not Steven, surely!” I told him he was right and that he had better go and make friends with his new daughter as I was sure she wasn’t going to come back to him a Steve any more.

As the afternoon wore on it became apparent that all of our families had made their peace and that, thankfully, they all accepted that their sons were now daughters. This just left Lesley and her folks. She had always been a little cagey about her family and I had just thought that she had left them as the dark Goth sheep of the family. I cornered her with Cate and we went to sit outside, looking over the bowls greens where members were deep in their own clashes with the little white ball. I asked her if she wanted to contact her own folks and she sat for several minutes before telling me about them. “They live just around the corner, in one of the apartment towers. They are pretty well off and I was the rebel of the family. When I walked out it was after a gigantic row and I have not seen or spoken to them since. I don’t even know if they know of my music career or even if they remember that they have a daughter.” I said “Why don’t we take Cate and go and see them to find out.”

We told the rest that we were going for a walk and took Cate the couple of blocks to the tower. At the entrance we rang the bell for her parents’ apartment and, when her mother answered, Lesly just said the one word “Mum?” There was a shriek from the speaker and her mother said “you’d better come up here, NOW!”

We took the elevator to the right floor and when the doors opened her mother pulled her out of the car and wrapped her arms around her as if she was never going to let her go. It was lucky I was holding Cate at the time as she would have been crushed. When her mother settled down a bit she pulled Lesley into the apartment and I just followed on with Cate in my arms, closing the door behind us. As we went into the lounge her father stood up and took Lesley into his arms and told her over and over that he was sorry that he had been such a fool to take umbrage at her Goth dressing back then and that he had regretted it ever since. Lesley was in tears herself and had to sit down. Her mother then turned to me and asked “Then who are these girls?” I told her that we were her second daughter and her grand-daughter and she promptly fell back into a chair in a daze.

After we had revived her we gave them both a potted history from the time Lesley walked out to the present. Her parents had a very hard time getting their heads around several things. The first thing was that I was the father of their grand-child; and the second being that we were members of the band that had been in all the papers lately. They were very conservative and had not even known about us when we still played gigs on the Gold Coast. They readily agreed to come back with us to meet all the rest of the gang so we had to wait until they changed into something more suitable.

When we got back to the rest of the group we introduced them around. I made sure to introduce the Wizard as Lord Algernon Transgerant, our benefactor from England and Mr Craven was immediately determined to be as nice as he could be while his wife was delighted to meet the three sisters and probably thought that they would all be Ladies. Come to think of it, they probably were, I had never considered that before. The management was happy to let us carry on and re-laid our table with extra places to cater for our expanded group. One by one the press left us alone, happy with all the copy and photos they had, promising us a good write up as we had been so open and welcoming, unlike other overseas artists and their wall of security.

We had a great dinner and then the extended families went home and we all went back to the hotel and a much needed bed. It had been a wonderful day.

Marianne G 2020

Christmas at Home

In the morning we went down to the dining room and were having breakfast when one of the staff came over and told us that there were a lot of ‘young people’ outside the hotel and wondered if they should call the police.

“Don’t worry” I said “we can look after them.” Lesley, Tess and I went to the front doors of the hotel and had a look out. I could see some of the fans from years ago and we had a quick reminder session to remember their names before we went outside. When we showed ourselves there was a surge towards us and I called out “Whoa, you lot. I can see Betty, June and Julie and you budding guitarists Jack and Jason. If you all hold on and go to the beach and settle down we will all be going for a walk up to Cavill Avenue and back along the beach. The hotel wanted to call the police but I am sure that you will all be good and we can chat as we walk.”

There were smiles in the crowd, especially the ones we had named, and they sauntered off towards the beach while we went back in and gathered the rest of the band, telling them that we had a new exercise while we were here and to get their bikinis on. Fifteen minutes later the seven of us walked down to the beach to meet our fans. Five of us had bikinis with a light beach top over them while Brianna and Stevie were in one-piece with a short skirt to hide the bulge. We all had bum-bags with our important stuff and some marker pens.

