Little River Band

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Little River Band

Little River Band performing at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and
Casino Hollywood in October 2006

Background information

Origin

Melbourne, Australia

Genres

Folk rock, pop rock, soft rock

Years active

1975 - present

Labels

Harvest, Capitol, EMI

Associated

Axiom, Mississippi, The Twilights,Zoot, Birtles &

acts

Goble, Birtles Shorrock Goble

Website

www.littleriverband.com

Members

Wayne Nelson
Greg Hind

Chris Marion
Rich Herring
Ryan Ricks

Past members See Band personnel

Little River Band (abbreviated as LRB) is an Australian (now American) rock band, formed
in Melbourne in 1975. The band continues to tour and is scheduled to perform around 150 concerts
in the U.S. in 2015.
The band chose its name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River,
near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial
success, not only in Australia but also in the United States. They have sold more than 25 million
records and achieved 13 U.S. Top 40 hits, besides many music awards gained in Australia.
The band's original members were: Glenn Shorrock (born in England, 1944), Graham Goble (born in
Australia, 1947), Beeb Birtles(born in The Netherlands, 1948), Ric Formosa (born in Italy, 1953),
Roger McLachlan (born in New Zealand, 1954) and Derek Pellicci (born in England, 1953). This lineup toured Australia from 1975-76. The music and lyrics for most of the group's songs were mainly
written by Goble and Shorrock, with contributions from Birtles, David Briggs (who replaced Formosa)
and Pellicci.
In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary
celebrations, named "Cool Change", written by Shorrock, as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of
all time.[1] The classic line-up of Birtles, Goble, Pellicci, Shorrock, Briggs and bass guitarist George
McArdle (who replaced McLachlan) were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) Hall of Fame at the 18th Annual ARIA Music Awards of 2004.
Little River Band has undergone numerous personnel changes since its formation in 1975, with over
30 members performing with the band.
Contents
[hide]

1 History
o

1.1 Early years 1970s

1.2 Success and changes of personnel

1.3 John Farnham years (19821986)

1.4 Shorrock's return (19881996)

1.5 Later years

2 Legacy

3 Discography

4 Personnel
o

4.1 Current members

4.2 Former members

5 References

6 External links

History[edit]
Early years 1970s[edit]
In Australian terms, the original lineup of Little River Band can be considered a supergroup.[2] Glenn
Shorrock had been the lead singer of leading Australian 1960s pop bandThe Twilights and highly
regarded early 1970s country rock band Axiom, alongside Australian singer-songwriter Brian Cadd.
Beeb Birtles had been the bassist in the popular 1960s band Zoot (which launched the career of
singer-guitarist Rick Springfield), and Goble had led Adelaide folk rock group Allison Gros before
forming the harmony-country-rock band Mississippi (joined by Birtles and Pellici), which had enjoyed
some chart success in Australia and built up a strong following on the concert and festival circuit;
during 1971-72 the original members also recorded under the studio band pseudonym Drummond,
scoring a national #1 hit with a novelty cover of the song "Daddy Cool".[3]
LRB found immediate success in Australia, but individual members had greater ambitions. Like other
Australian groups of the period, both Axiom and Mississippi had tried to break into the UK record
market without success. Axiom disbanded after moving to the UK, and Shorrock sang for a short
period with the more progressive rock outfit Esperantobefore meeting and joining forces with Birtles,
Goble and Pellicci in 1974. They agreed to meet back in their homeland by early 1975.
Remembering the indifferent reaction they had received in the UK, they decided their new band
would focus on establishing themselves in the United States.
A key factor in their eventual success was a fellow Australian they had met while in England who
became their manager, Glenn Wheatley. Wheatley had been the bassist in the highly regarded
Australian rock band The Masters Apprentices and his 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, allowed him to help Little River Band become the
first Australian group to enjoy consistent commercial and chart success in the United States. [4]
Fuelled by a very successful Australian hit single "Curiosity Killed the Cat", the band began making
promotional visits to the US in September 1976, which resulted in a US hit single, "It's a Long Way
There" (edited down from the album track, which ran over 8 minutes long). It broke into the US Top
30 and galvanised the commitment of the band members.[5]

Success and changes of personnel[edit]

Just before they began touring abroad, lead guitarist Ric Formosa, apparently not enthusiastic about
touring outside of Australia, left the group in August 1976 to pursue other musical interests and was
replaced by David Briggs.[5] At the same time, the group decided to replace bassist Roger
McLachlan, who left to join Stars[6] and was replaced by George McArdle. However, Formosa
remained in touch with his former bandmates and conducted and wrote string parts for several
songs after he officially left the band.[7]

