158-761: Little River Band ( LRB ) are a rock band formed in Melbourne , Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart including Diamantina Cocktail (April 1977) and First Under the Wire (July 1979), which both peaked at No. 2. Nine singles appeared in
316-475: A 5-Million Broadcast Citation from BMI in 2020. The group have undergone numerous personnel changes , with over 30 members since their formation, including John Farnham as lead singer after Shorrock first departed in 1982. None of the musicians now performing as Little River Band are original members, nor members in the 1970s. In the 1980s, members included Farnham, Wayne Nelson , Stephen Housden , David Hirschfelder and Steve Prestwich . The current line-up
474-666: A Long Way There ". Wheatley travelled to Los Angeles in December 1975 and touted the group to various record companies until Rupert Perry of Capitol Records signed them on Christmas Eve. Little River Band issued their second Australian album, After Hours , in April 1976. It was produced by the band but was not issued in the US until 1980. After Hours peaked at No. 5 and provided the single " Everyday of My Life ", in May 1976, which reached
632-754: A break until Nelson's return in 1994 and embarked on a four-and-a-half month 20th anniversary US tour in 1995. Shorrock left again in 1996: he was offered the option to buy out the remaining members of We Two Pty. Ltd. He took a one-third share of the monetary value of the company as he did not want to commit to the band's US touring schedule. Shorrock was replaced on lead vocals by Melbourne singer Steve Wade (ex-Dolphin Street). Nelson also left in 1996 and Tupaea returned on bass guitar. This line-up lasted until late 1997, when everyone, except Housden and Wade, started to leave, including Pellicci, who left again that December. The departure of all original directors left Housden as
790-514: A certain degree doesn't care if it's popular. — Bill Wyman in Vulture (2016) The sound of rock is traditionally centered on the amplified electric guitar, which emerged in its modern form in the 1950s with the popularity of rock and roll. It was also greatly influenced by the sounds of electric blues guitarists. The sound of an electric guitar in rock music is typically supported by an electric bass guitar, which pioneered jazz music in
948-591: A compilation album, Worldwide Love , of tracks from the previous two albums on their Curb Records imprint in June 1991. Both Get Lucky and Worldwide Love peaked in the top 40 on the Swiss Hitparade ; with the latter also appearing on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 . Goble had ceased touring with the group in 1989 and left altogether by 1992, as well as resigning from We Two. Peter Beckett (ex- Player ) joined in 1989 to take Goble's place. The group went through
1106-611: A country rock group, Axiom , from 1969 to 1971 (alongside singer-songwriter Brian Cadd ). Both Axiom and Mississippi had relocated to the United Kingdom to try to break into the local record market, but without success. Axiom disbanded after moving to the UK, and Shorrock sang for a more progressive rock outfit, Esperanto , in 1973. He also provided backing vocals for Cliff Richard . In late 1974, Birtles, Goble and Pellicci met with talent manager Glenn Wheatley (former bass player of
1264-485: A couple of embarrassing moments in the studio where [Briggs] was quite rude to [Martin], insisting that his way was better and that he didn't need to be told how or what to play. After our return from recording in Montserrat, during a meeting at [Wheatley]'s house, [Goble] was quite vocal about [Briggs'] conduct. He confronted [him] and virtually fired him ... After [Shorrock] took his frustration out on me one day during
1422-544: A cover version of the Everly Brothers ' song " When Will I Be Loved ", in February 1975, at Armstrong Studios . However, Linda Ronstadt 's version appeared in the following month, so LRB did not release theirs. Before the group performed, Graham Davidge was replaced by Ric Formosa on guitar, and Dave Orams by Roger McLachlan on bass guitar and backing vocals (ex- Levi Smith's Clefs ). Phil Manning (ex- Chain )
1580-484: A descriptive manner. On 12 July of that year Birtles, Goble and Shorrock were directed to pay half of We Two's taxed costs. A further legal case in late July 2005 was also settled out of court which allowed the trio to advertise their Little River Band connection but not to perform under that name. The three former members shared their frustration at the situation via song, with Goble's "Someone's Taken Our History", Birtles' "Revolving Door" and Shorrock's "Hear My Voice". At
1738-599: A following on the concert and festival circuit. During 1971 to 1972 the original members of Mississippi had also recorded as a studio band under the pseudonym Drummond. They achieved a number-one hit, for eight consecutive weeks, on the Go-Set National Top ;40 with a novelty cover version of the Rays' song " Daddy Cool ". Shorrock had been the lead singer of a pop band, the Twilights (1964–69), and
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#17327807496211896-519: A fondness for a good beat, a meaningful lyric with some wit, and the theme of youth, which holds an "eternal attraction" so objective "that all youth music partakes of sociology and the field report ." Writing in Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), he said this sensibility is evident in the music of folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked , rapper LL Cool J , and synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys —"all kids working out their identities"—as much as it
2054-481: A foundation of simple syncopated rhythms in a 4 meter , with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies often originate from older musical modes such as the Dorian and Mixolydian , as well as major and minor modes. Harmonies range from the common triad to parallel perfect fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Since the late 1950s, and particularly from
2212-554: A free concert on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, drawing 80,000 people and topping the previous record of 57,000 set by Fleetwood Mac and Little River Band on their last Australian tour. Their fourth studio album, Sleeper Catcher , was released in May 1978 and peaked at No. 4 in Australia and No. 16 in the US. By May of the following year, it was certified platinum by RIAA for sales of 1,000,000 copies:
2370-628: A frequent addition to the established rock format of guitars, bass, and drums in subsequent progressive rock. Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy and science fiction. The Pretty Things ' SF Sorrow (1968), the Kinks' Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969), and the Who 's Tommy (1969) introduced
2528-630: A key feature of psychedelia. Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. 1967 saw the Beatles release their definitive psychedelic statement in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , including the controversial track " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ", the Rolling Stones responded later that year with Their Satanic Majesties Request , and Pink Floyd debuted with The Piper at
2686-573: A loud amplified sound, often centered on the electric guitar, based on the Chicago blues , particularly after the tour of Britain by Muddy Waters in 1958, which prompted Cyril Davies and guitarist Alexis Korner to form the band Blues Incorporated . The band involved and inspired many of the figures of the subsequent British blues boom, including members of the Rolling Stones and Cream , combining blues standards and forms with rock instrumentation and emphasis. The other key focus for British blues
2844-587: A mainstream audience with hits including " Blowin' in the Wind " (1963) and " Masters of War " (1963), which brought " protest songs " to a wider public, but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences. Early attempts to combine elements of folk and rock included the Animals' " House of the Rising Sun " (1964), which
3002-495: A major element of progressive rock. From about 1967 bands like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience had moved away from purely blues-based music into psychedelia . By the 1970s, blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple , and the lines between blues rock and hard rock "were barely visible", as bands began recording rock-style albums. The genre
