run out
Joe Cocker, with a koala toy stuffed into his shirt, walks with his girlfriend, Eileen Webster, to the plane in Melbourne, October 21, 1972.attributed to him:staff
Immigration Minister Dr Forbes has allowed Cocker, who was ordered to leave the country after pleading guilty to drug charges in Adelaide, to leave Australia by agreeing to the first available plane.
The delay allowed the band to hold two more concerts in Melbourne on Friday night, minimizing the heavy financial losses.
As it was, Coker left without giving his concerts in Brisbane and Perth, which were all sold out.
The controversial star, who arrived at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport 20 minutes before boarding his plane, said he did not know if he would be allowed into the United States.
Coker’s director, Nigel Thomas, said everything was arranged to pass through the United States. When asked if he would allow the group to land in the United States, Mr. Thomas said: “All is well this time.”
Coker and about a dozen members of his group arrived at Melbourne Airport in a fleet of cars. Hundreds of teenagers and a large number of television and press reporters demonstrated the star as he got out of the car. Coker said he thinks the authorities handled the whole situation poorly.
“I think I got a crude deal,” he said, “and someone yelled at me when I got caught in Adelaide.”
Coker said he did not know if he would return to appeal his conviction in Adelaide.
Joe Cocker and his manager Nigel Thomas. When asked if he would allow the group to land in the United States, Mr. Thomas said: “It’s all right this time.” October 17, 1972.attributed to him:staff
appeal?
When asked why he was appealing against the Adelaide ruling after he had already pleaded guilty to the charges, he said it was because of the deportation order.
“We wanted to appeal the deportation order, but we found we couldn’t, and then we took the other line,” Coker said.
“I don’t really want to go back to appeal. We might even drop it.”
When asked about his performance at his opening gala in Melbourne when he drank champagne, whiskey and beer on stage, Cocker said, “I don’t do that every night.
“I got pissed – it was two bottles of sherry cream.
“I wasn’t overly consumptive, though.”
Coker said he didn’t know what his future would be when he got home, adding, “We hope to make some records.”
Mr. Thomas later said he believed the round would tie.
Meanwhile, in Britain and the United States, directors of major pop groups have ridiculed suggestions that future Australian tours would be threatened by his experiences here.
The director of the American band, Three Dog Knight, Sir John Halsall, said in London yesterday:
“The general feeling is that Cocker has caused trouble for himself and will have to accept the consequences.
He said there was “no way” the group he manages will not tour Australia as planned next month.
Keith Altham, director of English groups The Who, Humble Pie, Emerson, Lake and Palmer agreed: “Cocker is prone to trouble – and everyone knows it.
loading
“I feel it is unlikely that any Australian group will cancel the tour just because of this problem.”
A member of an American rock band said in New York yesterday:
“Obviously any group that goes to Australia in the future will be asked to monitor their behaviour.”
Respectable
Only one man – the road manager for the best English group, yes – agreed with Cocker. Mike Tate, who previously worked in Melbourne, said:
“The Yes tour of Australia has definitely started, but now the police can get it in for pop groups.
“There is no such thing as a police raid to demonize a respectable person,” he said.
Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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