3 months ago
22
One of Australia’s most culturally significant rock bands, The Skyhooks, is mourning the death of their rhythm guitarist.
The band has announced Bob “Bongo” Starkie died earlier on Saturday at the age of 73, after a battle with leukaemia.
Bob “Bongo” Starkie (right) at the height of the Skyhooks era.
“It’s with sadness in our hearts that we have to send out this news,” the band wrote on its Facebook page.
“For the past year, he has fought the brave fight against [leukaemia] hoping to get back on the road to perform more shows. Music was in his blood till the very end.
“Bob was the guitarist in the iconic Skyhooks, the youngest in the band and he embraced the theatrics from striking facial make up to unique stage costumes. The music always came first and touring and playing onstage was his absolute joy.”
Starkie last month cancelled 50th anniversary shows for the band’s seminal debut album Living in the 70’s due to ill health.
Bob "Bongo" Starkie on guitar and backing vocals for the band The Skyhooks.
Starkie’s daughter Indiana, quoted in the same post, said he “peacefully departed listening to Chuck Berry. Snuggling with his fur baby Bonnie, surrounded by friends and family.
“He has felt the love till the very end.”
The Skyhooks, a quintet, were early favourites of the Melbourne-produced music TV series Countdown, pairing their quirky, place-based songs with glitzy stage attire.
Starkie joined the band in August 1973 as a replacement for his brother Peter, who helped found the band. Peter died in 2020, aged 72, after falling from a ladder.
The younger Starkie proved the perfect foil to the band’s lead guitarist, Red Symons, with the duelling solos midway through You Just Like Me ’Cos I’m Good In Bed a particular highlight of their six-string partnership.
Lead singer Shirley Strachan passed away in 2001, aged just 49, on a solo helicopter flight in Queensland.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
