Bob “Bongo” Starkie, the guitarist whose riffs powered some of Australia’s most recognisable rock anthems, has died aged 73 after a battle with leukemia. His death was confirmed by the band and close friends, who said the musician had spent the past year undergoing treatment while still hoping to return to the stage.
Starkie joined Skyhooks in the early 1970s, helping to cement the band’s classic line-up just as Australian rock was finding a new voice. With their glam-rock theatrics, heavy make-up and lyrics rooted in local suburbia, Skyhooks rewrote the rules of what a home-grown band could sound and look like. Starkie’s economical, hook-laden guitar work sat at the centre of that reinvention.
It was his playing you heard slicing through Living in the 70’s and Ego Is Not a Dirty Word, songs that became radio staples and youth anthems in equal measure. The twin-guitar partnership between Starkie and Red Symons gave the band both punch and texture: one moment sharp and funky, the next drenched in soaring, melodic solos that mirrored the excess of their stage costumes.
While the group’s outrageous image drew plenty of attention, Starkie was often the quietly grounded presence on stage – focused on groove, timing and tone rather than spectacle. Friends and collaborators have described him as a meticulous player with a dry sense of humour, more interested in getting the song right than claiming the spotlight.
Skyhooks’ success went far beyond a handful of hits. Their albums topped charts, pushed censorship boundaries and were later recognised by the National Film and Sound Archive as part of Australia’s cultural memory. For fans who grew up with them, Starkie’s guitar was a doorway into a more confident, more local kind of rock music – one that spoke directly about Melbourne streets, Australian parties and the awkwardness of growing up.
After the band’s initial split in 1980, Starkie stepped away from the mainstream spotlight, moving into advertising and club ownership and occasionally returning for reunion shows. In recent years he revived Bob “Bongo” Starkie’s Skyhooks Show, touring the country with a set that doubled as both celebration and history lesson, mixing hits with behind-the-scenes stories for a new generation of fans.
News of his death has prompted a wave of tributes from musicians and fans across social media and in the music press, including detailed obituaries in Australian outlets and Rolling Stone Australia. Many have highlighted not only his contributions to Skyhooks but also his generosity with younger players and his commitment to live performance, even as illness made touring more difficult.
For long-time followers, Starkie’s passing comes only a few years after the deaths of other Skyhooks members, underlining how much of the band’s history now lives in memory, archive footage and battered vinyl sleeves. Yet their songs remain fixtures on classic-rock playlists, and his guitar lines continue to ring out at pubs and parties across the country.
Starkie is survived by his family and by the generations of musicians who learned that you could play sharp, witty, distinctly Australian rock and still fill a room. For readers wanting to revisit that era, Swikblog’s entertainment coverage includes more features on the music and television icons who shaped the 1970s and 80s.
As fans spin Living in the 70’s once more, it is Starkie’s guitar – precise, playful and unmistakably his – that carries the weight of goodbye.
