Welcome to a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. Hi and thanks for your company today. I hope your week’s been a goodie.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about our guest today because unless you grew up in Australia, it’s unlikely that you’re even aware of this band. As you’re about to hear, they never really made a big dent into the international music scene, but they really should have. In the mid-70s, the Skyhooks shook and shaped Australian rock almost as much as the Beatles and Elvis Presley did.
At the time, no self-respecting new Australian band would have ever been brave enough to stand in front of an audience in makeup, glitter and stacked heels, hoping to be taken seriously. But Melbourne Skyhooks did just that. Although they dressed up in all sorts of costumes, their music was pure sex, drugs and rock and roll.
The song spoke so much louder than the get-up, and Skyhooks were really different from anything else that was happening in the world. Bear in mind that Kiss hadn’t come onto the scene yet. The band was as exciting as the songs were clever, and their influence continues to reverberate until today.
Bob Starkey, welcome to A Breath of Fresh Air. Great to have you company. Great to be here.
You don’t mean that. I’ve had to twist your arm somewhat to come onto this show, but I mean it. It was really great to have you here.
And for a lot of our listeners, Bob, who may not know you by name, they’ll certainly know the band that you’ve played with for many years, one of Australia’s premier bands in the Skyhooks. So it’s because of the success that the Skyhooks had, and you are still doing it with the Skyhooks today, that I’ve brought you on here and wanted to chat with you to kind of relive those 70s days of Skyhooks fame and fortune. Yeah, I’m playing.
I’m glad I’m still playing. I’ve got a Skyhooks show, but I’m the only Skyhook in it. So look, it’s a lot of fun to do.
It’s a great set of tunes, you know. Greg McCain, that’s a brilliant songwriter. So I’m glad I’m keeping it alive, and it’s very good for my guitar playing.
So yeah, we’re just keeping the Skyhooks tunes alive. Without any change I feel a little edgy I feel a little weird I feel like a schoolboy That’s grown a bit I’ve lived in the 70s Eating bacon under plastic trees My face gets dirty just from walking around I need another pill to calm me down I feel a bit nervous I feel a bit mad I feel like a good time That’s never been had I feel a bit fragile I feel a bit low Like I look like light But I’m only one show I’ve lived in the 70s I feel like I’ve lost my teeth I’ve got the wrong day, I’ve got the wrong week And I’m getting paid for being a freak If you don’t mind, I want to take you back to where it all started for you and for Skyhooks. The band has been described as giving the Australian music industry the enema that it needed.
You smashed onto the scene with these incredibly colourful costumes and striking make-up long before Kiss was wearing make-up. And you just took this country by storm really, didn’t you, in the early 70s? Well, it was certainly happening here, that’s for sure, but we didn’t really crack it overseas. But yeah, no, it was amazing.
Look, when that first record was released, we weren’t expecting anything like what happened. But, you know, it just started selling and it ignited and I guess it was mainly due to Greg’s amazing songwriting and what he was writing about, which was like Australia and Australian things and suburbs and Australian characters. And to have two front guys like Red and a guy called Shirley, without them, we wouldn’t have had that success.
Shirley, he had the sound and he had the amazing personality. You’re talking about Shirley Straughan, who had been a carpenter before he joined the band, hadn’t he? Tell us about how that band was formed in the first place. How did you come to join them? Yeah, well, the actual Skyhooks, the first line-up started in April 73.
And my brother was in it, that’s Peter Starkey. Greg was playing, originally playing in a band called Ruben Totts. And they were like the Grateful Dead.
Then he decided to leave and form a band in competition. When he formed the band, he just really wanted to take it. So there was a real point of difference and he wanted band members to dress up.
So they started doing the makeup thing. My brother left the band because he was going to join Joe Camilleri in a band backing a stripper up the West Coast of Australia. I said, well, you know, well, if you’re going to go, do you think I could audition? You know, he said, yeah, well, why not? Give it a try.
And so that’s what I did. And so I got the gig. As soon as Red joined, I just knew we were on to something really, really good.
