Skyhooks guitarist Bob Starkie dies aged 73

The Skyhooks, a quintet, were early favourites of the Melbourne-produced music TV series Countdown, pairing their quirky, place-based songs with glitzy stage attire.

Starkie joined the band in August 1973 as a replacement for his brother Peter, who helped found the band. Peter died in 2020, aged 72, after falling from a ladder.

The younger Starkie proved the perfect foil to the band’s lead guitarist, Red Symons, with the duelling solos midway through You Just Like Me ’Cos I’m Good In Bed a particular highlight of their six-string partnership.

Lead singer Shirley Strachan passed away in 2001, aged just 49, on a solo helicopter flight in Queensland.