Little River Band
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Little River Band (also known as LRB) is an Australian rock band. The band was formed in Melbourne and named after a road sign for the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong.
The band's original members were Glenn Shorrock (vocals), Graeham Goble, Beeb Birtles and Ric Formosa (guitars and vocals), Roger McLachlan (bass) and Derek Pellicci (drums).
The group evolved from the harmony-rock group Mississippi in 1975. Prior to that, Birtles had been the bassist in 1960s pop band Zoot (which also included singer-guitarist Rick Springfield), and Shorrock had been the lead singer of leading Australian 60s pop band The Twilights and early 1970s country rock band Axiom.
They found immediate success in Australia, but individual members had greater ambitions. Like many other Australasian groups of the period, both Axiom and Mississippi had tried to break into the UK record market without success. Remembering the indifferent reaction they had received in the UK, they decided the new band would focus on establishing themselves in the United States.
A key factor in their eventual success was their manager Glenn Wheatley, who had been the bassist in the highly-regarded Australian rock band The Masters Apprentices. Wheatley's first-hand experiences of the rip-offs in the 1960s music scene, combined with his subsequent experience working in music management in Britain and the United States in the early 1970s, enabled him to help LRB become the first Australian group to enjoy sustained commercial and chart success in the United States.
Fuelled by a very successful Australian hit single "Curiosity Killed The Cat" [1], the band began making promotional visits to the US in 1976. This resulted in a hit single, "It's A Long Way There" [2], which broke into the Top 30 and galvanised the commitment of the band members. More concert performances in the US followed, and in 1977 "Help Is On Its Way" [3] (an Australian number one single) and "Happy Anniversary" [4] both narrowly missed the US Top 10. During this period McLachlan left the group and was replaced by George McArdle while lead guitarist Formosa was replaced by David Briggs.
From 1978 until 1981, Little River Band achieved six consecutive US Top 10 singles with "Reminiscing" [5], "Lady" [6], "Lonesome Loser" [7], "Cool Change" [8], "The Night Owls" [9] and "Take It Easy On Me". During their career the band have sold more than 25 million records and scored 13 American Top 40 hits.
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[edit] Personnel changes
In 1982 Shorrock left to pursue a solo career. He failed to make an impression in the U.S., but he had a substantial hit in Australia with a cover version of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover" [10].
The pressures of success and constant touring gradually took their toll on LRB and all the original members gradually left. John Farnham replaced Shorrock in 1982 and the first single with Farnham, "The Other Guy" [11] reached #11 in the US. Subsequent singles were only minor hits. In Australia the band continued to be favourites and songs such as "Down On The Border" and "Playing To Win" [12] were major hits. Farnham's popularity in Australia was increasing at this time, and he left the band to return to his solo career, achieving huge success in Australia (he was also managed by Wheatley). Birtles left in 1983; Farnham left in 1986 to be replaced by the returning Shorrock, who left (again) in 1996; Goble left the group in 1990.
Bassist/vocalist Wayne Nelson joined in 1980 and is currently the lead singer. In 1981 he sang lead vocals on their top ten US hit "Night Owls". Guitarist Stephen Housden joined the band in 1981 replacing David Briggs and now owns the rights to the name Little River Band.
[edit] Little River Band today
LRB are considered to be among Australia's most significant bands. The "classic lineup" of the band (Birtles, Shorrock, Goble, Pellicci, Briggs and McArdle) were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame at the 18th Annual ARIA Music Awards of 2004. They also performed "Help Is On Its Way" that night.
Three of the six original members, Birtles, Shorrock and Goble, have also performed a number of reunion concerts, but due to the fact that they lost their rights to the LRB name when they left the band, they agreed to appear under the name Birtles Shorrock Goble: The Original Voices of the Little River Band.
"Reminiscing", written by Goble, was recognised by BMI as one of the most frequently played songs in the history of American radio, with more than four million plays to its credit. "Lady" has also accumulated more than three million plays, and Goble is the first and only Australian songwriter ever to win a Four "Million Air" award from BMI. [13] [14] According to Albert Goldman's biography, John Lennon named "Reminiscing" as one of his favorite songs.
Little River Band continues to work in the US and performs around 100 shows every year.
[edit] Original albums
- 1975 Little River Band
- 1976 After Hours
- 1977 Diamantina Cocktail
- 1978 Sleeper Catcher
- 1979 First Under The Wire
- 1980 Backstage Pass
- 1981 Time Exposure
- 1983 The Net
- 1984 Playing to Win
- 1986 No Reins
- 1986 Too Late to Load
- 1988 Monsoon
- 1990 Get Lucky
- 1991 Worldwide Love
- 1992 Live Classics
- 2000 Where We Started From
- 2002 One Night in Mississippi
- 2003 Test of Time
- 2006 Re-arranged
[edit] Band personnel
- Lead Vocals
- Glenn Shorrock 1975-1982, 1987-1996
- John Farnham 1982-1986
- Steve Wade 1996-1999
- Wayne Nelson 1999-present
- Lead Guitarists
- Graham Davidge 1974-1975
- Ric Formosa 1975-1976
- David Briggs 1976-1981
- Stephen Housden 1981-present
- Rich Herring 2006-present
- Guitarists
- Graham Goble 1975-1990
- Beeb Birtles 1975-1983
- Peter Beckett 1990-1998
- Paul Gildea 1998-1999
- Greg Hind 2000-present
- Bassists
- Roger McLachlan 1975-1976, 1998-1999
- George McArdle 1976-1978
- Barry Sullivan 1978-1980
- Wayne Nelson 1980-1996, 1999-present
- Hal Tupea 1996-1998
- Drummers
- Derek Pellicci 1975-1984, 1986-1997
- Geoff Cox 1978 tour
- Steve Prestwich 1984-1986
- Malcolm Wakeford 1986
- Kevin Murphy 1998-2004
- Billy Thomas 2005-present
- Keyboardists
- No keyboardist 1975-1978; 1982-1983
- Mal Logan 1978-1981
- David Hirschfelder 1983-1986
- James Roche 1988-1990
- Tony Sciuto 1990-1998
- Adrian Scott 1998
- Glenn Reither 1999-2004
- Chris Marion 2004-present
[edit] Current members
- Wayne Nelson (bass, lead vocals)
- Greg Hind (guitar, vocals)
- Chris Marion (keyboards, vocals)
- Billy Thomas (drums, vocals)
- Rich Herring (guitar, vocals)
[edit] External links
- LRB official website
- Stephen Housden's official site
- Birtles Shorrock Goble
- Beeb Birtles' site
- Graeham Goble's site, includes preview clips from his latest album
- www.lrb.net
- Little River Band: Born In The Sign of Water, originally published in Goldmine magazine, written by Chuck Miller
