STACK #198 Apr 2021

FEATURE MUSIC

up – he was the glue.” Starkie later formed a Skyhooks tribute band called Million Dollar Riff, and revealed during an interview, “I use a girl singer, because I’ve yet to find a guy who could come close to Shirl’s amazing vocal range.” A year after their first gig, Skyhooks signed with Mushroom Records and Ross Wilson cajoled the band into letting him produce their debut record. Living In The 70’s cost $13,000 to record (an enormous sum at the time) and upon release, promptly broke all records for an Australian album: it sold an unprecedented 226,000 copies, topping the charts for a colossal 16 weeks, and remaining in the album charts for over a year! But the album wasn’t initially embraced by all, with one reviewer roasting, “To listen to Skyhooks bite their way through Living In The 70’s is to justify the existence of Valium...” BC

After this disastrous Sunbury appearance, Hill left the band, moved to Perth and later became the group’s roadie. At this point, for a hot second, Daddy Cool frontman Ross Wilson thought about joining Skyhooks. But the band’s primary songwriter/bassist Greg Macainsh had other ideas, and introduced Gudinski to Shirley Strachan. On first meeting, Gudinski recalls Shirley was a “really straight, quiet, meek guy” – huh? “I don’t think that they would ever have had the commercial success with Steve Hill as a singer,” Gudinski observed. I mean, just look at Shirl, would ya? Have you ever seen a cheekier face? Who else could possibly get away with delivering a chorus that repeats “You just like me ‘cos I’m good in bed” a grand total of 22 times, experimenting with different phrasing throughout? But let’s not underestimate Shirl’s lung-busting high notes (see: Broken Gin Bottle ) and extremely loveable personality, either. “He was a freak; Shirl had an awesome personality and was a terrific bloke,” Bongo reminisces of the Skyhooks lead singer, who tragically died in a helicopter crash in Noosa back in 2001. “He was a natural singer, with perfect pitch; he

Skyhooks during a 1975 photoshoot

could just do it. Half the time he didn’t know what he was singing about but it didn’t seem to matter [laughs]. It’s really hard to find someone who can sing and have the same sort of larrikin spirit of Shirl. He was just a natural on stage. You never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. He was the key to the audience. All we did was back him

Continue reading about Skyhooks’ massive breakout single, how the group chose their on-stage costumes, and why they almost crushed (then completely saved) Mushroom Records, in the full feature article online at stack.com.au!

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