Sherbet

Sherbet were formed in Sydney in 1969 by guitarist Clive Shakespeare with members of his former band, Downtown Roll Band. Initially they started out as a soul band doing Motown covers and other soul and rock-based material. The band’s first single was 1970’s “Crimson Ships”, a cover of a song by Badfinger; it featured original Sherbet vocalist Dennis Laughlin.
The band played a formative residency at Jonathon’s Disco in Sydney during 1970, playing eight hours a night, four days a week for eight months, and it was during this period that they were spotted by their future manager, Roger Davies. Daryl Braithwaite joined during this period, initially as a second lead vocalist. Laughlin left the band a few months later and Braithwaite then became Sherbet’s sole lead singer.
In 1971, Sherbet won Australia’s prestigious national rock band contest the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds, and they are notable as one of only three groups to win the competition (along with The Twilights 1966 and The Groove 1968) who went on to achieve major commercial success.
Sherbet signed to the Infinity Records label (a subsidiary of Festival Records) and in 1971 and 1972 scored their first hits with covers of Blue Mink’s “Can You Feel It Baby?”, Delaney and Bonnie’s “Free The People” and Ted Mulry’s “You’re All Woman”.
Their biggest singles were “Summer Love” (1975) and “Howzat” (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. “Howzat” was also a top 5 hit in the UK. Though the band’s success in the U.S. was more limited, “Howzat” was a #61 hit in America, and under the name The Sherbs they also hit #61 in 1981 with the single “I Have The Skill”.