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Glenn Shorrock

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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 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.

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