Skyhooks (band) Later years to break-up What performances they did in later years? Their first gig was on 16 April 1973 at St Jude's Church hall in Carlton.
After first gig what they did?
After first gig what did Skyhooks do?
Greg Macainsh and Imants "Freddie" Strauks both attended Norwood High School in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood and formed Spare Parts in 1966 with Macainsh on bass guitar and Strauks on lead vocals. Spare Parts was followed by Sound Pump in 1968, Macainsh formed Reuben Tice in Eltham, with Tony Williams on vocals. By 1970 Macainsh was back with Strauks, now on drums, first in Claptrap and by 1971 in Frame which had Graeme "Shirley" Strachan as lead vocalist. Frame also included Pat O'Brien on guitar and Cynthio Ooms on guitar. Strachan had befriended Strauks earlier--he sang with Strauks on the way to parties--and was asked to join Claptrap which was renamed as Frame. Strachan stayed in Frame for about 18 months but left for a career in carpentry and a hobby of surfing in Phillip Island. Skyhooks formed in March 1973 in Melbourne with Steve Hill on vocals (ex-Lillee), Peter Ingliss on guitar (The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band), Macainsh on bass guitar and backing vocals, Peter Starkie on guitar and backing vocals (Lipp & the Double Dekker Brothers) and Strauks on drums and backing vocals. The name, Skyhooks, came from a fictional organisation in the 1956 film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. Their first gig was on 16 April 1973 at St Jude's Church hall in Carlton. At a later gig, former Daddy Cool frontman, Ross Wilson was playing in his group Mighty Kong with Skyhooks as a support act. Wilson was impressed with the fledgling band and signed Macainsh to a publishing deal. In August, Bob "Bongo" Starkie (Mary Jane Union) on guitar replaced his older brother Peter (later in Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons) and Ingliss was replaced by Red Symons (Scumbag) on guitar, vocals and keyboards. The two new members added a touch of theatre and humour to the band's visual presence. By late 1973, Wilson had convinced Michael Gudinski to sign the band to his booking agency, Australian Entertainment Exchange, and eventually to Gudinski's label, Mushroom Records. Skyhooks gained a cult following around Melbourne including university intelligentsia and pub rockers, but a poorly received show at the January 1974 Sunbury Pop Festival saw the group booed off stage. Two tracks from their live set, "Hey What's the Matter?" and "Love on the Radio" appeared on Mushroom's Highlights of Sunbury '74. After seeing his performance on TV, Hill phoned Macainsh and resigned. To replace Hill, in March, Macainsh recruited occasional singer, surfer and carpenter Strachan from his Frame era. Strachan had been dubbed "Shirley" by fellow surfers due to his curly blond hair a la Shirley Temple. For Skyhooks, the replacement of Hill by Strachan was a pivotal moment, as Strachan had remarkable vocal skills, and a magnetic stage and screen presence. Alongside Macainsh's lyrics, another facet of the group was the twin-guitar sound of Starkie and Symons. Adopting elements of glam rock in their presentation, and 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, make-up, lyrics, and on-stage activities. A 1.2 metre (4 ft) high mushroom-shaped phallus was confiscated by Adelaide police after a performance. Six of the ten tracks on their debut album, Living in the 70's, were banned by the Federation of Australian Commercial Broadcasters for their sex and drug references, "Toorak Cowboy", "Whatever Happened to the Revolution?", "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good in Bed", "Hey What's the Matter", "Motorcycle Bitch" and "Smut". Much of the group's success derived from its distinctive repertoire, mostly penned by bass guitarist Macainsh, with an occasional additional song from Symons--who wrote "Smut" and performed its lead vocals. Although Skyhooks were not the first Australian rock band to write songs in a local setting--rather than ditties about love or songs about New York or other foreign lands--they were the first to become commercially successful doing so. Skyhooks songs addressed teenage issues including buying drugs ("Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)"), suburban sex ("Balwyn Calling"), the gay scene ("Toorak Cowboy") and loss of girlfriends ("Somewhere in Sydney") by namechecking Australian locales. Radio personality, Billy Pinnell described the importance of their lyrics in tackling Australia's cultural cringe: [Macainsh] broke down all the barriers [...] opening the door for Australian rock 'n' roll songwriters to write about local places and events. He legitimised Australian songwriting and it meant that Australians became themselves. The first Skyhooks single, "Living in the 70's", was released in August, ahead of the album, and peaked at #7 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Charts. Living in the 70's initially charted only in Melbourne upon its release on 28 October 1974. It went on to spend 