Kinnear, King and Mark Putterford
Goulash
Alistair Kinnear's connection with Bon etc I've decided to post (word for
word) a copy of a letter which I received from Mark Putterford - the author
of Shock To The System. The letter is dated 3rd September 1992.
I received with a mixture of pleasure and pain your letter dated 12th
August. Pleasure because it really is nice to know that some people do read
your work and derive enjoyment from doing so, and even nicer to know that
they're willing and kind enough to take the time to thank you for your
efforts. And pain because of all the mistakes your ultra-keen fan's eye
spotted! So let me immediately thank you for taking the trouble to write,
and then offer some sort of explanation of the mistakes.
The book 'Shock To The System' was actually researched and written within
six weeks. Having been an active fan of AC/DC since 1977 and an interviewer
of them since 1995, I concluded that I pretty much knew most of the band's
history during that time 'off the top of my head', and therefore
concentrated all the research time I had at my disposal to tackling the
trickier period of the 'early days'. Perhaps that is why I was more accurate
about the early days, and prone to error later on; in a nutshell it was a
case of rushing the latter days of the band's history and relying too much
on memory - I could've kicked myself when you mentioned stuff like 'Rock
Goes To College' in your letter, because I actually watched that programme
when it went out 'live' on TV, and yet my memory convinced me it was a
'Sight & Sound' job!
To my relief, however, yours is the only letter of complaint I've received
(so far) about 'Shock To The System' - which probably says more about your
apparently intimate knowledge of the band's career than it does about my job
as author of the biography. Hopefully, not many readers will pick up on the
errors. After all, despite realising that it is probably impossible not to
make a mistake when you're compiling a detailed 50,000 word biography in
such a short space of time, it is nontheless bitterly disappointing to
realise that you have in fact made some cock-ups and omissions. But thanks
for pointing them out anyway!
Incidently, you might be interested to know that I recently made a startling
breakthrough in the mystery of 'the Bon Scott case'. I have in fact just
returned from my honeymoon in Australia, where my wife and I spent some time
hanging out with Mark Evans and his new wife in Sydney. After several nights
of delightful drunkeness, and discussing among other things Bon's untimely
death and the involvement of this mysterious 'Alastair Kinnear' / 'Joe King'
bloke, Mark decided to look into the matter further, and after a couple of
days of contacting old cronies and rooting out people on the seedier side of
Sydney's tracks, he managed to solve the mystery.
'Joe King' is in fact alive and well and working in Sydney as a taxi driver.
He has changed his name several times since Bon's death (needless to say Joe
King wasn't his real name either, rather an alias he sometimes used to
conceal his true identity), and is now known as Joe Fury. I believe he has
officially changed his name to Fury by deed poll. But he is currently
married with three kids and trying to play down his former life as a heroin
dealer.
Not only do I know who and where he is now, I managed to find out that he
and Bon had a big falling out just before Bon died - something to do with an
argument over a girlfriend - and that Malcolm had 'Joe' beaten up shortly
afterwards. Draw your own conclusion. But to complete my successful trip to
Sydney I also managed to obtain both Joe Fury's home telephone number, and
his personal mobile phone number. So if Omnibus ever decide to update the
AC/DC book, maybe I'll confront him on the phone and see if he's willing to
grant me an interview.
Interesting stuff... but perhaps it's best to keep the above info to
yourself, as you're only the fifth person (after my wife, Mark and his wife)
who actually knows about this.
Thanks once again for your time. All the best
M.P.
I've sat on this letter for the past 13 years and as Mark Putterford is now
dead and buried I don't believe that I'm betraying any confidences in
posting this.
If Kinnear has been living in Spain for the past 22 years then he couldn't
possibly be 'Joe King' aka 'Joe Fury'.
I'm open minded enough to realise that this is all hearsay and the part
about Malcolm could very well be no more than sensationalist Chinese
whispers. Having said that, I can't help wondering what would've been the
outcome had Putterford lived and updated the book.
