Daryl Braithwaite: From Sherbet To 'The Horses' To The ARIA Hall Of Fame

Jeff Jenkins writes the Australian music column Howzat! for The Music, a journey started two decades ago. Here he shares his connection with Daryl Braithwaite.

Fun fact: Daryl Braithwaite is the only Australian artist to have had number one singles and albums with a band and solo. Sherbet's Greatest Hits 1970-75 topped the charts in 1975. Fourteen years later, Braithwaite was back at number one with his solo album Edge. He's also had four number one singles: two with Sherbet (Summer Love and Howzat) and two solo (You're My World and The Horses).

And now Braithwaite is being inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame for the second time. "I feel really honoured," he says. "I was 20 when I joined Sherbet. I was just in it for the fun and excitement, and here I am 47 years later. Many good things have gone my way."

Sherbet had more Top 40 hits in the '70s than any other Australian act. Back then, a civil war was raging. Our version of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones was Sherbet versus Skyhooks. During the Countdown years, Braithwaite's grandmother lived down the road from Countdown host Molly Meldrum's house. She would take him scones and tell him to play Sherbet more often. "She'd also give me a mouthful if she thought I was favouring Skyhooks," Meldrum recalls.

The irony was the two bands were actually great friends, particularly Braithwaite and 'Hooks singer Graeme "Shirley" Strachan, who were both surfers and tradesmen before finding fame (Braithwaite was a fitter and turner, Strachan was a carpenter).

Braithwaite's dad wasn't happy when he quit his trade. Braithwaite enjoyed working on submarines at the Cockatoo Island naval dockyard in Sydney, but his bosses weren't always happy when he skipped work to go surfing. Braithwaite says his real apprenticeship was with Sherbet.

Braithwaite, 68, is no stranger to awards - he was King Of Pop three years in a row (1975, 1976 and 1977) and Sherbet were inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame in 1990 (two years before Skyhooks) as Braithwaite was preparing to release another smash hit solo album, Rise, featuring The Horses, which became his signature song.

The Horses is now part of Australian culture. Country artist Lachlan Bryan recently took New Orleans band The Roamin' Jasmine to Tamworth for a gig. The perplexed Americans were greeted by a bunch of blokes at the bar who asked, "Can youse guys play that Daryl Braithwaite song The Horses?"

Braithwaite can't explain why his version is so loved, especially by young audiences. "I can't work out why, but the affection that people have for that song is incredible. It does something for people every night we play it."

Braithwaite didn't write The Horses, but he made it his own. The song was written by Rickie Lee Jones and Steely Dan's Walter Becker and was the opening track on Rickie's 1989 album, Flying Cowboys. "I love the fact that I heard the song by chance," Braithwaite says. "We were right at the end of recording Rise and I put on that album and heard The Horses. I rang [producer] Simon Hussey straight away and said, 'We should do this song'. I knew that dynamically we could make it sound like As The Days Go By."

Of course, Braithwaite is no one hit wonder. He had an incredible run of hits with Sherbet, with 19 Top 40 singles from 1971 to 1978. As a solo artist, Braithwaite has had 15 Top 40 hits, starting in 1974 with his chart-topping cover of You're My World.

Braithwaite continues to record. He released the album Forever The Tourist in 2013, and a new compilation, Days Go By, to be released on 24 Nov, will feature four new recordings, including covers of Motor's Too Fast (with good mate James Reyne, who Braithwaite says should also be in the Hall Of Fame for his solo work), Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes (Braithwaite is a huge Gabriel fan; the Edge album included a cover of I Don't Remember), Chicago's If You Leave Me Now (which kept Sherbet's Howzat out of top spot on the UK charts; the new version showcases Braithwaite's flawless falsetto), and Brian McKnight and Diana King's When We Were Kings (which was suggested by Braithwaite's producer, Bryon Jones), plus Braithwaite's version of Up On The Roof, which was on the recent Carole King tribute album ("one of the best things I've done for decades - everything sat perfectly").

Daryl Braithwaite will be inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame at the ARIA Awards on 28 Nov.

Howzat!

Howzat! has a special fondness for Daryl Braithwaite. Indeed, the column is named after Sherbet's biggest hit. Daryl was also the first major interview I did - I was starting out, and he was making a comeback, releasing the Edge album in 1988.

We spoke about fame and family. Daryl talked about his mum, Laura ("She was always concerned that I was going to end up as a no-hoper, but she's heard the new stuff and now she's really proud") and his twin brother Glenn ("I really admire him - he's had to take a lot with his brother being in a pop group"). Daryl also revealed he had some intensive singing lessons before recording Edge. "One of the most important things I learned is the psychology of singing, recognising where your voice comes from and giving a song an interpretation from the heart, not just paying it lip service."

Then, and now, Daryl is a lovely bloke. I'm not sure I've met a star more laid back, and I've often wondered whether his easygoing nature prevented him from conquering the world. Not that he seems too perturbed. Talk to him for any length of time and it's obvious he's more interested in catching the next wave than religiously reading the charts.

But his love of music is undeniable and he has a remarkable body of work. He is a deserving double Hall Of Famer.

Double-Ups

Daryl Braithwaite says his lucky number is 11 - he and his twin, Glenn, were born on 11 Jan. "If I ever play roulette, I bet on 11, and if it's the horses, I always look at what's number 11." Daryl is now the 11th artist to be twice inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame. The others are: Harry Vanda & George Young (as Vanda & Young and The Easybeats), Ross Wilson (solo and Daddy Cool), Glenn Shorrock (solo and Little River Band), Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel and solo), Rick Grossman (Divinyls and Hoodoo Gurus), Gary Young (Daddy Cool and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons), and Neil Finn, Tim Finn and Paul Hester (Split Enz and Crowded House).

Six Things You Might Not Know About Daryl Braithwaite

Daryl Braithwaite went to high school with Olivia Newton-John. "I used to pass notes to him, he was so cute," Livvy says. "He's still cute and he's got a great voice."

His twin brother, Glenn, was the head of pathology at Geelong Hospital. Glenn also sings and plays flute and harmonica in a band called Cool Change, and did backing vocals on Daryl's Edge album alongside John Farnham.

Braithwaite was the only artist to sing two songs on Countdown's first episode on November 8, 1974 - Daryl performed his debut solo single, You're My World, and Sherbet did Silvery Moon.

Sherbet were managed by Roger Davies, who now manages P!nk.

Braithwaite's biggest hit in the US was his 1991 solo single Higher Than Hope, which hit number 47.

Daft Punk sampled The Sherbs' 1982 single We Ride Tonight - co-written by Braithwaite - for the intro of their song Contact, which was the only sample on their Grammy Award-winning album Random Access Memories.