Sherbet founding member Clive Shakespeare has passed away after a long battle with cancer. Shakespeare was born Clive Richard Shakespeare in Southampton, England and emigrated with his family in the 1960′s.

He formed Sherbet around 1969 and was guitarist with the band through to 1975 when he was replaced by Harvey James who also passed away from cancer recently. Clive also co-wrote some of Sherbet’s biggest hits including ‘Cassandra’, ‘You’ve Got The Gun’, ‘Life’, ‘Only One You’, ‘Slipstream’ and ‘Silvery Moon’.

He was also known as a record producer having worked on such albums as Paul Kelly’s debut solo album ‘Post’.

Clive was aged 62 when he passed away.

John Cave, better known under his stage name of William Shakespeare, passed away this week (5th Oct 2010) aged 61.

He shot to prominence in the early 70’s under the guidance and songwriting skills of Vanda & Young. His high pitched voice was quite distinctive and he soon gained a measure of fame but unfortunatly was brought undone with a conviction for carnal knowledge.

John never regained his career and soon slipped into a cycle of depression and substance abuse that saw him treated in the notorious Chelmsford Private Hospital, the same place where Stevie Wright & many others were abused and experimented on. Whilst he sold many records he wasn’t the writer of his hits & once the gigs dried up he received no ongoing money for his efforts.

Australian charity Support Act Limited had been instrumental in helping John through the last part of his life and are also helping with funeral arrangements as John had no immediate family. Support Act Limited was setup to help Aussie musicians who fall on hard times and can be supported themselves with a donation. Check their website here.

Rick Springfield could be described as the epitome of a successful rock star. Aged only 20 he was a member of Zoot, a very popular band of its time. He’s had long-term success as a solo performer as well as an acting career in both movies and TV with his role in the soap General Hospital probably being his most noteworthy. While it hasn’t all been beer & skittles, he still tours extensively to this day. Not bad for a kid from suburban Merrylands in Sydney.

About

Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on the 23rd of August 1949 in Merrylands, NSW and spent his early years in England due to his Fathers military career. He was given a guitar as a present at age 13 and eventually left school early to pursue a musical career.

In 1969 he joined popular Australian band Zoot as a guitarist at age 20 and after a few years of success he started to chase a solo career. “Speak to the sky” was his first solo effort and went top ten in Australia prompting him to move to the U.S.

In 1981 he broke through with the classic hit “Jessie’s Girl”. Around this time he was offered various acting roles which eventually saw him take up a role in General Hospital as Dr. Noah Drake while simultaneously touring with his music. The role in General Hospital was resurrected in 2005.

With a career stretching over 30 years Rick Springfield is very definitely a survivor. He has toured and recorded constantly over this time and certainly doesn’t look like stopping any time soon.

Videos

Recordings

• 1972 – Beginnings
• 1973 – Comic Book Heroes
• 1974 – Mission Magic
• 1976 – Wait For Night
• 1981 – Working Class Dog
• 1982 – Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet
• 1983 – Living In Oz
• 1984 – Hard To Hold
• 1985 – Tao
• 1988 – Rock Of Life
• 1999 – Karma
• 2004 – Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance
• 2005 – The Day After Yesterday
• 2007 – Christmas With You
• 2008 – Venus In Overdrive
• 2009 – My Precious Little One: Lullabies For A New Generation

Other Resources

• http://www.rickspringfield.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Springfield

George Sich, an old friend of mine, has just released a brilliant new E.P. entitled “True Story, I Swear”. I’ll admit to being biased ’cause I know George and did his website, but this is a great recording. He is a very talented songwriter/musician and had the help of some other great Australian musicians such as Kere Buchanan, Peter Northcote, Bill Risby, Michel Rose, Leon Gaer and Mick Albec.

Here’s what George himself had to say:

“Believe it or not these are all love songs, young, old, getting it right, getting it wrong, star-crossed, intoxicating or just plain intoxicated. Although the stories here are true, I have, of course, exercised some artistic freedom, altered names, places and times to protect both the guilty and the innocent. I wish to extend my gratitude to the friends that encouraged me to make this record and motivated me to use the best musicians available, seriously world class players, and I am very privileged to have my name on the same record, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.”

“True Story, I Swear” is available right now on CD or as a digital download. Have a listen for yourself and pass it on to all your friends.

About John Swan

John Swan, more commonly known as Swanee, was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland. He came to Australia with his family in 1961 and is the only one of his siblings to keep his natural fathers surname. He is the older brother of Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of David Campbell.

Brief History

Swanee started his musical career as a drummer in the band Happiness before moving on to other bands such as Fraternity, Feather and Cold Chisel. He branched out on his own, under the name Swanee, in 1979, releasing the album “Into The Night”. His first commercial hit was in 1981 with his version of “If I Were A Carpenter” off the album “This Time Is Different” which featured two other hits, “Temporary Heartache” and “Lady What’s Your Name”

In 1987 he replaced angry Anderson as lead singer in Paul Christie’s “Party Boys” where he had another hit with “He’s Gonna Step on You Again” and then “Hold Your Head Up”. He left the band around 1989 to again pursue a solo career that still persists today.

Videos

Recordings

as Swanee (albums):

• Into the Night – 1980
• This Time is Different – 1982
• Ready for Action – 1983
• Days Gone By – 1984
• Bushido – 1985
• Heart and Soul – 1997

as John Swan

• It Could Have Been You (single) – 1985
• You’ll Do Something (single) – 1985
• Angel (single) – 1986
• Have a Little Faith – 2007

with The Party Boys

• He’s Gonna Step On You Again  (single) – 1987
• The Party Boys – 1987
• Hold Your Head Up  (single) – 1987
• Gloria (single) - 1988)

Other Resources

• John Swan’s website
• Australian Rock database

Known Gigs

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