Cheers
Goulash
Bluuzer®
"and an interviewer of them since 1995"
Typo or what?
;-)
davidceltic
1995,probably for kerrang magazine. it wasnt an official book so any
interviews he requested with the band in 92 would have been turned
down.
hail hail.......................davidceltic
Bluuzer®
>1995,probably for kerrang magazine.
David, Darren says he has been sitting on the letter from MP since -92...
How can MP talk to Darren about -95 in said letter????
davidceltic
hail hail.................davidceltic
davidceltic
hail hail..................davidceltic
Gary
>
fold (on the back of new AC/DC management). Mark Putterford interviewed them
during the US Leg of the FOTW Tour and Kerrang had a front cover special in
Jan 1986 (with the Putterford interview) to mark the commencement of the UK
Tour (Manchester Apollo and I was there, I met Goulash and his equally 10ft
tall brother in Manchester at some point in the evening!).
Cheers,
Gary
Goulash
"Bluuzer®" <mattias.ka...@telia.com> wrote in message
news:Tntqf.41454$d5.1...@newsb.telia.net...
I met Putterford in 1986 at the filming of the WMW video and I guess he was
there to do an interview and report for Kerrang!
Cheers
Goulash
Bluuzer®
;-)
Dave
This is where I get to the Joe King / Joe Fury / Alistair Kinnear theory.
Also, Clinton Walker believes that Kinnear wuz simply a pseudoname for
someone else described in his book (imo Joe Fury).
> Not only do I know who and where he is now, I managed to find out that he
> and Bon had a big falling out just before Bon died - something to do with
> an
> argument over a girlfriend - and that Malcolm had 'Joe' beaten up shortly
> afterwards.
This would be in reference to Silver who wuz a previous girlfriend of Bon's
and current girlfriend of Joe's.
> Draw your own conclusion. But to complete my successful trip to
> Sydney I also managed to obtain both Joe Fury's home telephone number, and
> his personal mobile phone number. So if Omnibus ever decide to update the
> AC/DC book, maybe I'll confront him on the phone and see if he's willing
> to
> grant me an interview.
> Interesting stuff... but perhaps it's best to keep the above info to
> yourself, as you're only the fifth person (after my wife, Mark and his
> wife)
> who actually knows about this.
> Thanks once again for your time. All the best
> M.P.
>
>
> I've sat on this letter for the past 13 years and as Mark Putterford is
> now
> dead and buried I don't believe that I'm betraying any confidences in
> posting this.
It's nice to see this letter posted, Darren.
> If Kinnear has been living in Spain for the past 22 years then he couldn't
> possibly be 'Joe King' aka 'Joe Fury'.
Unless the dude in Spain is full of shit.
Did anyone read the article on Bon's death that wuz published by Classic
Rock magazine earlier this year?? It goes into great detail about the last
day of Bon's life from the perspective of Pete Way and Paul Chapman of UFO.
Chapman, Bon, and someone named Joe Bloe (who Chapman says wuz aka Joe Fury)
were hooking up the day/night before but were out of smack (heroin)...and
that Bon then went off to look for some. Bon never came back.....so Joe
finally goes home to the same flat that he shared with Bon. A few hours
later (in the morning of Tuesday the 19th) Joe calls Chapman telling him
that Bon wuz dead. Chapman then calls Pete Way asking for Angus and
Malcolm's numbers. This happened late morning of the 19th...yet the
official Kinnear story says Bon's body wuz discovered early evening of the
19th. That doesn't jive. The artcle also quotes Clinton Walker's belief
that Kinnear wuz an alias...which also jives with Putterford's letter to
Darren posted above.
I have the Classic Rock magazine article scanned on my hard drive (haven't
got a clue how to post it though). If anyone is interested (or knows how to
post it for all to read)...I'd be happy to pass it along.
Dave - Toronto