With dad being a chef and working in one of the larger hotels in Perth for a while I when I was 11 or 12 I was presented with the chance to meet many of the bands and singers I idolised. Dad would be in charge of making whatever they needed before their show and I would always find a way of banging into them and getting my autograph fetish fulfilled.

Everyone I met is now decidedly B-Grade but back then some of the names were pretty impressive. We are talking Midnight Oil, James Reyne, The Angels and Gangajang along with plenty of others. Only Midnight Oil really stack up nowadays I guess but no-one I met impressed me as much as one person.

I had met foul mouthed comedians before, ‘Kevin Bloody Wilson’ comes to mind as the man who abused Santa Claus and wrote sings about girls breasts and stuff I still am not quite sure I understand. But this foul mouthed comedian was in a different stratosphere. Rodney Rude. Famous for being arrested for being rude, he was a national icon at the time.

He was the only person I met who made any of my friends really jealous. Listening to him now is as interesting as pulling back the skin on my own feet but back then he was rude which to me was funny. Hell it was funny to all my pre-teen mates.

I couldn’t have been more pleased to get his autograph. And I was even more stoked with what he wrote

“Dear Jason

hahahahaha Fuck ya

Rodney Rude”

Was my pride and joy. Kept it hidden from my dad until the day before show and tell where he found it and I believe burned it although I to this day suspect he may have kept it somewhere else.

I was left with nothing for show and tell so was stuck in front of my class with nothing but a cricket ball that was once used by Ian Botham. Nothing compared to the autograph I had planned. Still, at least I got a pointless story that I could share with you guys who are probably already bored out of your minds!

Keep Smiling

Jason

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