Kent,
According to Little River Band's Facebook page today,
they have stated that their appearance Monday night on The Tonight Show was
cancelled. The reason they give was because they wanted to play a song off of
their new CD and the producers wanted a hit from the past. I find it very hard
to believe that the band would cancel a very lucrative booking over that. I
wonder what really happened?
Rich Turner
Safety Harbor, Fl
Exactly as we predicted, The Little River Band's appearance on The Tonight
Show with Jimmy Fallon has been cancelled. (Nice spin, guys ... but nowhere
NEAR the truth!!!) As so often is the case, there's a lot more to the story ... and THEIR version (as usual) is quite different from the REAL deal.
The faux band were denied performance rights to perform the hit songs
created by the original band ("Reminiscing" and "Lady" were both scheduled to be
performed as what was billed to be a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The
Little River Band ... problem is, NONE of the guys in the current line-up were
IN the band forty years ago when it was first formed.)
Forgotten Hits blew the whistle on The Little River Band a couple of months
ago after we found out that the band currently touring America has absolutely no
ties to the original band who created all their hits ... and would be
celebrating their 40th Anniversary right now.
Our piece caused quite a bit of controversy at the time, even amongst our
own readers, who started choosing up sides as to the validity of the act
currently performing these tunes. (My biggest personal objection was the fact
that these guys, good as they are, are taking credit for music they had
absolutely nothing to do with ... save Wayne Nelson, who HAS been with the band
the past 30 years, acting as their bassist and lead vocalist ... and joined The Little
River Band at the tail end of their career in time to sing on a few of their
latter-day hits.)
This story blew up big-time over the past ten days when it was announced
that the faux Little River Band had been booked to appear and perform on The
Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as a means to celebrate their 40 years together.
Fact is, these guys HAVEN'T been together the past 40 years ... it simply isn't true.
Soon this became one of the biggest show-biz stories of the week as
numerous other publications jumped on the band wagon and some of the original
members spoke out publicly. (Despite our original expose which first drew
attention to all of this back in November, I have yet to see ANY other publication credit
Forgotten Hits for our original legwork. That's okay ... Forgotten Hits Readers
know where this story started ... in fact, we've received dozens and dozens of
emails this week from readers helping us keep up to date on this matter, knowing
that the story originated here ... so we'll just sit back and watch once again as the rest of the world is finally catching up to us!)
Our story began when, after mentioning that we couldn't wait to see The
Little River Band perform at The Arcada Theatre in Saint Charles, IL, we
received this email from one of our readers in Australia:
Hi
Guys ...
I always enjoy your news feeds and although I’m on the other side of the world, I still take a great interest in all your posts. I notice that you're listing shows by the ‘Little River Band’ (which I drove through just the other day), who started their careers in Melbourne Victoria. I’m not sure whether you realize it, but this band has nothing to do with the original band and merely features a US muso who was picked up to help with tours over there. He was smart enough to register the name (it's hard to believe that the original band or their management had never got around to doing that!) and now tours his version of LRB, while the original members are legally prohibited from performing under any version of that name.
I always enjoy your news feeds and although I’m on the other side of the world, I still take a great interest in all your posts. I notice that you're listing shows by the ‘Little River Band’ (which I drove through just the other day), who started their careers in Melbourne Victoria. I’m not sure whether you realize it, but this band has nothing to do with the original band and merely features a US muso who was picked up to help with tours over there. He was smart enough to register the name (it's hard to believe that the original band or their management had never got around to doing that!) and now tours his version of LRB, while the original members are legally prohibited from performing under any version of that name.
Here in Australia it is considered to be an act of
treachery by that band member, and the whole episode has left a bad taste in the
mouths of all the Australian musos concerned (original vocalist Glenn Shorrock
was born in the UK, and so too were some of the other members)
I'd be interested to know if this story is known in the US?
Regards,
Murray Walding,
Lorne.
Victoria
Murray Walding,
Lorne.
Victoria
No, we
DIDN'T know any of this ... the story has NOT been played up here in America
where The Little River Band regularly performs (particularly on the casino
circuit) ... so we started to do a little research, the results of which you can
read spread out over these three postings from last
November: http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-little-river-band.html
Last Tuesday we let our
readers know about the Jimmy Fallon incident ... Vintage Vinyl News ran a report
that The Little River Band had been booked to appear on The Tonight Show this
Monday Night (January 12th) ... and we immediately predicted that once this
story hit national media attention, their appearance would most likely be
cancelled ... Fallon wouldn't want any part of this controversy on his
shoulders.
