One of the first Australian bands to find widespread commercial success in America,
Little River Band brought a polished, vocal-heavy pop sound to the late-'70s airwaves, melding the rich harmonies of the
Eagles and
Crosby, Stills & Nash with a bit of AOR drive and soft rock melodicism. Staffed by a crew of previously distinguished veterans of Melbourne's vibrant rock scene, the group's sights were already set on American shores by the time of their 1975 formation, and within two years, they had achieved their breakthrough with 1977's gold-selling
Diamantina Cocktail, followed quickly by
Sleeper Catcher and its Top Ten hits "Lady" and "Reminiscing." Their acceptance in the U.S. was mirrored and subsequently exceeded by their prominence back home, and they headed confidently into the '80s with a string of hit albums and an international reputation. Things began to splinter, though, with the departure of key founding members, singer
Glenn Shorrock and guitarist
Beeb Birtles, and by 1985, their profile in the U.S. began to dip with a change in both sound and membership. After a series of albums with singer
John Farnham at the helm,
Shorrock reentered the picture and
Little River Band managed to retain their popularity in Australia through the end of the decade. However, the group continued to bleed personnel and by 1998, no original members remained involved in the band and the legal rights to the name were claimed by '80s members
Stephen Housden and
Wayne Nelson. Backed by a frequently rotating staff,
Housden and
Nelson toured a version of
Little River Band throughout the 2000s despite numerous legal battles with the group's founding members, who had authored all of their best-known material. The contentious legal entanglements persisted well into the next decade with continued strife between both parties resulting in the cancellation of several major anniversary appearances by the touring version of the group, now led solely by
Nelson, who in 2016 released an album of re-recorded versions of the band's earlier hits. In spite of this ongoing drama,
Little River Band's status as one of Australia's most prominent bands of the late 20th century has remained strong, and they entered their fifth decade with 2020's live orchestral album
Black Tie.
When
Little River Band initially formed in Melbourne in 1975, the group's key bandmembers were already well-known to many Australians. Lead singer
Shorrock had made his name first in the mid-'60s group
the Twilights, and later with Axiom, whose 1970 single "A Little Ray of Sunshine" eventually became an Australian classic rock staple. Guitarist
Beeb Birtles had initially been the bass player for a group called
Zoot (
Rick Springfield was a later member) then later joined guitarist
Graham Goble and drummer
Derek Pellicci in the popular country-rock group and
LRB precursor Mississippi. Even the band's manager, Glenn Wheatley, carried a significant rock pedigree as the former bassist for
the Masters Apprentices. From the start, they had the status of something of a supergroup aimed at conquering the world, from Australia to America. With that in mind, they almost immediately went into the studio, even before the rest of the band had been consolidated.
Although the early lineup shuffled around a bit, by the time
Little River Band released their self-titled debut in late 1975, the band consisted of mainstays
Shorrock (vocals),
Birtles (vocals, guitar),
Goble (vocals, guitar), and
Pellicci (drums), with lead guitarist
Ric Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan. Their follow-up,
After Hours, was released in Australia mere months later in April 1976, though the band's American record company considered it to too dark and sent them straight back into the studio to record the next album, resolving to use some of the
After Hours tracks and the best of what was being recorded for the group's third Australian album. The result was called
Diamantina Cocktail, produced by
John Boylan. Preceded by late 1976 European tour dates with
Queen and American dates supporting
Average White Band,
Diamantina Cocktail finally appeared in both countries in the front half of 1977 and proved to be the breakthrough
Little River Band were hoping for. Buoyed by the hit singles "Help Is on Its Way" and "Happy Anniversary," the album peaked at number 49 in the U.S. and number two in Australia, eventually going gold in both countries. Just two years into their career, however, cracks in the lineup began to show, with
Formosa and McLachlan replaced by David Briggs and
George McArdle, respectively.
Sleeper Catcher, again produced by
Boylan, arrived in 1978 and became a major success in America, with the single "Reminiscing" hitting number three. By this point,
Little River Band were on a roll and 1979's
First Under the Wire was no exception, launching another pair of hits with "Cool Change" and "Lonesome Loser."
Over the next few years, the group straddled the two continents, renowned for their impeccable live performances and polished presence. Internally, relationships weren't so good. From their first album on, front-liners
Shorrock,
Birtles, and
Goble recorded separately. On the road they traveled separately. Only on-stage were they together. The regular changes in the backline -- especially on bass -- only contributed to tensions. During one break between American tours,
Goble started writing and producing an album for Australian pop legend
John Farnham. After 1981's
George Martin-produced
Time Exposure,
Shorrock was replaced on vocals by
Farnham. Australia pricked up its ears, but America was in shock, as this still-successful band moved toward replacing the singer of all its big hits with someone who to them was an unknown. Nevertheless, the change was made and
Farnham walked straight into the recording studio to make
The Net. More lineup changes followed, including the departure of
Birtles.
In all,
John Farnham recorded three albums with
Little River Band over four years:
The Net (1983),
Playing to Win (1985), and
No Reins (1986). Newcomers
Stephen Housden (guitar, vocals) and
Wayne Nelson (bass, vocals) became mainstays of this era, with only
Goble left from the original frontline. Although the albums were a moderate success at home, America never quite took to
Farnham, who soon took the initiative and started working on another solo release, 1986's
Whispering Jack, an album that completely rehabilitated him as the biggest-selling artist in Australia.
Little River Band regrouped in 1988 with new management and a new record label.
Glenn Shorrock and
Derek Pellicci rejoined
Goble,
Nelson, and
Housden to record the
Monsoon album, which went some way in returning the group's luster. This lineup issued one more release, 1990's
Get Lucky, after which
Goble departed. By 1996,
Shorrock was also gone, and with
Pellicci's 1998 departure went the group's last original member as well as the
Little River Band trademark rights, which fell to
Housden.
Although the band as fans had known it called it day,
Housden and
Nelson picked up the torch and carried on as perennial touring act under the
Little River Band name, coming under fire in 2002 from
Birtles,
Shorrock, and
Goble, who were attempting a reunion tour playing the band's early hits and hoping to use some version of the group's name. The remainder of the 2000s was marred by a knotty confusion of lawsuits between the two parties, with
Nelson ultimately retaining the trademark rights and continuing to tour his version of
Little River Band into the next decade while the original members played the hits under their own names. A handful of new releases under the
Little River Band banner appeared in the 2010 including the all-original Cuts Like a Diamond (2013) and The Hits: Revisited, a collection of their prime early material re-recorded by
Nelson and his current lineup. The animosity remained, with the original members doing their best to sabotage major appearances and anniversary celebrations undertaken by the touring version.
Although the dramas and infighting of the group's latter years have taken their toll, the
Little River Band legacy as a whole has fared well, and the group's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the lasting power of now-classic hits like "Cool Change," "Reminiscing," and "Help Is on Its Way" continued to cement their reputation as one of Australia's most significant bands. As
Nelson shepherded the group, they headed into another decade and continued to celebrate the breadth of their legacy. 2020's live album
Black Tie featured
Little River Band accompanied on-stage by an orchestra, playing early hits as well as some of their contemporary offerings like the record's patriotic single "The Lost and the Lonely," which originally appeared on 2013's Cuts Like a Diamond. ~ Timothy Monger & Ed Nimmervoll