Howzat! (album)

Last updated

Howzat!
Howzat (album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1976
RecordedMarch–May 1976
StudioEMI Studios, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genre Rock, pop
Length40:13
Label Infinity/Festival
Producer Sherbet,
Richard Lush
Sherbet chronology
Life... Is for Living
(1975)
Howzat!
(1976)
The Sherbet Collection
(1976)
Singles from Howzat
  1. "Howzat"
    Released: May 1976
  2. "Hollywood Dreaming"/"Gimme Love"
    Released: July 1976

Howzat! is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band, Sherbet. released in June 1976. It spent two weeks at number one on the Australian albums chart in 1976.

Contents

At the Australian 1976 King of Pop Awards the album won Most Popular Australian Album.

Reception

Cash Box magazine said "Their sound is a bit pop-ish, but the somewhat heavy-handed treatment of the instrumentation lends just enough punch to make Howzat! a solid choice for the FM programmer as well. We highly recommend the title track and 'Blueswalkin' to the progressive programmer, while 'Dancer' will supplement these just fine in the pop markets."

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Howzat" Garth Porter, Tony Mitchell 3:46
2."Lady of the Night"Porter, Mitchell, Daryl Braithwaite 4:04
3."Gimme' Love"Porter, Mitchell4:01
4."If I Had My Way"Porter4:09
5."Hollywood Dreaming"Porter4:03
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dancer"Porter, Mitchell3:22
2."Blueswalkin'"Porter, Mitchell, Alan Sandow 3:56
3."Motor of Love"Porter, Mitchell, Sandow3:24
4."The Swap (You Can Get the Lot)"Porter, Mitchell, Harvey James 4:16
5."Can't Find True Love"Porter, Mitchell, Sandow2:57
6."I'll Be Coming Home"Porter, Mitchell2:15
Total length:40:13

Personnel

Sherbet

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1976/77)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)1

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)10

Release history

CountryDateLabelFormatCatalog
Australia June 1976 Festival LP, CassetteL35905
United Kingdom 1976EpicLP, CassetteEPC 81623
United States 1976MCALPMCA 2226
Australia1998Infinity, Festival RecordsCDD20034
Australia2006LiberationCD+DVDBLUE125.5

Related Research Articles

Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1973. Their classic lineup (1974–1977) comprised Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (vocals), Greg Macainsh, Red Symons, Bob "Bongo" Starkie, and Imants "Freddie" Strauks (drums).

Sherbet was one of the most successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. The 'classic line-up' of Daryl Braithwaite on vocals, Tony Mitchell on bass guitar, Garth Porter on keyboards, Alan Sandow on drums, and Clive Shakespeare on guitar provided their teen-oriented pop style. In 1976 Shakespeare left and was soon replaced by Harvey James. Sherbet's biggest singles were "Summer Love" (1975) and "Howzat" (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom. The band was less successful in the United States, where "Howzat" peaked at No. 61. As The Sherbs they also reached No. 61 in 1981 with "I Have the Skill". The group disbanded in 1984. Subsequent re-unions have occurred since 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryl Braithwaite</span> Australian singer

Daryl Braithwaite is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet. Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including two number-one hits: "You're My World" and "The Horses". His second studio album, Edge, peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, No. 14 in Norway and No. 24 in Sweden.

Garth Ivan Richard Porter is a New Zealand-born Australian multi-instrumental musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a member, on keyboards and backing vocals, of the pop group, Sherbet (1970–84), and co-wrote both of their number-one singles, "Summer Love" and "Howzat". Porter is a co-writer and producer for country music singer Lee Kernaghan.

<i>Another Passenger</i> 1976 studio album by Carly Simon

Another Passenger is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Elektra Records, on June 5, 1976.

Tony Mitchell is a songwriter and bass guitarist who rose to fame in the 1970s with Australian rock band Sherbet. Mitchell co-wrote some of Sherbet's biggest hits, including "Howzat" and "Magazine Madonna".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Shakespeare</span> Musical artist

Clive Richard Shakespeare was an English-born Australian pop guitarist, songwriter and producer. He was a co-founder of pop rock group Sherbet, which had commercial success in the 1970s including their number-one single, "Summer Love" in 1975. The majority of Sherbet's original songs were co-written by Shakespeare with fellow band member Garth Porter. Other Sherbet singles co-written by Shakespeare include "Cassandra", "Slipstream" and "Silvery Moon". In January 1976 Shakespeare left the band citing dissatisfaction with touring, pressures of writing and concerns over the group's finances. Shakespeare produced albums for other artists including Post by Paul Kelly in 1985. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002 and died of the disease in 2012, aged 64.