3160-429: A major influence on subsequent electronic rock . With the advent of punk rock and technological changes in the late 1970s, progressive rock was increasingly dismissed as pretentious and overblown. Many bands broke up, but some, including Genesis, ELP, Yes, and Pink Floyd, regularly scored top ten albums with successful accompanying worldwide tours. Some bands which emerged in the aftermath of punk, such as Siouxsie and
3318-410: A more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly blues, country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock. In 1966 Bob Dylan went to Nashville to record the album Blonde on Blonde . This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, such as Nashville Skyline , have been seen as creating the genre of country folk ,
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#17327807496213476-629: A more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger response." Bruce Eder of AllMusic observed, "[it's] an astonishingly strong debut album." Little River Band peaked at No. 17 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and was certified gold in early 1976. Their debut single, " Curiosity (Killed the Cat) ", was released in September, reaching No. 15 on the related Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Two more singles followed, " Emma " and " It's
3634-486: A multibillion-dollar industry and doubling its market while, as Christgau noted, suffering a significant "loss of cultural prestige". "Maybe the Bee Gees became more popular than the Beatles, but they were never more popular than Jesus ", he said. "Insofar as the music retained any mythic power, the myth was self-referential – there were lots of songs about the rock and roll life but very few about how rock could change
3792-589: A national phenomenon. It is often argued that the surf music craze and the careers of almost all surf acts was effectively ended by the arrival of the British Invasion from 1964, because most surf music hits were recorded and released between 1960 and 1965. By the end of 1962, what would become the British rock scene had started with beat groups like the Beatles , Gerry & the Pacemakers and
3950-411: A preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of the payola scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the rock and roll era established at that point had come to an end. Rock quickly spread out from its origins in the US, associated with the rapid Americanization that
4108-444: A prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, heralding the era of pomp or arena rock , which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economical rock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s. The instrumental strand of the genre resulted in albums like Mike Oldfield 's Tubular Bells (1973),
4266-428: A rehearsal ... I said I couldn't work with [him] any more. [Goble], who had always been at opposite poles to Shorrock, agreed with me and Wheatley started freaking out saying he thought it was a big mistake ... in hindsight, I believe he was right on the money and to me this would be the mistake that cut Little River Band's throat. In September 1982, Farnham told Susan Moore of The Australian Women's Weekly how easy it
4424-446: A rigidly delineated musical definition." In the opinion of music journalist Robert Christgau , "the best rock jolts folk-art virtues—directness, utility, natural audience—into the present with shots of modern technology and modernist dissociation ". Rock and roll was conceived as an outlet for adolescent yearnings ... To make rock and roll is also an ideal way to explore intersections of sex, love, violence, and fun, to broadcast
4582-625: A rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. By the late 1960s " classic rock " period, a few distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock , folk rock , country rock , Southern rock , raga rock , and jazz rock , which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock , influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene . New genres that emerged included progressive rock , which extended artistic elements, heavy metal , which emphasized an aggressive thick sound, and glam rock , which highlighted showmanship and visual style. In
4740-721: A route pursued by a number of largely acoustic folk musicians. Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend were the Canadian group the Band and the California-based Creedence Clearwater Revival , both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder , Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George , and influenced
4898-731: A series of keyboard players, including Tony Sciuto (1990–1992, 1993–1997) and Richard Bryant (1992–1993, ex- the Doobie Brothers ). In September 1992, Nelson's daughter was killed in a traffic collision in San Diego while he was on tour with the band in Europe. Nelson immediately returned home and Hal Tupaea substituted on bass guitar for the New Zealand dates of the band's tour in November 1993. Little River Band subsequently took
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5056-421: A sessions player and joined the country rock group Stars in 1976. Australian music journalist Ed Nimmervoll listed the classic line-up of the band as Birtles, Briggs, Goble, McArdle, Pellicci and Shorrock. Formosa still worked with LRB by arranging and writing string parts for several tracks on subsequent albums. Encouraged by their Australian success, they undertook their first international tour. They flew to
5214-481: A slogan one only began to hear in 1972 or so, mobilized all those eager to believe that idealism had become passe, and once they were mobilized, it had. In popular music, embracing the '70s meant both an elitist withdrawal from the messy concert and counterculture scene and a profiteering pursuit of the lowest common denominator in FM radio and album rock . Rock saw greater commodification during this decade, turning into
5372-559: A soft rock trio, initially billed as "The Original Little River Band" or "The Voices of Little River Band". Wheatley returned as their manager. They undertook a series of concerts performing LRB's earlier material. In June of that year a legal dispute, We Two Pty Ltd v Shorrock (2002) , over the use of the name "Little River Band" reached the Federal Court of Australia . Housden's company, We Two Pty Ltd, lodged an action against Birtles, Goble and Shorrock seeking to stop BSG from using
5530-462: A solo album, Driven by Dreams , in 2000. Pellicci left in February 1984 for similar reasons and Steve Prestwich (ex- Cold Chisel ) replaced him on drums. Pellicci also became a session musician: including working for Brian Cadd. Their eighth studio album, Playing to Win , was released in January 1985, which delivered a harder sound with producer Spencer Proffer . The change in sound, along with
5688-470: A sound that seems forced and somewhat strained". In 1983, "You're Driving Me Out of My Mind" became the group's last single to reach the US Top ;40. The band moved towards a 1980s style of sound and added a keyboardist, David Hirschfelder (ex- Peter Cupples Band , who had guested on The Net and at some LRB shows), in September 1983. The pressures of success and constant touring took their toll on
5846-467: A touring member until the end of 1981. Nimmervoll observed that by February 1978, "frictions inside the band continued to brew, relieved a little by" side projects. Birtles & Goble showcased tracks rejected for LRB. They issued three singles, "Lonely Lives" (March 1978), "I'm Coming Home" (March 1979) and "How I Feel Tonight" (June 1980) and an album, The Last Romance (May 1980). "I'm Coming Home" reached No. 8 in Australia. Shorrock's solo single
6004-464: A variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to develop country rock . However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on the development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song, and concepts of "authenticity". Psychedelic music's LSD -inspired vibe began in
6162-529: A variety of sources such as the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music , and rhythm and blues . Christgau characterizes rock lyrics as a "cool medium" with simple diction and repeated refrains, and asserts that rock's primary "function" "pertains to music, or, more generally, noise ." The predominance of white, male, and often middle class musicians in rock music has often been noted, and rock has been seen as an appropriation of Black musical forms for
6320-447: A wide appeal. Both singles, " Lonesome Loser " and " Cool Change " peaked in the US top 10. Briggs wrote "Lonesome Loser" and Shorrock wrote "Cool Change". Bassist George McArdle left in late January 1979 to become a Christian minister . In July of that year Barry Sullivan (ex-Chain, Renée Geyer Band) took over on bass guitar. He was replaced, in turn, by American Wayne Nelson (ex- Jim Messina Band ) in April 1980. Backstage Pass
6478-501: A young, white and largely male audience. As a result, it has also been seen to articulate the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, "rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality and aggression". Since the term "rock" started being used in preference to "rock and roll" from the late-1960s, it has usually been contrasted with pop music, with which it has shared many characteristics, but from which it
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6636-778: Is Nelson, Chris Marion , Ryan Ricks, Colin Whinnery and Bruce Wallace – none of whom are Australian. Various legal disputes over the band's name occurred in the 2000s, with Housden filing suit against Birtles, Goble and Shorrock. 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. Upon formation they were an Australian super group , with Birtles, Goble, Pellicci and Shorrock each from prominent local bands. Birtles had been
6794-548: Is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll " in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles from the mid-1960s, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the genres of blues , rhythm and blues , and country music . Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk , and incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock
6952-423: Is centered on the electric guitar , usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar , drums , and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a 4 time signature using a verse–chorus form , but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music , lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock
7110-540: Is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music. Four years later, Bill Haley 's " Rock Around the Clock " (1954) became the first rock and roll song to top Billboard magazine's main sales and airplay charts, and opened the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture. Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Fats Domino , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Soon rock and roll
7268-472: Is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966. By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or the draft . New styles had evolved to replace garage rock. Although the first impact of the British Invasion on American popular music was through beat and R&B based acts,
7426-555: Is in the music of Chuck Berry , the Ramones , and the Replacements . The foundations of rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to much of the rest of the world. Its immediate origins lay in a melding of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music , with country and western . Debate surrounds
7584-411: Is often distanced by an emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and a focus on serious and progressive themes as part of an ideology of authenticity that is frequently combined with an awareness of the genre's history and development. According to Simon Frith , rock was "something more than pop, something more than rock and roll" and "[r]ock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with
7742-399: Is termed as a rock band or a rock group. Furthermore, it typically consists of between three (the power trio ) and five members. Classically, a rock band takes the form of a quartet whose members cover one or more roles, including vocalist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bass guitarist, drummer, and often keyboard player or another instrumentalist. Rock music is traditionally built on
7900-535: The Billboard Hot 100 . The British Invasion greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with a national audience, leading many (often surf or hot rod groups) to adopt a British influence, and encouraging many more groups to form. Thousands of garage bands were extant in the United States and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits. Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It
8058-524: The American folk music revival had grown to a major movement, using traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments. In America the genre was pioneered by figures such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and often identified with progressive or labor politics . In the early sixties figures such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters. Dylan had begun to reach
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#17327807496218216-719: The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) hall of fame at the 18th annual ARIA Music Awards of 2004 . Most of the group's 1970s and 1980s material was written by Goble and/or Shorrock, Birtles and Briggs. 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. "Reminiscing", written by Goble, received
8374-748: The Eagles . Cox remained playing alongside Pellicci, when he joined the tour in August 1978; they supported the Eagles at C.N.E. Stadium in Toronto . Cox left once Pellicci had recovered. Keyboardist Ian Mason, who was a session player on LRB's first three albums, played as a guest on some dates of their 1978 Australian tour. 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
8532-422: The garage rock / post-punk revival in the 2000s. Since the 2010s, rock has lost its position as the pre-eminent popular music genre in world culture, but remains commercially successful. The increased influence of hip-hop and electronic dance music can be seen in rock music, notably in the techno-pop scene of the early 2010s and the pop-punk-hip-hop revival of the 2020s. Rock has also embodied and served as
8690-417: The protest song , rock music has been associated with political activism , as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex, and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity . At the same time, it has been commercially highly successful, leading to accusations of selling out . A good definition of rock, in fact, is that it's popular music that to
8848-454: The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar, and the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing through such exponents as Chuck Berry, Link Wray , and Scotty Moore . The use of distortion , pioneered by Western swing guitarists such as Junior Barnard and Eldon Shamblin was popularized by Chuck Berry in the mid-1950s. The use of power chords , pioneered by Francisco Tárrega and Heitor Villa-Lobos in
9006-467: The 19th century and later on by Willie Johnson and Pat Hare in the early 1950s, was popularized by Link Wray in the late 1950s. Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become
9164-477: The Banshees , Ultravox , and Simple Minds , showed the influence of progressive rock, as well as their more usually recognized punk influences. In the late 1960s, jazz-rock emerged as a distinct subgenre out of the blues-rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock scenes, mixing the power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational elements of jazz. AllMusic states that the term jazz-rock "may refer to
9322-628: The Beatles, demonstrating "to the rock generation in general that an album could be a major standalone statement without hit singles", such as on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts like the Mamas & the Papas and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned performers including
9480-487: The Border ", peaked at No. 7 in Australia. Their next single, "We Two", from their seventh studio album, The Net , reached No. 22 in the US. It had been co-produced by the group and Ern Rose (Mississippi, Rénee Geyer, Stars). DeGagne reviewed the album, which "failed to capture the same success they experienced with Shorrock at the helm. The same type of soft rock fluidity and laid-back charm has been replaced with
9638-617: The Byrds ' shift from folk to folk rock from 1965. The psychedelic lifestyle, which revolved around hallucinogenic drugs, had already developed in San Francisco and particularly prominent products of the scene were Big Brother and the Holding Company , the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane . The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's lead guitarist, Jimi Hendrix did extended distorted, feedback-filled jams which became
