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Copyright notice:
Images on this page may not be reproduced elsewhere without written permission.
©Debbie Kruger,
Bob King, Philip Morris and others
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| I had always wanted to work with my favourite Australian goup of the seventies, Sherbet, as their publicist if they ever got together again. I never imagined it would be because one of their members was terminally ill.
This is the story about one of the most exciting and emotionally engrossing projects I've ever worked on, with some of the greatest Australian musicians of all time and some terrific event organisers, production people, photographers and friends.
In July 2010 guitarist Harvey James was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. After a small benefit in Melbourne, where Harvey played with Ariel and other musician friends, a bigger, splashier Sydney benefit was planned with Sherbet headlining. I contacted keyboardist Garth Porter, and joined a small organising team that included Garth and Harvey, web guru and event manager Natalie Harker, and music publisher Peter Paterson.
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| Harvey was driving the planning for the Sydney version of Gimme That Guitar, to be held on 17 February 2011, and intended to play one more time with his musical friends and his sons. He personally contacted all the artists who readily agreed to perform, including Dragon, Richard Clapton, Renee Geyer, Ian Moss, Kevin Borich, Swanee and Lindsay Wells. |
Harvey playing at his Melbourne benefit, November 2010.
Photos © Judie Gade, Musicwise
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| Harvey was in email contact with the musicians, and with me, daily. From those emails it seemed the life force within him was strong and even though he was physically weak, his spirit was determined to get on to that stage. As he wrote to me in December, "Deb, as far as my a*$# points to the ground and I plan on it doing so, I will be on stage playing that night, I live to play, it gives me strength, it is a medicine all in itself."
In another email, while outlining his health condition and the physical factors working against him, he ended emphatically, "I look forward to playing with some great people again and hoping that the crowd takes it in the spirit it is intended, friggin LOUD rock and Roll and no bullshit, make the hairs on their neck stand out."
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| We announced the show on Wednesday January 12, and in the midst of the horrendous flood disaster in South East Queensland, which took up most pages of all the newspapers, we got terrific coverage for the big Sherbet reunion. The show sold out in two days. And then on the third day, Saturday January 15, Harvey died.
I got the call that night, within an hour of his passing. I was watching the Sherbet Superhits DVD at the time. The call came during the clip of "Child's Play", the last song the band recorded before Harvey joined the group.
Harvey's daughter posted the news on Facebook shortly after, and then the world went crazy. The Send Your Love To Harvey James page became a place for friends and fans to pour out their hearts. It still is.
The photo at right is from Bob King's archive and it became the most-used image of Harvey in the media in the days and weeks ahead.
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Harvey in 1976 with his yellow Strat
© Bob King
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| As far as PR crisis management goes, I had handled all kinds of issues through my career, but never the death of an icon. It was amazing to see just how loved Harvey was, and how vital the legacy of Sherbet still was in the psyche of Australian popular culture. But while I dealt with the many media enquiries and handled the professional side of what had happened, I was still a die-hard Sherbet fan whose first Sherbet concert in June 1976 was Harvey's first Sydney Sherbet concert, too. Until now, Sherbet was one of the few Australian bands from that era unaffected by tragedy. It was almost inconceivable that one of them was gone. I wanted Sherbet to be untouchable, its members immortal, my Summer Love to be eternal and Life to always be for Living.
Adding to the drama and poignancy at the time was the sudden death of Cold Chisel drummer, Steve Prestwich, only 18 hours or so after Harvey. A huge weekend of loss in the Australian Music industry.
