Shirley Strachan

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox musical artist

Graeme Ronald Strachan (pronounced "Strawn") (2 January 1952Template:Spaced ndash29 August 2001), professionally billed and known as "Shirley" Strachan or Shirl, was an Australian singer, songwriter, radio and television presenter, and carpenter. He was the lead singer of the rock group Skyhooks (1974–1978, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994). While still a member of Skyhooks, he had solo singles, which charted on the Kent Music Report, with a cover recording of Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts" (October 1976, No. 3) and a remake of The Miracles "Tracks of My Tears" (July 1977, top 20). After leaving Skyhooks in July 1978, he concentrated on his solo career. He was the host of children's TV program Shirl's Neighbourhood (1979–83). From 1993, he appeared on home renovation TV program Our House as a carpenter and co-host. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993, Skyhooks were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Strachan died in August 2001 in a self-piloted helicopter accident.

Biography

Early years

Strachan born in Malvern, Victoria, on 2 January 1952 and grew up in Mount Waverley.<ref name="Brown">Template:Cite web</ref> He was the older brother of three sisters, and he was the son of Joyce and Ronald Strachan, who was a carpenter and former World War II Navy sailor.<ref name="Brown"/> Strachan became an avid surfer, and his nickname "Shirley" was applied by fellow surfers due to his long, sunbleached and curly hair (referring to Shirley Temple). He was educated at Mount Waverley High School to the end of year 10, where he completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter.<ref name="Nimmervoll">Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref>

Strachan was a well-known supporter of the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Music career and Skyhooks

Strachan met "Freddy" Strauks, a drummer, at a performance at Village Green. Strachan would later drive his friend to gigs.<ref name="Brown"/> Strauks and Greg Macainsh, on bass guitar, were members of Claptrap in 1970, and they asked Strachan to join on lead vocals in the following year.<ref name="Holmgren">Graeme "Shirley" Strahan Australian Rock Database entries:

Skyhooks (1974–78, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1994): Template:Cite web
Party Boys (1984): Template:Cite web

</ref><ref name="Jenkins">Template:Cite book</ref> The group were renamed Frame with Strachan; Strauks and Macainsh were joined by Pat O'Brien and Sintjio Oohms, both on guitars.<ref name="McFarlane S">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The group's debut performance was on 19 April 1971 at Eltham's Montsalvat, where Strachan "stood facing the band, too shy to face the audience".<ref name="Nimmervoll"/>

In November 1972, Strachan left Frame and moved to Phillip Island to take up surfing and part-time carpentry.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> He later recalled, "You'd get up in the morning and look out the window and say 'yeah'. Then you'd go down to Woolami and check it out. There'd be a few bars there, and you'd go surfing. Then you'd have lunch and perhaps a couple of hours' work, and then it's high tide, so you go surfing again."<ref name="Brown"/> While Strachan was surfing at Philip Island, Macainsh and Strauks formed a new band, Skyhooks, in March 1973 with Steve Hill on lead vocals (ex-Lillee), Peter Inglis on guitar (ex–Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band) and Peter Starkie on guitar and vocals (ex–Lipp & the Double Decker Brothers).<ref name="McFarlane S"/> In March 1974, Strachan replaced Hill on lead vocals in Skyhooks alongside Macainsh, Strauks and Bob "Bongo" Starkie (ex–Mary Jane Union) and Red Symons (ex-Scumbag), both on guitars.<ref name="McFarlane S"/>

Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described Strachan as "a natural frontman: young and gifted, loudmouthed and witty, blessed with a sweet yet powerful voice and androgynous good looks".<ref name="McFarlane S"/> Ed Nimmervoll, a music journalist, opined that "Not only did he have a new identity, he took his singing role on with new maturity and attitude. [Macainsh] told him he'd need to work the stage, and 'Shirl' never looked back, roaming the stage like a maniac."<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> In December 1975, they toured nationally, which Strachan declared was "the biggest tour ever undertaken by an Australian group. Every concert will be performed in the open air".<ref name="Dec 75">Template:Cite news</ref> The group followed with a tour of the United States with some performances as a support act to Uriah Heep.<ref name="Dec 75"/>

Strachan started his solo singing career during his time with Skyhooks. In October 1976, he issued a cover version of Brenda Holloway's 1964 hit "Every Little Bit Hurts" as his debut single, which peaked at No. 3 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.<ref name="McFarlane S"/><ref name="Kent">Template:Cite book Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.</ref> It was produced by Warren Morgan, engineered by Ross Cockle and recorded at Armstrong Studios on Mushroom Records/Festival Records.<ref name="Every Single"/> The B-side, "Cruisin' Out on You", was co-written by Strachan with Morgan.<ref name="Every Single">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

His follow-up single, "Tracks of My Tears", a cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 1965 hit, reached No. 18 in July 1977.<ref name="McFarlane S"/><ref name="Kent"/> It was produced by Ric Formosa, engineered by Cockle, and recorded at Armstrongs.<ref name="Tracks Single">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> The B-side, "Missing You", was co-written by Strachan and Bob Spencer (Skyhooks' then-current guitarist).<ref name="Tracks Single"/> According to Nimmervoll, "Skyhooks in the meantime had started to struggle, and not one to do something he wasn't enjoying any more, Shirl left. It didn't mean that much to him."<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> In July 1978 Strachan left Skyhooks, but his departure was not announced until the following January.<ref name="McFarlane S"/> He was replaced on lead vocals by Tony Williams of Reuben Tice.<ref name="Holmgren"/><ref name="Jan 79">Template:Cite news</ref> During 1978, he issued his third solo single, "Mr Summer", which did not chart.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Kent"/>