16 weeks at the top of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Charts from February to June 1975. The album was produced by Wilson, and became the best selling Australian album, to that time, with 226,000 copies sold in Australia. Skyhooks returned to the Sunbury Pop Festival in January 1975. They were declared the best performers by Rolling Stone Australia and The Age reviewers, and Gudinski now took over their management. The second single, "Horror Movie", reached #1 for two weeks in March. The band's success was credited by Gudinski with saving his struggling Mushroom Records and enabled it to develop into the most successful Australian label of its time. The success of the album was also due to support by a new pop music television show Countdown on national public broadcaster ABC Television, rather than promotion by commercial radio. "Horror Movie" was the first song played on the first colour transmission of Countdown in early 1975. Despite the radio ban, 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 its first ever broadcast on 19 January. After completing their 1976 US tour, the band remained in San Francisco and recorded their third album with Wilson producing, Straight in a Gay Gay World--called Living in the 70's for US release with "Living in the 70's" replacing "The Girl Says She's Bored"--which appeared in August and peaked at #3 on the Australian album charts. In July, upon return to Australia they launched The Brats Are Back Tour with a single, "This is My City", which reached the Top 20. "Blue Jeans" followed in August and peaked at #13 on the singles chart. By October, Strachan provided his debut solo single, "Every Little Bit Hurts" (a cover of Brenda Holloway's 1964 hit), which reached #3. In February 1977, Symons left the band and was replaced on guitar by Bob Spencer from the band Finch. With Symons' departure the band dropped the glam rock look and used a more straight forward hard rock approach. During 1977 Skyhooks toured nationally three times, while their first single with Spencer, "Party to End All Parties", entered the top 30 in May. Strachan released his second solo single, a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Tracks of My Tears", which reached the top 20 in July. Meanwhile, Mushroom released a singles anthology, The Skyhooks Tapes, which entered the top 50 in September. The band's mass popularity had declined although they still kept their live performances exciting and irreverent. In January 1978 they toured New Zealand and performed at the Nambassa festival. In February their next single, "Women in Uniform", was issued and peaked at #8, while its album Guilty Until Proven Insane followed in March and reached #6. The album was produced by Americans Eddie Leonetti and Jack Douglas. The second single from the album, "Megalomania" issued in May, did not enter the top 40. Strachan told band members he intended to leave--but it was not officially announced for six months--he continued regular shows until his final gig with Skyhooks on 29 July. Strachan released further solo singles, "Mr Summer" in October and "Nothing but the Best" in January 1979, but neither charted in the top 50. Strachan's replacement in Skyhooks, on lead vocals, was Tony Williams (ex-Reuben Tice with Macainsh). Williams' first single for Skyhooks, "Over the Border", a political song about the state of the Queensland Police Force at the time, reached the top 40 in April, and their fifth studio album, Hot for the Orient, appeared in May 1980, but failed to enter the top 50. 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. Ian "Molly" Meldrum, usually a supporter of Skyhooks, savaged Hot for the Orient on his "Humdrum" segment of Countdown--viewers demanded that the band appear on a following show to defend it. Poor reception of the album both by the public and reviewers led the band to take out a page-sized ad in the local music press declaring "Why Don't You All Get Fu**ed" (title of one of their songs) and they played their last performance on 8 June, not in their hometown of Melbourne, but in the mining town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. CANNOTANSWER
At a later gig, former Daddy Cool frontman, Ross Wilson was playing in his group Mighty Kong with Skyhooks as a support act.
Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in March 1973 by mainstays Greg Macainsh on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Imants "Freddie" Strauks on drums. They were soon joined by Bob "Bongo" Starkie on guitar and backing vocals, and Red Symons on guitar, vocals and keyboards; Graeme "Shirley" Strachan became lead vocalist in March 1974. Described as a glam rock band, because of flamboyant costumes and make-up, Skyhooks addressed issues including buying drugs in "Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)", sex and commitment in "Balwyn Calling", the gay scene in "Toorak Cowboy" and loss of girlfriends in "Somewhere in Sydney" by namechecking Australian locales. According to music historian, Ian McFarlane "[Skyhooks] made an enormous impact on Australian social life".