<i>From Now On</i> (Will Young album) 2002 studio album by Will Young

From Now On is the debut studio album by English recording artist Will Young. It was released by S Records on 7 October 2002, eight months after he won the first series of Pop Idol. The singer worked with a variety of writers and producers on the album, including Absolute, Cathy Dennis, Julian Gallagher, Stephen Lipson, Mike Peden, and Richard Stannard as well as Swedish musicians such as Jörgen Elofsson, David Kreuger, and Per Magnusson. Young co-wrote five songs on From Now On which also features a cover version of The Beatles' song "The Long and Winding Road", a duet with fellow Pop Idol finalist Gareth Gates.

Ariel were an Australian progressive rock band fronted by Mike Rudd and Bill Putt, who formed the band in 1973 after the breakup of their previous group Spectrum. The original Ariel line-up was Mike Rudd, Bill Putt (bass), Tim Gaze (guitar), John Mills (keyboards) and Nigel Macara (drums). Gaze and Macara were recruited from seminal Australian progressive rock band Tamam Shud. The band released three studio albums and two live albums between 1973 and 1977, during which there were several line-up changes, with Rudd and Putt the only permanent members. Other members of Ariel included guitarists Harvey James and Glyn Mason and keyboard player Tony Slavich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Love (Sherbet song)</span> 1975 single by Sherbet

"Summer Love" is a song by Australian pop group, Sherbet and was released in March 1975. It became their first number-one hit on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The song was promoted on the newly aired ABC TV pop series, Countdown, which gave it wide exposure. From early 1975 the group made more appearances on the show than any other band in the programme's history. In October, at the King of Pop Awards, "Summer Love" won the Most Popular Australian Single, the band won Most Popular Australian Group and their lead singer, Daryl Braithwaite, won the King of Pop award.

<i>On with the Show</i> (Sherbet album) 1973 studio album by Sherbet

On with the Show is the second studio album by Australian band, Sherbet released in November 1973. The album spent 12 weeks in the Australian charts, peaking at number #6. "Cassandra" was the only single to be released.

<i>The Skill</i> 1980 studio album by The Sherbs

The Skill is the eighth studio album by the Australian band Sherbet but also the first under their new name, The Sherbs. It was released in October 1980 and reached at number 85 on the Kent Music Report.

Harvey James born Harvey William James Harrop was an English-Australian rock guitarist. He was a member of the bands Mississippi (1973–74), Ariel (1974–75), Sherbet and the Party Boys (1982–83). James was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2010 and died on 15 January 2011, aged 58, leaving behind his three children, Gabriel, Alexandra and Joshua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howzat (song)</span> 1976 single by Sherbet

"Howzat" is a song by Australian band Sherbet, released in May 1976. The song reached number 1 in Australia on the Kent Music Report and it also reached number 1 in New Zealand on the Recorded Music NZ. It was released from Sherbet's album of the same name, Howzat. The song was written by band members Garth Porter and Tony Mitchell. The title track was also a number one hit and remains the group's biggest hit, especially outside of Australia, reaching the top 5 of the UK charts and also entering the lower end of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can You Feel It, Baby?</span> 1971 single by Sherbet

"Can You Feel It, Baby?" is the second single by Australian band Sherbet, released in June 1971. It was released as the first single from Sherbet's debut studio album Time Change... A Natural Progression. The song charted at number 22 on Go-Set and it also peaked at number 16 on the Kent Music Report. The song was written by English songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free the People (Sherbet song)</span> 1971 single by Sherbet

"Free the People" is a song by Australian band Sherbet. It was released in October 1971 as the second single from Sherbet's debut studio album Time Change... A Natural Progression. The song charted at number 33 on Go-Set and number 18 on the Kent Music Report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're All Woman</span> 1972 single by Sherbet

"You're All Woman" is a song by Australian band Sherbet. It was released in June 1972 as the third single from Sherbet's debut studio album Time Change... A Natural Progression. The single reached at number 19 on the Kent Music Report and it also reached at number 13 on Go-Set.

"You've Got the Gun" is a song by Australian band Sherbet. It was released in October 1972 as the fourth and final single from Sherbet's debut studio album Time Change... A Natural Progression. The song was written by Sherbet band members Garth Porter, Clive Shakespeare, Daryl Braithwaite. The song reached at number 29 on Go-Set and number 27 on the Kent Music Report.

"Cassandra" is a song by Australian band Sherbet, released in September 1973 as the first and only single from Sherbet's second studio album, On with the Show. The song was written by Sherbet members Garth Porter and Clive Shakespeare. Cassandra peaked at number 5 on Go-Set and it also peaked at number 9 on the Kent Music Report.

Ronald Robert Peel, who also performed as Rockwell T. James, was an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of numerous bands starting with the Missing Links and the Pleazers in the mid-1960s; then the La De Da's from 1972 to 1975 and in various backing bands for John Paul Young. He released a solo album Shot of Rhythm and Blues in 1977 under the James pseudonym, which provided his only top 40 single, "Roxanne". He co-wrote "Rock Me Gently" for Sherbet with its band members, which is a top 10 hit for that group. Peel died in 2020 due to an unspecified cancer.

References