Working Class Boy (31 page)

1. The Centre shops.
This photo was taken near the front of the coffee shop. I walked through here on many a boiling hot day, running from one patch of shade to the next, trying desperately to stop my bare feet from being burned by the blistering heat of the concrete on the way to the swimming pool. Later on, I sprinted through the same shops at night, avoiding thugs who wanted to bash my head in, or running with a gang of my mates, trying to get away from the police.
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in the driveway at Heytesbury Road. Behind us you can see the scrawny candle pines that Mum planted. On these trees there were small spikey pine cones that I used as ninja stars to throw at my sisters.
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) 3. In the summer
this was the best place to be. The temperature would reach the one hundred mark and everybody in Elizabeth seemed to be on the verge of blowing a gasket. In the morning I would sit outside on the footpath, waiting for the pool to open. Then I would run in and dive to the bottom. It was cool and quiet down below the surface. But, unfortunately, I always had to come back up to the waiting world. When I'd been in so long that my skin began to wrinkle, I'd go and sit on the grass and daydream. Thinking about life. Well, food and girls anyway.
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1. Myself, Alan and Lisa
sitting at the table, ready for breakfast. Reg and I would set the table the night before so we could eat as soon as we woke up. It also gave us a chance to eat cereal before we went to bed.
2. This is me in action,
playing football after moving in with Reg. I spent most of my time as a young guy playing football. I thought I was really good, but I'm not sure I was.
3. Mum and Reg.
Mum looked beautiful and happy then. But things would change. Reg looks surprised. He had a lot more surprises once we came along.
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1. Aunty Dorrie
with her nephew Reginald. She's the one who first taught Reg to play piano.
2. Reginald Victor Barnes.
This was before we met him. He looked kind of cool, like Buddy Holly, but when we saw him the first time we all laughed. Dad called him a big streak of nothing. But there was a lot to Reg.
3. Grandma and Grandpa.
Reg's parents. These guys were real salt-of-the-earth Aussies. No airs and graces. But they probably had skeletons in their closets too. I'm sure they did because my sister saw ghosts walking around their house at night.
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1. Reg's grandmother, Mabel Evelyn Barnes.
My sister Linda met her at Grandma's house. Reg's grandmother would talk to Linda at night and tell her about life and how to deal with it. The only problem was she had been dead for a long time before we moved to Australia.
2. Uncle John and his wife Tania.
John was the rebel of the Barnes family – the black sheep until we came along. It wasn't long until we made him look good.
3. These four brothers were all decent blokes. I liked them all.
Uncle Tom, Reg's youngest brother: a great guy who was a little wild when he was young, so he had a soft spot for us. John, who took me to speedway meetings and encouraged me to drink beer. Reg, dressed in his standard outfit: a cardigan and slacks. And Edward Barnes: Uncle Ted worked with Reg and was the boss at Kelvinator.
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1. Reg thought he was cool
riding around on a scooter. Mum doesn't look that impressed, although I think she is showing him a bit of leg there. Reg was probably more interested in her slippers. He would have wanted a pair too.
2. Dorothy, Lisa, myself and Alan
on an outing with Reg to Mount Lofty. We weren't used to family outings, but Reg insisted that the family do things together. Normal things. That's what families do.
3. The same day out.
A normal, healthy, happy family. At this point in time we might have been, but cold winds were starting to blow even then. Things wouldn't last. Everything always fell apart.
4. I'm not sure when or where this was.
I have a feeling that it might have been at Uncle John's house. They had outside toilets but this was getting ridiculous.
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1. There's that taxi with the doors open again.
This is me when we moved in with Reg. I was happy. I had just started at Mansfield Park Primary School. You can see why the tougher kids at that school thought I was an easy mark. I look innocent.
2. A very happy young Alan
in very high pants and myself in a very short tie. I might have been wearing his tie and he might have been wearing my pants. Who knows? John, who was a mod and refused to wear a tie unless it was paisley, and Warren, a bloke who went out with my sister Dorothy for a while. We were all dressed up for a party. Sooner or later trouble would break out.
3. Grandpa and my sister Dorothy.
The whole family loved Dot. She was a great kid and a great sister. If it wasn't for her I think I would have died many times.
4. Reg and Mum
getting married in March 1970. In the background you can see the piano that Reg played for us. It sounded great then and it still sounds beautiful now.
5. The Barnes family with their new members, the Swan clan.
Grandma seems to be keeping away from us a bit. Probably the best thing. You could never tell when Mum would turn.
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1. Me, Lisa and Alan.
Mum never had a lot of money for clothes so I started borrowing stuff from John. This was one of his tight mod jumpers from Merivale. Cost him a fortune. I think Alan is wearing one I had stolen from John earlier. I would borrow them and then Mum would machine-wash them so they never fitted John again. Lisa is as usual happy and smiling. I love these two guys.
2. Linda and Dorothy.
My two big sisters out looking for trouble. They always seemed to find it too. Reg would say things like, ‘Over my dead body will I let you go out with skirts that short' – and out the door they would go.
3. My first real band, Tarkus.
That's me at sixteen, dressed in baby blue. Michael Smith is playing bass at the back. He and I are friends to this day. Mark, who is playing guitar, died quite a few years ago. This photo might have been taken at the Elizabeth Community Centre. I think it's the only photo of this band. We weren't that great.
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1. Apollo Stadium in Adelaide.
This was a place where you could see overseas as well as interstate bands. My mates and I would kick the back door in and charge through before the bouncers could get a hold of us. The other thing we did was at interval, as people were coming out the front doors for a smoke. We would push back into the crowd as it flooded out and grab a pass from the unsuspecting doorman, pretending we had been in for the first half of the show. One way or another, we were getting in.
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) 2. Me at sixteen with too much attitude
and a bad haircut. I seem to have had a lot of those over the years. The attitude hasn't gotten any better either.
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a mate of my brother's; John, leaning, looking like he might have had a few drinks; and me, looking like I am after a drink. John could drink more than anybody I knew. I wanted to be just like him. I got there eventually.
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