It’s that time when people start cleaning out their cupboards to bring in the new year, clutter-free, and Facebook Marketplace becomes a treasure trove of hidden gems.
But music fans in one Sydney buy, swap and sell group received a surprise yesterday when a piece of Australian music history was listed.
“ARIA, The 8th Annual ARIA Awards. Best Australian Single. The Honeymoon Is Over. By The Cruel Sea. Wednesday 30th March, 1994,” the post read.
“I am wanting to sell it, so please make a OFFER.”
The kind seller even included a newspaper article about said award being taken for ransom.
According to legend, the award was stolen following a scuffle between Perkins and a boozy punter after they allegedly attacked Perkins’ partner, photographer Kristyna Higgins, who had also won an award that night.
The newspaper article being sold with the award details the list of ransom demands sent by the thieves to triple j – via fax, no less.
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“We have an ARIA award – we pinched it right for the common good!” the thieves – who called themselves “Tex Perkins Will Not Answer our Demands” – wrote.
They asked that Bryan Adams, Richard Marx and Michael Bolton be prevented from securing Australian visas, and that Matthew Krok be fired from Hey Dad…!.
But their only serious demand seemed to be the assurance that guitarist James Cruickshank had not been dropped from the band.
The Facebook Marketplace ad was removed this morning, but not before the seller claimed he had received offers of up to $1,000 for the item he allegedly “found in the bin.”
While it was never discovered who masterminded the theft almost 30 years ago, they claimed to be an “industry insider” with knowledge that Cruickshank was on the outs.
The band’s manager at the time, Wendy Boyes-Hunter, denied the claims.
Cruickshank did in fact stay with The Cruel Sea, and performed with Perkins on his solo projects, but died from bowel cancer in 2015.