As we strolled along the beach with the rollers on our right and the skyline of the Gold Coast on our left we all chatted with the fans. Now they realised that they had us all to their own for a while they were less frantic to talk to us. Jack and Jason were brothers and had always spent most of our shows watching how Tess and Brianna played and I often noticed their fingers trying to remember the chords. Betty had come to almost every show we had put on, as had June and Julie, two sisters. They all looked a bit older and we had a good old time talking about the past and telling them about our more recent history. As we walked we slowly covered all of their shirts with signatures. They made Stevies’ day when they told him that they didn’t believe a word in the book as they knew us well enough to see through it. We gave out a lot of hugs at that and, by the time we reached Cavill Avenue we were all very friendly.

When we got there we saw that the life-saving lookout had two guys in it that used to there before we left. Lesley said that they were Dennis and Ian and that she always used to call out to them and tell them they were hot. We had a quick huddle with our gang and when we arrived at the lookout we all stood in front of them and called out “Hello Dennis, hello Ian, gee, you guys are hot!”

They looked startled and then Ian dashed down the stairs and rushed up to us saying “Lesley Craven, you’re back!” before taking her in his arms to give her a smacking kiss that I could see almost made her toes curl. Once again it was lucky I had Cate or she would have been flattened. Everyone gave a big cheer which made him let her go and look around. “What’s going on here?” he asked. Lesley told him that all will be revealed if he could take a break and join us at the nearest café. We all trooped up to the café and made their day. Lesley introduced the rest of us to Ian and he almost fell off his chair when she said that Cate was her daughter and pointed to me as the father.

At long last he was told the story and was even more amazed when he was sitting with the entire Quimble band. He told us that he had tickets for one of the shows after Christmas and so did a lot of the life-saving club. He told us that everyone was excited at seeing us play again. Tess asked the question – why wait for next year? She said we could do a show for the surfers with all proceeds going to the club and we all agreed. Ian took us to the club and we saw that it would be better if we did the show at the Broadbeach clubrooms where we could clear the car park so we could play outside. We could play on the back of a truck and keep it simple.

Jack and Jason told us that they were friendly with the local music store and would see if they could get us the equipment on loan. We got them to go there with Charlie and Tess to see if we could get the kit. Our own stuff had been sent to a storage facility after Sydney to stay there until next year and our roadies had been sent back to England for Christmas. They came back with a positive result so the Quimble Surf Show was under way. While we were walking back I asked Lesley about Ian and she told me that he was her first love and the boy who took her virginity. I commented that he looked like he had not stopped his love for her and she gave me an enigmatic smile before saying that his kiss has reawakened her feelings for him as well.

When we arrived back at Broadbeach we got the fans to tell everyone about the Surf Show and they all trotted off with happy smiles on their faces and shirts that I knew would never get washed again. After lunch we were going to get picked up by our parents to be taken to our old homes to meet the rest of our relatives. Lesley was going to take Cate up to her parents and Algernon and the sisters said that they would head for the casino to see if they could break the bank. When I was taken home I found that my uncles and cousins were not sure about me; whether I was a star or a queer or just a naughty boy. Speaking to the others next morning I found that my experience was not any different from the others. Stevie was a bit down as her relatives were downright nasty even if her parents were OK with it. We told her that she should keep her chin up and stay true to herself.

Over the next few days we had our morning walk and then put the show together and Lesley had been seeing Ian a lot more. Her father had gone out and bought our records and had listened to them for the first time. He was not sure if he liked them but he had to admit that his daughter was good at what she did. Or should I say both daughters as I was now classed as daughter number two and had to call them Mum and Dad. They were besotted with Cate, as were my own folks. We did take some side trips during this time, an afternoon walking the shops in Mount Tamborine and most of a day at Seaworld where there was another photo of Cate, patting the nose of a dolphin.

On the Saturday night before Christmas we were on the back of a semi-trailer with a bunch of amplifiers and a good PA. The car park and every spare space around it was packed with teens and some not so teens. The overflow went down on the beach as they would be able to hear us, if not see us. We had got our folks a view point in the clubhouse and there was a small army of volunteers going around with collection tins. This was the first time our folks had seen us in the Goth gear and I could see a bit of shock on some faces when we got up on the truck. As we had not been able to practise before this we started out with a few of the older songs before moving on to the newer stuff. We played for about an hour and then took a break. Before we left the stage I called out that we would be back and how long we played was directly proportional to how much they paid and the volunteers set off with empty tins again.