Post-Skyhooks and Shirl's Neighbourhood

After Skyhooks, Strachan worked as a radio and television presenter. He became known to a new generation as the host of a magazine-style children's TV series, Shirl's Neighbourhood, from 1979 to 1983.<ref name="McFarlane S"/><ref name="Shirl's Neigh">Template:Cite journal</ref> He issued his debut solo album, It's all Rock 'n' Roll to Me, in 1980.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> At the Logie Awards of 1983, Shirl's Neighbourhood won Best Children's TV Series.<ref name="Zuk">Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref><ref name="Winners">Template:Cite web</ref> He organised and participated in several Skyhooks reformations during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="McFarlane S"/>

Party Boys, radio, Our House and Skyhooks reunions

In 1984, Strachan joined a rock supergroup, the Party Boys, for a national tour and was recorded on lead vocals for their third live album, No Song Too Sacred, alongside founding members Graham Bidstrup on drums, Kevin Borich on guitar and Paul Christie on bass guitar, and new guitarist, Robin Riley (ex-Rose Tattoo).<ref name="McFarlane tPB">McFarlane, 'The Party Boys' entry. Archived from the original on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 31 August 2016.</ref> The album provided their cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as a single.<ref name="McFarlane tPB"/>

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 in March, Skyhooks were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.<ref name="ARIA1992">Template:Cite web</ref> Strachan relocated to Queensland in that year and started as a regular presenter on home makeover program, Our House, where he resurrected skills from his pre-Skyhooks carpentry trade.<ref name="McFarlane S"/> He also presented a breakfast radio show, with Dean Miller and rugby league international Gary Belcher, on the radio station Triple M Brisbane in the 1990s. Strachan left Triple M in 1997 following a pay dispute.<ref>Stafford, P. Rocker was the essence of the '70s: [1 edition]. The Australian. 31 August 2001. p.11. Retrieved 27 May 2021 - via State Library of Queensland</ref> He died in August 2001 while solo-piloting a helicopter, aged 49.<ref name="Brown"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/>

A biography of Strachan, Shirl: The Life of Legendary Larrikin Graeme 'Shirley' Strachan, written by Jeff Apter, appeared in 2012.<ref name="Apter">Template:Cite book</ref> Apter had already written 15 celebrity biographies; for Shirl, Apter had access to Skyhooks' band members, Strachan's family, and "music industry figures, people from Strachan's later career in TV and radio, and the surfing gang he assembled after relocating to Queensland in the 90s."<ref name="Jones">Template:Cite web</ref> Alistair Jones of The Australian felt that Apter's sources "all contribute to a picture of a good bloke fondly remembered" with the biography's strength being the "input that keeps the journey of a larger-than-life character grounded in personal terms" while a "down-side" was that "in sympathetically honouring the trust of his sources, Shirl becomes something of a tear-jerker."<ref name="Jones"/>

Personal life

In August 1975, Strachan married Sandra Davis at a registry office in London.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Marry">Template:Cite news</ref> The pair had started dating when he was surfing and working on Phillip Island in 1972–73.<ref name="Brown"/> By October 1977, the couple had separated.<ref name="Separate">Template:Cite news</ref> Strachan's second wife was Sue Scott.<ref name="Brown"/> The couple met in 1981 when he was a guest of the TV game show Catch Us If You Can, where Scott was a model and presenter.<ref name="Smith">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1993, the Strachans moved to Queensland.<ref name="Cashmere 1">Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref>

Death

Strachan was killed in a helicopter crash on 29 August 2001, at the age of 49. He had been a fixed-wing pilot for many years and had been undergoing training for a helicopter pilot's licence, with a view to buying a helicopter and taking friends and family on surfing safaris. On a solo flight near Mount Archer, Queensland, in clear weather and inexplicably off the course planned by his instructor, Strachan encountered mountain turbulence which caused the rotor of his Bell 47G to sever the tailboom, crashing the helicopter onto the north-north-eastern slope of Mount Archer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The day Strachan died was, coincidentally, the day an ABC documentary episode on rock and roll in Australia, Long Way to the Top, which referred to the Skyhooks, aired on TV.

Tributes

In early September 2001, a beachside funeral was attended by Strachan's family and friends, including Skyhooks' guitarist, Red Symons, and radio colleagues, Gary Belcher and Dean Miller.<ref name="SMH Funeral">Template:Cite news</ref> His ashes were scattered into the sea from a helicopter by his wife, Sue.<ref name="SMH Funeral"/>

Triple M Brisbane, Strachan's former employer, held a day-long on-air tribute to him on the day after his death. Old archived audio was played on air. An episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary Long Way to the Top featuring Skyhooks was broadcast on the day of his death: it was dedicated to his memory. On 10 September, Channel Nine broadcast a tribute episode of Our House, "Our House – Memories of Shirl", with content filmed in the weeks before his death, along with archival footage.<ref>Our House tribute episode footage</ref> It was the most-watched program on that night, with 2.19 million viewers.<ref name="Our House 2">Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref>

In September 2001, remaining members of Skyhooks reunited for a memorial gig at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda.<ref name="Cashmere 2"/> Guest vocalists included Daryl Braithwaite on "All My Friends Are Getting Married" and Ross Wilson on "Warm Wind in the City".<ref name="Cashmere 2">Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref>