Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Glenn Shorrock, New Holland, $35.00.
It’s not a misnomer to call Glenn Shorrock an elder statesman of Australian contemporary show business. With a career that spans over five decades, Shorrock has fronted three bands: The Twilights, Axiom and Little River Band.
This autobiography is a trip down memory lane, with an admission that there have been many well-known stars who have had an impact in his life, but The Beatles were a ‘big influence”.
Life has dealt a combination of both ups and down in Glenn’s life. He was born in Kent, England in 1944 before emigrating with his family to Adelaide as a ‘ten pound Pom’ in the 1950s. His success story took him around the world to international stardom.
He formed a ‘doo-wop’ acapella group with some other lads who later became the nucleus for the chart-topping The Twilights. Winning Australia’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ in 1966, Glenn and the boys found themselves in England at the end of the year, recording at Abbey Road while the Beatles wrote Penny Lane in the studio next door. After The Twilights, Glenn found fame with Brian Cadd’s group Axiom, with their hit A Little Ray of Sunshine becoming an international best seller.
Beeb Birtles and Grahame Goble seconded Glenn to be the front man of their new group Little River Band in 1975. For the next five years, the band travelled and performed all around the world and had enormous success in the US and Europe with a string of hits. Released in 1977, Shorrock is proud of LRB’s Help is On Its Way.
In 1980, he decided to take a break from touring, but the group replaced him with John Farnham.
Glenn tells these stories and many more – the big names, the long tours and the bitter controversies – in a smart, humourous style. Not structured chronologically, the story is entertaining.