Skyhooks had No. 1 albums on the Australian Kent Music Report with their 1974 debut, Living in the 70's (for 16 weeks), and its 1975 follow-up, Ego Is Not a Dirty Word (11 weeks). Their No. 1 singles were "Horror Movie" (January 1975) and "Jukebox in Siberia" (November 1990).

Symons left Skyhooks in 1977 and became a radio and television personality; he was replaced by Bob Spencer. Strachan left the band in 1978 to become a radio and television presenter. He was replaced by Tony Williams. With altered line-ups, Skyhooks continued until 8 June 1980; the Strauks-Symons-Macainsh-Starkie-Strachan line-up reconvened four times thereafter, in 1983, 1984, 1990 and 1994. In 1992, the group was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. Strachan died on 29 August 2001, aged 49, in a helicopter crash while solo piloting. Original lead singer Steve Hill died in October 2005, aged 52, from liver cancer. Original guitarist, Peter Starkie died in mid-September 2020, aged 72, of complications resulting from a fall.

In 2011, the Skyhooks album Living in the 70's was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry.

History

1966–1974: Early years and formation
Greg Macainsh and Imants "Freddie" Strauks both attended Norwood High School in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood and formed Spare Parts in 1966 with Macainsh on bass guitar and Strauks on lead vocals. Spare Parts was followed by Sound Pump in 1968, Macainsh formed Reuben Tice in Eltham, with Tony Williams on vocals. By 1970 Macainsh was back with Strauks, now on drums, first in Claptrap and by 1971 in Frame which had Graeme "Shirley" Strachan as lead vocalist. Frame also included Pat O'Brien on guitar and Cynthio Ooms on guitar. Strachan had befriended Strauks earlier—he sang with Strauks on the way to parties—and was asked to join Claptrap which was renamed as Frame. Strachan stayed in Frame for about 18 months but left for a career in carpentry and a hobby of surfing in Phillip Island.

Skyhooks formed in March 1973 in Melbourne with Steve Hill on vocals (ex-Lillee), Peter Inglis  on guitar (The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band), Macainsh on bass guitar and backing vocals, Peter Starkie on guitar and backing vocals (Lipp & the Double Dekker Brothers) and Strauks on drums and backing vocals. The name, Skyhooks, came from a fictional organisation in the 1956 film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. Their first gig was on 16 April 1973 at St Jude's Church hall in Carlton. At a later gig, former Daddy Cool frontman, Ross Wilson was playing in his group Mighty Kong with Skyhooks as a support act. Wilson was impressed with the fledgling band and signed Macainsh to a publishing deal. In August, Bob "Bongo" Starkie (Mary Jane Union) on guitar replaced his older brother Peter (later in Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons) and Inglis was replaced by Red Symons on guitar, vocals and keyboards. The two new members added a touch of theatre and humour to the band's visual presence. By late 1973, Wilson had convinced Michael Gudinski to sign the band to his booking agency, Australian Entertainment Exchange, and eventually to Gudinski's label, Mushroom Records.

Skyhooks gained a cult following around Melbourne including university intelligentsia and pub rockers, but a poorly received show at the January 1974 Sunbury Pop Festival saw the group booed off stage. Two tracks from their live set, "Hey What's the Matter?" and "Love on the Radio" appeared on Mushroom's Highlights of Sunbury '74. After seeing his performance on TV, Hill phoned Macainsh and resigned. To replace Hill, in March, Macainsh recruited occasional singer, surfer and carpenter Strachan from his Frame era. Strachan had been dubbed "Shirley" by fellow surfers due to his curly blond hair a la Shirley Temple.

