While training as a hairdresser in Brisbane, Kathy gets a part-time job as a go-go dancer in a city disco. Her protective older brother, Mick, keeps a close eye on her. But when Mick turns twenty, he’s drafted, and sent off to the army. That brings the war a lot closer, as Mick could end up in Vietnam.
Then Kathy sees an advertisement for an audition for a touring entertainment troupe. Full-time entertainment work! She eagerly goes along to the audition with a fellow dancer, Gaynor. It looks like a great job, the only catch is the tour’s in Vietnam. Kathy still wants the job. Kathy and Gaynor are approached by another auditionee, Layla. She suggests they’d have more chance of getting the job as a trio. They have fifteen minutes to put an act together. And they do it. They will now, Layla tells them, be known as the ‘Hipchicks’. Their trademark will be their knee-high white boots. They get the job.
Vietnam is a total eye opener. Firstly they’re offered a two-week job touring American hospitals. The girls sing for boys who’ll have to live without a leg, or an arm, or an eye. And for some boys who won’t live at all. Then the real tour begins. The Hipchicks travel around Vietnam in trucks, aircraft and helicopters. They’re a raving success. The soldiers start to demand them. Where’s the boots? We want the boots. The girls cope with heat that rots their wigs and costumes; with travelling every day and performing every night; with the ever-present danger of bullets and bombs. They cope until one night, performing in a remote American-army camp, a soldier with a grudge against his sergeant takes a shot at him. Just one shot. But that’s all it takes. And Layla’s right in the way.
