Little River Band

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Little River Band
Origin Melbourne, Australia
Genre(s) Rock
Years active 1975 – present
Associated acts Axiom, Mississippi, The Twilights, Zoot
Website www.littleriverband.com
Members
Wayne Nelson
Greg Hind
Chris Marion
Mel Watts
Rich Herring
Former members
Glenn Shorrock
Graeham Goble
Beeb Birtles
David Briggs
John Farnham
George McArdle
Derek Pellicci

Little River Band is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1975 and named after a road sign for the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong. They were the first Australian rock group to enjoy sustained commercial success in the United States. During their career the band have sold more than 25 million records and scored 13 American Top 40 hits.

The band's original members were lead singer Glenn Shorrock, guitarists/vocalists Graeham Goble and Beeb Birtles, lead guitarist Ric Formosa, bassist Roger McLachlan and drummer Derek Pellicci.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings

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 Little River Band 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", the band began making promotional visits to the US in 1976. This resulted in a hit single, "It's a Long Way There" (edited down from an album track over 9 minutes long) , 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" (an Australian number one single) and "Happy Anniversary" both narrowly missed the US Top 10. Just before they began touring abroad in the fall of 1976, McLachlan, apparently not enthusiastic about touring outside of Australia, left the group and was replaced by George McArdle while lead guitarist Formosa, who quit the band in order to pursue other musical interests, was replaced by David Briggs. However, Formosa remained in touch with his former bandmates, and conducted and wrote string parts for several Little River Band songs after he officially left the band.

From 1976 through 1985, the group maintained a constant touring schedule which kept them in the U.S. for long periods of time and may have contributed to much of the constant shuffling of personnel. For example: The band's schedule was so busy that when drummer Derek Pellici was severely injured in a gas grill fire in May 1978, the band brought in a sub drummer(Geoff Cox) rather than cancel shows. Drummer Cox remained with the group through the summer of 1978 and even played alongside Pellici after he came back until he was healed enough to continue on his own. A keyboardist, Mal Logan, was added in time for another U.S. tour in late 1978.

From 1978 until 1981, Little River Band achieved six consecutive US Top 10 singles with "Reminiscing" (#3, their biggest hit), "Lady" (#10), "Lonesome Loser" (#6), "Cool Change" (#10), "The Night Owls" (#6) and "Take It Easy on Me" (#10). During their career the band has sold more than 25 million records and has scored 13 American Top 40 hits.

[edit] Personnel changes

Bassist McArdle left, after finishing a U.S. tour in the spring of 1979, to take up Bible study(He eventually pursued a totally different path as a minister). Barry Sullivan took over on bass until American Wayne Nelson joined in 1980(He is currently the group's lead singer). In 1981 he provided lead vocals for their top ten US hit "Night Owls" the debut single from their Time Exposure album and shared duties with Shorrock on the next single "Take it Easy on Me". Guitarist Stephen Housden joined the band in August 1981 replacing David Briggs(who left after musical disagreements) right as Time Exposure was being released. Housden currently owns the rights to the name Little River Band. He co-wrote the band's last hit in Australia "Love is a Bridge" in 1988.

In 1982 Shorrock was forced out of the band as they were keen to try different musical directions. Keyboardist Logan was dropped as well. Shorrock went on to pursue a solo career but failed to make an impression in the U.S. He did, however, have a substantial hit in Australia with a cover version of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover". "Man on Your Mind" (the third single released from Time Exposure featuring Shorrock on lead vocal) reached #14 in the U.S.

The pressures of success and constant touring took their toll on LRB and other members gradually left. John Farnham replaced Shorrock in 1982 and the first single with Farnham, "The Other Guy"(one of of two new offerings on their Greatest Hits album) reached #11 in the U.S., while the next single "We Two", from their album The Net, released in 1983, reached the peak of #22 in the U.S. That same year, "You're Driving Me Out of My Mind" became their last single to reach the U.S. Top 40. Subsequent singles were only minor charters. In Australia the band continued to be popular, and songs such as "Down On The Border" and "Playing To Win" were major hits. At this point the band sought to move towards a more "80s style sound", so they added keyboardist David Hirschfelder in September 1983.

Birtles left at the conclusion of the band's U.S. tour in October 1983 because he did not like the harder, more progressive musical path the band was taking and he was not a fan of Farnham's onstage performance. Pellici too was not entirely comfortable with the new direction and left in February 1984. Steve Prestwich (formerly of Cold Chisel ) was brought in as new drummer while Birtles was not replaced.

Little River Band performed four songs for the 1985 Oz for Africa concert (part of the global Live Aid program) - "Don't Blame Me", "Full Circle", "Night Owls" and "Playing to Win". It was broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network and Nine Network) and on MTV in the US. "Don't Blame Me" and "Night Owls" were also broadcast by American Broadcasting Company during their Live Aid telecast ("Night Owls" was only partially transmitted).[1]

Farnham left upon completion of the group's short Australian tour(which featured drummer Malcolm Wakeford in Prestwich's place) for their 1986 album No Reins. He continued to be managed by Glenn Wheatley and his solo career took off almost immediately with the release of the phenomenally successful Whispering Jack .