We did have the local press on hand as well as a couple of TV stations filming us and the crowd. I think that they concentrated on the more weird Goth types too much but the crowd was generally in a good humour. In the break we saw our folks and got their feedback, mainly on how we looked from all of the mothers. When we went back on the truck we turned up the volume and the intensity and the crowd was really into it. When we finished with our few hits we got a gigantic roar from everyone. Although it was now after midnight no-one wanted to go home so we called Brianna and Stevie up on stage and we got stuck into the African music with the crowd swaying along to it. We had discussed what we would do if it got to this and had decided where we could extend the songs and did so, playing our final chords around one in the morning.

That night cemented our reputation as a Queensland band. The papers were very kind to us, the TV coverage the next evening was more about the good we had done and the surf clubs reported a collection which will keep them going another year. We had played so our folks could see us in a smaller environment and we now knew they wouldn’t be too shocked at the stadium show, at least not until we unleashed the pyrotechnics. The funny part of it all was that we were all made honorary members of the surf club, even Charlie, Felicity and Algernon. The music store had us in on the Monday to sign all of the instruments which were going to be fixed to the wall as not for sale. We had a group photo taken outside the shop which they said would grace the store, once we had come back next year to all sign it.

Our Christmas day was interesting as we hosted all of the families at the hotel. We had a big room with seating for everyone and the hotel chef had organised a traditional Christmas dinner. All of us girls were in stunning long dresses and the band wore their diamond pendants with similar drop earrings which we had treated ourselves with. After the meal we were sitting around with drinks and chatting and my mother took me aside to tell me that the show on Saturday evening had really opened her eyes to how good we were and also to how much we were loved by our fans. She asked me about the African songs as she loved the rhythm and I told her about Shamble and also that Briannas’ band will be stars next year when they released them in Australia. She patted my hand and told me that she was now doubly proud to be my mother and that I had become the daughter she had always longed for.

Stevies’ father was in seventh heaven as he had now had his record collection signed by all of us which would make them true collectors’ items. Ian had joined us and was almost in-separable from Lesley and was even holding Cate who was giggling loudly, the turncoat! It was a lovely evening and we all received and gave gifts. Mine from Lesley was a gold friendship ring which said it all.

Actually, the thing that made me laugh to finish off the year was when we were all having lunch in the hotel dining room and Adrian stormed in, going up to Lesley and shouting that she could do much better for herself than being with a faggot, looking at me. At this point Ian uncoiled all six and a half feet of brawn and said “Who are you calling a faggot, you bastard?” and decked him.

Marianne G 2020

The New Year and New Directions

In the New Year we started January the first a bit slowly, having had our usual two New Years’ parties in this neck of the woods. I had taken Fiona to the border where I saw Jerry, a guy I had gone to school with, and said hello to him, much to his surprise.

He was a bit unsure of just who I was until Fiona mentioned that we were in Quimble. He then told me that he was now a budding lawyer and worked for the company that was handling our defamation case. He confided that there had been an interesting turn of events in that the publishers were, in fact, an offshoot of a bigger publisher from Sydney. They, in turn, were owned -by the media company that owned the radio station where the loud-mouth shock-jock had ranted off about us. This had made the case much more winnable as that particular media company was already under the spotlight of investigations into poor journalistic practises.

He was with a mate of his called Chiller. He was a big bloke and, after my first kiss from Sven, I was well into big blokes, so Fiona welcomed the New Year with Jerry and I welcomed it with Chiller. Actually, we welcomed both New Years the same way and the fireworks were not just outside.

The show was set for the end of the first full week of the month and a couple of days later our roadies returned to the fold. We all helped them and Charlie get the equipment out of storage and put it in the truck. All of us guitarists made sure our instruments were not damaged in any way. We took the truck to the stadium and parked it in a secure zone to await the stage being built the next day. Spittool arrived later in the day and we all went down the beach to show them the best bit of the Coast. It was a good dinner that night and I went off to sleep feeling good with my life. I knew that I was no longer a partner for Lesley but I may catch a guy of my own one day. Cate now had a new dad who was beginning to bond with her and she did need a male influence rather than having two mothers.

