Daryl Braithwaite

Biography

Daryl Braithwaite and his twin brother Glenn came into the world on 11 January 1949, growing up in a working-class home in Melbourne. Their father was a plumber who spent time working on the Snowy Mountains Scheme in the mid-1950s. Braithwaite went to Punt Road State School and later Christ Church Grammar in South Yarra, where he and his twin sang in the school choir. He remembered being terrified during his first solo, performing 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing' after choir master Leonard Fullard gave him a note and left him to sing alone.

In 1961, he shared a classroom with Olivia Newton-John. The family relocated in 1963 to Coogee, a beachside suburb in Sydney, and Braithwaite attended Randwick Boys High School until finishing year 10. His father arranged a fitter-and-turner apprenticeship for him, which he completed in 1969, but he decided it wasn't the right path and chose to go into music instead. As a teenager, he sang in local pop groups, starting with Bright Lights in 1967, which included bassist Bruce Worrall.

Braithwaite and Worrall later played together in House of Bricks and then Samael Lilith. In March 1970, when he was 21, Braithwaite joined Sherbet, a pop band that had already put out a single called 'Crimson Ships'. Sherbet had formed in April 1969 with Dennis Laughlin on lead vocals, Doug Rea on bass, Sammy See on organ, guitar and vocals, Clive Shakespeare on lead guitar and vocals, and Danny Taylor on drums. The band landed a residency at Jonathon's Disco, playing seven hours a night, four days a week for eight months.

Braithwaite came in as a second lead vocalist, but within a few months Laughlin left, and former bandmate Worrall took over on bass from Rea. Sherbet's second single, 'Can You Feel It, Baby?', released in September 1971, showcased Braithwaite's gritty yet polished lead vocals and became the group's first national Top-40 hit on the Go-Set singles chart. Musicologist Ian McFarlane described Sherbet as one of Australia's biggest bands over the next decade, and Braithwaite rose to national fame as their lead singer.

His soul-influenced voice and the band's pop sound appeared on many singles and albums through the 1970s, producing another 19 hits on the national charts during that period.

Awards and nominations

The APRA Awards, presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association, honour composers and songwriters. In 2021, 'Love Songs' (by Michael Fatkin, Rosalind Crane, David Snyder) was nominated for Song of the Year. The ARIA Music Awards, commencing in 1987, recognise excellence across Australian music. The King of Pop Awards, voted by readers of TV Week, ran from 1967 to 1978. Sherbet won King of Pop in 1975, 1976, and 1977. The TV Week / Countdown Awards, a combination of popular and peer votes, gave Braithwaite the Most Popular Male Performer award in 1979.