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Skyhooks
Origin Melbourne, Australia
Genre(s) Glam Rock
Years active 1973-1980, 1983-1984, 1990
Label(s) Mushroom Records
Website http://www.aswas.com/skyhooks/

Skyhooks were an Australian rock band of the 1970s, sometimes classified as a glam rock band, although this is mainly the result of the band's flamboyant costumes and make-up. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Glam rock (also known as glitter rock) is a sub-genre of Rock music that developed in the UK in the post- Hippie early 1970s which was "performed by A musical ensemble is a group of two or more Musicians who perform instrumental or vocal Music.

Skyhooks live at Nambassa 1978
Skyhooks live at Nambassa 1978

Contents

Line-up and history

The 'classic' line-up of the band was:

Other musicians included:

Skyhooks' debut Album Living in the Seventies
Skyhooks' debut Album Living in the Seventies

Skyhooks formed ca. Nambassa was a series of Hippie -conceived festivals held between 1976 and 1981 on large farms around Waihi and Waikino in New Zealand - Aotearoa Graeme "Shirley" Strachan ( 2 January 1952 - 29 August 2001) was the lead singer of Australian 1970s rock group Skyhooks Red Symons (born 13 June, 1949 in Brighton, England, United Kingdom) is an Australian musician writer and radio host probably A guitarist is a Musician who plays the Guitar. Guitarists may perform solo pieces or play with ensembles and bands of a wide variety of genres A bass player (bassist is a Musician who plays a Double bass, Bass guitar, keyboard bass or wind A drummer is a Musician who plays a Drum or drums particularly a Drum kit ("drum set" or "trap set" Marching percussion A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a Bob Spencer (born 1957 was a guitarist in two significant Australian rock bands in the 1970s and 1980s Skyhooks and The Angels. Living in the Seventies was the debut album released by Melbourne band Skyhooks in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label 1973. They gained a cult following around Melbourne but a poorly-received performance at the 1974 Sunbury Festival saw the group booed off the stage. Soon afterwards, the original lead singer Steve Hill resigned. To replace him, the group recruited occasional singer, surfer and carpenter Graeme Strachan. Graeme "Shirley" Strachan ( 2 January 1952 - 29 August 2001) was the lead singer of Australian 1970s rock group Skyhooks The replacement of Hill by Strachan was a pivotal moment for the band, as Strachan had remarkable vocal skills, magnetic stage and screen presence. Alongside Macainsh's acerbic lyrics, another vital facet of the group's sound was the twin-guitar attack of Red Symons and Bob "Bongo" Starkie (younger brother of original guitarist Peter Starkie). Red Symons (born 13 June, 1949 in Brighton, England, United Kingdom) is an Australian musician writer and radio host probably

Adopting elements of glam rock in their presentation and with lyrics that presented frank depictions of the social life of young Australia in the 1970s, the band shocked conservative middle Australia with their outrageous (for the time) costumes, lyrics, and on-stage activities, with the result that seven of the ten tracks on their debut album were banned by Australian commercial radio. Glam rock (also known as glitter rock) is a sub-genre of Rock music that developed in the UK in the post- Hippie early 1970s which was "performed by Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing Much of the group's success derived from its distinctive repertoire, most of which was penned by bassist Greg Macainsh.

Although Skyhooks was not the first Australian rock band to write songs in Australia, about Australians, for Australians (rather than ditties about love or songs about New York or other foreign lands), they were the first band to do so and be commercially successful, and the songs were set apart from much of the pop fare of the time thanks to Macainsh's mordant humour. The City of New York Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and

After initially only charting in Melbourne upon its release in September 1974, their first album, Living in the Seventies, went on to spent 16 weeks at the top of the Australian national charts from February to June 1975. An album or record album is a collection of related audio or Music tracks distributed to the public Living in the Seventies was the debut album released by Melbourne band Skyhooks in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label It became the best selling Australian album ever up to that time with 240,000 copies sold in Australia. A single lifted from the album Living in the Seventies, "Horror Movie", made number one in the Australian singles chart for 2 weeks in March 1975. Living in the Seventies was the debut album released by Melbourne band Skyhooks in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label " Horror Movie " was the second single from the Skyhooks album Living in the Seventies and was their first number-one single The follow-up album Ego is not a Dirty Word, came a close second at 180,000 copies, and 11 weeks at the top of the Australian album chart from July 1975. Ego is not a Dirty Word was the second album released by Australian band Skyhooks in mid-1975 The band's success was also widely credited with saving the struggling Mushroom record label and enabling it to develop into the most successful independent Australian label of its time. Mushroom Records is an Australian Record company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in 1972. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music

Skyhooks' second album, Ego is not a Dirty Word
Skyhooks' second album, Ego is not a Dirty Word

Both these LPs were produced by Ross Wilson, former lead singer of Daddy Cool, which had been the most successful Australian rock group of the early 1970s. Ego is not a Dirty Word was the second album released by Australian band Skyhooks in mid-1975 In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing Ross Wilson (born Ross Andrew Wilson November 18, 1947 in Melbourne, Victoria Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan ( bass, vocals) Ross Wilson championed the group, signing them to a publishing contract and convincing Mushroom Records boss Michael Gudinski to give them a recording contract. Mushroom Records is an Australian Record company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in 1972. Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (born August 22, 1950) is a Melbourne -based entrepreneur and businessman who is a leading figure in the Australian A recording contract (commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a Record label and a Recording artist (or group where the artist

