In case you didn’t know, ‘Howzat’ is call in cricket by the fielders to the umpire as an appeal for a batter to get out, slang for “how’s that”!

I was a little Aussie kid in England when this song hit the UK charts. It was quite nice to see an Aussie band on Top Of The Pops.

In November 2023, the National Film and Sound Archive added Howzat to the Sounds of Australia register for songs of "cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance". This song delineates the height of Sherbet’s career where they were considered Australia’s most popular band and yes, there was rivalry between Sherbet and Skyhooks for that title. 🙂

Worth going down the rabbit hole with Sherbet - very diverse sound. They were the Beatles to The Skyhooks Rolling Stones

I didn't know they were Aussies, but I remember the song quite well. It brings back nice memories of times when life was carefree.

The keyboard player Garth Porter was playing a clavichord sound which gave the low bass sound and hit the chord as a 7th chord which has a punching sound to add to the rhythm. It does give an unusual sound ..the clav was popular with Stevie Wonder.

One of my favourites when it first came out and still sounds good today even with a wonkey note......many thanks for playing this one.

This song is very appealing. They played a version of this at the ODI matches here in England & Australia when batsmen were dismissed, along with Take The Long Way Home by Supertramp, think they still might sometimes.

The girls saw in Sherbet what us boys refused to acknowledge. They were better than we thought. I recommend something later like ''I Have The Skill'' or ''We Ride Tonight''. They got a little closer to Phil Collin's Genesis in the early 80's.

Sherbet (aka Highway or The Sherbs) was one of the most successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. The 'classic line-up' of Daryl Braithwaite on vocals, Tony Mitchell on bass guitar, Garth Porter on keyboards, Alan Sandow on drums, and Clive Shakespeare on guitar provided their teen-oriented pop style. In 1976 Shakespeare left and was soon replaced by Harvey James. Sherbet's biggest singles were "Summer Love" (1975) and "Howzat" (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom. The band was less successful in the United States, where "Howzat" peaked at No. 61. As The Sherbs they also reached No. 61 in 1981 with "I Have the Skill". The group disbanded in 1984. Subsequent re-unions have occurred since 1998. From 1970 until 1984 Sherbet scored 20 hit singles in Australia (including two number ones) and released ten platinum status albums. The single "Howzat" which was a number-one hit in 1976, also reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. They were the first Australian band to reach $1 million in record sales in Australia, and they pioneered the concept of massive regional tours. In December 1976, the book Sherbet on Tour, by Christie Eliezer, sold 30,000 copies in its first week. Daryl is still performing. Peace out.

Number One, Number one, Number one in Australia. Daryl was a hearthrob in Australia!!

Excellent , brings back memories of being 14 or 15 in the brilliant 70s .

Daryl Braithwaite (lead) has a great solo catalog..Higher Than Hope, All I Do, If You Walked Away, the Horses etc

The term 'Howzat' is used in the game of cricket when the fielding team appeals to the umpire for the batsman to be out.

Tony Mitchell's bass in this is fantastic. Harvey James nailed the solo. The dead stops and the layered vocals are great. This was one of the best produced Aussie songs for its time and you can tell Richard Lush (ex-Beatles engineer) gave the band something extra.

This song always makes me want to watch a game of cricket. Love this song

1976 Australia Howzat is a Cricket term , getting the Batsmen out in later years lead singer Daryl Braithwaite did Horses and one Summer

played this in a covers band in the mid 70's

SHERBET - If I Had My Way, High Rollin, Child's Play

Gillian (Live It Up) and I had the Daryl Braithwaite (singer) haircut in 1975 and 76. It's the hairstyle that looks like you have a coconut on top of your head with your hair flowing down the sides. A cute look for two little girls, but I don't know if it worked for Daryl. The band were a national obsession, and the ''battle'' between Skyhooks and Sherbet fans was a real thing at the time. The Bee Gees were English boys that had moved to Australia and were doing something in Australia what The Osmonds were doing in the States during the 60's. They were regulars on TV and had their own show. They then, rightfully, moved back to England for better oportunities. Air Supply were a Melbourne band that scored some hits in Australia in the mid 70's before rightfully moving to the US for better opportunities. Sherbet attempted the same thing when they moved to England, but in spite of the success of ''Howzat'' in the UK, the group weren't a powerhouse of top quality pop records. I enjoyed a lot of their singles including ''Child's Play'', ''Magazine Madonna'', ''Summer Love'', and ''Rock Me Gently'', which although were massive hits in Australia, do not have the international appeal of ''Howzat''. You also have to realise that a lot of culturally popular songs today were not massive charts hits at the time of release, but manage to be omnipresent through the ubiguity of the artist. ''Piano Man'' by Billy Joel only got to # 136 in the UK, but I'm sure a lot of British boomers would know the song by virtue of it being a Billy Joel song. If Sherbet were consistent in delivering singles that reached the standard of ''Howzat'', they would have been an internationally successful group. They just didn't have the material to maintain an international attention. Matters didn't improve for the band when they had two name changed. The dreadful Highway and the ho-hum The Sherbs. The group did manage to chart in the US for the second time in 1982 with ''We Ride Tonight''. Check out Daryl Braithwaite's ''Horses'', and it's beautiful music video. Cheers, Hayley

