FESTIVAL OF THE BOOT!!

Last time Johnny Kannis saw his beloved white boot
was at The Family Inn in Rydalmere, Sydney on the
last day of The Hitmen’s now infamous “Tora Tora
DTK” Tour in 1983! The boot Johnny’s worn on a
thousand stages throughout his journeys was passed
on that evening to Jesse the Intruder from The
Psychotic Turnbuckles, who was in the front row
dancing like a man possessed. Jesse returned to
Pizmo Beach the following day and not until now,
has the story of the “white boot” been told.

Gold Coast July 2008
I got the pointy white boot when thrown into the
crowd at the last ever Turnbuckles Gig by the lead
singer (Jess the Intruder) at the Surfers Beer-garden
probably 1991/2. Retrieved off the floor and
wrestled from the grasp of a female fan, I then
emptied the last of the golden sand it had been filled
with, and took it home. Being a Turnbuckles fan it
sat on top of my stereo as a bit of a shrine to the era
when professional wrestling melded seamlessly with
punk and fuzz guitar and tended to move from unit
to unit with me around the North end of the Gold
Coast. With age as I joined the masses of Dull City
and got to Pizmo Beach less often, the boot was
abandoned to a spare room cupboard in a house at
Southport. A chance meeting with JK in early 2008
revealed it was his boot! It was tried on Cinderella
style, but unfortunately the years had not been kind
to JK …gout, arthritis, corns, bunions and swelling
from chronic heart failure meant  the boot no longer
slid down easy like a west coast cooler on a summer’
s afternoon while listening to LRB.  In July 2008 a
brief intimate and tasteful hand over ceremony
occurred with very little fanfare. Sad really… but
boot was home. Long live the Turnbuckles! – Scott
W (still devoted slave to the Pharaohs of the far out)


PICTURE BY SUSI QZ (Scott & Johnny)















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“IN THE WAR AGAINST THE JIVE 2008”
THE HITMEN
Celebrating 30 Years of rock n roll mayhem!