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| Still, we had a sell-out show to get on with organising, now in Harvey's honour as a tribute and fundraiser for his family and the Peter Mac Cancer Centre in Melbourne. So organise we did. |
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| We'd already had a lot of media coverage in the week of announcing the show and in the aftermath of Harvey's death, so once we had made it clear that the show would go on in a new media release that also included an official statement from Sherbet, it was just a matter of working on logistics behind the scenes — getting merchandise designed and available on the Gimme That Guitar website for pre-order; and making sure all the artists were up to speed, had their setlists picked, side musicians booked and crews all lined up. We had a fantastic team working on all these areas of the gig, and new people put up their hands to help all the time. |
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The t-shirts and poster were designed by Gabe James, Harvey's eldest son, who is a graphic designer. Central to both designs was a classic photo of Harvey by photographer Philip Morris. Along with Bob King, Philip was photographing Sherbet during their heyday, and were both very generous in allowing use of their photos throughout the publicity campaign, as well as agreeing to come along on the night to take pics. |
| Philip's beautiful shot of Harvey with his yellow Strat in black and white looks like it was taken at the same concert as Bob King's colour shot, above. Harvey's wearing the same shirt, with the same gaping beneath the chest! |
Harvey in 1976
© Philip Morris
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Along with Sherbet, the original bill announced featured Dragon, Richard Clapton, Renee Geyer, Ian Moss, Swanee, Kevin Borich, Lindsay Wells and a Band of Friends made up of stalwart musos like bass player Harry Brus. Libbi Gorr (aka Elle McFeast, die-hard Sherbet fan) was to MC the show. We'd also announced that Harvey's two sons, Gabriel and Joshua, would play guitar on the night. As if that all wasn't enough, Jon English then became available to join the bill, and then just the day before the show, Leo Sayer also came on board. That worked out well as unfortunately on the day of the show Renee Geyer had to pull out due to ill health.
Eight days before the show, after a month of telling disappointed fans that the show was a sell-out and there was no way we could release any more tickets, we found ourselves changing venues, from the Factory Theatre to the much-loved-but-hard-to-park-around Enmore Theatre. So another media release went out to announce that new tickets were in fact on sale. All of which sold very quickly, so we had a big full house on the night.
After eight weeks of working towards the big night, I couldn't wait to get down to Sydney and start working with everyone, especially the Sherbet guys. I'd been in constant contact with Daryl Braithwaite, who is the one of the most obliging artists I've ever worked with. He did a lot of radio and press interviews leading up to the event. Tony Mitchell had helped out with some interviews, too, and even Garth, one of the busiest people on the planet, had squeezed in a couple of radio interviews between all the co-ordinating he was doing for the event, and his own work songwriting and producing. Many of those interviews can be heard in the media coverage section at the bottom of this page.
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Garth, Daryl and Tony on the media beat
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The guys were scheduled to do a couple of newspaper interviews before their first rehearsal, the day before the show. Unfortunately drummer Alan Sandow, the only member of the band who no longer works in the music business, was unwilling to do the media calls. That was probably more disappointing to me as the PR person than to anyone else, but the other three stepped up to the mark beautifully. |
| Right near the rehearsal studio in Surry Hills was a funky graffitied alley, making for a colourful photo shoot for the papers, and a fun backdrop for a shot of me with the boys. They were all in good spirits, but all said it felt very strange to be together without Harvey there. |
Debbie and her "fizzy boys" aka Sherbet
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Daryl and Harry
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Rehearsals were taking place at Flashpoint Studios, whose owner Harry and manager Chris kindly donated the studio space for two days. That's Harry Vanda, of course, and he was on hand to say hi to his old mates.
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Sherbet rehearsing
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| Hanging around for the Sherbet rehearsal was wonderful, and just a little surreal. The guys all slid back into the slipstream with ease. Or so it looked to me. Filling in for Harvey on guitar was the very talented Johnny Sans from a band called The Lazy Flies, who were going to open the show. Curiously, Johnny physically resembled Clive, the original Sherbet guitarist, rather than Harvey. Regardless, the sound was great. The Sherbet DNA is impossible to erase in those guys, no matter how long between gigs.
Also on hand during the Sherbet rehearsal were Gabe and Josh, so they could brush up on their guitar licks to play on "The Skill" and "Howzat" in honour of their dad.
