Sherbet

Sherbet formed in 1969 from the remnants of two Sydney dance bands. After eight long months playing in Jonathan’s discotheque in Ultimo, they were spotted by the young Roger Davies, who was later to manage Tina Turner and Janet Jackson. By January 1972 the lineup had settled to the members shown here: Daryl Braithwaite, Clive Shakespeare, Garth Porter, Alan Sandow (left to right) and Tony Mitchell (foreground). Between 1971 and 1978 Sherbet released 15 albums and 30 singles, 20 of which were consecutive hits. Named Best Australian Group in the TV Week King of Pop Awards every year from 1973 to 1978, they gained a sound edge over other bands through Garth Porter’s Mellotron machine. Singer Daryl Braithwaite was King of Pop in his own right in 1975, 1976 and 1977, enjoyed huge solo success in the 1980s, and has drawn good crowds at pubs and clubs across the country ever since. In 2013, at the age of sixty- four, he released Forever the Tourist, a mini-album of new material. Garth Porter, who wrote most of Sherbet’s hits and co-wrote Lee Kernaghan’s ‘Boys from the Bush’, has won seven Golden Guitars as well as various Country Music Association of Australia awards for writing and producing. He was honoured with an Australian Country Music Hand of Fame in 2000. Tony Mitchell still plays bass guitar professionally, while drummer Alan Sandow made a career outside the music business. Founding member Clive Shakespeare died in 2012.

Lewis Morley photographed Sherbet in the nude for the racy POL magazine in 1972. His individual photographs of the band members, also in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, were used on the new cover for the 1975 re-issue of Sherbet’s debut album, Time Change: A Natural Progression, first released in 1972.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Lewis Morley Archive LLC