SHIRLEY STRACHAN

Graeme Strachan (2 January 1952 – 29 August 2001) better known as Shirley Strachan was the lead singer of Australian 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. 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 Neighbourhood 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. Strachan was killed in a helicopter 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 Mount Archer 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.

SINGLES

Every Little Bit Hurts

1 NOV '76

#2

Tracks of My Tears

4 JUL '77

#20

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Strachan

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/