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Josh and Gabe
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| The next morning was rehearsal for the finale song, and although not everyone was there (Swanee was still to fly in from Adelaide; Ian Moss preferred to wing it on the night), it was a fine assortment of musicians to scramble together a version of "A Little Help From My Friends", the song Harvey had wanted to end the show with, on stage with his dear friends. |
Sherbet members with Kevin Borich, Lindsay Wells, Jon English, Leo Sayer,
Pete Drummond, and more to come on the night.
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| Then we moved over to the Enmore Theatre in the afternoon for soundcheck. The Sherbet guys did some more media, including an interview with the ever-enthusiastic Angela Bishop from TEN News. Angela always puts together a great story, and this was the one where Garth announced to the whole nation that this would probably be Sherbet's final ever performance. We all had known that, but hearing it spoken was very sad. |
Daryl, Garth and Tony talk to TEN News
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| While everyone was getting ready backstage in the hour before the show, a crew from Max TV was filming some interviews for a segment they were producing about the gig and Harvey. Given that the interviews were being held in "the cave" – the infamous under-stage green room that shook every time someone walked on the stage over head and filled with the sounds of guitars, bass and drums – The Max team did an amazing job, and you can see that clip along with other TV coverage further down this page in the media coverage section. |
Chit Chat from Max TV talking to Sherbet and Swanee in "the cave"
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| Soundcheck was drawn out as they usually are, but kept interesting with constant arrivals of musicians. Swanee came straight from the airport and on arrival got up to speed with what was happening with the running of the show, which had changed a little since Renee Geyer had pulled out. |
Daryl, Swanee and Alan
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Jon English was now going to do three songs instead of just one, and Leo Sayer, who had originally just come on board to help with vocals on the finale, was now going to sing one of his own crowd-pleasing songs. Bob King arrived and started taking photos, and Daryl was snapping away a lot of the time on his own camera. Still waiting to see those pics, Daryl! |
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Jon and Daryl talk shop. Or perhaps they were talking about fishing?
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Bob the King of photography with Daryl
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Daryl looking for that photoplay face.
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I might not be the photoplay face but I was the lucky publicist who got
to work with this lovely man on what was probably his last Sherbet gig.
I love this shot of Debbie and Daryl by Bob King.
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| Tony mentioned in the TEN News interview that while Harvey was probably looking down approvingly on the proceedings, he would have been glad to be missing soundcheck! Certainly it took a while to get the levels right, but the crew, headed by two guys who had crewed for Sherbet back in the seventies – Garry Brokenshire and Joe Vecchiotti – were doing a fantastic job getting it all together. |
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"Soundcheckin', trying to get you out of my mind..."
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Always serious about the music, Garth keying up his keyboards. |
With the Sherbet logo on the drum kit, we knew we were in business!
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Swanee thought he'd better get backstage and check that running sheet just to make sure he hadn't flown himself up from Adelaide for nothing. He was pleased to see he was very much on the bill, performing with Kevin Borich and band. I'd not worked with or even met the great John Swan before, so this was one of many joys for me in doing this job.
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I never seemed to stop running around that afternoon, looking after media who were present and those not even there. My good pal Paul Cashmere from online music news website Undercover had been constantly supportive of Gimme That Guitar since it was announced, so when he emailed me that morning and asked me to send him the full setlist for each artist in the show, I thought I'd better get everyone's songs before the show started, so that I wasn't having to take notes through the whole five hours!
Apart from that there were passes to laminate (not that I was very good at that; the machine seemed to chew them up when I was operating it), crudites and antipasti to nibble on (nice dolmades), and the ultimate green room treat – sherbets – to suck on! Special thanks to Natalie for organising all that!
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Meanwhile, outside in the hot summer sunshine, a long line had been forming around the block of the Enmore Theatre. It was quite a scene. The cafe next door had been turned into a VIP area and family and friends of the artists were milling about in anticipation. The doors opened and the big foyer of the theatre was filled with people buying t-shirts, posters and drinks. |
Swanee talks the talk with Lindsay Wells, with stage manager Sue Telfer and Garth looking serious in the background.