Because he’s so charismatic and just a great, creative, you know, guitarist. And of course, from that point, the band built. And so by the time we hit 74, we played the 74th Sunbury Festival.
And basically we got booed off the stage. We’re up against all those like Billy Thorpe and Carson and bands like that. They’re all boogie bands.
Yeah, of course. I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean, I’m a Jac Jacobean, I’m a Jacobean. Bob, why had Craig wanted the band to dress up, and to not only frock up but to wear makeup as well? What was happening in those days in the early 70’s here in Australia that demanded that in order to be successful? Well, he wanted a show so it sort of took on a life of its own.
I think originally he’d been to see Garry Glitter and he was really impressed with that. we sort of drank from that cup. In those days, in the early 70s in Australia, it wasn’t common to either sing in Aussie accents nor to sing about Australian places.
So you were pretty groundbreaking in terms of that. Greg was writing about Melbourne, which was your home base, about suburbs, about iconic places and people and thoughts that were all very localised, weren’t they? Well, yeah, but also he wrote with a very, very cynical eye, you know, when you look at Baldwin Calling, Turret Cowboy and Carlton, it’s the Ligon Street limbo. All fantastic tunes.
And if you lived in Melbourne, you got the joke, really. When the sun sets over Calgary And the stars are in the sky All those great writers and rockin’ writers All set by tonight When the sun sets over Calgary And the devil is in the sky All those night-time junkies Knowin’ nothing, all full of the shame When the sun sets over Calgary And the lights begin to glow All those diva-divas and window-wipers Y’all put on a show The other thing was, it was a little bit naughty. We had six tracks banned.
Most of the bands were kind of ridiculous. If you had the word dope in the song, they’d ban it. We’d walk on stage and people would just, you know, they’d go, oh yeah, check that out.
You know, it was like, as you say, it was colourful and it was kind of ridiculous, but it was just something to really see. It was not just watching a bunch of blokes in denim up there sort of playing boogie. It was sort of really kind of electric and exciting, you know.
And with the advent of Countdown. Countdown was a national music television show. And with that, all of a sudden, we’re playing in front of thousands of screaming girls.
You know, I’m sure they didn’t understand half the songs, but they sure understood Red Song’s smut. It’s all about, you know, wanking the cinema crazy. Suffice to say, a lot of their work was deliberately outrageous.
Slip into a cinema and give yourself a treat Prepare to take your ankle, could be sticky on the seat Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Open up your twisties and open up your thighs Take yourself a flicker as your hand moves down your thigh Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Lift your voice You are new We’re doing just right Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Thought that you were whipping The dread band should give you a bell You can strangle and kick off your So it just exploded for you. I mean, after that first appearance on Countdown on coloured television, and after that first song Living in the 70s, it didn’t quite make it to number one, but then we released Horror Movie and that made it to number one nationally. That was the real start of securing it, you know, like that.
We could play anywhere. We could play open air. We could play, you know, we used to fill the Horton Pavilion and, you know, all the big rooms in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Adelaide and Perth.
Horror Movie was all about the television news, wasn’t it? Yeah, that’s right. 6.30 news. Not much has changed other than the fact that not all mainstream news is on at 6.30 anymore.
It’s still a Horror Movie. Yeah, yeah. And so that was another brilliant song of Greg’s.
You know, the intertwining riffs between Red and Me, that’s where the sound really started to solidify. High Hooks with Horror Movie featuring a very animated Fred Simons. He had this really scary image, didn’t he? Because I remember going on to the TV show Blind Date and I won him as a date, as a 16 year old.
And there was no way, yeah, there was no way I was going out with that man who kept his tongue lolling out all over the place. And he was this big imposing figure that was a bit like Weird Al Yankovic or something, really, wasn’t he? Well, we didn’t know he was going to do that. He was always good like that.
I can remember that. That was in Channel 7. He’s turned up as a blind date, so he’s got dark glasses and a white stick. Yeah.
And did he win you? I was one of three contestants and he was the date. And I won of the three contestants. And it was like, I’m not going, not doing this.
