Post by erik on Apr 16, 2022 19:19:59 GMT -5
Australia's Little River Band is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight with one of their classic hits from their peak period of 1977-1983.
COOL CHANGE (Little River Band; Capitol; 1979)—Australia is known for having given us more than a few great pop and rock artists in its time, notably the hard-rock band AC/DC, and long-time pop and country superstar Olivia Newton-John. But one of that country’s greatest rock exports to the United States was the Little River Band. With Graham Goble and Glen Shorrock as its chief members, the Little River Band were known during their heyday of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s for eminently listenable pop-rock hits like “Happy Anniversary”, “Help Is On Its Way”, “Lady”, and “Reminiscing”, boasted by close harmonies that reminded one of such 1970’s super groups as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and the Eagles. Indeed, many of their hits were produced, with great success, by John Boylan, who, along with Linda Ronstadt, had been pivotal in the formation of the Eagles, which was why the LRB sought them out. Their 1979 album First Under The Wire became a significant album hit as the year was coming to a close, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. Following that album’s first single success, “Lonesome Loser”, which hit #6 in September 1979, the LRB released “Cool Change”, one of the group’s best-known pop-rock hits, written by Shorrock and featuring string orchestration. With lyrics that are both astrological and philosophical, imagining the seas, “Cool Change”, upon its hitting the Billboard Hot 100 in early November 1979, stayed on the charts for twenty weeks, peaking at #10 on the Hot 100 for the week ending January 19, 1980. The band’s success would continue up until 1983, though after that, MTV would subvert their smooth Aussie pop-rock, and another group from Australia, Men At Work, would become Australia’s newest musical export to America.
COOL CHANGE (Little River Band; Capitol; 1979)—Australia is known for having given us more than a few great pop and rock artists in its time, notably the hard-rock band AC/DC, and long-time pop and country superstar Olivia Newton-John. But one of that country’s greatest rock exports to the United States was the Little River Band. With Graham Goble and Glen Shorrock as its chief members, the Little River Band were known during their heyday of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s for eminently listenable pop-rock hits like “Happy Anniversary”, “Help Is On Its Way”, “Lady”, and “Reminiscing”, boasted by close harmonies that reminded one of such 1970’s super groups as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and the Eagles. Indeed, many of their hits were produced, with great success, by John Boylan, who, along with Linda Ronstadt, had been pivotal in the formation of the Eagles, which was why the LRB sought them out. Their 1979 album First Under The Wire became a significant album hit as the year was coming to a close, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. Following that album’s first single success, “Lonesome Loser”, which hit #6 in September 1979, the LRB released “Cool Change”, one of the group’s best-known pop-rock hits, written by Shorrock and featuring string orchestration. With lyrics that are both astrological and philosophical, imagining the seas, “Cool Change”, upon its hitting the Billboard Hot 100 in early November 1979, stayed on the charts for twenty weeks, peaking at #10 on the Hot 100 for the week ending January 19, 1980. The band’s success would continue up until 1983, though after that, MTV would subvert their smooth Aussie pop-rock, and another group from Australia, Men At Work, would become Australia’s newest musical export to America.