December 14 1998
The Hoikers are booked to appear in their first big gig early next year. More details as they come to hand.

December 6 1998
Last jam before Christmas at Neil's last night. Neil's daughter Madeleine joined the band to sing I Wanna Be Like You (from the Jungle Book), Rock-A-Bye Bear and the theme from Play School. Another promising next generation hoiker. Other songs that were alright on the night included originals, Now You've Gone, My Momma Told Me, Softly and a harmonica addled version of that melodic mantelpiece Cesspools Of Your Mind. Covers that clicked included Little Murders' Love and Stuff Like That and Tears For Fears' Mad World. The band took some time to recover from their opening number All Fall Down, a carefully constructed piece written in less than three minutes twenty years ago by Mark. Another song sent the dogs going some next door. Imagine what their ears heard!
Misfortune on the recording side with the master copy of But A Dream buggering up. Only one copy from the master exists. All others are inferior duplicates. One is expected to be posted on the site soon.
Jesse's school band performed at the Robert Blackwood Hall at Monash University last Sunday as part of a fun afternoon with different primary school ensembles. Highlight from a hoiker viewpoint was when Jesse stood up to do a note perfect trumpet solo during Good King Wenceslas in front of 1000 people. It was incredible stuff.
GUANO HOIK! WISHES EVERYONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS

November 25 1998
Norm put down his guitar track on But A Dream last Thursday, so the song is now complete and ready for exposure. Norm reckons it's the best thing we've done in ages (he's too polite). Mark saw John Fogerty last Thursday at the Tennis Centre. Great concert and his voice was fantastic! The Hoikers are due to plug back in in the next week or so.

November 14 1998
No jams for a while now. Mark has just returned from whale watching at Eden where east of he caught sight of 11 humpbacks. Jess currently having band practice with the school band before hitting the Robert Blackwood Hall on November 29th. The Beauty Myth site now has a sample of Norm's (She's So) Nonchalant. Neil incredulous over the report of Gary Ablett wanting to play for Richmond. Norm grooming his hair like Dionne Warwick to feel even more at home at those Bacharach music nights. Mark finally gets to visit Bombala, a near legendary town in southern NSW where he discovers the burgers are better. Better get another jam going so some real news can be reported!

October 24 1998
Performing to a select audience the Hoikers with Greg at the vocal helm ripped into an evening of noisy covers last night that did nothing for neighbourly relations down bayside way. Highlights were a full on clobbering of Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World, CCR's Proud Mary, The Who's Substitute and Badfinger's No Matter What.
After Greg left for a night on the slops with friend Bob, the Hoikers revisited originals such as The Thirty Nine Steppes, Softly, (She's So) Nonchalant and Mykel Kain Mistaken Identity Blues (with three part harmonies no less - thanks to Neil).
During the evening Norm regularly treated the rest of the band with his favourite utterance "I can't find the music!" while Mark rapidly fell apart as midnight approached (after earlier threatening to introduce the Mission Impossible theme into the band's repetoire.
Norm is about to jam again with The Bacharachs while Greg recently jammed with half his old band The Back Gate (now called The Kingswood Country Band).Arranging for the band to meet on a Saturday afternoon and play at a party that night, the lead guitarist didn't turn up until 7pm and by the time the party started everyone was raving drunk!

October 3 1998
After Neil and Norm put the finishing touches to She's So Nonchalant on the 4-track last week, last night Mark and Neil put down guitar, bass, drums (courtesy of our drum maestro at Band-In-A-Box) and vocals to one of Mark's older songs But A Dream, a riff based grunger about changing the past. But A Dream now awaits Norm's finishing touch on lead guitar. We wait with baity breath.
She's So Nonchalant is an old angst-ridden song of Norm's which has been hanging around in the vaults for years and I don't think the band has ever played it, though it's certain now to be dragged out at the next jam.
Notorious is another song awaiting the final magic dusting from Norm. The pressure is now on the band's guitar hero.
Meanwhile Greg was left stranded down in Tasmania during the week after a hairy flight across Bass Strait in a light plane. The band awaits further news from our intrepid adventurer, who we hope has now returned home.

September 16 1998
Mark's son Jesse appears along with his class mates in the video production of 'Hot Ginger Rock', a song and dance written by the husband of their school teacher. The video was shot at a local hall in Tecoma. (Update 21 October 1998: Jesse receives his copy of the video. He is everywhere in it! A star in the making!)

September 12 1998
Another jam last night in the land of the great black mosquito. Stormin' Norman played a leading role during the evening, mislaying most of his sheet music and experiencing those well known and loved problems with his pedal and guitar lead (lucky he's so likeable). Steve from the old Croissant days joined in, introducing Fiona, Everything Changes and Belinda to the evening's repetoire. Original songs covered included The Plan, Angelic, Southern Movie Show, A Word Is Enough To The Wise (Guys) and Lateral. Covers included I Should Have Known Better, Tears For Fears' Mad World and Van's Brown Eyed Girl.
Neil and Norm have been working on Norm's Cross My Heart, committing it to 4-track during the last week. Norm also is planning another night of Bacharach. Something strange going on there.
The Hoikers have also been in cyber contact with a couple of kindred bands of late, Guano in the U.S. and Combo Guano in Germany. We wish them all the best and hope they don't follow our example of being a cult band enjoyed by approximately six people and the dogs next door. Mark and son Jess also had their first jam the other day, Jess adding trumpet to an acoustic Vicious Fish.

August 21 1998
First jam in nearly two months. Neil's house extension nearly finished. To the other's utter disbelief Norm introduced his first new song in ages, a guitar jangler called Cross My Heart while Mark less surprisingly introduced a new E String to his increasingly erratic Ibanez. Greg has been working 12 hours days of late and was too tired to attend. Original songs played included Muttonbird, Lateral, Hide, Do It For Me, My Momma Told Me, Vicious Fish and that old weepie Cesspools Of Your Mind. Covers included It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, Dave Steele's Bay of Swans and Velvet Underground's Femme Fatale. An large amount of chocolate was left uneaten.
Since the previous jam the guanos caught Donovan at Basement Discs with Norm getting a photo with his famous namesake. Norm has also recently been moonlighting, playing a night of Bacharach covers with an old White Zinc band mate and his girlfriend who sings with the Melbourne Choir. Mark's son continues to improve on the trumpet with Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue getting a lot of hearings around the house. Poor Jess. What a lot to live up to. Meanwhile Neil has been catching up with old Croissant member Steve who played with the guanos back in the mid-eighties. Steve has been doing some impressive stuff and a jam may be organised in the future.