Skyhooks
Among the many bands who performed at the 1974 Sunbury Festival
was an unknown group called Skyhooks.
In the mid-afternoon heat on
that Australia Day weekend, with their make-up running and the
sound system a mess, they were taunted by hecklers. Lead singer
Steve Hill became involved in a shouting match with a member of
the audience. Uncertain of his role as an assertive lead singer in
a Rock & Roll band that was breaking new ground, he quit the
band after Sunbury.
His replacement, Graeme 'Shirley' Strachan, showed no such
misgivings or inhibitions. Their debut album, Living In The
Seventies, remained in the charts for 40 weeks and became the
top selling Australian album of the decade. It was the first big
selling album for Michael Gudinski's new Mushroom label. Skyhooks
had become an instant success
At a time when the charts were dominated by English glam rock
acts like T Rex, David
Bowie, Gary Glitter and Alvin
Stardust - with their theatrics, make-up and platform shoes -
Skyhooks took this trend and pushed it to the limit . . . and they
did so with a sense of irony.
They set out to be visually
entertaining and to put on a show for the audience, but there was
always an element of parody and self-deprecation. They were spunky
enough to make the teenagers in the Countdown
audience scream and yet rebellious enough to impress older fans as
well. Their appeal to teenyboppers
never led them to compromise their music or dilute their
satirical, socially aware lyrics.
Skyhooks were original, flamboyant and unmistakably Australian.
They were a first-class live band and paid close attention to the
trappings of showmanship, including props, backdrops and costumes.
They also had a distinctive musical style with two lead guitars
playing counter pointed riffs with the bass taking a more leading
role in the sound.
 Skyhooks slightly menacing bad-boy image, reflected in Red
Symons' scowling face and in Greg's provocative words, was
enhanced when six of the tracks on their first album were banned
on commercial radio, adding to the band's notoriety and fuelling
massive sales.
One of these songs, You Just Like Me Cos I'm
Good In Bed, became the first song officially broadcast by the
ABC's defiant Sydney alternative radio station, 2JJ.
Skyhooks emerged at the same time as Prime Minister Gough
Whitlam was encouraging a fresh style of nationalism that
liberated many Australians from feelings of cultural inferiority.
Skyhooks were the first band to be unashamedly Australian in
their songs. They didn't perform covers but sang meaningful songs
in the local idiom. They not only sang about specific Australian
places - Carlton, Toorak, Balwyn - they sounded Australian. While
other bands clung to the late 60s hippie ethos and political
idealism, Skyhooks were cynical and realistic. They sang about the
red tiled roofs of Sydney and the red and yellow Twistie packets
familiar to movie-goers.
Savvy in an age of innocence, they courted controversy, singing
about orgasms and masturbation, and their stage act featured a
giant phallus which ejaculated on stage. They were also
calculating in their approach to the media and the music press
loved them.
 By the beginning of 1975 Skyhooks had cracked Sydney - no easy
task for a band from Melbourne at that time. The Living In The
Seventies album was Number 1 in the charts. A 2JJ free concert
at the Sydney Opera House attracted 8,000 people.
But the band
realised they could only go so far in Australia before they began
to go around in circles or become overexposed to local audiences.
Seeking international success, they gained an American record deal
with Mercury but were required to spend their advance to finance a
US tour.
Ironically the same quality of Australianess which had made
Skyhooks so important at home probably hindered their potential
for success overseas. The band kept going until the end of the
decade, but not without some line-up changes. Guitarist Red Symons
was the first to leave, replaced by Bob Spencer (ex-Finch)
in 1977.
Tony Williams took over the lead vocals when Shirley left in
1979. By this time the band had stopped using costumes and
make-up, and with a new lead singer were sounding very different
as well. Although they disbanded in 1980, Skyhooks reformed in
1990 for a national tour and scored a surprise Number 1 national
hit with Jukebox In Siberia.
During the 90s, Red Symons and Shirley Strachan became familiar
faces on national Australian television. Tragically, a freak
accident while piloting a helicopter claimed Strachan's life in
2001.
|
