Little River Band

1970–1974: Pre Little River Band Little River Band formed in March 1975 in Melbourne as a harmony rock group with Beeb Birtles on guitar and vocals, Graham Davidge on lead guitar, Graeham Goble on guitar and vocals, Dave Orams on bass guitar, Derek Pellicci on drums and Glenn Shorrock on lead vocals. With Wheatley as manager, Birtles, Goble, Pellicci and Shorrock agreed to reconvene in Melbourne in early 1975. The album was co-produced by Birtles, Goble, Shorrock and Wheatley. Their debut single, "Curiosity (Killed the Cat)", was released in September, reaching No. 15 on the related Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Their fourth studio album, Sleeper Catcher, was released in May 1978 and peaked at No. 4 in Australia and No. 16 in the US. Mal Logan (ex-the Dingoes, Renée Geyer Band) joined on keyboards for another US tour which commenced in late December 1978. Logan stayed on as a touring member until the end of 1981. Goble was the producer for Australian pop singer John Farnham's solo album, Uncovered, which was released in September 1980. In July 1988, Pellicci described the group's previous two albums: "It was an overstatement to say the response to No Reins and Playing to Win was lukewarm — there was no response at all." Little River Band Pty Ltd had current registered trademarks for "Little River Band". The application sought to have the existing Little River Band trademarks removed, alleging non-use in the three-year period ending in December 2018. On 17 May 2021 the Australian Trademark Office ruled in favour of Little River Band Pty Ltd's opposition to the application for removal of their "Little River Band" trademarks. From May 2020 major music and streaming platforms such as iTunes recognise the original Little River Band as a separate entity to the latter band. This followed the concept of the album Backstage Pass recorded by the original members of the band in 1978 with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In December 2020, Rolling Stone Australia magazine reported that "the songwriters responsible for the band’s biggest songs – Graeham Goble, Glenn Shorrock, Beeb Birtles, and David Briggs – are unable to perform as the Little River Band, the band they themselves invented back in 1974! A version of Little River Band consisting of American musicians continues to tour, playing shitty versions of the hits. The owner of the title, Stephen Housden, is adamant he won’t share the rights with the original members." Little River Band were listed at number 44 in Rolling Stone Australias "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue. In 2022, Nashville singer, composer and guitarist Bruce Wallace replaced Rich Herring in the current band's lineup. In September 2022 the band founders announced the remastered and expanded re-release of their first 10 albums, alongside two new compilations, Ultimate Hits and Masterpieces, which were released on 14 October 2022. The current version of Little River Band independently released a new album Window To The World in October 2024. Original bassist Roger McLachlan died from pancreatic cancer in April 2025. ==Legacy==

, 17 October 2004 The Little River Band are considered to be among Australia's most significant bands. As of September 2004 they have sold more than 30 million records and scored 13 US Top 40 hits. 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. At that ceremony Goble and Shorrock reconnected after ten years; they proposed a reunion with Birtles to perform their earlier material, which became the trio Birtles Shorrock Goble. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004, Little River Band were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. The presentation acknowledged the band's three decade career and thirteen official members and was accepted by the 1976 to 1978 line-up of Birtles, Briggs, Goble, Pellicci, McArdle and Shorrock. They were referred to as "The Classic Line-up of the Little River Band". They performed "Help Is on Its Way" at the ceremony on 17 October 2004. Shorrock had previously been inducted in 1991 for his work with the Twilights, Axiom and his solo career. Farnham, who had been inducted in 2003 for his solo work, was not inducted in 2004 with Little River Band. However, Farnham's contribution to LRB was acknowledged by Goble in his acceptance speech. The 2018 version of Little River Band claims the band's Hall of Fame induction, amongst other past achievements, on its website. With more than five million plays, "Reminiscing", written by Goble, was recognised by Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) as one of the most frequently played songs in the history of US radio, the highest achievement of any Australian pop song internationally. According to Albert Goldman's biography, John Lennon named "Reminiscing" as one of his favourite songs. May Pang, Lennon's erstwhile girlfriend, said they considered "Reminiscing" as "our song". "Lady" has accumulated more than four million plays. LRB were mentioned in the 2010 film The Other Guys, when the character portrayed by Will Ferrell played "Reminiscing" while driving. The character portrayed by Mark Wahlberg threw the CD out the window, but Ferrell's character played it again later on and said that he always had six identical LRB CDs in his car. In Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations (2019), Admiral William H. McRaven wrote that he would sing "Happy Anniversary" before every jump. Shorrock was appointed a 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 March 2020 he was due to perform at the Little River Country Fair in the town after which LRB were named. Shorrock wanted to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the group's first show. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the performance was postponed. In September, Goble was acknowledged for achieving 12 million plays of his songs on US commercial radio by BMI after receiving his fifth such Million-Air Award, with the latest for "The Night Owls" (see their BMI Awards). ==Personnel==

Current members • Wayne Nelson – bass, vocals (1980–96, 1999–present) • Chris Marion – keyboards, vocals (2004–present) • Ryan Ricks – drums, vocals (2012–present) • Colin Whinnery – guitar, vocals (2018–present) • Bruce Wallace – guitar, vocals (2022–present) Classic lineup • Glenn Shorrock – vocals (1975–82, 1987–96) • Graeham Goble – guitar, vocals (1975–92) • Beeb Birtles – guitar, vocals (1975–83) • Derek Pellicci – drums (1975–84, 1987–97) • David Briggs – guitar (1976–81) • George McArdle – bass (1976–79) Other former members • Graham Davidge – guitar (1975) • Dave Orams – bass (1975) • Ric Formosa – guitar, vocals (1975–76) • Roger McLachlan – bass (1975–76, 1998–99; died 2025) • Geoff Cox – drums (1978) • Mal Logan – keyboards (touring 1978–82) • Barry Sullivan – bass (1979–80; died 2003) • Stephen Housden – guitar (1981–2006) • John Farnham – vocals (1982–86) • David Hirschfelder – keyboards, synthesisers, backing vocals (1983–86) • Steve Prestwich – drums (1984–86; died 2011) • Malcolm Wakeford – drums (1986) • James Roche – keyboards (1988–89) • Peter Beckett – guitar, vocals (1989–97) • Tony Sciuto – keyboards, guitar, vocals (1990–92, 1993–97) • Richard Bryant – keyboards, backing vocals (1992–93) • Steve Wade – lead vocals, guitar (1996–2000) • Hal Tupea – bass (1993, 1996–97) • Kevin Murphy – drums, vocals (1998–2004) • Paul Gildea – guitar, vocals (1998–2000) • Adrian Scott – keyboards, vocals (1998–99) • Glenn Reither – keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals (1999–2004) • Greg Hind - vocals, guitar (2000–18) • Kip Raines – drums (2004–05) • Billy Thomas – drums (2005–07) • Rich Herring – guitar, vocals (2006–22) • Mel Watts – drums (2007–12) Deceased former members • Barry Sullivan (2003) • Steve Prestwich (2011) • Roger McLachlan (2025) ==Discography==

• Little River Band (1975) • After Hours (1976) • Diamantina Cocktail (1977) • Sleeper Catcher (1978) • First Under the Wire (1979) • Time Exposure (1981) • The Net (1983) • Playing to Win (1985) • No Reins (1986) • Monsoon (1988) • Get Lucky (1990) • Where We Started From (2000) • Test of Time (2004) • We Call It Christmas (2007) • Cuts Like a Diamond (2013) • Window to the World (2024) == Awards and nominations ==