Not quite sure why I put myself onto that show. I was still at school. It was crazy.
Yeah, I can remember. You didn’t actually see the guy, right? So you sort of came around this curtain, right? And he’s gone and bit her on the neck. He was pretty horrific.
He was kind of the Alice Cooper of Australia, I guess. Yeah, yeah. But see, that worked really well.
That used to happen all the time. Especially when he’s really clever. He loved to pull a prank.
When I’ll meet you in the park at two minutes to ten You’re a million too close There’s fire in the air and there’s nail on your face I know that I’m not too close You just like me cause I’m good in bed You just like me cause I’m good in bed You just like me cause I’m good in bed You just like me cause I’m good in bed You just like me cause I’m good in bed was typical of the Skyhooks lyrics, which always flew very close to the wind, with sex themes, offensive lines and crude undertones often running through their songs. This one had been banned on many Australian radio stations, but when a new Sydney ABC station opened up for broadcasting, it was the very first song they decided to play. No wonder Skyhooks sold so many records.
Don’t go anywhere, Bob Starkie has much more to say.
This is a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. Good you’re still here.
The Skyhooks story sure is an interesting one. As the band’s first album, Living in the 70s, enjoyed a huge 16 weeks at number one, Skyhooks popularity continued to spread like a fever right across the nation. They went back into the studio to record their second album, Ego is Not a Dirty Word, the next year, and that one spent another 11 weeks at the top spot.
With two of the biggest selling Australian albums of all time to their credit, the band put everything they had into the most elaborate stage settings the country had ever seen. It appeared there was just no stopping them. Another classic Greg McCage song that was full of cynicism.
Yes. Yeah, he takes a concept or an idea and he just really sort of fleshes it out in his own way. It’s just incredible.
There’s no two songs the same. I don’t think there’s another band in the world that sounds like this. Very diverse.
And you know, as time went on, it just got sort of weirder and weirder, really. If I did not have an ego, I would not be here tonight. If I did not have an ego, I might not think that I was right.
And if you did not have an ego, you might not care the way you play. And if you did not have an ego, you’d just be like the rest. Ego, it’s not a bloody word.
Ego, it’s not a bloody word. Ego, it’s not a bloody word. Don’t you believe what you see or you hear.
When Jesus had an ego, his guilt be over today. And if you did not have an ego, you might not be in the game. And if you did not have an ego, you might not care too much who you are.
And if I did not have an ego, I might just lose the game. Ego, it’s not a bloody word. Ego, it’s not a bloody word.
Ego, it’s not a bloody word. Don’t you believe what you see or you hear. After the release of Ego Is Not A Dirty Word, Skyhooks took their music to America, where critics took one look at guitarist Red Simon’s Japanese-style makeup and extended long tongue and quickly dismissed the band as a cheap imitation of the just-arrived Kiss, which couldn’t have been further from the truth.
What happened there is we signed up with a record company that were just crap. Looking back at it, what was great about that whole experience is we actually travelled all around America in a bus supporting all these different bands. And mainly we toured with Uriah Heap, which was, I’m thinking, Jesus Christ, they’re putting us with Uriah Heap and they’re sort of a heavy metal sort of band.
And we were playing all around the South, like down in Austin, Texas. It’s like linen-skinned territory. But we went down really well there, you know, weirdly.
And it was like they were asking us back. So it was like we were breaking territories as we went in the strangest places. But the thing is, the reality was the thought of us touring around in a bus basically takes about seven years, you know, trotting around the bus around America to really crack it, you know, that’s the reality of it.
I think the highlight was making that record in the record part in Scorsolita, just north of San Francisco. Straight In A Gay Gay World was the one that you did in America, didn’t you? Yeah, that’s right, yeah. We’d done all the pre-production for Guilty Until Proven Insane, just about to go into the studio and then there was this impasse between Greg and Red and it just fell apart.
And so we ended up getting a protégé of Greg McCain, she’s a guitarist called Bobby Spencer. And he came in and built Red’s Shoes and we made a different record. And we managed to get what we have of that, I think we had Women In Uniform was hit off that.
