User:KipTaylor

Kip Taylor is one character in a family of characters created by a group of friends in Darwin in 2002.

Kip gained a cult following soon after his creation, particularly in the Northern Territory where his regular letters to the NT News prompted much community discussion. The letters included stories of his days as a roadie for various Australian rock bands in the 1980s as well as various incidents with his wife Shazza in and around the Darwin area.

History and Background.

Kip was born in Newcastle in 1960 to free spirited working class novocastrian parents. Growing up in the steel city also known for its musical exports saw Kip develop a taste for Australian rock. His father worked at the BHP steelworks, while his mother was the secretary of the local rugby league club. Employed at the steelworks, Kip's father was a Vietnam veteran and upon returning from the war became a peace advocate, often organising peace rallies and denouncing the Australian military, often bringing outrage from other locals he fought with in the war and the local RSL clubs. Kip was an only child and of a weekday afternoon could often be found kicking a ball around Mayfield oval, in shadows of the steelworks, waiting for his dad to knock off.

As he grew into his teens in the mid 1970s, Kip suffered from headaches (his mum later blaming the lead ridden air surrounding the steelworks) and ill health. His schoolwork suffered terribly and at 14, dropped out of school. After unsuccessfully applying for work at the steelworks, he got a job at the Star Hotel in Newcastle collecting glasses on a weekend. One of the bands who played at the hotel during Kips employment was an up and coming outfit called Cold Chisel. Whenever they played, the hotel would heave with hardworking heavy drinking patrons escaping from their weekly grind of hot sweaty labour. Kip was mesmorised by Chisel's music and soon befriended the lead singer, a young brash screamer called Jimmy Barnes. After a few months and some more Cold Chisel gigs at the Star Hotel, the band offered Kip a job as an apprentice roadie with them. Kip of course leapt at the chance and was on the road with them straight away.