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#17327807496219796-431: The Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-string Rickenbacker guitars, which became a major element in the sound of the genre. Later that year Dylan adopted electric instruments, much to the outrage of many folk purists, with his " Like a Rolling Stone " becoming a US hit single. According to Ritchie Unterberger , Dylan (even before his adoption of electric instruments) influenced rock musicians like
9954-594: The Dominos , followed by an extensive solo career that helped bring blues rock into the mainstream. Green, along with the Bluesbreaker's rhythm section Mick Fleetwood and John McVie , formed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac , who enjoyed some of the greatest commercial success in the genre. In the late 1960s Jeff Beck , also an alumnus of the Yardbirds, moved blues rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band,
10112-507: The Gates of Dawn . Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow and the Doors ' self-titled debut album . These trends peaked in the 1969 Woodstock festival , which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts. Sgt. Pepper was later regarded as the greatest album of all time and a starting point for the album era , during which rock music transitioned from
10270-471: The Jeff Beck Group . The last Yardbirds guitarist was Jimmy Page , who went on to form The New Yardbirds which rapidly became Led Zeppelin . Many of the songs on their first three albums, and occasionally later in their careers, were expansions on traditional blues songs. In America, blues rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitarist Lonnie Mack , but the genre began to take off in
10428-506: The Joint " (1949), also covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952; and " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact, Ike Turner and his band the Kings of Rhythm ), recorded by Sam Phillips for Chess Records in 1951. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music (then termed " race music ") for a multi-racial audience, and
10586-566: The Kent Music Report. It was co-produced by Boylan and Goble. The Canberra Times ' Lisa Wallace was disappointed by its lack of innovation despite showing technical skills. Its lead single, "Love Is a Bridge", co-written by Goble and Housden was released in April and peaked at No. 7 on the Kent Music Report. It was their second highest charting single in the Australian market, and a moderate Adult Contemporary radio hit in
10744-718: The LRB trademarks, logos and band name. Housden provided documentation showing the assignment of those trademarks to We Two, registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1989, and Birtles' transfer of ownership of the url "littleriverband.com" to We Two in 2000. The parties settled out of court on 13 June 2002 where We Two had ownership of the Little River Band name, trademarks and logos and that Birtles, Goble and Shorrock could reference their history in advertising separate to BSG's name but only in
10902-503: The Lovin' Spoonful and Simon and Garfunkel , with the latter's acoustic " The Sounds of Silence " (1965) being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits. These acts directly influenced British performers like Donovan and Fairport Convention . In 1969 Fairport Convention abandoned their mixture of American covers and Dylan-influenced songs to play traditional English folk music on electric instruments. This British folk-rock
11060-558: The Masters Apprentices ) in London, with a view to forming a new band. After auditioning Peter Doyle as lead singer, they settled on Shorrock. With Wheatley as manager, Birtles, Goble, Pellicci and Shorrock agreed to reconvene in Melbourne in early 1975. Due to the indifferent reception they had each received in the UK, they decided their new band would establish itself in the United States. Wheatley's first-hand experiences of
11218-476: The Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds , were much more directly influenced by rhythm and blues and later blues music. Soon these groups were composing their own material, combining US forms of music and infusing it with a high energy beat. Beat bands tended towards "bouncy, irresistible melodies", while early British blues acts tended towards less sexually innocent, more aggressive songs, often adopting an anti-establishment stance. There was, however, particularly in
11376-588: The Searchers from Liverpool and Freddie and the Dreamers , Herman's Hermits and the Hollies from Manchester. They drew on a wide range of American influences including 1950s rock and roll, soul, rhythm and blues, and surf music, initially reinterpreting standard American tunes and playing for dancers. Bands like the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast , and particularly those from London like
11534-672: The Seeds ) to near-studio musician quality (including the Knickerbockers , the Remains , and the Fifth Estate ). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas. The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps the most defined regional sound. The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "Tall Cool One" (1959) by
11692-490: The UK in September 1976 to play a show in London's Hyde Park supporting Queen . They then opened shows in the rest of Europe for the Hollies during September and October. Birtles advised fellow Australian bands to establish themselves in Australia first before trying the UK market. In October they performed their first US concert, at James Madison University (then called Madison College) in Harrisonburg , Virginia, as
11850-442: The US the highest charting was " Reminiscing ", which peaked at No. 3. The album's last single, " Lady ", reached No. 10 in the US in early 1979. Pellicci was hospitalised in May 1978 with severe burns due to methylated spirits igniting on a barbecue. Geoff Cox (ex-Brian Cadd, Bootleg Family Band , Avalanche) substituted on drums, rather than cancelling their next US tour. They supported Boz Scaggs , Jimmy Buffett and
12008-526: The US version reached the top 50 on the Billboard 200. In January 1978 it was certified gold by RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies: the first Australian band to do so. The lead single, " Help Is on Its Way " reached No. 1 in Australia . Both it and the fourth single, " Happy Anniversary ", peaked in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. During 1977 they consistently toured, mostly in
12166-676: The US was becoming dominated by lightweight pop and ballads, British rock groups at clubs and local dances were developing a style more strongly influenced by blues-rock pioneers, and were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts; this influence would go on to shape the future of rock music through the British Invasion . The first four years of the 1960s has traditionally been seen as an era of hiatus for rock and roll. More recently some authors have emphasised important innovations and trends in this period without which future developments would not have been possible. While early rock and roll, particularly through
12324-579: The US, headlining in smaller venues and appearing in stadiums on multi-billed shows supporting the Doobie Brothers , Supertramp and America . In August they co-headlined day two of the Reading Music Festival in the UK alongside Thin Lizzy . In November they supported Fleetwood Mac and Santana at Rockarena concerts in Sydney and Melbourne. Early in 1978, Little River Band performed in
12482-535: The US. In 1989 the group recorded "Listen to Your Heart", written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg , for the film soundtrack of The Karate Kid Part III . The eleventh studio album, Get Lucky , was released in April 1990. It was their last charting album in Australia and made the top 60. Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times caught their gig in May, where "[Shorrock] was stiff and seemed stuck for words between songs. But he knew what to do when
12640-619: The USSR and South Africa from 1955 to 1957, influencing the globalisation of rock. Johnny O'Keefe 's 1958 record " Wild One " was one of the earliest Australian rock and roll hits. By the late 1950s, as well as in the American-influenced Western world, rock was popular in communist states such as Yugoslavia, and the USSR, as well as in regions such as South America. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, American blues music and blues rock artists, who had been surpassed by
