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A Milestone in Australian Rock
The Sherbs — The Skill
Every now and then, I thumb through my record collection and stumble on an album I bought when vinyl was king. Recently, I found The Skill by The Sherbs — a gem of an abandoned album that transported me back to the early ‘80s.
I first heard “I Have the Skill” and “No Turning Back” on my local radio station, which played them just enough to pique my curiosity. The darker tone of “No Turning Back” made it my favorite, but it was “I Have the Skill” that charted, reaching #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #14 on the Modern Rock Chart.
Radio insider magazine CashBox proclaimed this about The Sherbs:
“The band proves that Australia doesn’t have only AC/DC and Split Enz to offer. The revitalised fivesome plays a nifty brand of modern power pop that should please both Top 40 and AOR programmers.”
I guess the album was released in 1980, and the AC/DC and Split Enz references support that. I know my memory isn’t that shot, but I don’t recall hearing it until 1982 or ’83. I know this because I recall…