Freddie’s drumming on that was breathtaking. And of course, Cheryl, I don’t know how many takes we did. I think we might have done two or three takes, but it was played live.
And when Freddie did that drum thing, he went out of time. I think he went into five, four time or something like that. And then just came back right on, you know, after four bars, right on the money.
And Cheryl was just screaming at the end of it. It was just, you know, it was really exciting. Hi, little Marlene.
Good morning schoolgirl. Welcome to the team. Hi! …for a long weekend.
Told a woman’s honest, don’t you give up on me. Took me to the station for a breath test. Then back to the metro for some house arrest.
Women in uniform, sometimes they don’t shine. I took my old car up to 747. Staring straight in, you’d feel like I was heaven.
Looking in the eye, trying to see what I could see. Iron Maiden actually recorded a version of it. Yeah, it was shit house.
Was it? But very flattering that they even tried to copy it. Yeah, they could have done it way better, that’s for sure. What was the chemistry like between you all? Well, there was chemistry, I’ve got to tell you.
It was like, over the years, we came back a couple of times. We came back in the early 80s and did something. And it’s kind of like, when you go straight back in the room, there’s the five of us in a studio, just running through the songs.
Then you see it. When you’re sort of in the middle of it, you don’t recognise what the chemistry is. But when you come back the first day, you go, wow.
We’ve still got it. Yeah, yeah. When Red left the band, you could see the whole thing changed.
And then when he came back in, it was like you go, wow, that’s the combination. So you took time off, Red left the band, then Sherl walked away from it too, didn’t he? Before you came back again. He went to TV and radio.
Yeah, yeah. So, look, basically, playing in a band is a bit of a mugs game. You’re at the mercy of all these parasites.
And it’s one of those things, as you grow older, it’s sort of like, unless you’re really great mates, it can be a bit of a drag. Before I joined the Skyhooks, I ran my own show. I left home when I was 17 before I even finished school.
I was my own man. I did organise everything myself. I come into the Skyhooks.
I’m the bottom of the heap, right? I’m the youngest in the band and at the mercy of these really strong egos. It’s like being married to four other people. It can wear you down, especially, you know.
And I think that’s kind of what happened with the Skyhooks. It was sort of like we got into this situation where we were depending on each other, right? And if things didn’t really go right, it’s sort of like, well, someone’s going to get the brain, you know. And I got scapegoated often.
What does that mean? You know, it’s like you get bullied. But within the dynamic of things, that’s kind of good because that makes me arc up and, you know, I try harder and what have you and it’s like I’ll show you sort of scenario. And I think Greg McCoach was aware of that because he used to bait me a bit, you know.
But, you know, I end up delivering. Everybody’s wearing blue jeans. We’re all reading the same books.
We’re all getting the same looks. Everybody’s got their own views. But we’re all reading the same news.
Everybody’s wearing blue jeans. Everybody’s got their own scenes. Everybody’s lost in daydreams.
But everybody’s wearing blue jeans. The dynamics of bands and, as you say, the chemistry, that’s a really important thing. But, you know, look, even if you’re playing as a drummer, nothing’s never the same again, you know.
After about, you know, five or six or seven years, it just takes a toll, really. And if you’re making millions and millions of dollars, that’s all right. But if you’re not, things just go awry.
And I think that’s, Shirl decided, you know, playing in a band wasn’t for him because it didn’t pay well enough. He got out and got into radio and TV and he made a fortune. So how did you all come back together again? Well, funnily enough, it was Shirley and Greg who organised the tour in 1990 and they did a really good job.
They took a management position and we made more money than we ever did on that tour, you know. He did it for the money and he did it really well. He said, we’ve got to make a record to promote this.
And that’s when Greg came up with Jukebox in Siberia, which was another number one hit. And, yeah, they did a really good job. JUKEBOX In the land of the midnight sun, Rasputin’s having so much fun.
