Old music: Sherbet – Cassandra

Sherbet sailed over the Australian airwaves in the 70s but foundered on 80s indifference. In satin coats and sans shirts – and wasn't that a good look? – they were the smiling princes of Oz soft-rock before an identity crisis triggered their descent.

Musically savvy and with an easy charm, Sherbet bowled into the UK top five in 1976 with the cricket-tinged morality play Howzat, but they had already recorded better. Cassandra, a dreamy watercolour released in 1973, is the classic tale of boy meets goddess and falls in love despite their never speaking – happens all the time.

The song gave Sherbet a first taste of top 10 life down under, but five years later they lost their identity in a punt to stamp their name on the US charts. There was nothing wrong with a sugary moniker – the Sweet, anyone? – but they ditched theirs, first for Highway and then, following a brief split, the Sherbs. The definition of a Sherb is anyone's guess, but as a marketing lure it lacked bite: there was a slick line in 80s po-faced rock but America rarely took the bait and Australia barely nibbled. So the group staged a farewell tour as Sherbet – restoring the name with which they entered the Oz hall of fame – and disbanded in 1984.

There were solo highs for singer Daryl Braithwaite before and after the split, and reunions – the most recent, and perhaps last, a Sydney tribute gig this year for their Stratocaster master Harvey James, who died in January of lung cancer. But the fond abiding memory of Sherbet remains their halcyon days and a beguiling early gem, Cassandra.