1974–1975: Living in the 70's

For Skyhooks, the replacement of Hill by Strachan was a pivotal moment, as Strachan had remarkable vocal skills, and a magnetic stage and screen presence. Alongside Macainsh's lyrics, another facet of the group was the twin-guitar sound of Starkie and Symons. Adopting elements of glam rock in their presentation, and 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, make-up, lyrics, and on-stage activities. A 1.2-metre (4 ft) high mushroom-shaped phallus was confiscated by Adelaide police after a performance. Six of the ten tracks on their debut album, Living in the 70's, were banned by the Federation of Australian Commercial Broadcasters for their sex and drug references, "Toorak Cowboy", "Whatever Happened to the Revolution?", "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good in Bed", "Hey What's the Matter", "Motorcycle Bitch" and "Smut". Much of the group's success derived from its distinctive repertoire, mostly penned by bass guitarist Macainsh, with an occasional additional song from Symons—who wrote "Smut" and performed its lead vocals. Although Skyhooks were not the first Australian rock band to write songs in a local setting—rather than ditties about love or songs about New York City or other foreign lands—they were the first to become commercially successful doing so. Skyhooks songs addressed teenage issues including buying drugs ("Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)"), suburban sex ("Balwyn Calling"), the gay scene ("Toorak Cowboy") and loss of girlfriends ("Somewhere in Sydney") by namechecking Australian locales. Radio personality, Billy Pinnell described the importance of their lyrics in tackling Australia's cultural cringe:

The first Skyhooks single, "Living in the 70's", was released in August 1974, ahead of the album, and peaked at No. 28 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Charts. The album, Living in the 70's initially charted only in Melbourne upon its release on 28 October 1974. It went on to spend 16 weeks at the top of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Charts from February to June 1975. The album was produced by Wilson, and became the best selling Australian album, to that time, with 226,000 copies sold in Australia.

Skyhooks returned to the Sunbury Pop Festival in January 1975. They were declared the best performers by Rolling Stone Australia and The Age reviewers, and Gudinski now took over their management. The second single, "Horror Movie", reached No. 1 for two weeks in March. The band's success was credited by Gudinski with saving his struggling Mushroom Records and enabled it to develop into the most successful Australian label of its time.

The success of the album was also due to support by a new pop music television show Countdown on national public broadcaster ABC Television, rather than promotion by commercial radio. "Horror Movie" was the first song played on the first colour transmission of Countdown in early 1975. Despite the radio ban, 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 its first ever broadcast on 19 January.

1975–1976: Ego Is Not a Dirty Word

Skyhooks' 1975 national tour promoting Living in the 70's finished at Melbourne's Festival Hall with their ANZAC Day (25 April) performance. They were supported by comedy singer Bob Hudson, heavy rockers AC/DC and New Zealand band Split Enz. Strachan then took two weeks off and considered leaving the band, but he returned – newly married – and they continued recording the follow-up album, Ego Is Not a Dirty Word. Initially, they were locked out of the recording studio until their manager, Gudinski, sent down the money still owed for recording the first album. Ego Is Not a Dirty Word spent 11 weeks at the top of the Australian album chart from 21 July 1975, and sold 210,000 copies. with the single, "Ego Is Not a Dirty Word" issued in April ahead of the album, peaking at No. 2. The next single, "All My Friends Are Getting Married" reached No. 2 in July, and was followed by "Million Dollar Riff" at No. 6 in October. Macainsh's then girlfriend, Jenny Brown, described the band in her 1975 book, Skyhooks : Million Dollar Riff. A live version of Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock" from a December performance was released as a single in March 1976 and reached No. 26.

With Australian commercial success achieved, Skyhooks turned to the US market. Gudinski announced a $1.5 million deal with Mercury Records/Phonogram Records, which released a modified international version of Ego Is Not a Dirty Word with "Horror Movie" and "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good in Bed" from their first Australian album replacing two tracks. A US tour followed in March–April 1976, but critics described them as imitators of Kiss due to the similarity of Symons' make-up and stage act to that of Gene Simmons, and despite limited success in Boston, Massachusetts and Jacksonville, Florida they failed to make inroads into the general US market.