Trotsky, Marx and Lenin too, they’re all drinking at the bar. Rousseau, Pease, they’re looking cool, Mikkel, Reznor, Juhu, Irons up from Wokey Park to hang out with the Czar. At that Jukebox in Siberia, deep in the interior, get down, get down, bloody post-op, and all the Russians won’t like that.
Gromko, what’s he talking about in Jukebox in Siberia? It’s just a really neat pop song, you know. He’s talking about Russians, you know, enjoying Western music. Yeah, brown and out of steel, get down, get down, bloody post-op.
Drop a ruble in the slot, that jukebox in Siberia. Yeah, that was your third number one hit. The other two had been produced by Ross Wilson.
He didn’t produce this one, did he? He was out of the picture after Guilty Until Proven Insane. What difference did having him produce for you make? He’d been playing in Daddy Cool and then Daddy Cool had sort of fallen and he had another band called Mighty Kong and that wasn’t going anywhere. And he decided he wanted to produce.
And so when he saw he saw the original Skyhooks at a university gig, I think it was Melbourne University, and he recognised that they had this fun, you know, and that’s the important thing in a band. You’ve got a songwriter and then you’ve got something to work with. And so he started to sort of show interest then.
And then I joined the band and Red joined the band and we were starting to make headway. Word was getting out a bit. But Ross Wilson, because of his interest in being a producer, he got in the ear of Michael Gudinski from Mushroom Records and the interest started coming right from the record companies.
But it wasn’t quite right. The sound wasn’t quite right. And so it wasn’t a lay down as Greg called up Shirley.
He came in and that sealed the deal. We had changed the sound and it was recorded really well and it sounded really good live because he had that voice that could cut through any shitty PA, you know, and it just sealed the deal. And so Ross Wilson, it was his first production thing and he took it on board.
We were all very naive and we sort of did what we were told, worked as hard as we could to make a record. It just ended up working. What’s your favourite Skyhooks song, Bongo? That’s a hard one.
You know, look, there’s a lot to choose from. Yeah, sure. And they’re all different.
Some of them are a nightmare to play. Like which? In many ways, it’s overplaying. All the riffs and what’s going on.
I mean, if you drop your plectrum, you’re in real trouble because there’s no gaps. Yeah, some of those songs are just basically they’re a bit of a chore to play. But others… Would you hang on, stop there a second.
Which would you say is the most difficult to play? One I often struggle with is This Is My City. Some of the riffs in there, it’s like it’s a millisecond. You got to get from the 12th fret down to the third fret, you know, like in a millisecond.
And then play a really quite a difficult riff. It’s like the fingering for that riff that leads into another riff. It’s like, wow, I think Red was the one that worked out that part.
Roadside tips, and if you don’t like it, then that’s too bad, cause it’s the only city that we’ve ever had. So when the man says, hey, you got to pay, you got to cancel a check and you got to say, this is my city, this is your city, this is our city now. Skyhooks brought their third album, Straight In A Gay Gay World, back to Australia with them.
The title apparently some sort of commentary about their experience. Up next, Bob Starkey tells us about the band’s demise and the untimely death of lead singer Shirley Straughan.
This is a Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. Welcome back.
At this time, Skyhooks had accumulated seven platinum records and sold millions of albums. Enigmatic lead singer, Graham Shirley Strawn, began releasing his own solo pop-oriented singles. Guitarist Red Simons was forced out and the band dropped its theatrics for a more straight-ahead approach.
In 1980, their Hot for the Orient album actually failed to chart, so the band decided to call it a day. The classic line-up did reunite on a couple of occasions, but songwriter Greg McCain decided instead on a career change and headed off to study law. Despite this, the Skyhooks found themselves back on the Australian music charts following the tragic death of Shirley Strawn.
Within two weeks of his death, Skyhooks The Collection found itself back in the top 100. Which one gets the biggest reaction? Actually, the biggest reaction is All My Friends Are Getting Married. Really? Yeah, it’s a huge sing-along.
I don’t know, I wouldn’t call it a twee song, but… It is a bit though. Compared to all the other songs, I would say that one is probably the most twee. Yeah, that gets the biggest reaction it requires.