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Backstage again, and everyone was hobnobbing and getting ready for the show to begin. I'm not sure if Swanee and Lindsay Wells knew each other before this event, but it seemed they were old mates from lifetimes ago. Lindsay had flown himself over from Perth especially at Harvey's request. Swanee was going to sing Lindsay's most famous song, "Golden Miles", with him. It was promising to be pure magic. |
| Lindsay wrote the early seventies classic, recorded with his band Healing Force, and it was one of Harvey's all-time favourites. Harvey had wanted to play it with Lindsay, and even though that was not going to be possible, Lindsay honoured his promise and came over anyway. And quickly endeared himself to everyone in the cast and crew as one of the nicest guys in the entire universe.
I was just lucky to be there in the midst of all these top blokes!
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Debbie, Swanee, Lindsay and Daryl
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| The last time I'd been with Jon English was about 14 months earlier when he came to my home in Byron Bay to do an interview with me for the National Film & Sound Archive. That's Mr English, a class act, going wherever he's needed. Jon was devastated by Harvey's death and dearly wanted to be involved. Harvey had written to him in the early stages of planning the gig, saying he was "part of the family and should be there if poss." Such was the Australian music industry in the 1970s and early 1980s, the old Countdown era, when everyone was like family with everyone. And Jon will always be a superstar to me. |
Jon and Deb backstage before the show
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Jon and Jonny in the cave
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In the cave before his set, Jon didn't seem overly excited by the sandwiches; maybe he'd filled up on those sherbet fruits. He brought his son, Jonathan, aka Jonny, to play onstage with him. Reckon you can see the family resemblance? Check those dark eyes! |
| That camaraderie is so beautifully exemplified in this photo that I snapped backstage. After Sherbet, Harvey had played in Richard Clapton's band for some time, and Harvey had also played in the Party Boys, which Swanee ended up singing with. Sherbet and Cold Chisel had toured together in 1978, and Harvey had shared close friendships with the Chisel guys over the years. And here they all were, for Harv. |
Richard Clapton, Phil Small, John Swan and Tony Mitchell
– some of Harvey's brothers
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| And then there was Leo Sayer, one of those infectiously joyful people who just lights up every room he walks into. He was so much fun to have around that day and night. Leo is one of those artists you kind of take for granted over the years; only when you see him perform live do you realise just what a powerhouse talent he is. I remember seeing him in concert in Sydney in 2006 and having such a great time. Harvey would have just loved having him at his celebration. |
Never a dull moment...
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A Leo with Leo
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| And then it was showtime! Here is just a small sampling of the amazing photos taken by Bob King on the night (all by Bob unless otherwise credited). |
Libbi Gorr welcomes the crowd
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Kevin Borich and Harry Brus
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After a warm-up set by The Lazy Flies who played sixties and seventies covers, Kevin Borich took the stage with his band. He and bassist Harry Brus tore it up on "Fight On", "Still Alive and Well" and "Gonna See My Baby Tonight". |
| Swanee joined Kevin and band on stage and delivered a soulful rendition of "Fooled Around And Fell In Love", then his classic version of "If I Were A Carpenter" and finished with "Tush". |
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Swanee belts it out
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Kevin Borich and Swanee
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| Jon English took the stage and performed "Turn The Page", "Six Ribbons" (with Melanie Horsnell on harmony vocal) and "Hollywood 7" – his three biggest hits and signature songs.
Leo Sayer just sang one hit, his perennial ballad "When I Need You", but his amazing voice and presence worked its magic on the crowd. I wish he'd sung "The Show Must Go On" as well.
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Jon English doing what he does best
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Leo loving the audience. A true showman.
