One Way or Another: The Story of a Girl Who Loved Rock Stars
Nikki McWatters
Language: English
Pages: 197
ISBN: B007QP4LB6
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
In 1981, fifteen-year-old Nikki McWatters is living in a Gold Coast suburb, dragging herself through humdrum schooldays and dreaming of losing her virginity to a rock star. With three friends she starts the Vulture Club for aspiring groupies – and so begins a festival of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.
As Nikki gets older, her conquests get bigger and the stakes get higher. From Australian Crawl to INXS, Pseudo Echo to Duran Duran, she is living her teenage dream – but is the groupie life all it’s cracked up to be?
One Way or Another is an irresistible romp through a world of pub rock, big hair, wild nights and mornings after. With irrepressible humour and a bulging little black book, Nikki McWatters recalls an age when everything seemed possible – even if everything wasn’t such a good idea.
‘A vivid, heartfelt trip into the human side of rock ’n’ roll … painfully honest and insightful, this is a Puberty Blues for the ’80s generation.’ —Richard Lowenstein, director of Dogs in Space and He Died with a Felafel in His Hand
‘McWatters renders her story with skill, sensitivity, wit and honesty … a fascinating look into some of rock’s seedier aspects.’ —Bookseller+Publisher
‘A great Australian rock ’n’ roll read’ —Steve Kilbey
Nikki McWatters has had a varied career, from film and television acting to teaching to legal counselling. She lives in Queensland with her husband and children. One Way or Another was shortlisted for the Emerging Author Award in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards.
definite idea of what path my life should take: I was to be a Catholic schoolteacher, married to some well-heeled professional. My protestations that I wanted to be a famous actress were met with comments such as ‘That’s not real life’ and ‘You don’t have Hollywood teeth.’ I felt like a pressure cooker of repressed potential. To be ‘normal’ or ‘sensible’ was intolerable. I wanted to be loud, unpredictable, sassy and spontaneous. I wanted to shine like a beacon, not sit quietly under a lampshade.
held all over Australia to fill the coveted forty places, which were usually awarded to more mature actors with some life experience behind them. Unperturbed, I recited my monologues in front of the mirror and resolved to give the performance of my short life. A spot at NIDA was a golden ticket for Aussie actors. Mel Gibson. Steve Bisley. Judy Davis. I was determined to be next. The auditions began one Saturday morning in October. Dad drove me to Brisbane and left me on a bleak corner in the
flute and focused my attention on Elton. To my great surprise, Molly appeared onstage and launched into a rather terrible duet of ‘Crocodile Rock’ with the superstar. Oops. I had almost made him miss his cue. Elton appeared some time after his show had ended. He’d clearly been washed and dressed to meet his admiring posse. He wasn’t as short as I’d expected. All that sitting at a piano had made me think of him as about three-foot tall. He had an amazing smile, mischievously contagious, that
‘Yeah, up in the bathroom …’ I began and stood up abruptly to get it. He stood at the same time and wrapped his arms around me. Standing there, arms dead by my side, I could feel the deep timbre of his heart, beating through his warm chest. ‘I can hear your heart beating,’ I said and then grimaced at my own cliché. Slowly I let my hands creep up over his tight buttocks to form a knot at the base of his spine. Leaning back, I looked into his face and we kissed. He swung me into the air and I
‘Kitchen Slut’. It was her own design. While she began chopping and dicing, I cleaned the house from top to bottom. The bathroom needed some industrial-strength attention. It was a perfect summer’s day, not a cloud in sight. As the first blush of dusk crept into the sky, we surveyed the backyard with satisfaction. Red and green lights danced through the foliage and candles flickered on every table. We all dressed in our festive finest and assembled in the living room, awaiting our guests.