I was listening to ‘The most of Little River Band – Vol 1’ one morning and so I thought I’d share some thoughts on some of my favourite Little River Band (LRB) songs, didn’t know there was so many of them to like.

It’s a long way there

No matter which version of the song you pick, this one is an absolute classic of a song, the album version is considered the best one especially if you like orchestral openings and good length guitar solos plus additional lyrics.

Thankfully there is a video that LRB recorded on GTK in 1975 that shows almost the entire studio version, obviously can’t do the Orchestra intro, ABC probably couldn’t afford it at that point anyway.

This is the song that got the attention of America, it peaked at No. 28, the beginning of a great journey.

Emma

This song is catchy, love the guitar work in the song and the lyrics are attention grabbing especially when they say Emma repeatedly, but they build it up every time they say it.

I wonder how many people met somebody named Emma and their thoughts on the song changed either to be something positively or something negatively.

Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty was released in 1975 on their self-titled debut album, it has everything that works in a Little River Band song, the harmonies, the guitar playing, the soaring vocals.

Interesting that an Australian based band were giving their opinion on the United States of America, but it really isn’t a slam on the United States but more criticism of the rich people who set the rules.

Help Is on Its Way

An absolute classic of a song, an old friend loved this song and even suggested it for the end of Year 12 slideshow which wasn’t a bad idea though I think our year group was friendlier than what was going on with Little River Band as it is well known there was a lot of tension in the band.

This song became Little River Band’s only No. 1 single, and it was in Australia, it was also their first Top 20 song in America.

Witchery

There was a lot of smiles on faces when this song was released, it is another catchy LRB song, not that there is anything wrong with that, they sure knew how to make a good song by 1977.

‘Witchery’ was a reasonable hit in 1977 by peaking at No. 33 in Australia during 1977.

Happy Anniversary

This is one for those who like to celebrate anniversaries, it is a happy sounding song, and you can’t go wrong with happy sounding songs, you don’t want something morbid or downhearted.

A lot of listeners love the bass and the mix of disco and rock/pop, and they are right, it does have a nice mix in the song and that’s what we always love to hear, something that isn’t straightforward but catchy and genre hopping.

The Night Owls

Wayne Nelson joined the band and taken lead in this No. 6 hit for the band, it also features Glenn Shorrock.

The song is easy to sing along to or follow if you don’t want anybody to hear you singing along.

Musically there is a lot to like about this song especially the lead guitar and drum combination and the bass line that ends the song.

It is a shame the Shorrock/Nelson combination only lasted a short time on records with only the duo only working together on the albums Time Exposure, Monsoon and Get Lucky and any non-album-based singles.

Reminiscing

Considered by many to be a masterpiece, the only Little River Band song to make it into the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the first of four consecutive Top 10 hits.

It is easy to hear why John Lennon would love this song, everything just fits together from the music to Glenn Shorrock’s vocals, it is unlikely that anybody else could have pulled it off.

Home on a Monday

The third of four singles taken from the album Diamantina Cocktail, it peaked at No. 73 in Australia, which was surprising, maybe the first half of the song was too soft for listeners tastes though it really picks up before ending much like the beginning.

The Las Vegas Hilton is now the Westgate Las Vegas which wouldn’t make a lot of sense lyrically, so it is good the song was written in the seventies.

Lady

America loved this song as it had peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 7 on the Easy Listening chart, but it didn’t catch on in Australia as it peaked at No. 46 which is surprising.

Somewhere out there is a person that has no idea that they inspired this song, they were just a person dancing away at a hotel in Melbourne and years later they were the reason for a hit across the world.

Cool Change

Amazingly this song was not released as a single in Australia, yet it is considered to be one of the best songs in the country.

America loved it too; it was No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on the Easy Listening chart.

Everything just comes together in this one especially the harmonies, LRB was almost unmatched in that department.

Man on Your Mind

This song is catchy and a classic, it’s the Little River Band harmony that makes it special while the acoustic version with John Farnham on the Don Lane Show is a classic too so if you’re stuck between Shorrock and Farnham versions, you can have both versions to satisfy.

The live version of the song when Glenn Shorrock was lead singer is far superior to the recorded version of the song, the traditional drum sound just works out much better.

Lonesome Loser

The opening is cool, there’s no instruments playing and all you hear is the first four lines before the music comes into it.

One of my personal favourites which probably wasn’t good for morale purposes listening to a song called ‘Lonesome Loser’ but there is so much to like about the song.

Down on the Border

The live version of this is short and fast when not counting solos and while it is unpopular in the eyes of John Farnham, it still has its fans, many people think the song was prophetic.

The tune is catchy, and a song has to have a catchy tune, then you got to have words that fit that tune and can be followed and you’ve got a hit.

We Two

It is hard to pick a favourite John Farnham era song, there’s five of them on here, they all offer something interesting for fans.

‘We Two’ was also the name of the company LRB made and it’s how the fight over the name started so maybe the song isn’t very fondly remembered by certain members and a joy to one particular one.

You’re Driving Me Out of My Mind

This one especially the live version gave listeners a little taste of John Farnham’s vocal powers and it has a funky guitar sound too.

Sadly, it had underperformed on the charts with a peak of No. 35 in America which was down thirteen spots on previous single ‘We Two’.

There’s no question that live performances like the one on the video suited John Farnham, high energy and high power that just couldn’t be replicated in the studio.

The Other Guy

Love the bass line for ‘The Other Guy’, that and John Farnham’s vocals really make the song memorable (Birtles, Shorrock and Goble do a great version too).

‘The Other Guy’ was unlucky to miss out on the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 as it peaked at No. 11 while it peaked at No. 6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The Cash Box/Cashbox chart peaked the song at No. 8 while New Zealand liked the song very much as it had peaked at No. 2, it was all downhill from here in the John Farnham era though to be honest apart from Monsoon, LRB was in a spiral towards being out of the charts.

Playing to Win

This song while it charted didn’t do very well for Little River Band, but it got a new lease of life when John Farnham made it part of his solo shows, imagine if Little River Band had the services of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and John Farnham’s live sound which is considered superior to what was on the record.

What made this song? The Keytar played by David Hirschfelder and the vocals of John Farnham.

When John Farnham went back to solo performing, Wayne Nelson and David Hirschfelder were part of his band for a couple of years, all three were probably relieved to be back in more suitable clothing and hairstyles, the mid 80s were a crazy time for fashion and television antics.

Love is a Bridge

Glenn Shorrock was back but Beeb Birtles did not return post John Farnham and fans were deprived of the early 80s hit lineup, it is probably why the second Shorrock stint didn’t catch on like the first one or music tastes just got further away from the LRB sound.

I remember where I was when I first heard this song, it was a horrible rainy day and the Champ Car race on the Gold Coast all but a wash out, so I went bowling and they had music videos playing and I heard the first few notes, and it got my attention.

Love is a Bridge is a catchy song, it has the Little River Band harmonies, it has a guitar solo, and it has Glenn Shorrock too, what more could one ask for, definitely is one of my favourite LRB songs.