Things escalated even further
when a couple of the original members of the band (legally prohibited from use
of the name or publicizing their former association with The Little River Band)
decided to speak out about what FH Reader Murray Wilding called this
"travesty". (If Forgotten Hits is going to take credit for first breaking this
story wide, we have to also acknowledge the fact that we couldn't have done so
were it not for Murray's original email inspiring us to dig a little deeper ...
so thank you, Murray!)
Former lead singer Glenn
Shorrock spoke out first, instructing his publishing company to deny the fake
band permission to perform ANY song that he had written. He then talked about
the letters he had written to NBC, The Tonight Show and Jimmy
Fallon:
From Vintage Vinyl News by
way of Noise11 (see guys, THAT'S how you "share credit" on a breaking story ... heck, I even corrected some of the spelling and grammar for you!):
Shorrock is outraged by the
current band “grinding our good name into dust” and has made his feeling known
to Fallon. “I’ve written a strong letter to the production and / or Fallon
outlaying my distress and outrage as it were and I ended it “if you do decide to
put them on the show, just pass on my message ‘to go fuck
yourselves’”.
The current Little River Band has not had an original member since the
departure of Derek Pellicci 18 years ago but continues to perform the songs of
Glenn Shorrock, Graeham Goble, Beeb Birtles and David Briggs under the LRB brand
name. “I don’t mind them doing their business.” Shorrock says. “They are
entitled to the name that is legally their’s. Well, it is Stephen Housden’s
name. He’s not even in it. He hasn’t been in it for the last two years. He just
sits back in Ireland and takes the money”.
Shorrock has advised his publishing
company not to give permission for the broadcast of his songs by the
band during the
Fallon appearance. “The wheels are in motion and publishing have raised their
objection to it and if they do the songs they want to do, which I understand
are 'Reminiscing' and 'Lady', two of our biggest hits over there, then they will
say no to it being performed," he
says.
The Little River Band has never officially
broken up but over the years all of the original members left the band.
Eventually, the brand name became the property of one time member Stephen
Housden, who is also no longer a member of the band. Housden allows the band of
non-originals to use the name but has also stopped the founding members from
promoting themselves as former Little River Band members if when choose to
tour.
Claiming the 40th anniversary with a line-up that wasn’t even
around for the start
was the last straw for Shorrock. “We’re not going to let them get away with this
one,” Glenn says. “It has been hard enough with them grinding our good name into
their dust over there and at the same time putting injunctions onto myself, or
anyone else coming over there and trying to do out business as well”.
No one in the current Little River Band
line-up even played on the classic songs "Reminiscing" or "Lady".
"Reminiscing", written by Graeham Goble, is one of the most played songs of
all-time on American radio. "They are promoting a newly recorded album of their
own material, or whatever material they have got. The should do that rather
than pretend they are the band that sold 30 million albums and is having it's
40th anniversary and celebrtion
that 'Reminiscing' has been played four million times. They are
using all of our statistics to further their own nest,” he said.
The non-original Little River Band are
scheduled to perform on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon next Monday, January
12, 2015.
Showing an sign of solidarity, next on
board was original member Beeb Birtles, who spoke out on Friday regarding this
incident. Birtles told Premier Radio Network's Mike
McCann:
"We all stand with Glenn Shorrock
on this issue. For years now the current LRB have been claiming this, that and
the other over 'their 40-year career.' Not one of them were founding members of
the band. They even use photos with images of the original LRB to shamelessly
promote themselves. We've all had enough of this and so we're putting our
collective feet down [and] not allowing them use of our songs on television
broadcasts."
Birtles confirms that he, Shorrock and
Graeme Goble have begun legal proceedings to prevent the current Little River
Band lineup from performing such classics as "Reminiscing," "Help Is On Its
Way," "Cool Change" and "Lady" on The Tonight Show -- where they have been
booked to perform Monday night -- or any other TV program.
The Ultimate Classic
Rock website ran an exclusive interview last week with Wayne Nelson in which he
explained how the band came to be booked for their Tonight Show appearance
...
Hey Kent,
I think you'll be interested in this.