More concert performances in the U.S. followed and in 1977 "Help Is on Its Way" (an Australian #1
single) and "Happy Anniversary" were both mid-top 20 Hot 100 singles. From 1978 until 1981, Little
River Band achieved one gold album (Diamantina Cocktail, released in 1977) and two platinum
albums (Sleeper Catcher in 1978 and First Under the Wirein 1979) plus six 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 they have sold more than
25 million records and scored 13 American Top 40 hits. [8]
From 1976 through 1985, the group maintained a constant touring schedule which kept it 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 Pellicci was severely injured
in a gas grill fire in May 1978, the band brought in a substitute drummer (Geoff Cox) rather than
cancel shows.[9] Drummer Cox remained with the group through the summer of 1978 and even
played alongside Pellicci 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. [10]
Bassist McArdle left the band in 1978. He went on to take up Bible study, eventually pursuing a path
as a minister.[11] Barry Sullivan took over on bass[10] until American Wayne Nelson, currently the
group's lead singer, joined in April 1980. In 1981, he provided lead vocals for their Top 10 U.S. hit
"Night Owls", the debut single from their Time Exposurealbum; and shared vocal duties with
Shorrock on the next single "Take It Easy on Me". Time Exposure had been recorded
in Montserrat with famed Beatles producer George Martin.[12]
Guitarist Stephen Housden joined the band in August 1981 replacing David Briggs (who left over
musical disagreements) right as Time Exposure was being released. Housden currently owns the
rights to the name Little River Band.[13] He co-wrote the band's last hit in Australia "Love Is a Bridge"
in 1988.[14]

John Farnham years (19821986)[edit]

In early 1982 Shorrock went on to pursue a solo career but failed to make much of an impression in
the U.S..[12] He did, however, have a substantial hit in Australia with a revival of Bobby Darin's "Dream
Lover".[15]
John Farnham replaced Shorrock[16] in February 1982 and "Man on Your Mind" (the third single
released from Time Exposure and the last to feature Shorrock until 1988) reached #14 in the U.S.
The first single with Farnham as lead vocalist, "The Other Guy" (one of two new offerings on
their Greatest Hits album, released in November 1982), reached #11 in the U.S., while the next
single, "We Two", from their album The Net (May 1983), reached #22 in the U.S. That same year,
"You're Driving Me Out of My Mind" became the group's 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 "80's style" sound and added keyboardist David Hirschfelder in
September 1983.
The pressures of success and constant touring took their toll on the band as the lineup continued to
turnover. Birtles left in October 1983 because he did not like the harder, more progressive musical
path the band was taking and because he was not a fan of Farnham's vocal and performance style.
[12]
He was not replaced. Pellicci left in February 1984 for similar reasons. 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).[17]

Farnham left in May 1986 following the completion of the group's short Australian tour (which
featured drummer Malcolm Wakeford in Prestwich's place) in support of their albumNo Reins. He
continued to be managed by Glenn Wheatley and his solo career took off almost immediately with
the release of the successful Whispering Jack.

Shorrock's return (19881996)[edit]

After Farnham's 1986 departure, LRB was essentially in limbo until the following year when Shorrock
and Pellicci returned at the suggestion of Irving Azoff, who was now the head of MCA Records and
brought the band over to the label. With Shorrock and Pellicci back in the fold, along with remaining
members Goble, Housden, and Nelson,[18] the group released two LPs on MCA, Monsoon in June
1988 (from which the single "Love Is a Bridge" was a moderate Adult Contemporary radio hit in the
U.S.) and Get Lucky (February 1990). (MCA released a compilation of tracks from those two LPs on
their Curb Records imprint in 1991 entitled Worldwide Love).
The revamped Little River Band were also chosen to perform at World Expo 88 in Brisbane, where
they were joined by Eagles member Glenn Frey.[19]
Goble ceased touring with the group in 1989 and left altogether by 1990. 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 (19881990), Tony Sciuto (19901992, 19931997), Richard Bryant (exDoobie Brothers) (19921993), Adrian Scott (ex-Air Supply) (19981999), and Glenn Reither (1999
2004), before Chris Marion arrived at the end of 2004.
Shorrock left again in 1996. He was offered the option to buy out the remaining members. He
decided to take his one-third share of the monetary value of the company as he did not want to
commit Little River Band's U.S. touring schedule. He was replaced by Melbourne singer Steve
Wade. Wayne Nelson also left in 1996. Hal Tupea then came in as bassist. This lineup lasted until
late 1997. At that point, everyone, except Wade, departed and Derek Pellicci left again in early 1998,
leaving Housden as sole owner of the band's trademark. [20]

