Glenn Shorrock

Glenn Barrie Shorrock was born on 30 June 1944 in Chatham, Kent, England. His family migrated to Adelaide, South Australia, on the Orcades in August 1954 when he was 10. only to return to Australia on the Fairsea for a second attempt in 1956. The family settled in Elizabeth, north of Adelaide. Shorrock's first public performance took place in 1958 at St Peter's Lutheran church hall in Elizabeth when he mimed to Elvis Presley's recording of "All Shook Up" on a gramophone and strumming on a cardboard guitar. When the record player stopped he was forced to continue singing by himself and realised he had a good voice. In 1962, Shorrock formed his first band, the Checkmates, with Clem McCartney, Mike Sykes and Billy Volraat. They were a doo-wop harmony group covering the Platters and the Crew Cuts material. Sometimes teaming up with instrumental groups the Vector Men or the Hurricanes, the Checkmates performed in Adelaide cafes and folk clubs. As a result of the Beatles' popularity, members of the Checkmates and the Hurricanes merged to form the Twilights in 1964. ==The Twilights==

In 1964 Shorrock, with McCartney as co-lead vocalist, formed the Twilights by merging with the Hurricanes' Frank Barnard on drums, Peter Brideoake on guitar, Terry Britten on guitar and John Bywaters on bass guitar. Their debut single, "I'll Be Where You Are", co-written by Shorrock and Britten, was released in June 1965. The band had eight consecutive hit singles, including covers of the Velvelettes' "Needle in a Haystack" and the Hollies' "What's Wrong with the Way I Live" (recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London). With two lead singers, two guitarists and five vocalists, the Twilights performed note-perfect covers of pop-rock songs and were famed for their live prowess. They relocated to Melbourne late in 1965 and were popular with teenage audiences and respected by fellow musicians. In July 1966, they won Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds with the prize including a trip to London. In 1967, shortly after returning from London, the group regularly performed the entire ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album live in sequence, weeks before it was released in Australia. The Twilights disbanded in January 1969 and Shorrock became band manager for Brisbane pop group the Avengers. ==Axiom==

In May 1969 in Melbourne, Shorrock formed an early Australian "supergroup", Axiom, with Brian Cadd on keyboards and vocals, Don Mudie on lead guitar (both ex-the Groop), Doug Lavery (The Valentines) on drums and Chris Stockley (Cam-Pact) on guitar. They recorded two highly acclaimed albums, ''Fool's Gold and If Only ...''; and had three top 10 singles, "Arkansas Grass", "Little Ray of Sunshine" and "My Baby's Gone" on the Go-Set national charts. Axiom travelled to the UK but disbanded there in March 1971. Shorrock remained in the UK to pursue his solo career; he signed with MAM Records and released the self-penned "Let's Get the Band Together" single in October 1971. This was followed by a cover of "Rock and Roll Lullaby" in March 1972. As Andre L'Escargot and His Society Syncopaters, he released "Purple Umbrella" with his backing band being Quartet members Britten, Kevin Peek, Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney. He joined the multinational progressive rock band Esperanto, which released their debut album, Esperanto Rock Orchestra, in 1973 with the Shorrock-written track "Statue of Liberty". He left Esperanto before their third album was released in 1974 and performed backing vocals for Cliff Richard. ==Little River Band==

Mississippi was an Australian rock band which was working in the UK, with Beeb Birtles on vocals and guitar, Graham Goble (later Graeham Goble) on guitar and vocals and Derek Pellicci on drums. They contacted Glenn Wheatley (former bass guitarist for the Masters Apprentices) to become their manager. Birtles, previously in Adelaide band Zoot, called Shorrock to take part in the line up. Shorrock returned to Australia in October 1974 and joined Mississippi in January 1975 in Melbourne. They were soon renamed as Little River Band with the original line up of Birtles, Goble, Pellicci, Shorrock and lead guitarist Ric Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan. The group went on to become one of the most successful bands ever to come out of Australia and the first to achieve major commercial success in the United States. For Little River Band, Shorrock wrote the hits "Emma", "Help Is on Its Way" (Australian No. 1) and "Cool Change". While still a member of Little River Band, Shorrock released a solo single, a cover of Bobby Darin's 1959 hit "Dream Lover" in April 1979 on EMI, which peaked at No. 8 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. In February 1982, Shorrock left Little River Band and was replaced by John Farnham who was managed by Wheatley. Shorrock returned to Little River Band in 1988 but, despite several quality albums, they did not regain the earlier stellar recognition. He left again in 1991 leaving the naming rights with guitarist Stephen Housden. 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. ==Later solo career==

In 1982, Shorrock released the solo album Villain of the Peace and a single, "Rock and Roll Soldier", on Capitol Records recorded in Los Angeles with John Boylan (Charlie Daniels, Little River Band) producing. "Rock and Roll Soldier" reached the Australian top 40 in November but he did not achieve the international success attained with Little River Band. Late in 1982 he toured Australia and then teamed with Renée Geyer to release a duet, "Goin' Back", on Mushroom Records in February 1983. One of his backing singers was Wendy Matthews who had been a session singer in Los Angeles. and his own showcase productions Go Cat Go (1990–91) and Two Up (1996). On 25 March 1991, Shorrock was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame, alongside contemporary rocker Billy Thorpe, bass-baritone Peter Dawson and jazz musician Don Burrows. In October 2014, Shorrock was inducted into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame alongside Bon Scott's former band Fraternity, Chris Finnen and David "Daisy" Day. Shorrock released his autobiography, Now, Where Was I?, in June 2018. Shorrock was appointed an honorary member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 26 January 2020, awarded for significant service to the performing arts as a singer, songwriter and entertainer. In 2021, Shorrock appeared in the Australian film A Stitch in Time. == Personal life ==

Shorrock met his first wife, Sue Doran, a Melbourne nurse, in 1966. The couple married in 1967 but divorced in 1971. In 1975, Shorrock met Jo Swan, a video producer nine years his junior, who worked in the same building (Armstrong Studios) where Little River band was recording its first album. They married in 1980, Shorrock married Irene Rose, a teacher, on 21 December 2021. He has at times had arthritis, anxiety and stage fright. He now has Parkinson's disease. Shorrock lives in Port Douglas, Queensland. ==Discography==

Studio albums Live albums Compilation albums Singles Other singles ==Awards and nominations==

ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony which recognises excellence, innovation and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Shorrock was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1991. Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters. King of Pop Awards The King of Pop Awards were voted by the readers of TV Week. The awards began in 1967 and ended in 1978. Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards, commonly known as the Mo Awards, were annual entertainment industry awards held from 1975 to 2016 which recognised achievements in live entertainment in Australia. Shorrock won an award in 2015. (wins only) ==Sources and further reading==

• • Note: Archived on-line copy has limited functionality. • • Note: online version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. ==References==