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Ian Moss
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Then Ian Moss was on stage with Phil Small and drummer, such a lean tight outfit, to perform "Tucker's Daughter", "Let's Stay Together" and the Chisel classic "Bow River". Mossy might be shy and quietly spoken off the stage, but once he is up there in front of a crowd, it's a voice to be reckoned with. |
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Phil Small – so cool
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| Backstage after their set, Ian and Phil took it easy. I noted that Phil never took off his sunglasses – very Richard Claptonesque! Not only was their stage presence beyond cool, but it did not escape anyone's thoughts that these guys were here to honour Harvey, when they had also lost one of their own band members, Steve, and were still grieving. |
Ian and Phil cracking open a couple of cold ones.
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| Ian didn't want to talk about it in interviews at all, but the double loss must have weighed heavily. Ian and Harvey were house mates for some time in the 1980s. These guys will always have my utmost admiration for being a part of Harvey's tribute gig at such a hard time. |
Dragon tuning up. Pete Drummond, Todd Hunter,
Bruce Reid and Mark Williams
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Although their drummer, Pete Drummond (have name, will play) had been around all day in rehearsals and soundcheck, the rest of Dragon only arrived at the Enmore Theatre shortly before their set. I didn't ask about their elusiveness; it was just lovely to see Todd Hunter again and catch up with them briefly backstage, while Richard Clapton was playing his set.
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| Meanwhile Ralph was playing "Capricorn Dancer", "Deep Water", "Ace Of Hearts" and "I Am An Island". Harvey had really been looking forward to playing with him, and Richard is a sensitive soul, so it can't have been the easiest gig for him. He did great, though. |
Richard Clapton gives it everything he's got
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| Dragon was the last act on stage before Sherbet, and the crowd were totally into the music and atmosphere. Mark Williams always does Marc Hunter proud. They performed "Rain", "21", "April Sun In Cuba" and "Are You Old Enough". |
Mark and Todd singing "April Sun" in February
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| After Dragon there was a break before Sherbet took the stage. Backstage it was time for photos before the band's last live appearance. The mood was light and relaxed, but the undercurrent was sombre. If this really was going to be the last time, there was a lot of history to leave behind. |
Sherbet get ready for their last hurrah
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 L-R: Alan, Johnny (looking a little Clive-ish), Garth, Daryl, Tony, Gabe (for Harvey)
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And one for me, to always remember the occasion
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And then Sherbet took the stage and started the opening bars of "Blueswalkin'", and the crowd went beserk. "Matter Of Time", "Cassandra", "You've Got The Gun" and "Wishing Well" followed, and then they paused to read out three pages of thank yous to the many people that had made the night possible. My sister was in the audience and said she was very proud when Daryl mentioned my name. So was I. |
| Gabe James joined the band for the Sherbs hit, "The Skill", which they hadn't played live since 1984. Harvey had really wanted to play that song with them that night. Then Josh James joined them on stage for "Howzat". I don't know if the song had ever been played with acoustic guitar before! |
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| Alan then signalled the last Sherbet song with six beats of the hi hat, and "Summer Love" began, with an explosion of graffiti that completely smothered everyone at the front of the audience, while giant blow-up beach balls bounced from the stage to the crowd and back again. It was beyond blissful, so amazing, like no other love. |
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Still from Sue Konon's video footage
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| You just have to see the video of this – and there is much more on YouTube if you want to go on over there to check it out, especially Sue Konon's amazing footage. If your internet connection is high speed, be sure to select the 720p HD option for viewing.
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From Philip Morris's lens
I'm at the bottom of this photo, eyes, closed, mesmerised
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I watched the entire Sherbet set from the media pit in front of the stage, and although I knew the graffiti guns were about to go off, I wasn't prepared for the sheer euphoria that rainfall of coloured paper would bring. I was with Tony's wife Bess and we just let it wash over us, subliminally transfixed. |
Bob King, meanwhile, really captured the excitement of the crowd
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| For the finale, most of the artists came back on stage to join Sherbet and Harvey's boys in that Cocker-style rendition of "A Little Help From My Friends".