1977–1981: Later years to break-up

After completing their 1976 US tour, the band remained in San Francisco and recorded their third album with Wilson producing, Straight in a Gay Gay World, which was released in August 1976 and peaked at No. 3 on the Australian album charts. In July, upon return to Australia they launched The Brats Are Back Tour with a single, "This is My City", which peaked at number 32. "Blue Jeans" followed in August and peaked at No. 12 on the singles chart. By October, Strachan provided his debut solo single, "Every Little Bit Hurts" (a cover of Brenda Holloway's 1964 hit). In February 1977, Symons left the band and was replaced on guitar by Bob Spencer from the band Finch. With Symons' departure the band dropped the glam rock look and used a more straight forward hard rock approach.

During 1977 Skyhooks toured nationally three times, while their first single with Spencer, "Party to End All Parties", entered the top 30 in May. Strachan released his second solo single, a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Tracks of My Tears", which reached the top 20 in July. Meanwhile, Mushroom released a singles anthology, The Skyhooks Tapes, which entered the top 50 in September. The band's mass popularity had declined although they still kept their live performances exciting and irreverent.

In January 1978 they toured New Zealand and performed at the Nambassa festival. In February their next single, "Women in Uniform", was issued and peaked at No. 8, while its album Guilty Until Proven Insane followed in March and reached No. 7. The album was produced by Americans Eddie Leonetti and Jack Douglas. The second single from the album, "Megalomania" released in May, peaked at number 93. Strachan told band members he intended to leave—but it was not officially announced for six months—he continued regular shows until his final gig with Skyhooks on 29 July 1978. Strachan released further solo singles, "Mr Summer" in October and "Nothing but the Best" in January 1979, but neither charted in the top 50. Strachan's replacement in Skyhooks, on lead vocals, was Tony Williams (ex-Reuben Tice with Macainsh).

Williams' first single for Skyhooks, "Over the Border", a political song about the state of the Queensland Police Force at the time, reached the top 40 in April 1979, and their fifth studio album, Hot for the Orient, was released in May 1980, but failed to enter the top 50.

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. Ian "Molly" Meldrum, usually a supporter of Skyhooks, savaged Hot for the Orient on his "Humdrum" segment of Countdown—viewers demanded that the band appear on a following show to defend it. Poor reception of the album both by the public and reviewers led the band to take out a page-sized ad in the local music press declaring "Why Don't You All Get Fu**ed" (title of one of their songs) and they played their last performance on 8 June, not in their hometown of Melbourne, but in the mining town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

1982–1999: Reformations and later releases
In December 1982, Mushroom released a medley of Skyhooks songs as "Hooked on Hooks" which peaked at No. 21. Demands for the "classic" line-up of the band—Macainsh, Bob Starkie, Strachan, Strauks and Symons—to reform were successful and on 23 April 1983, they started the Living in the 80's Tour. Support acts for the first concert included The Church, Mental as Anything, The Party Boys, The Sunnyboys, and Midnight Oil—who acknowledged, "Hooks were the only Australian band they would let top the bill above them". This tour was released on LP as Live in the 80's.

A one-off reunion concert took place in October 1984, and in 1990 the band finally recorded new material, including "Jukebox in Siberia", released in September, which peaked at the top of the ARIA Singles Charts for two weeks. In November, The Latest and Greatest, a compilation album, was released, which peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Charts. The tracks were taken from Skyhooks' first four studio albums along with two recent singles, "Jukebox In Siberia" and the uncharted "Tall Timber".

In 1992, Skyhooks were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame, while their manager, Gudunski, and record label, Mushroom Records, received a 'Special Achievement Award'. Producer of their first three albums, Wilson, had been inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989 as an individual and again as a member of Daddy Cool in 2006.

The final release of new Skyhooks material came in June 1999 when a twin-CD, Skyhooks: The Collection, was issued. Disc one contained a greatest hits package, very similar to "The Latest and Greatest", with additional tracks. Disc two is referred to by fans as "The Lost Album", with previously unreleased songs from their 1990 and 1994 recording sessions.