12798-751: The Wailers and " Louie Louie " by the Kingsmen (1963) are mainstream examples of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, including Paul Revere and the Raiders (Boise), the Trashmen (Minneapolis) and the Rivieras (South Bend, Indiana). Other influential garage bands, such as the Sonics (Tacoma, Washington), never reached
12956-527: The advent of rockabilly, saw the greatest commercial success for male and white performers, in this era, the genre was dominated by black and female artists. Rock and roll had not disappeared entirely from music at the end of the 1950s and some of its energy can be seen in the various dance crazes of the early 1960s, started by Chubby Checker 's record " The Twist " (1960). Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including
13114-594: The album, which had no Australian references and felt they were aiming at the US West Coast scene with influences from David Crosby , Graham Nash and Little Feat apparent. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented on the US release, "laidback, sweet country-rock, [it] has a similar sound to the band's debut, but the melodies are a little sharper and catchier, making [it] a better, more fully-rounded collection." In Australia, Diamantina Cocktail became their highest charting album, peaking at No. 2; while
13272-473: The band as line-up changes continued. Birtles left in October 1983 because he did not like the harder, more progressive musical path which Goble was taking and because he had preferred Shorrock's vocals. Birtles contributed to soundtracks for the feature films From Something Great (1985) and Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988). He also worked as a session musician, eventually relocating to the US and releasing
13430-570: The band came to change its name: [Shorrock] and I were sitting in the back seat of a car driving down Princes Highway to play a gig at The Golf View Hotel in Geelong. As we passed the Little River exit sign, [Shorrock] said "Little River, that'd be a good song title." Within a split second he said, "Hey, what about Little River Band?" We all agreed it was the perfect name for us. Little River Band (as Mississippi) had recorded their first track,
13588-448: The bass guitarist and vocalist in the pop-rock band Zoot (which launched the career of singer-guitarist Rick Springfield ) from 1967 to 1971. Goble had led Adelaide -formed folk rock group Allison Gros in 1970. They relocated to Melbourne and in 1972 were renamed as Mississippi , a harmony country rock band, where late that year Birtles joined on guitar and vocals and Pellicci on drums. They had chart success in Australia and built up
13746-585: The biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed into the US charts by numerous British bands. During the next two years British acts dominated their own and the US charts with Peter and Gordon , the Animals, Manfred Mann , Petula Clark , Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders , Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs , and Donovan all having one or more number one singles. Other major acts that were part of
13904-461: The chart. Their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964, drawing an estimated 73 million viewers (at the time a record for an American television program) is considered a milestone in American pop culture. During the week of 4 April 1964, the Beatles held 12 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the entire top five. The Beatles went on to become
14062-504: The charts. In July 1985, LRB performed on the Oz for Africa benefit concert (part of the global Live Aid program): "Don't Blame Me", "Full Circle", "Night Owls", and "Playing to Win". They were broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network and Nine Network ) and on MTV in the US. In the US the ABC network broadcast "Don't Blame Me" and "Night Owls" during their Live Aid telecast ("Night Owls"
14220-423: The conflict between band members and that Goble "agitated within the band to replace [Shorrock] with [Farnham]". In February 1982, Shorrock left Little River Band and resumed his solo career. Farnham replaced Shorrock on lead vocals and " Man on Your Mind ", the third single from Time Exposure (with Shorrock's vocals), reached No. 14 in the US. Birtles described the removal of Briggs and Shorrock: I remember
14378-424: The delights and limitations of the regional , and to deal with the depredations and benefits of mass culture itself. — Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide (1981) Unlike many earlier styles of popular music, rock lyrics have dealt with a wide range of themes, including romantic love, sex, rebellion against " The Establishment ", social concerns, and life styles. These themes were inherited from
14536-455: The early 1970s among existing blues-rock and psychedelic bands, as well as newly formed acts. The vibrant Canterbury scene saw acts following Soft Machine from psychedelia, through jazz influences, toward more expansive hard rock, including Caravan , Hatfield and the North , Gong , and National Health . The French group Magma around drummer Christian Vander almost single-handedly created
14694-460: The early 1970s, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): The decade is, of course, an arbitrary schema itself—time doesn't just execute a neat turn toward the future every ten years. But like a lot of artificial concepts—money, say—the category does take on a reality of its own once people figure out how to put it to work. "The '60s are over,"
14852-462: The early stages, considerable musical crossover between the two tendencies. By 1963, led by the Beatles, beat groups had begun to achieve national success in Britain, soon to be followed into the charts by the more rhythm and blues focused acts. " I Want to Hold Your Hand " was the Beatles' first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 , spending seven weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on
15010-519: The electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek , and the elaborate production methods of the Wall of Sound pursued by Phil Spector . The instrumental rock and roll of performers such as Duane Eddy , Link Wray and the Ventures was further developed by Dick Dale , who added distinctive "wet" reverb , rapid alternate picking, and Middle Eastern and Mexican influences. He produced
15168-476: The end of 2004, Murphy and Reither left LRB and Chris Marion joined on keyboards, while Kip Raines briefly took on drumming duties until replaced by Billy Thomas in early 2005. Housden stopped touring with the band in 2006 but still participated in their recordings and management. Rich Herring took over lead guitar on tour and Mel Watts replaced Thomas, who had suffered a shoulder injury, on drums in 2007. Ryan Ricks replaced Watts in 2012. Rock music Rock
15326-581: The example set by the Beatles ' 1965 LP Rubber Soul in particular, other British rock acts released rock albums intended as artistic statements in 1966, including the Rolling Stones ' Aftermath , the Beatles' own Revolver , and the Who 's A Quick One , as well as American acts in the Beach Boys ( Pet Sounds ) and Bob Dylan ( Blonde on Blonde ). Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, particularly prevalent in North America in
15484-411: The first Australian-recorded album to achieve that feat. AllMusic' s Mike DeGagne praised Shorrock's vocals, which give it "the perfect MOR sound, draping the tracks with his cool, breezy style that is much more apparent and effectual here than on the band's earlier efforts." Sleeper Catcher provided three singles with " Shut Down Turn Off ", their highest charting in Australia at No. 16. However in
15642-498: The first record, and worldwide hit, for the Virgin Records label, which became a mainstay of the genre. Instrumental rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , Can , Focus (band) and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesiser-heavy " krautrock ", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music ), would be
15800-455: The folk scene. The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators from Texas. The Beatles introduced many of the major elements of the psychedelic sound to audiences in this period, such as guitar feedback , the Indian sitar and backmasking sound effects . Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed
