STACK #198 Apr 2021

MUSIC FEATURE

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SKYHOOKS LIVING IN THE 70’s

Bryget Chrisfield explores the creation, impact, and astonishing legacy of her favourite classic records.This month, it’s Skyhooks’ Living InThe 70’s .

our music explode. We didn’t expect it, it just kind of happened, and we were ready and primed for it.” And who could forget those risqué lyrics Skyhooks delivered on the reg (most of which went right over this toddler-aged scribe’s head at the time of release, but those melodies sure stuck in my head regardless, like chewie squished into your pigtail)? Case in point: “She rides a bike like she rides a man/ Just hold on tight and don’t give a damn/ Slip the clutch and gimme full throttle/ Open your legs, pass another bottle” – 100% filth! Or how’s this for an opening line? “Slip into a

“A s soon as I saw them I had this instant flash. There was really something more than just another new band there.” – Michael Gudinski on Skyhooks (from Gudinski: The Godfather Of Australian Rock’n’Roll by Stuart Coupe). A week after Gudinski was first blown away by Skyhooks live, he signed the band This column is dedicated to the much-missed #1 titan of the Australian music scene, Michael Gudinski (1952 – 2021).

Year 1974

were banned on commercial radio in Australia, but when Sydney’s 2JJ (triple j’s predecessor) began broadcasting in January 1975, the first-ever song they played was Skyhooks’ You Just Like Me (‘Cos I’m Good In Bed) .

to his booking agency, and later went on to manage them. Skyhooks took a chokehold of the Australian music scene in the ‘70s and shook some much-needed life into it. Imagine Skyhooks following on from Cold Chisel on Countdown ? And no one could dispute Skyhooks wouldn’t have been so gargantuan, Australia- wide, were it not for Molly Meldrum’s ripper ABC TV show: Countdown was one of the first Australian TV shows to be produced entirely in colour, and Skyhooks

Gudinski saw great value in this censorship in terms of free publicity: “When all the songs got banned I thought, ‘This is fantastic. If they want the record, they’re gonna have to buy it; they’re not gonna hear it all over the radio’.” Through Gudinski’s booking agency, Skyhooks scored a slot on the third Sunbury festival (1974) back when Steve Hill was lead singer. No one rocked up to watch Skyhooks’ mid-afternoon Saturday set, the band’s makeup melted under the hot sun, and this

Skyhooks in 1975, L-R: Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie, Red Symons, Shirley Strachan, Greg Macainsh, and Freddy Strauks

searing heat also warped their guitars out of tune. Skyhooks were booed (and bottled!) off stage. Glam rock was regarded with suspicion by the Aussie blokes in attendance, which sure is sh-tty but also very indicative of the intolerant era that birthed Skyhooks.

cinema and give yourself a treat/ Better take a raincoat, could be sticky on the seat” – the Red Symons-penned Smut is AO cabaret. Six tracks from Living In The 70’s (resplendent with greengrocer’s apostrophe)

were the first live band to feature on the show. “We could play our music into lounge rooms right around the nation every Sunday night!”guitarist Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie marvels of the advent of Countdown . “It just made

12 APRIL 2021

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