The promoters had said that ticket sales had gone through the roof since our surf show and we now had five nights to play. After the stage had been built and the gear set up we did a sound check. Spittool played most of their set now that Kaye was behind the drum kit and she was getting a little worried about the show so we all gave her advice and hugs. We had got the promoters to shell out for air fares for the Spittool girls folks to come for a couple of days and go to the first show along with our own folks. We would have a full block of seats with friends and family so we knew we had better put on a good show.

The first show was Thursday evening and went well. Spittool were good and Kaye went to town on the drums. After the break we did our thing with a few extra pyrotechnics and lots of smoke. We did the encore bit with everyone on stage and did the African songs with Brianna out front and Steve on bongos. All in all we had done well and about twelve thousand customers thought so too. The next day we all got calls from our folks to tell how blown away they were by the full show. It had been the biggest crowd that Spittool had ever played for and were all hyper at breakfast. Ian was with us and was very quiet; I think that it had come home to him just what he was letting himself into. I was also a little surprised to see Jerry sitting with Fiona and with a big smile on both their faces.

We had more in for the Friday show and even more on the Saturday and Sunday, going back just a bit on Monday. Tuesday our roadies took the gear to Auckland where we to play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had a dinner for all our families on the Tuesday evening and the promoters gave us all another pendant, this time with an Argyle diamond on it. I think that they may be pleased with us. As we were coming back through Australia we left Cate with her two sets of grandparents to spoil her for a couple of weeks.

We flew to Auckland the next day and straight into a posse of reporters wanting to know how we were doing. We spoke to them as much as we could and stopped any questions about the book by telling them it was now a legal matter. On Thursday we went out to the stadium where we were to play and met our local opening band. How can I describe them – some people in full Goth gear look a bit frightening; a biker Goth looks even more frightening so try to imagine a group of heavily tattooed Maori Goth Bikers who went by the name Why? Tangy. They were all huge guys and the biggest Goth band in New Zealand but were very friendly and we all got on well. At the sound check they were very good and we all needed to be at our best this weekend. It was good that they had their own material to play so we were happy that it wasn’t one huge Quimble show.

When the show began on Friday we were blown away with them and they did their songs in yet another tempo that we hadn’t heard before. It was similar to the African style but more of a South Seas style. Spittool went on and did their thing with a few more pyrotechnics and smoke and, after the break we did our show with a bit more energy than usual. We did not bring anyone back as the African material was not destined for release here. Back at the hotel I quietly said to Algernon that I had just seen the next festival at the Manor and he nodded and gave me a hug.

The second and third show in Auckland were even better and then we all left on Monday to blow away Christchurch for two nights the following weekend. As we had almost a full week in the South Island we were taken to the tourist hotspots. We had the coach trip to Milford Sound, stayed at Taupo and went to see the glow-worms (Tess bumped her head on the tunnel going in and had to have a band-aid put on it). We also went to Dunedin and visited the chocolate factory before a dinner with bagpipes and the haggis ceremony. It was all very different from our Gold Coast time.

The two shows in Christchurch were great and I really did get into the music that Why? Tangy played. On the Monday we flew back into Brisbane where we stopped off for just a day before heading to Tokyo. Lesley had decided that she was going to come back to the Gold Coast after Tokyo so we left Cate happily with the grandies. Actually, Fiona had also said she wanted some time here before heading back to England as well.

When we got to Tokyo we found that we were to play the last night of a Goth Festival and I was happily surprised when I walked into the hotel to find Sven there. He came over and welcomed me with one of his toe-curling kisses and told me that he had been following our rise to stardom and was happy that we had followed his advice to play our own stuff. That night I didn’t sleep in my own bed at all and, by morning, realised that I loved him. In fact, I only used my own room to change in the whole time we were there.

Theatre of Tragedy was going to play the Saturday night and we were set for the closing on the Sunday so we had a bit of free time before we were needed on stage. Sven and I went off to do our own thing, visiting a few gardens and shrines. It was an eye-opener that he was into flowers and architecture and he also told me that he had been a qualified marine engineer before taking up the music and that he was feeling a calling to go back to a quieter life. I suggested that he may like to visit the Gold Coast sometime and see the opportunities on offer with tourist boats from Nerang. He was suddenly thoughtful at that and said “Only if you were there with me as my wife”. I asked him if that was a proposal and, when he nodded, I kissed him and said “Yes please”.