Well, all my friends are getting married Yes, they’re all growing old They’re all staying home on the weekends They’re all doing what they’re told Well, I looked into the crowd the other night And I saw an old familiar face He said, how are you doing, Cheryl, my boy? He said, tell me, are you playing the same old place? I asked him all about himself And he said that he was married with a kid Showed me a picture of his wife And we talked about all those things we did Well, all my friends are getting married Yes, they’re all growing old They’re all staying home on the weekends They’re all doing what they’re told Once you came together, you did the 1990s jukebox in Siberia And it wasn’t long after that that Shirley, unfortunately, lost his life in a terrible accident, was it? Yeah, it was shocking Can you tell us what happened? Well, it should never have happened But, you know, I blame him Because he always wanted to fly He always wanted to sail And then he’d moved to Queensland He decided he wanted to learn to fly a helicopter And so he’s gone to this helicopter school on the Sunshine Coast there And my gut feeling is he would have intimidated those people You know, and I think he’s turned up to do his first solo flight On a day when the conditions were horrific I mean, it was really windy, apparently They would have gone, oh, listen, I can’t go out today, whatever It’ll be alright, don’t you worry about that You know, I know what I’m doing And he’s hopped into this thing And there’s a steep mountain there, it sort of pops up out of the ground I think that’s where it’s happened And he’s gone too close And a gust has got him and flipped the helicopter Because it’s like flying a tin can, it’s so small You can’t fly a helicopter upside down And so he’s just gone up, been flipped, and he’s gone down That must have hit you guys very hard I mean, it’s like losing a brother It was just terrible He’d read the most, though He was devastated And I think he still is, actually Every night I cry Every night I sigh Every night I wonder why You treat me cold Yet you won’t let me go Every little hurt cries Every little hurt cries You say you’re coming home Yet you never phone Leave me all alone My love is strong for you I do wrong for you I can’t take this loneliness you’ve given me I can’t go on giving my life away Come back to me, darling, you’ll see I can give you all the things that you’ve wanted me for If you will stay with me That guy was larger than life and much loved At his funeral, people flew from all over the world to be there He was the top of the heap in radio He had his own TV show And he was big in the surf scene People just loved him, he was all over the shop And of course, he was just a phenomenal singer in rock and roll So he’d done all this stuff and excelled at pretty much everything The only thing he was bad at was flying a helicopter Bob Starkey, as a result of Skyhooks then falling apart completely How did you end up with being able to trade from the name? Well, I’m a member of the Skyhooks and it’s the Skyhooks show It’s not the Skyhooks, it’s the Skyhooks show And you’ve been doing that since 2015, right? It wasn’t planned It was like, I love playing rock and roll That’s where I love as a guitarist Greg and I were asked to do three suburban songs At the Suburban Music Festival And we did that And it went down really well And I sang the songs I’m not a good singer, but it still went down well You know, we did Giraffe Cowboy and Carlton Ball and Crawling We met her at a party on Saturday night She was drinking at Vogue Car Her skin was smooth and her jeans were tight Yet didn’t think she’d go that far Well, she might have looked like a princess Why’d you have to give her your address? Cause you ain’t safe when you get home She’s gonna call you on the telephone She’s gonna call you on the telephone Get on the phone, you stupid stallion Get on the phone, you stupid stallion Then they asked us to do it again the next year And so, anyhow, Greg said, let’s do it And I’d seen this girl singer singing ACDC And she was in a band called ACDC And I’d only seen her once But I thought, wow, she really had this great presence And she’s really good with an audience And so we invited her along And she came and did it that year She just nailed it That singer was Laura Davidson She’s got the sound, I won’t do it without her The band has got a chemistry And we play like a band And we just, we love it, we have fun So is there any chance of the original members from Skyhook Obviously other than Cheryl, coming together to do a reunion again? No I know Greg’s not interested Yeah, I know I called him up and