Skyhooks
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Biography
Skyhooks, an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in March 1973, initially featured Steve Hill on vocals, Peter Inglis and Bob "Bongo" Starkie on guitar, Greg Macainsh on bass guitar, and Imants "Freddie" Strauks on drums. Their breakthrough came in 1974 when Graeme "Shirley" Strachan replaced Hill as lead vocalist. Skyhooks signed with Mushroom Records and released their debut album Living in the 70's, which topped the Australian Kent Music Report chart for a record-breaking 16 weeks and sold over 200,000 copies. The band's flamboyant costumes, makeup, and frank lyrics addressing issues like drugs and sex made them a cultural phenomenon in Australia. Key members Red Symons and Graeme Strachan left the group in 1977 and 1978 respectively, leading to their eventual disbandment in 1980. The classic lineup reunited multiple times, notably in 1994 when they released the Number One song "Jukebox in Siberia". Skyhooks were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1992 and their album Living in the 70's was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011. Other albums include Ego Is Not a Dirty Word (1975), Straight in a Gay World (1976), Guilty Until Proven Insane (1978), Live! Be in It (1978), Hot for the Orient (1980), and Live in the 80's (1983). Original guitarist Peter Starkie died on 14 September 2020, and his younger brother, guitarist and singer Bob Starkie, died from leukaemia on 29 November 2025, at the age of 73.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- No Inspiration
- Fathers And Daughters
- Balwyn Calling
- Wrong Number Right Girl
- Bondage on the Boulevarde
- Party to End All Parties
- Blue Jeans
- White Skin And Black Sheets
- Over The Border
- This Town Is Boring
- Why Dontcha All Get Fucked
- Cars, Bars And Girls
- Keep The Junk In America
- My Heart Gets Blown To Bits
- Red Fingernails
- Million Dollar Riff
- Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)
- This Is My City
- Living in the 70's
- Toorak Cowboy
- She's Ok But She's Not You
- Every Chase a Steeple
- Ego Is Not A Dirty Word
- Love on the Radio