On The Ultimate Classic Rock website there is an
interview, published today, with Wayne Nelson, current lead singer and bass
player in the Little River Band. In the interview he discusses the history of
the band, how they were selected to appear on the upcoming Tonight Show with
Jimmy Fallon, and much more.
Rich Turner
Safety Harbor, Fl
Now that The Tonight Show has cancelled the band's appearance, I don't
expect them to grab many other major bookings any time soon. (There was also
talk of a Jimmy Kimmel appearance.) Too bad ... this could have been a GOLDEN
opportunity to celebrate the music of a classic '70's band ... problem is,
you've got the wrong guys up there promoting it ... and this time, the truth won
out. (To all our skeptical readers who fought me on this issue when our story
first ran, I can only say that the majority has spoken ... not so much an "I
told you so" or a "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na" ... just restating my opinion, which, in this case, just
also happens to be a matter of fact.)
I suppose these new guys could have gone up there and performed a couple of
selections from their new album ... music they actually had something to do with
creating ... but THAT wouldn't have gotten them the booking.
It's a shame because you just don't get to see many '70's acts on tv anymore ...
it would have been nice to see the REAL guys commemorated for their efforts ...
but they're not allowed to use the name in conjunction with their current live
appearances. The name belongs to Stephen Housden, who doesn't even perform with
them anymore ... he quit the road a few years back and reportedly just sits home
now in Ireland counting his money.
Truth is, had things been done properly (and the REAL creators of this
music been so-honored with a 40th Anniversary appearance), odds are the current
line-up wouldn't even have been extended an invitation to the party. Bad blood
between them??? Yeah, I guess you could say that. (kk)
We were traveling when we heard that Vintage Vinyl News posted this notice on Saturday from Paul Cashmere of Noise11 ...
(once again we've fixed the errors we found in the story):
VICTORY FOR THE ORIGINAL LITTLE RIVER
BAND;
JIMMY FALLON REPLACES FAUX BAND WITH DARIUS
RUCKER
The non-original Little River Band will no longer
appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday. Amber James, publicist for The Tonight Show
With Jimmy Fallon, has confirmed for Noise11.com, that former Hootie and the Blowfish singer
Darius Rucker will now appear on the show instead of Little River Band next
week.
Today’s incarnation of the American
based Little River Band has not had an
original member since the departure of Derek Pellicci in 1997. The current band
legally trades under the Little River Band brand despite brand owner Stephen
Housden also no longer being a member of the band.
The Tonight Show With Jimmy
Fallon booked the current line-up to celebrate the
40th anniversary of the Little River Band. However, no member of the current LRB
line-up was even in the band when they formed in Melbourne in 1975. The
non-original line-up of Little River Band has also never toured Australia.
Founding member and original lead singer Glenn Shorrock
passed on a message to the non-original band telling Noise11.com, “I’ve written
a strong letter to the production and / or Fallon outlaying my distress and
outrage if it were and I ended it “if you do decide to put them on the show just
pass on my message (to the band) ‘to go fuck
yourselves’”.
Monday's Fallon guest will be Darius Rucker, who
as lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, sold more than 16 million records and
won two Grammy Awards.
The happiest possible ending of all to this
story would be to see original founding members (and main songwriters)
Glenn Shorrock, Beeb Birtles and Graham Goble get together and cash-in on
this media blitz and wave of publicity. I'm telling you, no publicist in the
world could manufacture the kind of national frenzy generated by this turn of
events this past week! No, they can't perform as The Little River Band ... but
their story is now SO well known (whereas up until a couple of months ago when
FH first drew attention to what was REALLY going on with the current line-up),
that the audience will embrace them no matter what. Who knows, it just might
put an end to the fake version once and for
all.
A FEW THINGS WE GOT FROM READERS DURING THE WEEK ON
THIS:
Most of what we received from Forgotten Hits Readers were links to the articles referenced above. First in was FH Reader Tom Cuddy, who
sent us this link below ... damn, between the story about LRB and the recordings of
its original members ... and the short video about some of the deserving artists
snubbed by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... I don't think I could have written
this any better myself ... except I DID ... MONTHS (and even YEARS) ago!!! That's cool ... I
guess the rest of the world is finally catching up to Forgotten Hits!
(kk)
Speaking of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it looks like WCBS-FM
has finally jumped on the "Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Snubbed Artists" bandwagon
now, too ... here are THEIR top eleven choices ...