said, look, nah, I don’t play bass anymore He’s a strange guy And he certainly leaves the past in the past And sees Skyhooks as being far in his past, doesn’t he? Yeah, it’s funny But I would never say never with Greg Because he really is a great bass player And he can change his mind But Red, there’s no way He hasn’t played guitar in decades And he’s just not interested If you’re a saxophonist Or a pianist Or a guitarist You’ve got to keep it up Otherwise, you know, you lose it And he says, people keep asking me to, you know, like Will you do it again or whatever His comment is, well, would you go and ask a 75-year-old footballer To go and play a game? It doesn’t work, you know He’s out of practice He’s out of practice He certainly doesn’t need the money He doesn’t need the heartache But we could come together and play two or three songs No, we’d love that No way, Sky’s got two and a half hours Yeah, right, I understand that I mean, Skyhooks was so important to so many baby boomers in Australia That screamed their lungs out in 1975 at concerts When some of us had our first kiss to your songs I mean, there’s so many fond memories for so many of us with Skyhooks Thank goodness that you’re keeping the music alive Yeah, well, look, as I say, it wasn’t planned But it’s taken a life of its own I mean, there are moments where you sort of go I get quite anxious sometimes It’s like, oh, Jesus, you know But when we get on stage and we do a good show It’s just fantastic Well, it’s his haircut at Perini’s And he drives a Lamborghini The finest thing that ever walked this earth Well, his flat is just divine He bars yogurt and bars wine A million colours is what he’s worth Well, he’s a village playboy To a cowboy you see Well, he’s a village playboy To a cowboy you see Well, he does all his grins And he’s got lots of gay friends He is 29 and he’s a gay And he wears tinted glasses And his girls have got tight asses And if he’s happy, what is life to say? Well, he’s a village playboy To a cowboy you see Well, he’s a village playboy To a cowboy you see He’ll be at the circus show on Friday night Goes once a month just to make it look right At interval he’ll say the movie’s a drag As he gets a cigarette from his leather shoulder bag Well, he’s a village playboy To a cowboy you see Just ask me cos I’m good in bed You just ask me cos I’m good in bed Just ask me cos I’m good in bed You just like me cos I’m good in bed Just ask me cos I’m good in bed Yeah, I’m just watching my friends You just ask me cos I’m good in bed You just like me cos I’m good in bed It’s just a nice twist though, isn’t it? That’s Greg McCage. He’s got a twist on it all. And there’s some great riffs in there.
When I heard that, that was the first time when my brother was in the band and I went and saw the band. That was one song that stood out. I thought, whoa! And the other one was Carlton, that riff in Carlton.
I thought, Jesus, you know, I said the Rolling Stones could do that. It was, yeah, pretty exciting stuff. Yeah, it’s awesome music.
Bob Bongo Starkey, I’d better let you go. You’ve been so generous with your time. Thank you so much for all your stories and filling us all in on the details of Skyhooks.
It’s great that you are keeping the music alive and people, at least here in Australia, can go out and see you and hear the music still. Otherwise, you’re still getting airplay around this country and I’m sure on lots of different stations around the world too. Thanks, Sadie.
I’ve enjoyed talking to you, dragging out the past. So nice to hear. Thanks a million for your time, Bob.
You’ve been awesome. All right, see you later. If you’d like to know more about Skyhooks and their contribution to the music scene in Australia, there are a couple of books that I know are around that you could pick up through Amazon.
The first is called Skyhooks, Million Dollar Riff by author Jen Jewel Brown. The second, Sherl, The Life and Times of a Legendary Larrikin, written by music journalist Jeff Abda. Thanks so much for your company today.
I do hope you’ve enjoyed the story of the Skyhooks and hearing some of their music. Don’t forget, if you have someone you’d like me to chase up for you, just send me a message through the website, abreathoffreshair.com.au and I’ll go to work for you to get that person onto the show. You make sure you have a great week coming, won’t you? I’ll look forward to being back in your company again with another fabulous guest next episode.
Bye now. It’s just a beautiful day You’ve been listening to A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. Beautiful day Oh, baby, any day that you’re gone away It’s a beautiful day.