This is such an iconic song here in Australia. A nostalgic song from my youth. Possibly Australia's answer to Yacht Rock, along with Australian Crawl's Downhearted probably more so.

Yeah, great song. One of our national sports is cricket 🏏. Howat is Aussie speak for 'how is that?', an appeal to the ref to give the batsman out. There was even a mini series about cricket with the same name. You've Got The Gun is another great one of theirs. And I'd also recommend some Little River Band, which was also from this era, either 'Help Is On It's Way' or 'Cool Change'. Those were with the original singer. Or The Other Guy and Down On The Border, those had John Farnham as singer!

This song is golden. The long hot summer of 76.

Lead singer Daryl Braithwaite had a huge solo hit with a version of Rickie Lee Jones’ song The Horses. As a crossover, Daryl teamed up with James Reyne, lead singer of Australian Crawl, in a supergroup called Company Of Strangers and had a hit with a song called Motor City (I Get Lost). That’s worth a listen.

I'm going to do what my sister and stevefoulston does, and just share some facts that goes outside the usual comments. Sherbet seemed larger than life to a kid in Australia, and we were all hoping that they'd turn the rest of the world on the same way they turned us on. We just didn't get how nobody overseas was buying into '''Summer Love'' or '"Child's Play'' like we were. When Sherbet finally broke through internationally with ''Howzat'', we were very happy to hear that Sherbet were finally casting their spell on non-Australians. And then we grew bored and stopped seeing them as our band. The same sort of thing happened with AC/DC, Air Supply, Men At Work, INXS, Little River Band, etc. When they were only local hit makers, we wanted them to be as big as the international giants, and when they finally became just that, we blew them off like they weren't ours to begin with. It's the same feeling that a band describes when talking about making their first # 1. It's exciting for a week, and then it's ''ugh.. what's next''. Eighteen months after this song became a hit, Sherbet's popularity in Australia plummeted. It might have something to do with the tall poppy syndrome.

Fabulous song

I was a Countdown kid too!!

Thank you for doing this, it's a great song which I haven't heard in years. Another song by another artist which was really popular in the U.K. was "Sky High" by "Jigsaw" so much so, that it was used as a theme song for a Martial Arts crossover film along the lines of 'Enter The Dragon' it starred Jimmy Wang Wu called 'The Man from Hong Kong'.

Howzat is their best song.. many of us blokey rock guys and surfers weren't too crazy over Sherbet. They had the teen girls and their songs were a tad too sugary. I can now appreciate them for what they were.. I especially like what they offered as Sherbs. Check out Sherbs (Sherbet) - We Ride Tonight (1982) Antipodes Sherbs (Sherbet) - I Have The Skill (1980) Antipodes

Fantastic song.

GREAT SONG

Darryl Braithwaite found inspiration from John Farnham and revitalised his career with a number of hits.

Those pauses in the song would’ve freaked out some DJs the first time playing them on air. They might’ve thought something had gone wrong with the equipment or the song finished earlier than it should’ve.

Darryl used to live in my area Port Melbourne

This is popular and what helped it was it is part of cricket to request a cricket out. Cricket helped to promote the song. It was hard to get replay in other countries. There was an Australian cringe to think Australia to compete against the countries with a bigger song industry.

Okay, I'm a bit late catching up with this one and haven't read all the comments. So anyway, these guys started out in the early 70's and I think their first major song was can you feel it baby, or maybe it was free the people, and later on my favourites are summer love, slipstream, silvery moon, old Sid and magazine Madonna. There's heaps more, but it's late at night and I can't think of any more yet.😅 So when you have a chance to check them out again, I'll be waiting. 😁💖 P. S. Most of the older Aussie bands were unheard of by America and Canada until Molly from countdown pushed them out there. That show started out in 74', but still, most of the bands and artists were overlooked in favour of overseas acts.