The success of Living in the Seventies was mainly due to the enormous support the band were given by the TV pop show Countdown, rather than support from radio — in fact, most of the tracks on the LP had been banned by commercial radio because of their sex and drug references. Living in the Seventies was the debut album released by Melbourne band Skyhooks in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music Television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from late Despite the ban, and as a deliberate act of provocation to commercial radio, the ABC's newly established 24-hour rock music station Double Jay chose the album's fifth track, the provocatively titled "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed" as the first track played on air on its first day of broadcasting on January 19, 1975. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster. Triple J is a nationally-networked government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) mainly aimed Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Skyhooks went on to release Three more studio albums,' Straight in a Gay Gay World' in 1976,'Guilty Until Proven Insane' in 1978 containing the well known hits 'Women in Uniform' and 'Why Dontcha All Get *ucked' and 'Hot for the Orient' in 1980. Straight In a Gay Gay World was the third studio album released by Australian 70's rock band Skyhooks. Guilty Until Proven Insane is a Glam Rock album released by Skyhooks in 1978

From 1975 to 1977 Skyhooks were (alongside Sherbet) the most commercially successful group in Australia, but over the next few years, Skyhooks rapidly faded from the public eye with the departure of key members, and in 1980 the band announced its break-up in controversial circumstances. Sherbet (aka The Sherbs and Highway) was one of the most prominent and successful Australian Rock bands of the 1970s The demands for the band to reform were successful in 1983, with a record sum of money being paid for each of the original members to play a series of concerts. Further reformations took place in 1984, and in 1990 the band finally recorded new material, Jukebox in Siberia, which shot to the top of the charts.

Also in 1990, 'The Latest and Greatest: 16 Greatest Hits' compilation was released. The tracks were taken from Skyhooks' first four studio albums along with two recent hits, 'Jukebox in Siberia' and 'Tall Timber'.

"Shirley" Strachan and Red Symons both went on to successful careers in Australian commercial television. Graeme "Shirley" Strachan ( 2 January 1952 - 29 August 2001) was the lead singer of Australian 1970s rock group Skyhooks Red Symons (born 13 June, 1949 in Brighton, England, United Kingdom) is an Australian musician writer and radio host probably Symons now works on ABC radio and writes humorous columns for the press. After the demise of Skyhooks, Starkie still plays locally, Strauks became the drummer in the later line-up of noted Melbourne rock band The Sports, and other acts such as The Bushwackers and the Old Skydaddys. The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981. Macainsh played with John Farnham, and in recent years has been a board member of both APRA and PPCA, and is now a qualified lawyer. John Peter Farnham, AO (born July 1, 1949) is a British-born Australian pop Singer. The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana is a Left wing Peruvian Political party. Strachan was killed in an air crash on August 29, 2001, when the helicopter he was learning to fly crashed into Mount Archer near Kilcoy, northwest of Brisbane. Events 708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708) Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. Mount Archer is a Mountain located in Central Queensland, Australia. Kilcoy is a small farming town and the administrative centre of the Somerset Regional Council Local Government Area in South East Queensland, Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland

A memorial concert was held to pay tribute to Strachan at the Palais Theatre shortly thereafter. (On September 11, 2001) Tributes were paid and the remaining members of the most popular Hooks line ups (Strauks, Macainsh, Starkie, Symons and Spencer) performed with guest vocalists Daryl Braithwaite and Ross Wilson. (It is the only time Red Symons and his replacement, Bob Spencer have performed together on stage. ) Braithwaite performed All My Friends Are Getting Married with the band whilst Wilson sang the rare Skyhooks track Warm Wind In The City.

A night to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of the Living in the 70s album was held in 2004. It was a historic night with several different incarnations of the band performing. The only absences were Strachan, Hill and original guitarist Peter Inglis. Vocals on the night were handled by Ross Wilson, Tony Williams and Bob Starkie.

The original line up of Skyhooks and Steve Hill then reformed in 2005 at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney for a one-off gig. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 A concert is a live Performance, usually of Music, before an Audience. Hill had been diagnosed with cancer and the original Skyhooks, Inglis, Starkie, Strauks and Macainsh joined with Hill to show their support. Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled Steve Hill passed away a few weeks after the performance.

The name "Skyhooks" comes from an imaginary device created in the book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator used to hold the elevator up in mid-air. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator is a children's book by Welsh author Roald Dahl. An elevator or lift is a Transport device used to move people or goods vertically from one floor to another See skyhook. Skyhooks are a type of hypothetical structure that would be used for Non-rocket spacelaunch into Orbit, for example a Space elevator, continuously supporting

Discography

Australian albums

(12" vinyl / CD)

Live Albums

(12" vinyl / CD)

Compilations

(12" vinyl / CD)

Australian singles

(7" vinyl / CD single):

Books

External links

Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan ( bass, vocals) Ross The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Dictionary

skyhooks

-noun

  1. Plural form of skyhook.
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