Glenn Shorrock
Glenn Shorrock is a rare talent. Most people would consider being in one successful band enough. Glenn Shorrock has been in more than three very successful bands as well as enjoying a brilliant solo career. Add to this the number of hits written by Glenn and you get some sense of the musical quality of this guy.
Coming to Australia in the late 1950’s from Kent in England, the family settled in the suburbs of Adelaide. By 1962 Glenn, aged 18, was involved in his first band, a vocal harmony group called The Checkmates that worked in the cafe’s and clubs of Adelaide. Members of this band merged with members of another local band, The Hurricanes, to become The Twilights in 1964.
The Twilights
The Twilights consisted of John Bywaters on Bass/Vocals, Peter Brideoake on Guitar/Vocals, Terry Britten on Lead Guitar/Vocals, Clem “Paddy” McCartney on Lead Vocals, Glenn Shorrock on Lead Vocals and Frank Barnard on Drums. Barnard left in 1965 and was replaced by Laurie Pryor.
Between 1965 and 1968 they had a massive 12 singles that made the top 100 charts, 8 of them in the top 25. The highlights include “Needle In A Haystack” which was released in 1966 and got to number 2, “What’s Wrong With The Way I Live” which was released in 1967 and got to number 7, “The Way They Play” which was released in 1967 and got to number 8 and “Young Girl” which was released in 1967 and got to number 11.
They disbanded in January 1969 and by May of the same year Shorrock had formed one of the first Australian “supergroups” with Brian Cadd, Axiom.
Axiom
Cadd and bass player Don Mudie had both played in The Groop. They joined with Shorrock, Doug Lavery on drums from The Valentines and Chris Stockley on guitar from Cam-Pact. Don Lebler replaced Lavery on drums in 1969. Like The Twilights, Axiom had a string of hit recordings with three singles and one album making the top ten. “A Little Ray Of Sunshine” was released in 1970 and got to number 5, “My Baby’s Gone” was released in 1971 and got to number 8, the album “Fools Gold” was released in 1970 and got to number 9 and the single “Arkansas Grass” was released in 1969 and got to number 9.
The band travelled to the U.K. in the early 70’s but by March 1971 they had broken up. Glenn stayed in the U.K. to pursue a solo career. Fast forward to 1974 and the band Mississippi who were also in the U.K. at that time. Mississippi included Beeb Birtles, Graeham Goble, Derek Pellicci and was being managed by ex Masters Apprentices bass player Glenn Wheatly. Shorrock was invited to join and by January 197 he had returned to Australia and joined the band which soon after changed their name to Little River Band.
Little River Band
Little River Band was a massive success over an extended period of time both in Australia and overseas. They were one of the first, if not the first, band to crack the U.S. market where they also toured extensively. Glenn was with the band for two distinct periods, 1975-1982 and 1988-1996 with John Farnham filling the gap. LRB had numerous top ten albums and singles including the single “Help Is On It’s Way” which was released in 1977 and got to number 1 and the albums “First Under The Wire” which was released in 1979 and got to number 2, “Diamantina Cocktail” which was released in 1977 and got to number 2, “It’s A Long Way There” which was released in 1978 and got to number 4 and “Sleeper Catcher” which was released in 1978 and got to number 4.
Add to that a sterling solo career and what you have is a genuine musical talent. Glenn Shorrock is still performing today at age 69 and shows no signs of slowing down.
Glenn should be regarded as our Elvis, as nothing comes close to a guy who has been so good for so many years!
Glenn is a living legend and a pioneer in Australian Music.
From his humble musical beginnings he has helped shape and encourage musical talent.
He is that rare talent that only comes along once in a life time.
Viva Glenn Shorrock, hope you are around for many years to come.
I think they r all good can u please send me Heroes from Heaven if there is a Rock n Roll Heaven the song I want to buy it thanks Gwen mob 0408380371
LRB, Love Is A Bridge 1988. How & where can I buy this. I looked on itunes but cant find it anywhere?
Amazon have it. It’s on the album Monsoon
First heard Glen singing with the Twilights when they were a 3 piece vocal group(at that time there was a 3 piece folk group called the Twilighters ) the first time I seen the expanded Twilights when they replaced Johnny Broome & the Handles at a Saturday night dance in Salisbury then they moved to a dance at the Caledonian Hall in King William Street (and nearby at the YMCA was a dance featuring Masters of Apprentices,) and they played week nights at a Coffee Lounge upstairs in the Adelaide Arcade. Later I went back to Broken Hill where I was running a Saturday night dance in Broken Hill and the Twilights came twice to the hill, By this time I had a liking for the Melbourne music scene and seen the Twilights, then axiom, also on each trip would go to the Venue where Billy Thorpe was playing then to Prince Albert Sebastian’s Max Merritt and the Meteors, Anthem & James Taylor Move (best I had ever seen Kevin Peek play)
The vocal group The Twilights were regularly backed by the Vectormen at the Salisbury District Youth Centre on Saturday nights. Glenn and Paddy then joined up with a band called The Hurricanes. Kevin Peek, the lead guitarist for the Hurricanes, joined the Vectormen and with new drummer Laurie Pryor, formed John E. Broome and the Handels. They carried on at the Salisbury District Youth Centre until they went to England to try their luck.
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I agree that Glen is one of our legends. As a kid when LRB first formed, they were a bit too M-O-R for my young taste but I can appreciate them now. It was always a buzz to hear, watching Countdown, that they were #1 in the US, even if I didn’t like too many of their songs.
At the time of their US success I can remember watching an episode of Donnie Sutherland’s ‘Sounds’ show where a crowd of musos had a debate about Aussie music. I can remember Rolf Harris (of all people) saying that he didn’t like that some bands having O/S success (which I took to be LRB) didn’t sound Aussie enough intimating they had almost ‘sold out’ by delivering US-style soft-rock. Can’t remember who it was (Richard Clapton? Someone from the Meteors?) but another muso shot him down saying ‘music is music’ or words to that effect. Funny the things you remember after all these years.