Later years[edit]
In 1998 Housden brought in new players Kevin Murphy (vocals, drums, percussion), Paul
Gildea (vocals, guitars) and Adrian Scott (vocals, keyboards, ex-Air Supply), and brought back
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
accustomed to the band's heavy touring schedule abroad. Wayne Nelson then returned (in early
1999) and Glenn Reither joined as keyboardist. But the revolving door of personnel continued as
Wade and Gildea were next to leave in early 2000. Australian Greg Hind (vocals, guitars) then
jumped aboard as Nelson took over most of the lead singing. The lineup of Housden, Nelson, Hind,
Murphy & Reither was stable for almost five years and appeared on three releases: Where We
Started From(2000), One Night in Mississippi (2002) and Test of Time (2004).
At the end of 2004, Glenn Reither and Kevin Murphy left the band after more than six years. Chris
Marion took over keyboards while Kip Raines took over drumming duties temporarily until Billy
Thomas joined in early 2005. Housden left the touring band in 2006, although he participates in the
band's recordings and management. Rich Herring took over lead guitar on tour and Mel Watts
replaced Thomas on drums in 2007 after Thomas suffered a shoulder injury. Ryan Ricks
subsequently replaced Watts in 2012.
Three founding members, Beeb Birtles, Glenn Shorrock, and Graeham Goble, went on to perform
reunion concerts (in 2002-2007), but because they relinquished the rights to the name Little River
Band they appeared under the name Birtles Shorrock Goble. Little River Band play songs written by
Birtles, Shorrock, and Goble along with their newer material. Founding members Goble and Birtles
shared their frustration through song, with Goble recording "Someone's Taken Our History" [21] and
Birtles recording "Revolving Door".[22]

An appearance by the current Little River Band scheduled for 12 January 2015 on The Tonight
Show Starring Jimmy Fallon was cancelled after complaints from original members concerning the
present lineup's promotion of a 40th anniversary where no current member of the band was involved
in its formation. Permission for any song written by Goble, Shorrock, Birtles or Briggs was refused
for the performance, which left no hits for the current band to play.[23] Little River Band made no
reference to these developments, instead blaming the cancellation of The Tonight Show appearance
on the program's refusal to allow them to play any of their new songs. [24]

Legacy[edit]
Little River Band is considered to be among Australia's most significant bands. In May 2001
the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations,
named "Cool Change" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.[1] The "classic lineup" of the
band (Birtles, Shorrock, Goble, Pellicci, Briggs, and McArdle) were inducted into the Australian
Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame at the 18th Annual ARIA Music Awards of 2004.
[25][26]
They performed "Help Is On Its Way" at the induction ceremony in Australia on 17 October 2004.
Shorrock, who wrote "Cool Change",[27] had previously been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in
1991.[26]
"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 five million plays. "Lady" has also accumulated more
than three million plays. Goble is the only Australian songwriter ever to win a Five Million Air award
from BMI.[28] According to Albert Goldman's biography,John Lennon named "Reminiscing" as one of
his favourite songs. May Pang, erstwhile girlfriend of Lennon, said they considered "Reminiscing" as
"our song".[29]
LRB were mentioned in the film The Other Guys when the character played by Will Ferrell played
"Reminiscing" while driving in his Toyota Prius. The character played by Mark Wahlberg threw the
CD out the window, but Will Ferrell played it again later on and said that he always had six identical
LRB CDs in his car. It has been speculated[who?] that the reason LRB were featured in the movie had
something to do with the fact that the film used the name of an earlier LRB song, "The Other Guy".

Discography[edit]
Main article: Little River Band discography

Personnel[edit]
Main article: List of Little River Band members

Current members[edit]

Wayne Nelson - bass (1980-1996, 1999present), lead vocals (2000present)

Greg Hind - guitar, vocals (2000present)

Chris Marion - keyboards, vocals (2004present)

Rich Herring - guitar, vocals (2006present)

Ryan Ricks - drums, vocals (2012present)

Former members[edit]

Derek Pellicci - drums (19751984, 19871998)

James Roche - keybo

Glenn Shorrock - vocals (19751982, 19871996)

Peter Beckett - guita

Graeham Goble - guitar, vocals (1975-1992)

Tony Sciuto - keybo

Beeb Birtles - guitar, vocals (1975-1983)

Richard Bryant - key

Roger McLachlan - bass (19751976, 19981999)

Steve Wade - lead vo

Ric Formosa - guitar, vocals (19751976)

