"Pope's Law"

When Sean Kelly and were I signed to Sony with 'The Dukes' in 1993, the man responsible for the purse strings regarding things like tour support was Mark Pope. Much to our chagrin, he'd decided not to approve the cost of separate rooms for each band member on an upcoming tour with the Rockmelons. In a previous incarnation Mark Pope had tour managed Cold Chisel (and in a later one would go on to on to establish the ARIA awards as a major media event). I had to remind him that he'd once declared with witnesses (GANGgajang) that, "If Cold Chisel'd had separate rooms, they'd still be together today!" (I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not that would necessarily be a good thing.) He seemed to be genuinely unaware that his words had passed into legend as....."Pope's Law". The point is, sharing a room on the road can be hazardous. Foibles and habits, night after night, can be a recipe for disaster. Drugs and alcohol (or an absence of them) can exacerbate an already pressure cooker type situation. Throw in a hangover and a little sleep deprivation and phtt…no band...("Pope's Law") We've always pursued the separate rooms policy with GANGgajang wherever possible. Sure most of the profits have been swallowed up by accommodation costs but at least we're still here. (I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not that's necessarily a good thing.) ...again, "Pope's Law" kicks in. On occasions when sharing a room was unavoidable, elaborate apparatus has been deployed to make it tenable. GANGgajang's Rob James and Chris Bailey once had a camera installed in their shared motel room in case one of them went stir crazy, snapped, and killed the other in their sleep. The evidence would all be there on film. You couldn't get away with it. There could be no alibis. A bit of fun? Perhaps, but also a powerful deterrent and probably a real life-saver on this particular occassion.