SHERBET ROCKED US ..not so gently

FIRSTLY...let me state from the off that when Sherbet was ruling the aussie charts, I was more interested in chasing their fans than chasing the band...sure they had some cracking tunes, but they were a chicks band...RIGHT...although I know of at least one male cousin of mine who had a copy of HOWZAT...and I, myself of recent time have grabbed a couple of compilations and the most recent DVD release, I got 'em for  the wife,Deb ( and everyone out there in 3 part harmony goes SURE YOU DID)...SHERBET LIVE..and the crowd went wild, and I will admit to digging the set they did at the Countdown Spectacular, they sure didn't rock me gently that night...yeh yeh I know crap pun.....ANYWAY

Sherbet (or Highway or The Sherbs) are one of the most successful Australian rock bands of that came roaring out of the 70's. The 'classic line-up' of Daryl Braithwaite on vocals, Tony Mitchell on bass guitar, Garth Porter on keyboards, Alan Sandow on drums, and Clive Shakespeare on guitar provided some of the best pop songs ever heard in the aussie charts

In 1971, Sherbet entered Australia's prestigious national rock band contest, Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, and won the New South Wales final but lost the national final to Adeliade-based band Fraternity (led by Bon Scott) They entered again in 1972 and won the national final,

 In 1976 Shakespeare left and was soon replaced by Harvey James. Sherbet's biggest singles were "Summer Love" (1975) and "Howzat" (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit with the poms. The band, like a lot of aussie bands, was less successful in the United States, where "Howzat" peaked at No. 61. As The Sherbs they also reached No. 61 in 1981 with "I Have the Skill".and also, they were the first Australian band to turn their merchandising into a huge industry; and they pioneered the concept of massive regional tours. In December 1976, the book Sherbet on Tour, by Christie Eliezer, sold 30,000 copies in its first week

 According to rock music historians, alongside Skyhooks, Sherbet were the most successful Australian pop band of the 1970s. With a run of 20 consecutive hit singles to its credit, and 17 albums that yielded ten platinum and 40 gold, Sherbet was the first domestic act to sell a million dollars worth of records in Australia".

Sherbet have reunited on occasion over subsequent years. Their first reunion was an ABC-TV special on New Year's Eve 1998. They performed "Howzat" and "Summer Love" without Alan Sandow – John Watson (ex-Kevin Borich Band, Australian Crawl) filled in on drums. In March 2001 with Sandow on board, the band reunited for Gimme Ted – a benefit concert for Ted Mulry.] In June 2003 Sherbet performed at another benefit show for former roadie, Wane Jarvis

At the May 2006 Logie Awards Sherbet reunited as a six-piece: Braithwaite, James, Mitchell, Porter, Sandow and Shakespeare, where they performed "Howzat". The band played three shows in late August 2006 billed as Daryl Braithwaite and Highway. They followed by joining the Countdown Spectacular tour throughout Australia during September and October. 2006 also saw the release of two newly recorded tracks on the compilation album, Sherbet – Super Hits, "Red Dress" (Porter, Shakespeare, Braithwaite, Mitchell, James, Sandow) and "Hearts Are Insane" (Porter), both produced by Ted Howard.

As with a goodly percentage of Aussie bands, they released a fair share of covers throughout the 1970s: Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", The Beatles' "Nowhere Man" and Free's "Wishing Well". From 1972 to 1976, Sherbet's chief songwriting team of Porter and Shakespeare were responsible for co-writing the lion's share of the band's material,

2007 saw the release of a live compilation on CD and DVD entitled Live – And the Crowd Went Wild encompassing material recorded in the 1970s at shows in Sydney, Melbourne and the UK. Sherbet performed on the Countdown Spectacular 2 in August and September. Their song "Howzat" is played at Twenty20 cricket matches.

Sherbet's first chart hits on the Go-Set National Top 40 were covers of Blue Mink's "Can You Feel It Baby?" (September 1971), Delaney and Bonnie's "Free the People" (February 1972) and Ted Mulry's "You're All Woman" (September 1972). Most of their early recordings were produced by Festival's in-house producer Richard Batchen's, who later produced albums and singles for another Infinity label mate, Richard Clapton. The band increased its profile with prestigious support slots on major tours by visiting international acts including Gary Glitter and The Jackson 5.

The group disbanded in 1984. Subsequent re-unions have occurred since 1998.

 In 1990 Sherbet were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame....On 15 January 2011 Harvey James died of lung cancer...the remaining members performed at Gimme that Guitar, a tribute concert for Harvey on 17 February.

 and just as I was getting ready to do the blog,  the news came through that Clive Shakespeare the musical and songwriting powerhouse of the band died of prostate cancer....yeh I know...