15958-513: The format of rock operas and opened the door to concept albums , often telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme. King Crimson 's 1969 début album, In the Court of the Crimson King , which mixed powerful guitar riffs and mellotron , with jazz and symphonic music , is often taken as the key recording in progressive rock, helping the widespread adoption of the genre in
16116-458: The impetus was soon taken up by a second wave of bands that drew their inspiration more directly from American blues , including the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds . British blues musicians of the late 1950s and early 1960s had been inspired by the acoustic playing of figures such as Lead Belly , who was a major influence on the Skiffle craze, and Robert Johnson . Increasingly they adopted
16274-467: The invasion included the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five . The British Invasion helped internationalize the production of rock and roll, opening the door for subsequent British (and Irish) performers to achieve international success. In America it arguably spelled the end of instrumental surf music, vocal girl groups and (for a time) the teen idols , that had dominated the American charts in
16432-517: The label were R&B oriented white rock bands that made use of jazzy horn sections, like Electric Flag , Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago , to become some of the most commercially successful acts of the later 1960s and the early 1970s. British acts to emerge in the same period from the blues scene, to make use of the tonal and improvisational aspects of jazz, included Nucleus and the Graham Bond and John Mayall spin-off Colosseum . From
16590-446: The late 1950s and 1960s. It dented the careers of established R&B acts like Fats Domino and Chubby Checker and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis. The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material as singer-songwriters. Following
16748-410: The loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation." Jazz-rock "...generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s", including the singer-songwriter movement. Many early US rock and roll musicians had begun in jazz and carried some of these elements into
16906-476: The many recordings which have been suggested as "the first rock and roll record ". Contenders include " Strange Things Happening Every Day " by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1944); " That's All Right " by Arthur Crudup (1946), which was later covered by Elvis Presley in 1954; " The House of Blue Lights " by Ella Mae Morse and Freddie Slack (1946); Wynonie Harris ' " Good Rocking Tonight " (1948); Goree Carter 's "Rock Awhile" (1949); Jimmy Preston 's " Rock
17064-674: The mid-1950s by white singers such as Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley . Hispanic and Latino American movements in rock and roll, which would eventually lead to the success of Latin rock and Chicano rock within the US, began to rise in the Southwest ; with rock and roll standard musician Ritchie Valens and even those within other heritage genres, such as Al Hurricane along with his brothers Tiny Morrie and Baby Gaby as they began combining rock and roll with country- western within traditional New Mexico music . In addition,
17222-609: The mid-1960s the Left Banke , the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion of harpsichords , wind , and string sections on their recordings to produce a form of Baroque rock and can be heard in singles like Procol Harum 's " A Whiter Shade of Pale " (1967), with its Bach -inspired introduction. The Moody Blues used a full orchestra on their album Days of Future Passed (1967) and subsequently created orchestral sounds with synthesizers. Classical orchestration, keyboards, and synthesizers were
17380-479: The mid-1960s and so called because of the perception that it was rehearsed in the suburban family garage. Garage rock songs often revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" and unfair social circumstances being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery tended to be more aggressive than was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming. They ranged from crude one-chord music (like
17538-435: The mid-1960s as acts developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts included Paul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as a starting point for many successful musicians), Canned Heat , the early Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , the J. Geils Band and Jimi Hendrix with his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience (which included two British members, and
17696-401: The mid-1960s onwards, rock music often used the verse–chorus structure derived from blues and folk music, but there has been considerable variation from this model. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock. Because of its complex history and its tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that "it is impossible to bind rock music to
17854-480: The music started, singing in a comfortably husky voice that resembled Phil Collins in tone and easy pop appeal. [Nelson], the group's Californian, generated more heat in his two lead vocal turns. The three-part harmonies behind Shorrock were exemplary, although the Crosby, Stills & Nash parallels were unmistakable. Lead guitarist [Housden] reinforced the emphasis on melody with his clean, lyrical lines." MCA released
18012-608: The new company on 12 May 1988. 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." The revamped group with keyboardist James Roche (Jamie Paddle) performed at the opening of World Expo 88 in Brisbane on 30 April. They were joined by the Eagles' Glenn Frey , who also accompanied them that year on tour. The group released their tenth studio album, Monsoon , in May 1988, which peaked at No. 9 on
18170-465: The new music genre zeuhl with their first albums in the early 1970s. Greater commercial success was enjoyed by Pink Floyd, who also moved away from psychedelia after the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), seen as a masterpiece of the genre, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. There was an emphasis on instrumental virtuosity, with Yes showcasing
18328-608: The new music. In Britain the subgenre of blues rock, and many of its leading figures, like Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of the Eric Clapton -fronted band Cream , had emerged from the British jazz scene. Often highlighted as the first true jazz-rock recording is the only album by the relatively obscure New York–based the Free Spirits with Out of Sight and Sound (1966). The first group of bands to self-consciously use
18486-480: The opening act for Average White Band . Due to US appearances and support from FM stations, "It's a Long Way There" reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 . Little River Band's second album, After Hours , had been passed over in the US by Capitol. The label selected tracks from it and from their third Australian release, Diamantina Cocktail (April 1977), to create Capitol's second US album, also titled Diamantina Cocktail (May 1977). The Australian version
18644-471: The psychedelic rock and the Canterbury scenes came Soft Machine, who, it has been suggested, produced one of the artistically successfully fusions of the two genres. Perhaps the most critically acclaimed fusion came from the jazz side of the equation, with Miles Davis , particularly influenced by the work of Hendrix, incorporating rock instrumentation into his sound for the album Bitches Brew (1970). It
18802-653: The regional hit " Let's Go Trippin ' " in 1961 and launched the surf music craze, following up with songs like " Misirlou " (1962). Like Dale and his Del-Tones , most early surf bands were formed in Southern California, including the Bel-Airs , the Challengers , and Eddie & the Showmen . The Chantays scored a top ten national hit with " Pipeline " in 1963 and probably the best-known surf tune
18960-417: The request of Irving Azoff , the head of MCA Records , who wanted the band on his label. The reformed group signed new management with Geoffrey Schuhkraft and Paul Palmer, who assisted the line-up of Goble, Housden, Nelson, Pellicci and Shorrock in establishing a holding company, We Two Pty. Ltd, with all members as directors in equal share. Former manager Glenn Wheatley signed away rights to the band's name to
