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Tony Mitchell (born 5 September 1951) is a songwriter and bass guitarist who rose to fame in the 1970s with Australian rock band Sherbet. Mitchell co-wrote (with Garth Porter) some of Sherbet's biggest hits, including "Howzat" and "Magazine Madonna".
Born in Sydney, Australia, his first band was called Wheelbarrow. After recording and releasing one single for the band, he left them in order to play with Harry Young And Sabbath, whom he played with from 1969 to c. 1973.[1][2]
Mitchell joined the band Sherbet in 1972. During his time in the band in the 1970s, they would go on to have hits such as Summer Love (1975) and Howzat (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. Tony co-wrote (with Garth Porter) some of Sherbet's biggest hits, including Howzat and Magazine Madonna.[3]
Howzat
In 1976, someone suggested to Tony Mitchell and keyboardist Garth Porter that Howzat might make a good title for a song because some of the members of Sherbet loved cricket. Despite Mitchell not being a good cricketer, he sat down with Porter at his Watsons Bay home to work on the idea. Mitchell soon came up with the "doo-doo, doo-doo" bass riff, after which the first thing that came into Porter's mind was the phrase "I caught you out."[4]
The song became Sherbet's biggest hit, rising to #1 on the Australian charts, and #4 in the United Kingdom.
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Mitchell would play in a few more band during the late 1970s and 1980s, such as; Autumn, John Paul Young and The All Stars, and The Foster Brothers.[5] Mitchell still continues to perform live on stage.
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