After Skyhooks
Strachan and Symons each went on to successful careers in Australian media including radio and television. Symons worked as a breakfast presenter on ABC radio and wrote humorous newspaper columns. Starkie played locally with different bands including Ol' Skydaddys, and Ram Band. Strauks was drummer for Melbourne rock band The Sports, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, folk band The Bushwackers and the Ol' Skydaddys. Macainsh played with John Farnham on his Whispering Jack Tour and with Dave Warner's from the Suburbs, in 1988 he put together and managed a successful AC/DC tribute band called Back in Black who went on to support Skyhooks on their comeback tour. He was a board member of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) (1997–2000) and Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) (2001–2006), and is an intellectual property lawyer.

Strachan was killed in an air crash on 29 August 2001, when the helicopter he was learning to fly solo crashed into Mount Archer near Kilcoy, northwest of Brisbane. A memorial concert was held on 11 September 2001 at the Palais Theatre, tributes were paid and some remaining members—Strauks, Macainsh, Starkie, Symons and Spencer—performed with guest vocalists Daryl Braithwaite and Wilson. It is the only time Symons and his replacement, Spencer performed together on stage. Braithwaite performed "All My Friends Are Getting Married" with the band while Wilson sang the rare Skyhooks track "Warm Wind in the City".

The 30th anniversary of the release of the Living in the 70's album was commemorated in 2004, with different incarnations of the band performing. Absent were Strachan, Hill and Inglis. Vocals were performed by Wilson, Williams and Bob Starkie. The original line-up of Skyhooks, including Hill, reformed in 2005 at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney for a one-off gig, a benefit for Hill, who had been diagnosed with liver cancer. The line-up of Inglis, Peter Starkie, Strauks and Macainsh joined him onstage. Hill died six weeks later. In November 2009, the "Skyhooks Tour Archive", displayed on the band's website, listed 925 live shows.

Macainsh, Starkie and Strauks appeared as Skyhooks at the 2009 Helpmann Awards in Sydney. They performed "Women in Uniform" with Australian rock icon Jimmy Barnes providing vocals. Red Symons was also slated to perform with the band, but was replaced by Diesel after withdrawing a few days before the show.

On 7 April 2010, 3AW reported that Skyhooks were to appear on the first episode of the new series of Hey Hey It's Saturday with Leo Sayer on vocals. Sayer later appeared on air and denied the claims.

Original guitarist Peter Starkie died of complications after a fall, in mid-September 2020, aged 72.

Members

Classic lineup
Greg Macainsh – bass, backing vocals (1973–1980, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994)
Imants "Freddie" Strauks (aka "Freddie Kaboodleschnitzer") – drums, backing vocals, percussion (1973–1980, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994)
Bob Starkie (aka "Bongo Starr") – guitar, backing and lead vocals (1973–1980, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994)
Red Symons – guitar, backing and lead vocals, keyboards (1973–1977, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994)
Graeme "Shirley" Strachan – lead vocals (1974–1978, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994; died 2001)

Other members
Steve Hill – lead vocals (1973–1974; died 2005)
Peter Inglis – guitar (1973)
Peter Starkie – guitar, backing vocals (1973; died 2020)
Bob Spencer – guitar, backing vocals (1977–1980)
Tony Williams – lead vocals (1978–1980)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Video albums

Live albums

Box sets

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Skyhooks inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

|-
| ARIA Music Awards of 1992
| Skyhooks
| ARIA Hall of Fame
|

Australian Record Awards

|-
| 1975
| Ego Is Not a Dirty Word
| Group Album of the Year
| 
|}

King of Pop Awards
The King of Pop Awards were voted by the readers of TV Week. The King of Pop award started in 1967 and ran through to 1978.

|-
| rowspan="3" |1975
| "Horror Movie"
| Australian Record of the Year 
| 
|-
| Ego is not a Dirty Word
| Most Popular Australian Album 
| 
|-
| Greg Macainsh (Skyhooks)
| Best Australian Songwriter 
| 
|-
|1976
| Straight in a Gay Gay World
| Best Cover Design 
| 
|-
|1978
| "Hotel Hell" by Skyhooks on Nightmoves
| Best Australian TV Performer
| 
|-

 Note: wins only

See also

 Sherbet

References

General

 Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
Specific

External links

Skyhooks at MusicBrainz
 
Skyhooks discography at Billboard

ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Musical groups established in 1973
Musical groups disestablished in 1980
Musical groups from Melbourne
Victoria (Australia) musical groups
Australian glam rock musical groups
Made for Each Other is a 1971 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert B. Bean.

