The band shocked conservative middle Australia with their outrageous (for the time) costumes, lyrics, and on-stage activities, leading to seven of the ten tracks on their first album being banned from commercial radio. Much of the group's success derived from its distinctive repertoire, most of which was penned by bassist Macainsh.
Although Skyhooks was not the first Australian rock band to write songs in Australia, about Australians, for Australians (rather than ditties about love or songs about New York or other foreign lands), they were the first band to do so and be commercially successful, and the songs were set apart from much of the pop fare of the time thanks to Macainish's mordant humour.
The 'Hooks were the Australian pop success story of their era. Their first album, Living in the Seventies, rocketed to the top of the charts and stayed there for so long that it became the best selling Australian album ever up to that time, with the follow-up, Ego is not a Dirty Word, coming a close second. The band's success was also widely credited with saving the struggling Mushroom record label and enabling it to develop into the most successful independent Australian label of its time.
Both these LPs were produced by Ross Wilson, former lead singer of Daddy Cool, which had been the most successful Australian rock group of the early 1970s. Wilson championed the group, signing them to a publishing contract and convincing Mushroom Records boss Michael Gudinski to give them a recording contract.
Remarkably, the success of Living in the Seventies was mainly due to the enormous support the band were given by the TV pop show Countdown, rather than support from radio β in fact, most of the tracks on the LP had been banned by commercial radio because of their sex and drug references. Despite the ban, and as a deliberate act of provocation to commercial radio, the ABC's newly established 24-hour rock music station Double Jay chose the album's first track, the provocatively titled "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed" as the first track played on air on its first day of broadcasting on January 19, 1975.
Over the next few years, Skyhooks gradually faded from the public eye with the departure of key members, and in 1980 the band announced its break-up in controversial circumstances. The demands for the band to reform were successful in 1983, with a record sum of money being paid for each of the original members to play a series of concerts. Further reformations took place in 1984 and then in 1990 the band finally recorded new material, "Jukebox in Siberia", which shot to the top of the charts.
"Shirley" Strachan and Red Symons both went on to successful careers in Australian commercial television. Symons was for many years a villain-cum-guitarist on the long-running TV show 'Hey Hey It's Saturday.' He was especially known for wielding the gong on the 'Red Faces' talent segment. He now works on ABC radio and writes humorous columns for the press. After the demise of Skyhooks, Starkie still plays locally, Freddie became the drummer in the later lineup of noted Melbourne rock band The Sports, and other acts such as The Bushwackers and the "Old Skydaddys". Greg Macainsh played with John Farnham, and in recent years has been a board member of both APRA and PPCA, and is currently completing a Law Degree. Strachan hosted a popular children's TV show 'Shirl's Neighbourhood' in the early 80s and went on to use his carpentry trade skills on air in various home improvement TV shows. He was also a familiar face at Hawthorn Football Club functions, of which he was a passionate supporter. Sadly, Strachan was killed in an air crash on August 29th, 2001, when the helicopter he was learning to fly crashed into Mount Alexander near Kilcoy, northwest of Brisbane. Strachan died instantly.
A Memorial was held to pay Tribute to Strachan at the Palais Theatre shortly after. Tribute were paid and Guest Vocalist and Producer Ross Wilson assisted on the night.
A Night to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the release of the Living in the 70s album was held in 2004. It was a historic night with several different incarnations of the band performing. The only absences were Graham Strachan and Steve Hill.
The Skyhooks and Steve Hill then reformed in 2005 in Sydney for a One-Off gig. Hill had been diagnosed with Cancer and the Original Skyhooks, Peter Inglis, Peter Starkie, Fred Strauks and Greg Macainsh joined with Hill to show their support.
The name "Skyhooks" comes from an imaginary device created in the book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator used to hold the elevator up in mid-air.
Horror Movie
Skyhooks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Watched a horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, right there on my TV
Shockin' me right out of my brain
Shockin' me right out of my brain
It's bound to get you in
Hit you right on the chin, oh yeah
It's bound to be a thriller
It's bound to be a chiller
It's bound to be a killer, oh yeah
[Chorus]
The planes are a-crashin'
The cars are a-smashin'
The cops are a-bashin', oh yeah
The kids are a-fightin'
The fires are a-lightin'
The dogs are a-bitin', oh yeah
[Chorus]
You think it's just a movie on a silver screen
And they're all actors and fake old scenes
Maybe you don't care who's gonna lose or win
Listen to this and I'll tell you somethin'
It's a horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, and it's blown a fuse
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
The public's waitin'
For the killin' and the hatin'
Switch on the station, oh yeah
They do a lotta sellin'
Between the firin' and the yellin'
And you believe in what they're tellin', oh yeah
It's a horror movie right there on my TV
Horror movie right there on my TV
Horror movie and it's blown a fuse
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
And it's shockin' me right outta my brain
Skyhooks's song "Horror Movie" is a clever critique of entertainment, media, and society as a whole. The song speaks about how the horror genre in both television and movies have been affecting people's brains. The chorus emphasizes the point, βWatched a horror movie, right there on my TV, Shockin' me right out of my brainβ. The horror movie is symbolic of the violence in the world that we see on the news every day. The song describes that the world around us, with the planes crashing, cars smashing, cops bashing, kids fighting, fires lighting, and dogs biting, is like a horror movie come to life. The lyrics say, βMaybe you don't care who's gonna lose or win, listen to this and I'll tell you somethin', it's a horror movie, right there on my TVβ.