"Howzat" is a common phrase used by the bowler in a game of cricket asking the umpire if the batter is out ie. How is that? Another Sherbet banger was "Slipstream"

I love the look you are giving her like she's lost it.

I’m writing this BEFORE the track has started as I know I get carried away with emotion sometimes 😅. Firstly thank you for playing and to the other 11 connoisseur’s of fine music I say “ welcome to the Dark side 🤣”… This takes me right back to autumn 1976 , I was 14 and starting to take note of music, fashion , the world around me and as Father Jack Hacket would say GERLS … Then this came on TOTP and the Radio🎤… loved it from the first funky chord outta that cracking sounding keyboard and thought the singer was brilliant and his blue satin bomber jacket was the dogs bollocks … NOW I’ll let the track play and be 14 again for just over 3 mins … 😃 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The wonky note made the song awesome!!

.....there's NOT a little of LRB in "Howzat!" - and the Supremes reference running throughout, is VERY cool.....

Sherbet in 1970's Australia was like Taylor Swift in the 2010's. Overexposed! Still a great song, and the odd wonky sounds created by Harvey James' guitar adds to the charm of this pop masterpiece.

A lovely reaction to a brilliant song. I do miss the old camaraderie of the Australian ''contingent''. There's a reason why a lot of them avoid reading comments.

Yep , remember this well ! It was OK , dont know why we did not hear much else from them ,they werent too Shabby ! Now since Cynthia has mentioned "Wonky " notes, I will be undergoing a National Survey on what designates a wonky note ! Has Wonkyness passed into the depths of past 70s music and culture ? A question that needs pondering for a time !! Cheers !

Another Oz band that was really popular at that time was Hush. Their cover of Boney Moroney is a good start.

Ah memories. This was my then girlfriend's (now wife's) favourite group when we first started going out. Her taste in music hasn't improved IMHO 😉

Air supply versus the Beegees..so the Australian sounds...yep..

Very 👍

I think the Bass has a Chorus effect on it. Maybe that's the 'wonkiness you're hearing.

I actually did not request this, however I still enjoyed it. Always makes me think of cricket but guess for North Americans it will be about someone caught out cheating in a relationship. It does not get anymore 70's than watching that. Cricket was awesome on Sunday night. Seeing a nation with well over a billion people beaten on their own pitches by a nation of only 26 million was super fun.

One band that the Aussies really did love was ABBA. I'd love to hear you do, Fernando.

the "wonky" bit you are referring to sounds like a guitar played through a short phaser effect in the background. PS what did the cat want?

The Australian bands have a British sound because most of them are British born and they and their families emigrated there in the 60s,. I`m guessing some of this band were born and raised in Britain as well.

Producer Richard Lush. Beatles engineer .

Hi.. I know you guys may not want to indulge Aussies everyday with requests, but I'm actually quite keen to see a ''double shot'' on these two Hoodoo Gurus songs. They're both good mood songs. Hoodoo Gurus - I Want You Back - 4K Remastered - Official Video 1984 Austech Hoodoo Gurus - Like Wow nzoz1985 (nzoz1985 upload is the best)

The bass has been detuned. At the time, it didn't bother me, but as a bass player, I cringe at the sound, although I still love the song.

🏏Howzat? Not Out.🏏

I remember when this was all over the radio and there's no excuse 🤢🤮 death death disco it needs to be buried deep deep underground even further than the recommended 12 feet under to muffle my droning voice and delightful STINK

Mama called it. Minus I think she da qqq99qowirjrjrjfj

........meets 10cc

Kia Ora hello my friends. my doctor has just given me the rest of the year off work on 80% of my basic salary ACC accident compensation which every worker is entitled to here in Aotearoa New Zealand if injured anywhere work home car sports I'm on a waiting list now to see an orthopaedic surgeon hopefully in the early new year 🤞 my back is giving me HELL I'm thinking another disc has prolapsed it's got all the symptoms I've been through twice already 😢 if I'm going to have to have another operation on my spine you will probably hear me SWEARING from the bottom of the pacific down here in Aotearoa New Zealand no no further down that's dingo shaggerstan (Australia) down down down Kia Ora hello from Aotearoa New Zealand the real down under 😊 SHEEPSHAGGERSTAN

NEW ZEALAND BAND CALLED SPLIT ENZ. CALLED. I GOT YOU, DID VERY WELL IN UK,