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| Ian sang the first verse, Daryl took the second, Leo and Jon sang the high backing vocals, somewhat comically, but it worked. Swanee sang the bridge, and when they all sang together it was very powerful. And moving. |
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Mossy giving a little help to his friends
© Philip Morris
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Daryl and Swanee getting a little help from the lyrics
© Philip Morris
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| Philip Morris and Bob King both took some amazing shots. Bob alone took around 2000 photos that night, and every one is superb, capturing the proceedings moment by moment. These photos are truly priceless. And you've got to love that fisheye lens! |
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Again, Sue Konon's footage is a must-see. If you like her work, please click through to her YouTube channel and leave some feedback.
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| As all the artists left the stage, all that was left was for Harvey's three kids to thank everyone for putting the show together, and to thank the audience for coming. As Gabe spoke, Alex choked up, and so did we all. As Gabe said, the night was exactly what their Dad would have wanted. And then Josh yelled out: "A great night of rock and roll!" We all agreed. |
Photo by Bob King Photo dddddon right Photo by Philip Morris
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Gabe, Alex and Josh after the show
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Backstage amidst the after-show mayhem, Harvey's three kids were able to savour the moment, along with other family members who had travelled up from Victoria especially.
They also had the chance to meet a couple of women who had fascinated them in the lead-up to the event.
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Meera and Donna had featured in a gorgeous video clip from the ABC music program Flashez in 1977, and after seeing all the excitement the clip was generating, Meera had made contact with us to let us know they would be at the show. This is the clip.
Meera asked me if I could organise a meeting for her with Harvey's family to talk to them for a piece she was writing about Sherbet stardom and fandom for a literary journal (yes, another fan turned writer). The kids were just as keen to meet Meera and her old friend Donna, so they caught up in the VIP area after the show.
L-R: Donna, Gabe, Meera and Alex.
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| Meanwhile, all the usual suspects were milling about after the show, including the guru with the gift of the gab, Glenn A Baker (aka GAB, get it?). Not sure if Swanee was giving Glenn or the gig the thumbs up, or maybe Bob King, for having the stamina to still be on his feet taking pictures after seven hours. I was happy to catch up with my pal Glenn, too. |
Swanee and Glenn A Baker
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Deb K and Glenn A
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| Lots of new friendships had been made, and I suspect Leo and Lindsay were hatching a plan to open a shop selling colourful men's shirts. |
Sharing shirt shop ideas
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| The PR job was still going on, with the Channel Seven camera man sweet talking me into sweet talking Daryl into doing a post-show interview, jammed in the hall outside the toilets backstage, the only few square feet of space available (see Seven News clip below in media coverage section). My head was throbbing, my throat was raw, I'd hardly sat down all day, and I was ready to call it a night. So I left the throng at around 1am. By which time the confetti was being swept up. I thought it might have made a jolly improvement to the Enmore Theatre's staid carpet, but not to be.
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Many people put in their time, energy, resources and finances to bring the wonderful Gimme That Guitar concert in Sydney to fruition and raise funds for Harvey's family and the Peter Mac Cancer Centre. There was a lot of help from some very kind people along the way. But for the record, these are the key people who were responsible for the Gimme That Guitar concert on 17 February 2011:
Garth Porter – Event organiser and musical direction
Natalie Harker – Event Coordinator and web promotion
Peter Paterson – Production and event coordination
Debbie Kruger – Publicity and event coordination
Sue Telfer – Artist Liaison and stage management
Jamie Fonti – Sound, production and stage management
Garry Brokenshire – Backline suppliers and stage management
Joe Vecchiotti – Crew
Garry Maddox – Venue Production
Bob King – Photography
Philip Morris – Photography
Most importantly, all the amazing musicians who are named and photographed above - thank you all for your generosity!
And of course Harvey James, for bringing us all together, and being the inspiration that he was and still is.
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Copyright notice:
Images on this page may not be reproduced elsewhere without written permission.
©Debbie Kruger, Bob King, Philip Morris and others
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