Sherbet
A pop sensation of the mid 1970s, Sherbet's
popularity was unrivalled in Australia. Their songs dealt with
innocent, romantic allusions to pubescent sexual experience with
lyrics like "Summer love is like no other love". Good
looking and apparently well-behaved, Sherbet were 'spunks' in satin
jackets to thousands and thousands of teenage fans. Sherbet were also
an extremely hard working and long-lasting band who dominated the
Australian charts for almost a decade. Remarkably, they had 20 singles
in the national Top 40 during the 1970s. Their years of success
owed much to the smooth voice of Daryl Braithwaite and the song
writing talents of Garth Porter and Clive Shakespeare (and later Tony
Mitchell).
Formed by Shakespeare in 1969, the band's first
two years were inauspicious with constant changes in personnel. Garth
Porter, a talented keyboard player and songwriter from New Zealand,
joined late in 1970. It was only at the beginning of 1972, when
Tony Mitchell joined as bass guitarist, that Sherbet's line-up
stabilised, remaining unchanged for four years.
Their first hit came in 1971 with Can You Feel
It?. The songs lyrics may have been nonsensical but they had
captured an appealing sound in the studio, and Daryl's voice showed a
remarkable ability to move effortlessly in and out of falsetto. More
hits followed, including a Ted Mulry tune, You're
All Woman and another called You've Got The Gun which was
the band's first self-penned single.
Sherbet initially attracted strong interest in
their home-town of Sydney, but had to work hard to gain mass
acceptance in Melbourne. They pioneered the practice of embarking on
gruelling Australian tours, playing in town halls and school of
arts halls in hundreds of country towns. These were the days before a
national circuit of large pub venues had been established. Sherbet's
heavy touring schedule saw the band develop into an accomplished,
professional live act. As a result they won the Hoadley's
National Battle Of The Sounds in 1972 - the competitions final year.
Sherbet went on to win just about every award the
Australian music industry could offer. In 1972 they were voted Top
Australian group in the Go-Set
pop poll. For six consecutive years from 1973 they won the award for
best Australian group at the TV Week King of pop awards. The
hit singles kept coming; Cassandra, Slipstream, Silvery
Moon and others. Summer Love was the biggest selling
Australian single of 1975, reaching number three on the national
charts. Sherbet's astute manager, Roger Davies, continued to keep
the band on the road, organising marathon tours that took in areas
like North Queensland and rural Western Australia. Exposure to a
national television audience on Countdown
vastly increased their popularity across the country. Sherbet avoided
some of the excesses of glam, such as heavy make-up, but were partial
to satin, velvet and custom-made bomber jackets.
"Musical and personal differences"
caused the departure of Clive Shakespeare in 1976. He was replaced by
Harvey James, whose boyish good looks only added to Sherbet's appeal
to its teenage audience. That year also saw the release of the single Howzat.
With its distinctive introductory bass line and its simple 'love is a
cricket match' metaphor, it was a superbly crafted pop song that
became their most memorable recording. Howzat was Sherbet's
only record to chart overseas, reaching the Top 10 in England in 1976.
While Australian acts in the past had recorded hits overseas, Howzat
was the first single written and recorded locally to chart
internationally. It was a significant achievement.
While remaining with Sherbet, Daryl Braithwaite
pursued a flourishing solo career. He sang the title role in an
Australian production of The Who's rock opera Tommy
in 1973. He also enjoyed chart success in Australia with middle of the
road ballads like You're My World, and was voted King of Pop
every year between 1975 and 1977. Despite his success as a solo
recording artist, Daryl remained loyal to the band through thick and
thin.
Sherbet were able to sustain a longevity that is
rare in Australian music, but they were unable to crack overseas
markets in any lasting way. Known as Highway in the USA, the band had
a couple of minor hits there. Back in Australia at the end of the 70s,
they changed their name to The Sherbs, trying to move away from the
saccharine pop image.
Despite their continuing prolific output and good
material, the public had lost interest and the band suffered from
being derisively labelled a teenybopper's band. Sherbet's decline in
popularity after a decade of exposure was a gradual slide rather than
a sudden drop, allowing the band members to come to terms gradually
with their loss of fame.
Years later, Garth Porter reflected on the years
of hard work that kept Sherbet at the top for so long; "Always
doing another album, hopefully another big hit. The prime concern was
perpetuating it, rather than the integrity. Not that we were a band to
be taken seriously, because we weren't . . . As a musician I
discourage anyone from being trapped in a pop career. There's only one
way out - the big slide down".
Braithwaite went on to record the platinum albums
Edge (1988) and Rise (1990). Keyboard player and
principal songwriter Garth Porter developed a career as a producer and
composer, achieving outstanding success, especially in the field of
Australian Country music.
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