Both starring and written by the husband and wife team of Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna, the film traces the relationship of Pandora and Giggy, a seemingly incompatible couple who meet in a group therapy session and fall in love.

The film was the second screenplay written by the couple (Lovers and Other Strangers being their first), and is also Bologna's film debut. In addition, there are early screen appearances from Paul Sorvino, Candice Azzara and Olympia Dukakis.

Plot
On Christmas Eve, Guido “Gig” Panimba (Joseph Bologna) and Pandora “Panda” Gold (Renee Taylor) each morosely wander the streets of Manhattan and later join an emergency group therapy meeting designed to help the participants break self-destructive patterns. Each person lists his or her neuroses, ranging from bed-wetting to paranoia.

When it is Panda's turn, we learn she is there on her 4th emergency session. She declares herself a failure as an actress, singer, dancer and woman, and launches into a long description of her life and many disastrous love affairs. We learn about Panda's past, in which her mother repeatedly assures her that she will be famous while her father repeatedly abandons them for affair after affair. To escape her unhappy home life, young Panda immerses herself in Hollywood movies, often imitating movie stars such as Rita Hayworth. By the time she is nineteen, Panda tries to attract her father's attention by displeasing him, and to that end moves in with a married, Chinese boyfriend. When her father learns of this, he dies of a heart attack, and at the funeral, his many lovers hysterically blame Panda for his demise. Her next boyfriend ends up leaving her for another man. She works as a hostess of a television quiz show and a nightclub performer, but she gives up both professions to go live in England with her latest boyfriend, whom she caught sleeping with two other women. Panda then enthusiastically announces her "comeback" at an upcoming cabaret revue and invites everyone in the session to come and see her.

Gig, a newcomer to therapy, claims that he has no problems, and when the other participants goad him to be honest, he gets up to leave. Within minutes, however, he returns and announces that he caused his last girlfriend to attempt suicide. Gig recounts his past. He has little privacy from his parents and sisters and is made to feel guilty about his sexual urges. After his mother convinces him that love requires purity, and lust must be violently purged, Gig begins to treat women cruelly and eventually tries to join the seminary, but is soon caught in a tryst with a maid. Gig briefly joins the military, where he embraces an enemy soldier in joy upon learning that the man is not dead. Returning to America, Gig fails to prosper in his father's barbershop and instead goes back to college, where his African studies major horrifies his parents. He then embarks on relationship after relationship, leaving each woman in heartbreak until the latest, tried to kill herself.

At the meeting, some of the women berate him but Panda is sympathetic. After the session, Gig and Panda get to talking and end up having sex in his car. While having sex, Panda accidentally blurts out that she loves him, after the encounter, Gig responds coldly and dismisses her. After some encouragement from the doctor who ran the session, Panda calls Gig in an attempt to scold him for his treatment of her, but she ends up inviting him to dinner. There, he enjoys the food but then readies to leave, promising to return later to have sex after the party he's going to. As he walks out the door, Panda screams after him that she will no longer accept being treated poorly. After she collapses on her bed, he returns silently and asks what they should do next.

Gig reluctantly agrees to Panda's suggestion that they move in together, hoping to break his pattern of abusiveness. Gig finds he is able to really open up to Panda and he playfully helps Panda to overcome her inability to achieve orgasm. On New Year's Eve, Panda's mother appears, reminding Panda that she is late for her night club comeback. Ignoring her mother's disapproval of Gig, Panda rushes to prepare for her act and insists that Gig join them. He is appalled, however, by her act, a painfully amateurish song-and-dance number in which she asks the audience to create a new identity for her. Later, when she asks his opinion, he admits he did not understand it, prompting her mother to lash out at him. Panda asks her to leave, and later at a café asks Gig for more constructive criticism. Upon learning that she has worked on the show for five years, Gig explodes that the act is awful and states that she embarrassed herself and him. Panda runs out and Gig follows, but on the street they fight and ultimately go their separate ways. Panda goes home alone and realizes her act is actually awful and that Gig was right. Meanwhile, Gig tries to sleep with another woman only to find himself impotent with her.

