Glenn Shorrock

Glenn Barrie Shorrock AM (born 30 June 1944) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of rock bands the Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and post LRB spin-off trio Birtles Shorrock Goble, as well as being a solo performer. The Twilights had eight consecutive national hit singles including "Needle in a Haystack" and "What's Wrong with the Way I Live". Axiom's top 10 hits were "Arkansas Grass", "Little Ray of Sunshine" and "My Baby's Gone". Little River Band had national and international chart success, including the Shorrock-penned "Emma", "Help Is on Its Way" and "Cool Change". Shorrock was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1991 and as a member of Little River Band in 2004. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th-anniversary celebrations, named "Cool Change" as one of the APRA Top 30 Australian songs of all time. Glenn Barrie Shorrock was born on 30 June 1944 in Chatham, Kent, England. His family migrated to Adelaide, South Australia, on the Orcades in August 1954 when he was 10. His father, Harry Shorrock, was a Yorkshire-born fitter and turner at the Weapons Research Establishment in Salisbury, South Australia. The 1954–55 summer had days of 42 °C (108 °F) and Black Sunday bushfires ravaged the Adelaide Hills in January 1955. His London-born mother, Joyce Shorrock, was not impressed with Australia and she took Shorrock and his younger sister back to UK on the Strathmore, only to return to Australia on the Fairsea for a second attempt in 1956. The family settled in Elizabeth, 20 km (12 mi) north of Adelaide. Shorrock's first public performance took place in 1958 at St Peter's Lutheran church hall in Elizabeth when he mimed to Elvis Presley's recording of "All Shook Up" on a gramophone and strumming on a cardboard guitar. When the record player stopped he was forced to continue singing by himself and realised he had a good voice. In 1962, Shorrock formed his first band, the Checkmates, with Clem McCartney, Mike Sykes and Billy Volraat. They were a doo-wop harmony group covering the Platters and the Crew Cuts material. Sometimes teaming up with instrumental groups the Vector Men or the Hurricanes, the Checkmates performed in Adelaide cafes and folk clubs. As a result of the Beatles' popularity, members of the Checkmates and the Hurricanes merged to form the Twilights in 1964. In 1964 Shorrock, with McCartney as co-lead vocalist, formed the Twilights by merging with the Hurricanes' Frank Barnard on drums, Peter Brideoake on guitar, Terry Britten on guitar and John Bywaters on bass guitar. Their debut single, "I'll Be Where You Are", co-written by Shorrock and Britten, was released in June 1965. The band had eight consecutive hit singles, including covers of the Velvelettes' "Needle in a Haystack" and the Hollies' "What's Wrong with the Way I Live" (recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London). With two lead singers, two guitarists and five vocalists, the Twilights performed note-perfect covers of pop-rock songs and were famed for their live prowess. They relocated to Melbourne late in 1965 and were popular with teenage audiences and respected by fellow musicians. In July 1966, they won Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds with the prize including a trip to London. In 1967, shortly after returning from London, the group regularly performed the entire Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album live in sequence, weeks before it was released in Australia. The Twilights disbanded in January 1969 and Shorrock became band manager for Brisbane pop group the Avengers. In May 1969 in Melbourne, Shorrock formed an early Australian "supergroup", Axiom, with Brian Cadd on keyboards and vocals, Don Mudie on lead guitar (both ex-the Groop), Doug Lavery (The Valentines) on drums and Chris Stockley (Cam-Pact) on guitar. They recorded two highly acclaimed albums, Fool's Gold and If Only ...; and had three top 10 singles, "Arkansas Grass", "Little Ray of Sunshine" and "My Baby's Gone" on the Go-Set national charts. Axiom travelled to the UK but disbanded there in March 1971. Shorrock remained in the UK to pursue his solo career; he signed with MAM Records and released the self-penned "Let's Get the Band Together" single in October 1971. This was followed by a cover of "Rock and Roll Lullaby" in March 1972. As Andre L'Escargot and His Society Syncopaters, he released "Purple Umbrella" with his backing band being Quartet members Britten, Kevin Peek, Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney. He joined the multinational progressive rock band Esperanto, which released their debut album, Esperanto Rock Orchestra, in 1973 with the Shorrock-written track "Statue of Liberty". He left Esperanto before their third album was released in 1974 and performed backing vocals for Cliff Richard. Mississippi was an Australian rock band which was working in the UK, with Beeb Birtles on vocals and guitar, Graham Goble (later Graeham Goble) on guitar and vocals and Derek Pellicci on drums. They contacted Glenn Wheatley (former bass guitarist for the Masters Apprentices) to become their manager. Birtles, previously in Adelaide band Zoot, called Shorrock to take part in the line up. Shorrock returned to Australia in October 1974 and joined Mississippi in January 1975 in Melbourne. They were soon renamed as Little River Band with the original line up of Birtles, Goble, Pellicci, Shorrock and lead guitarist Ric Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan. The group went on to become one of the most successful bands ever to come out of Australia and the first to achieve major commercial success in the United States. For Little River Band, Shorrock wrote the hits "Emma", "Help Is on Its Way" (Australian No. 1) and "Cool Change". While still a member of Little River Band, Shorrock released a solo single, a cover of Bobby Darin's 1959 hit "Dream Lover" in April 1979 on EMI, which peaked at No. 8 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. In February 1982, Shorrock left Little River Band and was replaced by John Farnham who was managed by Wheatley. Shorrock returned to Little River Band in 1988 but, despite several quality albums, they did not regain the earlier stellar recognition. He left again in 1991 leaving the naming rights with guitarist Stephen Housden. 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. In 1982, Shorrock released the solo album Villain of the Peace and a single, "Rock and Roll Soldier", on Capitol Records recorded in Los Angeles with John Boylan (Charlie Daniels, Little River Band) producing. "Rock and Roll Soldier" reached the Australian top 40 in November but he did not achieve the international success attained with Little River Band. Late in 1982 he toured Australia and then teamed with Renée Geyer to release a duet, "Goin' Back", on Mushroom Records in February 1983. One of his backing singers was Wendy Matthews who had been a session singer in Los Angeles. "We're Coming to Get You", which peaked at No. 6 in October, was recorded with folk group, the Bushwackers. It was the theme for the film We're Coming to Get You. He released "Don't Girls Get Lonely?" in November. In 1984, he recorded "Restless" for the documentary World Safari II: The Final Adventure. In 1985, Shorrock released The First Twenty Years, which was a double-LP album compilation of his career work with tracks by the Twilights, Axiom and Little River Band as well as solo work. He was compere of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) TV music series Rock Arena in 1986 and as a breakfast announcer for radio station Magic 11 in Sydney. His solo single, "American Flyers", appeared in July. He performed on the tour of the stage show One for the Money in 1986–87. He appeared in other stage shows including Evita (1989) and his own showcase productions Go Cat Go (1990–91)