Graham Strachan
Encyclopedia
Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (2 January 1952 – 29 August 2001) was the lead singer of Australia
n 1970s rock group Skyhooks.
Born in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, he was an avid surfer, and his nickname "Shirley" was given to him by his surfer friends because of his long, sunbleached and very curly hair, referring to Shirley Temple
.
in the early 1980s. In the 1990s he was a regular presenter on home makeover program Our House where he resurrected skills from his pre-Skyhooks carpentry trade. He was also instrumental in several Skyhook reformations during the 1980s and 1990s.
Strachan presented a breakfast radio show with Gary Belcher
and Dean Miller on the Brisbane
radio station Triple M
in the 1990s. Strachan left Triple M in 1999 following a pay dispute.
accident on 29 August 2001. He had been a fixed wing pilot for many years and had been undergoing training for a helicopter pilots licence, with a view to buying a helicopter and taking friends and family on surfing safaris. On a solo flight near Maroochydore 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 a mountain slope.
and radio colleague Gary Belcher
. His ashes were scattered into the sea from a helicopter by his wife, Sue.
Radio 4MMM, Shirl's former employer, held a day-long on-air tribute to him on the day after his death. Old archived audio was retrieved and played to air.
The episode of the ABC
documentary Long Way To The Top
featuring Skyhooks was scheduled to be broadcast on the day of his death. The episode was dedicated to his memory.
Channel Nine
ran a tribute episode of Our House featuring footage filmed in the weeks before his death, along with archive footage.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n 1970s rock group Skyhooks.
Born in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, he was an avid surfer, and his nickname "Shirley" was given to him by his surfer friends because of his long, sunbleached and very curly hair, referring to Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
.
Career
Strachan pursued a solo singing career during his time with Skyhooks and released a number of records, the most successful of which was his cover of "Every Little Bit Hurts" in 1976. He left Skyhooks in 1978 and then worked as a radio and television presenter. He became known to a new generation as the host of children's television series Shirl's NeighbourhoodShirl's Neighbourhood
Shirl's Neighbourhood was an Australian afternoon children's television series aired on the Seven Network between 1979 and 1983. The half-hour show featured former Skyhooks frontman Graeme "Shirley" Strachan and co-host Liz Rule alongside a cast of characters including Norm The Kangaroo, Ol'...
in the early 1980s. In the 1990s he was a regular presenter on home makeover program Our House where he resurrected skills from his pre-Skyhooks carpentry trade. He was also instrumental in several Skyhook reformations during the 1980s and 1990s.
Strachan presented a breakfast radio show with Gary Belcher
Gary Belcher
Gary Belcher is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player of the 1980s and '90s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative goal-kicking fullback, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for Souths and in the NSWRL...
and Dean Miller on the Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
radio station Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...
in the 1990s. Strachan left Triple M in 1999 following a pay dispute.
Death
Strachan was killed in a helicopterHelicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
accident on 29 August 2001. He had been a fixed wing pilot for many years and had been undergoing training for a helicopter pilots licence, with a view to buying a helicopter and taking friends and family on surfing safaris. On a solo flight near Maroochydore 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 a mountain slope.
Tributes
A beachside funeral was attended by Strachan's family and friends, including Skyhooks guitarist Red SymonsRed Symons
Redmond Symons is an Australian musician, writer, actor and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with Skyhooks and as the snide judge of "Red Faces", a segment of the long-running Hey Hey It's Saturday variety television show...
and radio colleague Gary Belcher
Gary Belcher
Gary Belcher is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player of the 1980s and '90s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative goal-kicking fullback, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for Souths and in the NSWRL...
. His ashes were scattered into the sea from a helicopter by his wife, Sue.
Radio 4MMM, Shirl's former employer, held a day-long on-air tribute to him on the day after his death. Old archived audio was retrieved and played to air.
The episode of the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
documentary Long Way To The Top
Long Way To The Top
Long Way To The Top was an Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary on the history of Australian rock and roll from 1956 to the modern era.-Production:...
featuring Skyhooks was scheduled to be broadcast on the day of his death. The episode was dedicated to his memory.
Channel Nine
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
ran a tribute episode of Our House featuring footage filmed in the weeks before his death, along with archive footage.
45 singles
- Every Little Bit Hurts/Cruisin' Out With You - 1976
- Tracks of my Tears/Missing You -1977
- Mr Summer/Song For a Friend - 1978
- Christmas in the Neighbourhood/Christmas Children - 1979
- Nothing But The Best/Your Love -1979