The HORSES

A new book titled Aussie Rock Anthems unpacks an iconic list of legendary Australian tunes and the narratives behind them. This edited extract takes us through the epic 1991 hit cover song made famous by Daryl Braithwaite...

-  GLEN HUMPHRIES

"We did this gig and the first 100 people down the front were all aged between 18 and 25 and we thought, 'God, what's going on?... when we played 'The Horses' the whole place erupted."

Daryl Braithwaite never really wanted to work a day job. He grew up in South Yarra in Victoria and went to school with someone named Olivia Newton-John, before the family moved to Sydney's northern suburbs. He finished school there, and music really started to get its hooks into him.

Finishing school in Year 10, his dad pushed him towards a fitter and turner's apprenticeship on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. That didn't go too well, as he tended to take a day off to go surfing whenever the waves were good. His eternally patient boss realised the kid wasn't interested in the job, so they came to an agreement: Braithwaite got his papers saying he had finished his apprenticeship and the boss got to hire someone who would actually turn up for work.

He was gigging in local bands when he got his big chance in 1970, when Clive Shakespeare from a band called Sherbet asked if he wanted to join. They'd just released their first single, which went nowhere special, but big things were afoot. Two years later Sherbet had charting hits, appearances on Countdown and screaming teenagers everywhere they went. Oh, and there was also a lot of chest hair and satin jackets.

However, the good times didn't last forever: the screaming teenagers grew up and their tastes changed, while their younger siblings weren't interested in a hand-me-down pop band because they wanted their own stars to scream at. That and an abortive push into the US market that saw them change their name to Highway signalled the end of Sherbet.