Rare Skyhooks Footage Found

On June 16, 1976, after a gruelling six-month tour of the US, Skyhooks arrived home, greeted by what the Melbourne Sun called “a screaming, hysterical welcome”.

Guitarist Red Symons had his coat torn off and shirt ripped at the Melbourne Airport. Asked if that was the sort of reception the band had received in America, he replied: “Yeah, except it was us banging on the doors.”

Singer Shirley Strachan told the paper that the US “brought us down to earth. We were over-confident at first. And we were brought down to our level fast. The workload was huge, the pressure great, and the future uncertain … there wasn’t much time for fun.”

Before embarking on “The Brats Are Back” homecoming tour, Skyhooks made a triumphant return to Countdown, which hosted a special “Welcome Back Skyhooks” episode.

The band premiered two songs – Somewhere In Sydney and This Is My City – from their forthcoming third album, Straight In A Gay Gay World, which they recorded with producer Ross Wilson at the Record Plant in Sausalito.

Sadly, the tapes of the show were believed to have been long lost.

“Like many episodes of Countdown, the master tapes of this show were thrown into the dumpster, and many of us thought it had been lost forever,” laments Skyhooks archivist Peter Green.

But Green says, “Working around the Skyhooks archives, I’ve come to accept that what we think is lost and gone forever can sometimes bubble to the surface and surprise us all.”

Enter two passionate music fans – Cameron Towson and Troy Walters – “who surprised us all with a National colour cartridge videocassette (a rare format from that year) of the 1976 broadcast.

“Instant-hero status from Skyhooks fans everywhere!”

Green calls the discovery “a bit of a musical holy grail moment”. 

He says the footage shows “hysteria in the studio from fans, and the band in fine form”. Strachan was showing off a new look, having recently cut his famous curls. “And he was looking far more like an Aussie Jim Morrison in his new leather pants purchased in the States.”

Strachan sang live in the studio.

“The quality is pretty decent, considering it’s 49 years old,” Green says. “Mark Goulding from the Skyhooks Archives did some tidying up and has given it to us in HD.”

Towson and Walters now plan to give the tape to the ABC for their archives. 

“A tiny part of history saved,” Green smiles. 

The episode – Countdown #66, June 20, 1976 – also featured The Angels, Chariot and Ol’ 55.