Craig Allen says: ‘Meet Little River Band’

Australia's "Little River Band" ruled the international charts in the late 1970's...but is now made up of Americans! Founding members have taken their frustration public, recording the song "Someone's Taken Our History." But, all that is to come...

The guys chose the band's name after passing a road sign to the Victorian town of "Little River" on the way to a show! Can you say: "Location, location, location?"

The original Little River Band lineup could be called an Australian supergroup!

Glenn Shorrock had been the lead singer of 1960's Australian pop band the Twilights, then moved on in the early 1970's to the country rock band Axiom.

Bassist Beeb Birtles had been in Zoot (which helped launch the career of Rick Springfield).

Guitarist Greaham Goble had led the Adelaide-based folk rock group Allison Gros, before forming the country rock band Mississippi...which had a strong Australian concert following in the early 1970's.

Derek Pelicci played drums with LRB, just like he had in the band Mississippi. .

Guitarist Ric Formosa was also a founding LRB member.

Little River Band (or shortened to LRB), formed in Melbourne in 1975.

The band found immediate success in Australia...but the members of this new group had bigger ambitions. In their earlier bands, the guys had tried to rule the British pop charts...with little success. Now, Little River Band set their sights on the Billboard charts in America!

LRB's new manager, Glenn Wheatley, played a key role in making the band's American dreams come true. He had been the bassist in the highly-regarded Australian band the Masters Apprentices in the 1960's, before moving on to music management in both England and America.

With the impressive showing of the Australian hit "Curiosity Killed The Cat," the Little River Band began making live appearances in the US in September 1976.

"It's A Long Way There" was the result...the first American hit for LRB!

The single went to #28 in late 1976...

The single was edited down from an 8 minute long album version (above).

Not excited by the prospect of touring outside Australia, lead guitarist Ric Formosa left LRB, to pursue other interests. It is interesting to note that Formosa kept in touch with his former band mates, and would write string sections of several LRB songs after officially leaving the band! In the meantime, he was replaced by David Briggs.

At the same time, the band decided to replace bassist Roger McLachlan with George McArdle.  This marked the beginning of MANY personnel changes over the years for LRB...

More US concert dates followed in 1977...as did the HITS!

Australian #1 "Help Is On Its Way" went to #14 on the Hot 100 in NJ in 1977!

"Happy Anniversary" topped out at #16 in early 1978.

"Reminiscing" would be LRB's biggest hit in America, rising to #3 in 1978!

"Lady" also cracked the Top 10 in NJ (#10/1979).

"Lonesome Loser" kept the LRB Top-10 streak alive in 1979, landing at #6.

"Cool Change" rose to #10 on the charts in early 1980.

Above, check out "Cool Change" sung live in concert in 1981!

Around the time of the above concert footage, "The Night Owls" ruled the radio (#10/1981).

"Take It Easy On Me" stopped its chart climb at #10 in early 1982.

From 1978 through 1981, LRB racked up a gold album (Diamantina Cocktail from 1977),

PLUS two platinum albums (Sleeper Catcher in 1978, and First Under The Wire in 1979), and the 6 Top 10 records you see (in video form) above! Impressive!

From their US debut in 1976, through 1985, LRB was constantly touring! This put some strain on the band...and may have been a contributing factor to many staff shuffles over the years. As an example, when Derek Pellicci was injured in a gas grill fire in 1978, drummer Geoff Cox was brought in, rather than cancel shows! And, he stayed, even playing alongside Pellicci, until the latter was able to return to a full performance schedule. In late 1978, keyboardist Mal Logan was added just in time for another US tour!

In early 1979, as the band wrapped up their US tour, bassist George McArdle departed...eventually becoming a minister. Barry Sullivan got the nod on bass til American Wayne Nelson joined in April 1980.

Nelson provided the vocals for Little River Band's next big international hit:

"The Night Owls" would rocket up the charts, all the way to #6 in 1981.

Barry Nelson would share vocal duties with Glenn Shorrock on "Take It Easy On Me" (#10/1982). Both hits were to come from the "Time Exposure" album, produced by famed Beatles producer George Martin!

Guitarist David Briggs would quit the band due to musical disagreements in August 1981, right as "Time Exposure" was hitting store shelves. Steven Housden (the current owner of the rights to the "Little River Band" name) replaced Briggs.

1982 brought the departure of Glenn Shorrock and Mal Logan, as the rest of band wanted to go in a new direction.

"Man On Your Mind" was the last LRB release featuring Shorrock (til his return in 1988). The song did not crack the top 10, landing at #14 in the spring of 1982.

"The Other Guy" features vocals from the "new guy," John Farnham (#11/1983).

"The Other Guy" would come from come the band's "Greatest Hits" album...

...as seen on CD, above.

The largely forgotten single "We Two" would slide a little further down the charts... (#22/1983).

"You're Driving me Out Of My Mind" would be LRB's last "top-40" hit in New Jersey...landing at #35 in 1983.

LRB would have a few more minor hits in Australia, and move in a more "80's" musical style. With this would come more changes: keyboard player David Hirschfeld would join the band in September 1983. Birtles would leave in October 1983, as he was not a fan of the "harder" direction of the band, or Farnham's singing(!). Pellicci would leave for similiar reasons in February 1984.

At the end of a short Australian tour in 1986, John Farnham would leave LRB for a solo career.

LRB would essentially be in limbo for a year, until they moved over to the MCA label. MCA head Irving Azoff would help bring Glenn Shorrock and Derek Pellicci back to the fold...rejoining Gable, Housden and Nelson.

This reunited lineup would release the "Monsoon" album in June 1988.

"Love Is A Bridge" would blip on "Adult" stations. It did not receive top-40 airplay.

I played LRB's 1990 single "Every Time I Turn Around " on my "adult" station...

...it felt good to play some "new" music from Little River Band in 1990!

Sorry, my radio "spins" didn't help the song become a hit.

There would be many lineup changes for LRB through the 1990's and up to the present day. Looking at a band personnel "timeline" made my head hurt...so, I won't put you through it!

The band's performance legacy is essentially left in the hands of Wayne Nelson, as the rights holder to the "Little River Band" name, Stephen Housden, left the band in 2006 (but retains the name rights).

Founding members Beeb Birtles, Glenn Shorrock, and Graeham Goble would perform in reunion concerts from 2002-2007...but as they couldn't use the LRB name, they appeared as "Birtles-Shorrock-Goble." As mentioned at the top of the article, the founders have taken out their frustration...with Goble recording "Someone's Taken Our History," and "Revolving Door" being recorded by Beeb Birtles!

In the meantime, the band that can use the LRB name tours across the US...doing as many as 100 concerts a year!

What of the original band's legacy? Its assured...for sure!

The "classic" LRB (Birtles, Shorrock, Goble, Pellicci, Briggs and McArdle) was inducted in the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall Of Fame" in 2004.  Shorrock had been inducted previously, in 1991.

BMI (one of the music licensing organizations) has named "Reminiscing" one of the most played songs of all time, on American radio! Albert Goldman's John Lennon biography names the song as one of Lennon's favorites!

LRB is considered one of Australia's most influential bands...selling over 25 million records, worldwide...

And, of course, their music lives on in movies, as the soundtrack to numerous TV and radio commercials over the years...and as part of "Jersey's Favorite Hits!"