Hal Tupea - bass (199

David Briggs - guitar (19761981)

Kevin Murphy - dru

George McArdle - bass (19761979)

Paul Gildea - guitar,

Mal Logan - keyboards (19781982)

Adrian Scott - keybo

Stephen Housden - guitar (19812006)

Glenn Reither - keyb

John Farnham - vocals (19821986)

Kip Raines - drums (

David Hirschfelder - keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (19831986)

Billy Thomas - drum

Mel Watts - drums (2

Malcolm Wakeford - drums (1986)

Deceased members

Steve Prestwich - drums (19841986; died 2011)[30]

Barry Sullivan - bass (19791980; died 2003)[31]

Book: Little
River Band

References[edit]
1.

^ Jump up to:a b Kruger, Debbie (2 May 2001). "The songs that

resonate through the years"(PDF). Australasian Performing Right
Association (APRA). Retrieved 2008-10-30.

2.

Jump up^ "Little River Band (LRB)". nostalgiacentral.com.

3.

Jump up^ "MILESAGO - Groups & Solo Artists name". milesago.com.

4.

Jump up^ "Welcome to the Friars Aylesbury

website". aylesburyfriars.co.uk.

5.

^ Jump up to:a b "One Track Mind: Little River Band "It's A Long Way
There" (1975)". Something Else!.

6.

Jump up^ "Roger McLachlan Interview with Riveting Riffs Magazine

and Joe Montague".rivetingriffs.com.

7.

Jump up^ "Ric Formosa - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.

8.

Jump up^ "Little River Band". onlymelbourne.com.au.

9.

Jump up^ 01 Jun 1978 - Pellicci to miss much of tour

10. ^ Jump up to:a b "Star-News - Google News Archive

Search". google.com.
11. Jump up^ "The Man from Little River - The Story of George McArdle Biography".arkhousepress.com.
12. ^ Jump up to:a b c "The Chuck Miller Creative Writing Service: Little
River Band".chuckthewriter.com.
13. Jump up^ "Little River Band faces stormy waters
ahead". theage.com.au.
14. Jump up^ "www.lrb.net - Stephen Housden". lrb.net.
15. Jump up^ "iTunes - Music - Glenn Shorrock". apple.com.
16. Jump up^ 22 Sep 1982 - Moore on pop
17. Jump up^ "Oz for Africa". liveaid.free.fr. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
18. Jump up^ http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/102033681
19. Jump up^ "LRB/Frey review". debbiekruger.com.
20. Jump up^ "Little River Band says Help Is On Its Way". ABC Perth.
21. Jump up^ "Someone's Taken Our History". graehamgoble.com.
Retrieved 9 December 2012.
22. Jump up^ Cashmere, Paul. "Beeb Birtles Says Screw You To Current
Little River Band".noise11.com. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
23. Jump up^ Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show request reignites bitter Little
River Band feud - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
24. Jump up^ "Despite our requests to perform a song... - Little River
Band - Facebook".
25. Jump up^ Sams, Christine (12 September 2004). "ARIAs reunite Little
River Band".smh.com.au. Retrieved 13 January 2015.

26. ^ Jump up to:a b "ARIA 2008 Hall of Fame inductees listing". Australian
Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on
2008-08-02. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
27. Jump up^ ""Cool Change" at APRA search engine". Australasian
Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 2008-10-30.
28. Jump up^ O'Connor, Mike. "Graeham Goble". aylesburyfriars.co.uk.
Retrieved 19 January2015.
29. Jump up^ "Marvelous May...". ncf.ca. 23 September 2003.
Retrieved 19 January 2015.
30. Jump up^ Steve Prestwich obituary
31. Jump up^ "MILESAGO - Obituaries - Barry "Big Goose"
Sullivan". milesago.com.

External links[edit]

Little River Band official website

Little River Band official Myspace

Stephen Housden's official site

Birtles Shorrock Goble

Beeb Birtles' site

Graham Goble's site, includes preview clips from his latest album

Graeham Goble's official Myspace

Glenn Shorrock's official Myspace

Roger McLachlan official website

Little River Band: Born In The Sign of Water, originally published

in Goldmine magazine, written by Chuck Miller

David Briggs website

George McArdle's biography

Interview with Wayne Nelson on Yuzu Melodies

[show]

Little River Band

[show]

John Farnham

Categories:

Little River Band

ARIA Award winners

Victoria (Australia) musical groups

Australian rock music groups

Australian soft rock music groups

Musical groups established in 1975

ARIA Hall of Fame inductees

1975 establishments in Australia

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