19118-584: The rip-offs in the 1960s music scene, combined with working in music management in the UK and the US in the early 1970s, allowed him to help the Little River Band become the first Australian group to enjoy consistent commercial and chart success in the US. After their return to Australia, the members began rehearsing in February 1975, still using the name of Mississippi. On 20 March 1975 they played their first official gig at Martini's Hotel in Carlton . In Birtles' autobiography, Every Day of My Life , he explains how
19276-400: The rise of rock and roll in the US, found new popularity in the UK, visiting with successful tours. Lonnie Donegan 's 1955 hit " Rock Island Line " was a major influence and helped to develop the trend of skiffle music groups throughout the country, many of which, including John Lennon 's Quarrymen (later the Beatles ), moved on to play rock and roll. While former rock and roll market in
19434-475: The romantic concept of art as artistic expression, original and sincere". In the new millennium, the term rock has occasionally been used as a blanket term including forms like pop music, reggae music , soul music , and even hip hop , which it has been influenced with but often contrasted through much of its history. Christgau has used the term broadly to refer to popular and semipopular music that caters to his sensibility as "a rock-and-roller", including
19592-522: The same era, and by percussion produced from a drum kit that combines drums and cymbals. This trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, the Hammond organ , and the synthesizer. The basic rock instrumentation was derived from the basic blues band instrumentation (prominent lead guitar, second chordal instrument, bass, and drums). A group of musicians performing rock music
19750-555: The second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk was an influence in the 1980s on new wave , post-punk and eventually alternative rock . From the 1990s, alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge , Britpop , and indie rock . Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop-punk , electronic rock , rap rock , and rap metal . Some movements were conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including
19908-546: The singles format to albums and achieved cultural legitimacy in the mainstream. Led by the Beatles in the mid-1960s, rock musicians advanced the LP as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, initiating a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. Progressive rock, a term sometimes used interchangeably with art rock , moved beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms. From
20066-413: The skills of both guitarist Steve Howe and keyboard player Rick Wakeman , while Emerson, Lake & Palmer were a supergroup who produced some of the genre's most technically demanding work. Jethro Tull and Genesis both pursued very different, but distinctly English, brands of music. Renaissance , formed in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds Jim McCarty and Keith Relf, evolved into a high-concept band featuring
20224-458: The sole owner of We Two Pty Ltd and the Little River Band's name and trademarks. In 1998, Housden established a new band configuration with contracted members: Wade was joined by Paul Gildea on vocals and guitars; Kevin Murphy on vocals, drums and percussion; Adrian Scott on vocals and keyboards (ex- Air Supply ) and McLachlan, who returned after 22 years, on bass guitar. McLachlan's second tenure
20382-454: The stage] I was up front and had to be the most liked. There was a lot of pressure because it wasn't, perhaps, working as it should, although there were other contributing things like the membership changes and perhaps the material." Nimmervoll described the Farnham years, "The experiment had never worked. Whatever [Farnham]'s talents, America longed for [Shorrock]. At the end of 1985, while LRB
20540-615: The three-octave voice of Annie Haslam . Most British bands depended on a relatively small cult following, but a handful, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Jethro Tull, managed to produce top ten singles at home and break the American market. The American brand of progressive rock varied from the eclectic and innovative Frank Zappa , Captain Beefheart and Blood, Sweat & Tears , to more pop rock orientated bands like Boston , Foreigner , Kansas , Journey , and Styx . These, beside British bands Supertramp and ELO , all demonstrated
20698-448: The top 20 on the related singles chart, with " Help Is on Its Way " (1977) as their only number-one hit. Ten singles reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 with " Reminiscing " their highest, peaking at No. 3. Little River Band have received many music awards in Australia. The 1976 line-up of Glenn Shorrock , Graeham Goble , Beeb Birtles , George McArdle , David Briggs and Derek Pellicci were inducted into
20856-546: The top 30. During August 1976 both Formosa and McLachlan were replaced. David Briggs joined on guitar (ex-Cycle, the Avengers, Ram Band) and George McArdle on bass guitar (also ex-Ram Band). According to Wheatley, Formosa was not enthusiastic about touring outside of Australia, He left to work as a session musician, composer and arranger. The group had also decided to bring in McArdle to replace McLachlan, who also became
21014-556: The unofficial shortening of their name to LRB, confused fans and radio programmers. Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane felt it was "a strong album but it failed to halt the band's slide in popularity." It reached No. 38 in Australia and No. 75 on the US charts. The title track made No. 59 on the Australian singles chart, No. 15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and No. 60 on Hot 100. The second single, "Blind Eyes", failed to enter
21172-409: The vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major subcultures including mods and rockers in the U.K., the hippie movement and the wider Western counterculture movement that spread out from San Francisco in the U.S. in the 1960s, the latter of which continues to this day. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the goth , punk, and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of
21330-480: The work of the Beach Boys , formed in 1961 in Southern California. Their early albums included both instrumental surf rock (among them covers of music by Dick Dale) and vocal songs, drawing on rock and roll and doo wop and the close harmonies of vocal pop acts like the Four Freshmen . The Beach Boys first chart hit, " Surfin ' " in 1961 reached the Billboard top 100 and helped make the surf music craze
21488-533: The work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet (1968) and the Beatles' Let It Be (1970). Reflecting on this change of trends in rock music over the past few years, Christgau wrote in his June 1970 "Consumer Guide" column that this "new orthodoxy" and "cultural lag" abandoned improvisatory, studio-ornamented productions in favor of an emphasis on "tight, spare instrumentation" and song composition: "Its referents are '50s rock, country music, and rhythm-and-blues, and its key inspiration
21646-404: The world, except as a new brand of painkiller ... In the '70s the powerful took over, as rock industrialists capitalized on the national mood to reduce potent music to an often reactionary species of entertainment—and to transmute rock's popular base from the audience to market." Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from what some saw as the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to
21804-582: Was John Mayall ; his band, the Bluesbreakers , included Eric Clapton (after Clapton's departure from the Yardbirds) and later Peter Green . Particularly significant was the release of Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings and the sound of which was much emulated in both Britain and the United States. Eric Clapton went on to form supergroups Cream, Blind Faith , and Derek and
21962-628: Was 1963's " Wipe Out ", by the Surfaris , which hit number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard charts in 1965. Surf rock was also popular in Europe during this time, with the British group the Shadows scoring hits in the early 1960s with instrumentals such as " Apache " and " Kon-Tiki ", while Swedish surf group the Spotnicks saw success in both Sweden and Britain. Surf music achieved its greatest commercial success as vocal pop music, particularly