I think I agree
with about FOUR of these choices ... once again, not that any of the others are
not necessarily deserving of such an honor ... they just shouldn't get in ahead
of the 300 "Deserving And Denied" artists we've been bitching about over the
last 10-12 years. (In all fairness, several of the artists we campaigned for
HAVE gotten in during that time ... but why is it taking so long to recognize
the obvious??? Pretty soon anybody who even REMEMBERS these artists won't be
around anymore to vote them in!!!) kk
WCBS-FM then took an unusual stance on Glenn Shorrock's letter to Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show Production Staff ... seriously?!?! Do you NOT think he has a legitimate beef here? And reason to be pissed??? Especially after all these years of deception???
Kent
...
X-Rated message for current Little River Band line
up.
http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2015/01/09/soft-rock-beef-alert-little-river-band-vs-jimmy-fallon/Frank
B.
And another link,
featuring an interview with Wayne Nelson about the band's upcoming show in Mount
Pleasant, Michigan ...
I especially like THIS comment at the end of the article
... again from someone who's been following this travesty where it's been far
more publicized in Australia than it was here in The States until Forgotten Hits broke the story ...
Always enjoyed this band during their
glory years, but fans be warned ...
As this article politely implies, the band
playing Saturday night is not the same hit-making act you may recall from their
late '70s salad days (they were actually pretty huge back then, selling millions
of records with hits like "Cool Change", "Lady", "Reminiscing", etc).
It's kind of a strange tale. The band's
signature vocal sound was crafted by the three main players who founded the band
- Beeb Birtles, Glenn Shorrock and Graeham Gobl. These three Aussie guys not
only sung but also wrote nearly all their U.S. hits. To use an imperfect
analogy, they are the Crosby, Stills & Nash of Little River Band.
By the '90s, Birtles, Shorrock and Gobl had all left the band. But Little River Band soldiered on. Today, they still tour internationally and actually gross millions - mostly with players who have no connection to their classic incarnation, singing all those old classic songs.
As this article mentions, the longest serving current member is the bass player (who joined in the '80s, and has now become their lead vocalist). Meanwhile (this is where it gets weird!)... through a series of legal entanglements, the band's name is currently owned by a former guitar player who joined the band after their '70s glory years. He doesn't even tour with them anymore (but, presumably, still rakes in money when they do)!
Meanwhile, the founding creators of Little River Band - Birtles, Shorrock and Gobl - have toured extensively over the past decade as a separate act! And, yes, they've played all those same classic songs (which they wrote) but can't use the Little River Band name! Birtles, Shorrock and Gobl sued Little River Band to be allowed to just mention their connection to their former band in press & marketing - and lost!
By the '90s, Birtles, Shorrock and Gobl had all left the band. But Little River Band soldiered on. Today, they still tour internationally and actually gross millions - mostly with players who have no connection to their classic incarnation, singing all those old classic songs.
As this article mentions, the longest serving current member is the bass player (who joined in the '80s, and has now become their lead vocalist). Meanwhile (this is where it gets weird!)... through a series of legal entanglements, the band's name is currently owned by a former guitar player who joined the band after their '70s glory years. He doesn't even tour with them anymore (but, presumably, still rakes in money when they do)!
Meanwhile, the founding creators of Little River Band - Birtles, Shorrock and Gobl - have toured extensively over the past decade as a separate act! And, yes, they've played all those same classic songs (which they wrote) but can't use the Little River Band name! Birtles, Shorrock and Gobl sued Little River Band to be allowed to just mention their connection to their former band in press & marketing - and lost!
Anyway, these lawsuits were front page
news in Australia. Food for thought for those going to Soaring Eagle next
weekend... :)
Dexter
>>>Gee, guess I was a couple of months
premature with all my Little River Band stuff, eh?!?! Folks are getting a lot
of mileage out of it now! (I'll bet Fallon ends up cancelling their
appearance) kk
You had it all first. Plus, no media
outlet had the in-depth coverage that you provided on this LRB
story.
Tom Cuddy
And then, after the formal announcement
that the appearance had been cancelled ...
NBC should have flown in the two original singers (Goble and
Shorrock) in from Aust. to perform with the Roots. They could have legally
introduced them as the original voices of
LRB.
Tom