After Farnham's depature, LRB were pretty much in limbo until the following year when Shorrock and Pellici returned. With Shorrock and Pellici back in the fold, the group released two LPs on MCA, Monsoon in 1988 (from which the single "Love Is a Bridge" was a moderate adult contemporary radio hit in the U.S.) and 1990's Get Lucky. (MCA later released a compilation of tracks from those two LPs on their Curb Records imprint in 1991 as Worldwide Love). Goble ceased touring with the group in 1989 and left altogether by 1992. Peter Beckett (formerly of Player ) joined in 1989 to take Goble's place and the group went through a series of keyboard players: James Roche (a.k.a. Jamie Paddle) (1988-1989), Tony Sciuto (1990-1992, 1993-1997), Richard Bryant (ex-Doobie Brothers (1992-1993), Adrian Scott (ex-Air Supply) (1998-1999) and Glenn Reither (1999-2004), before Chris Marion arrived at the end of 2004.

Shorrock left again in 1996, and was offered the option to buy out the remaining members. (He took a payment instead). Wayne Nelson also left in 1996. Hal Tupea then came in as bassist as new frontman Steve Wade was also recruited. This lineup lasted until late 1997. At that point everyone, except Wade, was let go and Derek Pellicci left again in early 1998, leaving Housden as sole owner of the band's trademark.

Housden brought in new players: Kevin Murphy(vocals, drums, percussion), Paul Gildea (vocals, guitars) and Adrian Scott (vocals, keyboards) as well as Roger McLachlan, the group's original bass player, who made a surprise return after 22 years. But McLachlan's second tenure was short lived. Both he and Scott departed after a year, not used to the band's heavy touring schedule abroad. Wayne Nelson then returned and Glenn Reither was the new keyboardist, but the revolving door of personnel continued as Wade and Gildea were next to leave in early 2000. Greg Hind (vocals, guitars) then jumped aboard as Nelson took over most the lead singing from this point on. The lineup of Housden, Nelson, Hind, Murphy & Reither was stable for almost five years and appeared on two releases: Where We Started From(2000) and Test of Time(2004).

[edit] Little River Band today

Little River Band 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 performed "Help Is On Its Way" that night.

Three founding members, Birtles, Shorrock and Goble, continue to perform reunion concerts but due to the fact they lost the rights to the name Little River Band, they appear under the name Birtles Shorrock Goble: The Original Voices of 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.[2] [3] 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. At the tail end of 2004, Glenn Reither and Kevin Murphy said goodbye to the band after over six years of service. Chris Marion was next to step up to the keyboard chair while Kip Raines took over drumming duties temporarily until Billy Thomas joined by early 2005. Housden decided to take a break from touring in 2006, though he retained ownership of the band's name. Rich Herring was called upon to take over lead guitar duties on tour. Mel Watts replaced Thomas on drums in 2007.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Release year Title
1975 Little River Band
1976 After Hours
1977 Diamantina Cocktail
1978 Sleeper Catcher
1979 First Under the Wire
1980 Backstage Pass
1981 Time Exposure
1982 Greatest Hits
1983 The Net
1984 Playing to Win
1986 No Reins
Too Late to Load (Rarities collection, 1975-1986)
1988 Monsoon
1990 Get Lucky
1991 Worldwide Love
1992 Live Classics
1994 Reminiscing: The 20th Anniversary Collection
1997 I Dream Alone
2000 Where We Started From
2002 One Night in Mississippi
2003 Test of Time
2006 Re-arranged
2007 We Call It Christmas

[edit] Band personnel

  • Lead guitarists
    • Graham Davidge 1975 (first recording session guitarist only)
    • Ric Formosa 1975–1976
    • David Briggs 1976–1981
    • Stephen Housden 1981–2006
    • Rich Herring 2006–present
  • Bassists
    • Roger McLachlan 1975–1976, 1998–1999
    • George McArdle 1976–1979
    • Barry Sullivan 1979–1980
    • Wayne Nelson 1980–1996, 1999–present
    • Hal Tupea 1996–1997
  • Drummers
    • Derek Pellicci 1975–1984, 1987–1998
    • Geoff Cox 1978 tour, filling in for injured Pellicci
    • Steve Prestwich 1984–1986
    • Malcolm Wakeford 1986
    • Kevin Murphy 1998–2004
    • Kip Raines 2004-2005
    • Billy Thomas 2005–2007
    • Mel Watts 2007–present
  • Keyboardists
    • No keyboardist 1975–1978; 1982–1983
    • Mal Logan 1978–1981
    • David Hirschfelder 1983–1986
    • James Roche 1988–1990
    • Tony Sciuto 1990–1997
    • 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)
  • Mel Watts (drums, vocals)
  • Rich Herring (guitar, vocals)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)
  1. ^ "Oz for Africa". liveaid.free.fr. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  2. ^ Graeham Goble biography
  3. ^ Litte River Band discography

[edit] External links

[edit] Music samples