And here’s the guy John Farnham replaced – Glenn Shorrock – leading the Little River Band in their great 1979 hit “Lady” from their breakthrough Sleeper Catcher album. Little River Band was sort of Australia’s version of the Eagles. They were one of the first bands I ever loved – and I loved their music before I even knew who they were. Songs like “Lady”, “Reminiscing”, and “Lonesome Loser” (with its fantastic harmony-rich chorus) – their first string of really big hits – always remind me of a time when I was 6 or 7 years old, riding in the car out to Kenosha to pick up my dad from work. I had no idea who was singing the songs – I just loved when they came on the radio. I still love when they come on the radio. This song’s piano-and-bass introduction alone is enough to induce a nostalgic swoon with me, but Shorrock’s handsome, understated vocal is what really hits my sweet spot.
Tag: Little River Band
-
The Wednesday Night Awesome: John Farnham “Age of Reason” (1988)
Johnny Farnham was an Australian teen idol and television actor throughout the 60s and 70s. In the early 80s, he recorded an album with producer and Little River Band principal Graeham Goble. When lead singer Glenn Shorrock left that group, Goble recruited John Farnham to be his replacement. The arrangement was unhappy and short-lived. After years of artistic marginalization, Farnham’s star was finally back on the rise and he felt himself anchored to a band that had always been plagued with complicated internal politics, and was then, in addition, simply becoming less popular worldwide. In 1985, Farnham acheived international stardom with his album Whispering Jack and its signature single “You’re the Voice.” Bye-bye, Little River Band. That hit only dented the U.S. charts, and then, only when it was included on a Greenpeace charity compilation three years after its original release. It would be 20 years before Farnham would have his next brush with fame in America – and that would be only vicariously via David Archuleta’s performance of the song during Season 7 of American Idol. (Simon was the only one at the judge’s table who knew the song – and he called Archuleta’s take on it – rightly – a “theme park” performance.) Despite the fact Farnham remains virtually unknown here (I mean, if Randy and Paula haven’t heard of him, right?), he’s still a big star in Australia, and in 1988, he followed up Whispering Jack with the album Age of Reason, whose gorgeous title track is not only awesome, but gave him a No. 1 hit in his home country.
-
New Music In Stores & Online: 9/23/08: Kings of Leon, Pussycat Dolls, TV on the Radio and More!!!
This week’s lineup of releases includes a couple of bands right on the verge, a couple of vets returning after lengthy absences, and a couple of bands trying to capitalize on their first hit. Let’s take a look at the line-up.
Kings of Leon “Only By The Night”
I love Kings of Leon. I made that fairly clear in a post a while back. So “Only by the Night”, their fourth album, is highly anticipated by me…and I suppose quite a few other people too, since each album they’ve released has been progressively more buzzworthy than the one before it. The first single, “Sex on Fire” is awesome, so hopefully this’ll be yet another Southern-fried slab of funk/rock/swampy stuff that’s perfect to smoke a bowl to. If these guys and My Morning Jacket go on tour together, how much pot would be consumed at that concert?