When the Saturday came around we all went to the festival for the first time. We dressed as normal girls and were immediately feeling out of place. The whole area was covered in Goth Lolitas as well as the different variations – Punk, Steampunk, Classic and a few that were difficult to categorise. Even the guys were in Regency fashions. Not to be outdone we headed for the vendors stalls where we all ended up as Goth Lolitas. There was a cosmetic stall where the owner recognised us as Quimble and did the proper Japanese Goth make-up for free if we got him to do us before our show.

We had fun that day as ordinary punters, grooving to the music. Theatre of Tragedy finished the day and I was surprised to hear the singer saying “Thank you and Goodbye” before the last number. When Sven and I were in bed that night I asked him about that and he told me that the band was going back to Norway and that it was unlikely that they would tour again for a while as the singer was leaving. I said that this would allow him to come back to Australia with me next week and we sealed it with a kiss – and more.

Sunday was the last day of the festival and the most manic. Several bands were on before us and when we all got into the Lolita costume and presented ourselves to the cosmetic stand, the owner made sure we all looked like genuine Japanese Goths. Spittool opened the evening with a great set and the crowd was with it but when we arrived on stage in our Lolita fashions they went wild. We played just about everything we knew that night, from the early stuff to the later and finished off with our hits. We were on stage for the best part of four hours and were all looking like dishrags when we finished and I knew that, if I never played in Quimble again, I would be proud of myself and the rest of the band for that experience.

In fact, it was the beginning of one end and the start of another life for several of us. The plane to England the following week only had Algernon, Felicity, Tess and Charlie as well as our roadies. Fiona, Faith, Lesley and I were joined by Spittool and Sven to fly back to Brisbane, Brianna and Spittool all giving us hugs as we left them at the airport for their own flight home to Sydney. Fiona was met by Jerry, Lesley was met by Ian and Cate, Faith was met by Stevie and Sven and I went to a hotel in Nerang.

Sven immediately fell in love with the area and the sun. We used our savings to get a house on one of the waterways and Sven bought two boats. One was a tourist boat which he spent months getting back into order, the other a smaller speedboat which he used to go between our house and the marina. He even learned to surf and we enrolled him in the lifesavers. We married, by civil ceremony, in the middle of the year, just after Jerry and Fiona (who was showing a bit of a bump) and a couple of weeks before Faith and Steve (in a suit and ponytail – just for the day). Leslie and Ian followed us all later in the year but theirs was a church wedding with Faith and I as bridesmaids. Chiller was best man but when he saw how big Sven was he only gave me a peck on the cheek. Leslie and Ian now had a surfing shop where Fiona and Stevie helped out when they were not teaching percussion.

It was Spittool that went to Durban to record with Shamble and they toured South Africa with them for a couple of months. They were now big in Australia with the African style and the resulting album was a big hit. In England it was as I predicted, Spittool and Why? Tangy were hits at Algernons’ Festival. Felicity had married her guy from Cambridge and still ran the festivals as well as booking for the two new bands. Tess and Charlie used their money to buy another club where they are doing well.

As for us, you can’t stop a musician playing and we formed a new band with Lesley on keyboard, me on bass, Fiona on rhythm, Sven on lead and both Faith and Stevie on percussion. We called ourselves Stinson and kept our playing to the South East Queensland area as international fame and fortune had been our way and we were all over it. Believe it or not, we had come back to being a party band and got lots of work. The outcome of the legal case went our way as our guys had gone for a hundred million in damages and the media company had settled out of court for thirty million. It was a good deal all round, even if it was shared by ten of us after we had paid the legal costs. The last I heard of that was that the media company was now chasing Adrian and his author mate to recover some of the cost.

Our families are now intertwined and we have great Christmas’s and do big birthday parties. As Sven had only seen me as a woman I didn’t tell him about fathering Cate but I think he suspected when I would cuddle her as she grew into a surfer girl. The only time we went Goth these days was for Halloween when we went out bothering the populace for donations to the surf club in exchange for sweets they could give out on that night. The tourist boat is doing well and we are looking at a second if we can get a good crew together. That is the microcosm of life though; anything is possible if you have a good crew behind you.

The End – Really!!

Marianne G 2020