Shirley Strachan

Graeme Ronald Strachan (pronounced "Strawn") (2 January 195229 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. 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.

Strachan was a well-known supporter of the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL.

Music career and Skyhooks

Strachan met Freddy Strauks, a drummer, at a performance at Village Green. Strachan would later drive his friend to gigs. The group were renamed Frame with Strachan; Strauks and Macainsh were joined by Pat O'Brien and Sintjio Oohms, both on guitars. 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". The group followed with a tour of the United States with some performances as a support act to Uriah Heep. It was produced by Warren Morgan, engineered by Ross Cockle and recorded at Armstrong Studios on Mushroom Records/Festival Records.

His follow-up single, "Tracks of My Tears", a cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 1965 hit, reached No. 18 in July 1977. The B-side, "Missing You", was co-written by Strachan and Bob Spencer (Skyhooks' then-current guitarist). During 1978, he issued his third solo single, "Mr Summer", which did not chart. He issued his debut solo album, It's all Rock 'n' Roll to Me, in 1980. He organised and participated in several Skyhooks reformations during the 1980s and 1990s. The album provided their cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as a single. 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. He died in August 2001 while solo-piloting a helicopter, aged 49. 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." 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." The pair had started dating when he was surfing and working on Phillip Island in 1972–73. Strachan's second wife was Sue Scott. In 1993, the Strachans moved to Queensland.

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 but (significantly) very windy 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. 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. His ashes were scattered into the sea from a helicopter by his wife, Sue. It was the most-watched program on that night, with 2.19 million viewers.

In September 2001, remaining members of Skyhooks reunited for a memorial gig at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda.

Shirley Strachan Memorial Swim

The Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club has been holding a competitive surf swim commemorating Shirley Strachan since 2002 – the Annual Shirley Strachan Memorial Swim. It was originally organised by Bruce and Sandy Warren. In November 2016, Bruce Warren died, and subsequent swims have been re-named the Shirley Strachan and Bruce Warren Memorial Swim.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of albums, with Australian chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | AUS

! scope="row" | It's All Rock 'n Roll to Me (as Shirl)

Released: 1980
Format: LP, Cassette
Label: Hammard (HAM054)

| align="center" | 68

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of singles, with Australian chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:32em;" | Title

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | AUS