The next day, Panda shows up at Gig's apartment and they make up. Learning that he is going to visit his parents, she insists on joining him, and on the way urges him to introduce her as his girl friend. Gig's large family seems welcoming to Panda until they ask how she met Gig and she responds with a long story about their encounter group and the necessity of escaping the psychological wounds inflicted by their parents. Soon, Gig's mother is screaming at her to leave and Gig shouts back that she must apologize to Panda. She concludes that she will not attend their wedding because Panda is Jewish and her views are so different from their own. Gig's father chastises her for overreacting and declares that they're just having fun, and clearly Gig would never marry Panda. To prove Panda is not Gig's type, he brings out a photo of Gig's first love, a slim Italian teenager. This visibly upsets Gig who decides to get up and leave with Panda, while his family screams after them.

In the car, Gig starts to pick apart his parents, and their comments about Panda. However, Panda tells him that some of their comments about her (particularly her physical features) were accurate. This causes Gig to fly into a rage, because she's agreeing with his parents after all the nasty things they said, so he begins to berate her as well, eventually breaking up with her and forcing her to get out of the car. Panda walks off, but Gig immediately follows her. Eventually, after a lot of arguing, the two break down crying and Gig admits he really loves Panda and the two decide to get engaged.

Principal cast
 Renée Taylor as Pandora Gold
 Joseph Bologna as Giggy Panimba
 Paul Sorvino as Mr. Panimba
 Olympia Dukakis as Mrs. Panimba
 Helen Verbit as Mrs. Gold 
 Louis Zorich as Mr. Gold 
 Norman Shelly as Dr. Furro
 Candice Azzara as Sheila 
 Peggy Pope as Group member

See also
 List of American films of 1971

References

External links
 The New York Times, December 13, 1971
 "Ethnic Cartoons", Time Magazine, December 27, 1971
 
 

1970s romantic comedy-drama films
20th Century Fox films
American films
American romantic comedy-drama films
English-language films
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York City Finish the Story  were formed in Evesham, England, in 1981. The original members were Nicola Mumford, Garry Smout and Peter Bright (aka This Window). Finish the Story were very much a part of the 'Evesham Scene' which included bands The Photos and The Dancing Did

Formed as a cathartic reaction to the death of Nicola's boyfriend, Stuart Dyke, who was killed in a car crash in 1981. Stuart was the bass player with The Dancing Did . Tim Harrison the singer with The Dancing Did invited Nicola to put her angst into words and music and support his band at their next gig. With only a handful of songs, a home-made video and under-rehearsed, Finish the Story appeared for a one-off gig at The Phoenix Club, in Great Malvern (UK) as the support act for The Dancing Did

In the audience was freelance journalist Mick Mercer who was there to review the main act for Record Mirror. A review of the same gig appeared in ZigZag (magazine) written by Sara Jones who said, Finish the Story's debut gig was better than the second coming of Jesus Christ.

With only a few gigs to their credit they supported The Cure at Hammersmith Odeon. Other bands they have appeared with include Blurt and And Also The Trees. Headlining in towns and cities like London, Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter. Finish the Story refused to compromise their artistic intensity to a record label which ultimately forced them apart.

Their first release was on Gunfire and Pianos (SITU 17) released by ZigZag/Situation Two.  Also appearing on this album were Psychic TV, Jazz Butcher and All About Eve (band).

Articles 
Clipping of 'one-off' Malvern gig in Record Mirror 8 August 1981 by Mick Mercer
 ZigZag (magazine) clipping of 'one-off' Malvern gig September 1981 by Sara Jones 
Review of gig in Bristol by Dave Massey in Sounds (magazine) 2 July 1983 
Interview in 'Women In Rock' published by The Daily Mirror  1983
Review and interview with the BBC in 2005.  There is a link on this page to an audio clip of the interview.
Collection of a few reviews and quotes.

External links
Band website which includes the early DIY videos shot on  a domestic VHS video camera which were shown before their gigs in 1981 website
List of releases in Europe on Discogs.com 

English rock music groups
1981 establishments in England