The song also has an undertone of how media sensationalizes violence to sell more, and how people indulge in this violence as entertainment. The song goes on to describe how the public is waiting for the killing and the hating, and how media sells between the firing and yelling, often not reporting the truth. βThey do a lotta sellin' between the firin' and the yellin' and you believe in what they're tellingβ. The song is speaking to the insidious nature of the media and how it can affect people's sense of reality. Overall, Skyhooks's song "Horror Movie," is a thoughtful commentary on contemporary culture and media.
Line by Line Meaning
Watched a horror movie, right there on my TV
I watched a horror movie on my television
Horror movie, right there on my TV
I am seeing a horror movie on my TV right now.
Shockin' me right out of my brain
The movie is so scary that I am getting shocked and losing my mind.
It's bound to get you in
This movie is definitely going to get you engrossed.
Get you under your skin
It will get so intense that it will hit you deep down.
Hit you right on the chin, oh yeah
It will hit you hard and make you feel the fear.
It's bound to be a thriller
This is definitely a thrilling movie.
It's bound to be a chiller
It is bound to chill you to the bone.
It's bound to be a killer, oh yeah
It's going to be very frightening.
The planes are a-crashin'
The scenes of plane crashes are horrifying.
The cars are a-smashin'
The scenes of cars crashing are terrifying.
The cops are a-bashin', oh yeah
The violence is getting more intense as the cops are attacking.
The kids are a-fightin'
The scenes of children fighting are scary.
The fires are a-lightin'
The fire scenes are alarming and petrifying.
The dogs are a-bitin', oh yeah
The images of dogs biting are intense.
You think it's just a movie on a silver screen
You might think it's just a movie playing on TV
And they're all actors and fake old scenes
You could believe that the actors are just performing and the scenes are fake.
Maybe you don't care who's gonna lose or win
You might not be bothered by who loses or wins in the movie.
Listen to this and I'll tell you somethin'
But, listen to me, I have something to tell you.
It's a horror movie, right there on my TV
It is a real horror movie that is playing on my television set.
Horror movie, and it's blown a fuse
This horror movie is so terrifying it's blown a fuse in me.
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
It is a true horror movie that is being shown on the six-thirty news.
The public's waitin'
People are waiting for something terrible to happen.
For the killin' and the hatin'
They are waiting for violence and hate to occur.
Switch on the station, oh yeah
People are watching with great interest.
They do a lotta sellin'
The news channels promote the news with graphics, sound effects, and more.
Between the firin' and the yellin'
They show the coverage of gunfire and screams with great impact.
And you believe in what they're tellin', oh yeah
You might believe what the news channels tell you.
It's a horror movie and it's blown a fuse
The horror scenes are so terrifying it has affected my senses.
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
The news channels are showing a real horror movie on the six-thirty news.
And it's shockin' me right outta my brain
The horror scenes shown on TV are so nerve-wracking that I'm losing my sanity.
Lyrics Β© BMG Rights Management
Written by: GREGORY J MACAINSH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ferajade8899
Lyrics
Watched a horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, right there on my TV
Shockin' me right out of my brain
Shockin' me right out of my brain
It's bound to get you in
Get you under your skin
Hit you right on the chin, oh yeah
It's bound to be a thriller
It's bound to be a chiller
It's bound to be a killer, oh yeah
The planes are a-crashin'
The cars are a-smashin'
The cops are a-bashin', oh yeah
The kids are a-fightin'
The fires are a-lightin'
The dogs are a-bitin', oh yeah
The planes are a-crashin'
The cars are a-smashin'
The cops are a-bashin', oh yeah
The kids are a-fightin'
The fires are a-lightin'
The dogs are a-bitin', oh yeah
You think it's just a movie on a silver screen
And they're all actors and fake old scenes
Maybe you don't care who's gonna lose or win
Listen to this and I'll tell you somethin'
It's a horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, right there on my TV
Horror movie, and it's blown a fuse
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
The public's waitin'
For the killin' and the hatin'
Switch on the station, oh yeah
They do a lotta sellin'
Between the firin' and the yellin'
And you believe in what they're tellin', oh yeah
It's a horror movie right there on my TV
Horror movie right there on my TV
Horror movie and it's blown a fuse
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
Horror movie, it's the six-thirty news
And it's shockin' me right outta my brain
@simonkormendy849
2023 and this song still ROCKS HARD!!!!!
@aerogain
Purdon me it's 2024
@calebsmith8892
Who's still boppin to this fine tune while in lockdown...... R.I.P SHIRL..
@RyanSmith-bv4ht
Graeme Strachan is actually not dead he's still alive and is possibly living in Whitlesea to this day
@Dead-st7ry
@@RyanSmith-bv4ht say what now?
@RyanSmith-bv4ht
@@Dead-st7ry what did you say
@richie4351
Please don't be surprised by my name i just wanna tell u that's this is a one and only kinda voice.
It's the best music n some great voices, made me learn the English language. I used to fail the English exam very often in my school days back in Punjab.
Now I can watch the best entertainment in the world. thanks
@andreabrown758
So timely appropriate with the bloody horror movie on our TVs now....ahead of the game ol Shirl!
@ideaphile
What a song! What an album! What a time!
@peterhoare3219
Fucken A!
I'm 56.
Countdown Sunday night with Molly was a religion!