22120-542: Was LRB's first choice for lead guitar. Manning was busy with his solo career and recommended Formosa. The latter had travelled to Australia from Canada and was working in a music store; he joined soon after. In May 1975 they signed with EMI Records and started recording their debut self-titled album at Armstrong Studios in the following month. The album was co-produced by Birtles, Goble, Shorrock and Wheatley. Tony Catterall of The Canberra Times described it in November as "one of those flawed creations that inevitably draws
22278-575: Was a cover version of Bobby Darin's " Dream Lover " (April 1979), which peaked in the Australian top 10. Little River Band's fifth studio album, First Under the Wire , was released in July 1979. It reached No. 2 in Australia, equalling Diamantina Cocktail . It was also their highest charting album on the Billboard 200 at No. 10. In November it was certified by RIAA as a platinum album. AllMusic' s Mark Allan described their "mix of harmony-drenched pop tunes and unthreatening rockers" which had
22436-473: Was a major influence on subsequent rock-influenced jazz artists, including Herbie Hancock , Chick Corea and Weather Report . The genre began to fade in the late 1970s, as a mellower form of fusion began to take its audience, but acts like Steely Dan , Frank Zappa and Joni Mitchell recorded significant jazz-influenced albums in this period, and it has continued to be a major influence on rock music. Reflecting on developments that occurred in rock music in
22594-465: Was certified gold by RIAA. In August 1981, Nelson provided lead vocals for its lead single, " The Night Owls ", which peaked at No. 18 in Australia and No. 6 in the US. Raffaele described the track as "the punchiest thing LRB has done for some time but it's still middle-of-the-road pap, hummable". Nelson also shared vocals with Shorrock on the second single, " Take It Easy on Me " (November 1981). According to Nimmervoll, Nelson's presence added to
22752-431: Was co-produced by the group with John Boylan – who stayed on to co-produce their next two studio albums. Due to tension between band members Birtles, Goble and Shorrock recorded as much of their parts individually as was feasible. The Canberra Times ' Julie Meldrum caught their local performance in May 1977 and described the band as "tightly disciplined" and "there was nothing that was not world class." She reviewed
22910-424: Was continued in the 1970s by figures such as George Thorogood and Pat Travers , but, particularly on the British scene (except perhaps for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat who moved towards a form of high energy and repetitive boogie rock ), bands became focused on heavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream. By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of
23068-575: Was founded in Britain), and Band of Gypsys , whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade. Blues rock bands from the southern states, like the Allman Brothers Band , Lynyrd Skynyrd , and ZZ Top , incorporated country elements into their style to produce the distinctive genre Southern rock . Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations, which would later be
23226-511: Was only partially transmitted). Farnham left the group following the completion of their short Australian tour in April 1986, which had Malcolm Wakeford drumming in Prestwich's place. Their ninth studio album, No Reins , recorded when Farnham was still aboard, appeared in the next month and was produced by Richard Dodd. It reached the Kent Music Report top 100. Farnham explained to Pollyanna Sutton of The Canberra Times why he left, "[On
23384-509: Was released in August 1981, with George Martin (the Beatles) producing. The Canberra Times ' Garry Raffaele felt "it's easy listening, no demands, easing up, slowing down, getting older." By the time it appeared, Stephen Housden (ex- Stevie Wright Band , the Imports) replaced Briggs on lead guitar. The album reached No .9 in Australia and No. 21 in the US; and in November it
23542-467: Was seriously contemplating its future, Farnham took the initiative to start work on another solo album." Farnham continued to be managed by Wheatley – who left LRB in 1987 – and his solo career took off with his next album, Whispering Jack (October 1986). Hirschfelder, McLachlan, Nelson and Pellicci contributed to the album or the related tour. After Farnham's departure, Little River Band were in limbo until July 1987 when Pellicci and Shorrock returned at
23700-533: Was short lived; both he and Scott departed after a year. Nelson returned early in the following year and Glenn Reither joined on keyboards, saxophone and backing vocals. Gildea and Wade left early in 2000 with Australian Greg Hind joining on vocals and guitars and Nelson taking over as lead singer. The line-up of Hind, Housden, Murphy, Nelson and Reither recorded two studio albums, Where We Started From (November 2000) and Test of Time (June 2004). In March 2002, Birtles Shorrock Goble (BSG) were formed in Melbourne as
23858-526: Was taken up by bands including Pentangle , Steeleye Span and the Albion Band , which in turn prompted Irish groups like Horslips and Scottish acts like the JSD Band , Spencer's Feat and later Five Hand Reel , to use their traditional music to create a brand of Celtic rock in the early 1970s. Folk-rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967–68, before many acts moved off in
24016-614: Was taking place globally in the aftermath of the Second World War . Cliff Richard is credited with one of the first rock and roll hits outside of North America with " Move It " (1959), effectively ushering in the sound of British rock . Several artists, most prominently Tommy Steele from the UK, found success with covers of major American rock and roll hits before the recordings could spread internationally, often translating them into local languages where appropriate. Steele in particular toured Britain, Scandinavia, Australia,
24174-628: Was the first live album released by the band. It was recorded by the Australian Broadcasting Commission at the Adelaide Festival Theatre in November 1978 and released in October 1979. It peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Kent Music Report . The album was then released in the United States as a double album in March 1980, combined with the group's next live album, Live in America . Goble
24332-499: Was the first commercially successful folk song to be recorded with rock and roll instrumentation and the Beatles " I'm a Loser " (1964), arguably the first Beatles song to be influenced directly by Dylan. The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off with the Byrds ' recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man " which topped the charts in 1965. With members who had been part of the café-based folk scene in Los Angeles,
24490-430: Was the major force in American record sales and crooners , such as Eddie Fisher , Perry Como , and Patti Page , who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed. Rock and roll has been seen as leading to a number of distinct subgenres, including rockabilly, combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in
24648-455: Was the most popular genre of music in the U.S. and much of the Western world from the 1950s to the 2010s. Rock musicians in the mid-1960s began to advance the album ahead of the single as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, with the Beatles at the forefront of this development. Their contributions lent the genre a cultural legitimacy in the mainstream and initiated
24806-479: Was the producer for Australian pop singer John Farnham 's solo album, Uncovered , which was released in September 1980. Goble wrote or co-wrote nine of its ten tracks and provided vocals. The album had other LRB alumni: Briggs, Formosa, Logan, Nelson, Pellicci and Sullivan. Farnham had signed with Wheatley's management company. The line-up of Birtles, Briggs, Goble, Nelson, Pellicci and Shorrock recorded Little River Band's sixth studio album, Time Exposure , which
24964-410: Was to fit into the group although both recording and stage work had differed. On covering early LRB repertoire he said, "We've had to change the key with a lot of things because Glenn sang in a different register from me." The first single with Farnham as lead vocalist, " The Other Guy ", was released in November 1982 and reached No. 18 in Australia and No. 11 in the US. Another single, " Down on
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