Sherbet ranked as the leading Australian pop act throughout the 1970s, amassing twenty straight hit singles and seventeen albums that earned ten platinum and fourteen gold certifications.
During 1969 the Sydney club circuit revolved almost entirely around the spending power of U.S. servicemen on official Rest and Recreation leave from Vietnam. Venues supplied the r&b, soul, funk and upbeat rock those audiences demanded, and the same currents shaped the newly formed Sherbet once vocalist Daryl Braithwaite joined and supplied his distinctive falsetto. The group embodied the era’s teen-idol archetype, appearing in carefully styled hair and bright satin stagewear.
In July 1976 the band’s eighth national top-ten single, “Howzat,” reached number one and displaced Abba’s fourteen-week reign at the summit with “Fernando.” The accompanying album of the same title also topped the chart, again supplanting Abba. Released in Britain, the single climbed into the Top 10, registered further success across Europe and South East Asia, and received widespread U.S. radio exposure. The members subsequently aimed to establish themselves internationally.
In June 1978 they cut their seventh studio album in Los Angeles. At RSO Records’ direction they adopted the name Highway, hoping to shed the frivolous connotations attached to “Sherbet” and project greater musical seriousness. Domestically they issued only one single under the Highway banner before shortening the name to The Sherbs.
Caught between the pursuit of American success and the need to retain Australian fans, the group lost its forward motion and announced its breakup in late 1983. While Sherbet was still at its peak, Daryl Braithwaite had already issued several well-received solo singles. After a period away from the spotlight he resumed his solo career in 1988, scoring eight additional hit singles and two major-selling albums, Edge and Rise.
Sherbet’s principal songwriter, Garth Porter, later became a central figure in contemporary Australian country music, most notably as producer and occasional co-writer for Lee Kernaghan, frequently described as Australia’s “Garth Brooks.”
