Birtles Shorrock Goble hope to share exciting things in 2005... stay tuned for updates to these pages as events unfold, and visit the Official BSG Website. BSG 2003 Archives Many of you out there seem to be confused about the songs we're performing as Birtles Shorrock Goble. I think there is a misconception that we are playing only brand new material, which is not the case at all! We play all of the hits from our days as Little River Band. plus we're introducing new material that the three of us have written. Believe me when I tell you that you won't be disappointed when you see this band live! Friday October 24, 2003 Twenty years ago my very last Australian concert with Little River Band was at the Melbourne Concert Hall. I then went on to tour the United States with the band after that show promoting "The Net", my last album with the band and John Farnham's first. It was at the end of "The Net" tour that I made my decision to leave Little River Band. The date I left the band was October 24, 1983! So how bizarre was it that I was back with Glenn and Graeham on the Melbourne Concert Hall stage exactly 20 years to the day! Very weird! So for me it was a special night to be performing there again. We must apologize for cutting the first half of our set short, as we were unaware of a technical problem with our sound system. Nothing sounded wrong to us on stage but apparently something was breaking up out in front. We were able to rectify the problem during our interval. The Melbourne Concert Hall was and always will be a special place for us to play. It's where we recorded our HBO special for the United States and also where we performed for Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the Royal Gala Performance in April of 1983. The set remained pretty much the same as The Forum shows where we recorded our DVD except for the addition of "We Two" from "The Net" album which was a big single for us in America. I do need to mention the highlight of the night when Glenn was relaying the conversation Alejandro had with him during the interval. Mimicking Alejandro's Chilean accent, Glenn shared with the audience, "Glinn, when did you start losin' your hair?" To which Glenn replied, "Am I?" Oh well, I guess you had to be there! Thanks to all of our Melbourne friends and fans that came along to support us! Saturday October 25, 2003 Adelaide, Adelaide, Adelaide! How fantastic you are to your homeboys! Man, what a great show that was at Her Majesty's Theatre! Do you realize that for me it has been 20 years or more since I've been to Adelaide? But it's still the same great town it always was! I thought the band played particularly well on this night and you, the audience, were right there with us from song one! You spurred us on to greater heights! We had a great time playing for you! Plus it was great to see some old familiar faces we had not seen in a long, long time, and of course family members. Many thanks to all of you who came along to hear the band and we can't wait until the next time we return to do it again, hopefully bigger and better! Sunday October 26, 2003 We flew back to Melbourne from Adelaide and drove straight to the Big Hill Winery near Bendigo where the owners of the property looked after us very well. Thank you, guys! We can highly recommend the Big Hill Chardonnay and Shiraz wines we tasted there. By the time we hit the stage it was very apparent that some of you in the audience had partaken, perhaps a little too much of the good drop? And whose bra was that, that was thrown on the stage? It was, ahem, rather large; and I should I know because I tried it on! Oh, my! But on a serious note, when you play in front of audiences such as this, it makes it such a pleasure and this is how you can tell that we're having a blast; I'll be smiling ear to ear! October 2003 What a whirlwind the past two weeks has been! Our 'Full Circle' DVD and CD were released October 6, and we've been hopping ever since! In the first week of release, the 'Full Circle' DVD came in at number 7 on the chart.
For those of you who are interested, you can follow the progress of the CD and DVD by going to aria.com.au and clicking on the national CD and DVD charts. New chart positions are posted every Monday so be sure to check it out! As a matter of fact the ARIA Awards will be presented Tuesday October 21st on Channel Ten all around Australia. Here's what we've been doing so far. October 8, 9 and 10 saw us doing publicity from Melbourne organized by Julie Cavanagh.
We did press and radio interviews with various publications and radio stations all over the country. Saturday October 11th we performed four songs and signed autographs at Castle Hill Shopping Centre for the opening of a new HMV music superstore. We got to meet and greet some nice people there all of whom walked out with copies of the 'Full Circle' CD and DVD. October 15 and 16 we flew up to Sydney to do publicity there. Kerri Miller from Universal Records chauffeured us all over the place and ran us absolutely ragged! Thanks Kerri! October 20th - 23rd we will be rehearsing for our upcoming shows at the Melbourne Concert Hall, Her Majesty's theatre in Adelaide and the Big Hill Winery in Bendigo. I get the feeling that we're all ready to go out and play some more shows because it's been a while again. We hope to see most of you on the "Full Circle" tour around Australia and New Zealand and keep watching this space for the latest BSG news! September 2003 Hey y'all, The latest news is that Trish Day, web lady extraordinaire for birtles.com, is now officially the web master for Birtles Shorrock Goble. She has been working relentlessly on getting birtlesshorrockgoble.com ready in conjunction with the release of our first product as BSG (check it out beginnng October 6!). We welcome her on board and suggest she hang on tight for the ride! Welcome to the team, Trishy! From September 27th I will be down under to rehearse with BSG for their upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand. Our first gig is actually a corporate show for Toyota being held at the Melbourne Town Hall on Monday September 29th. I will endeavor to update the web site as often as I can while on tour so please check back regularly to read the latest news. See you on the road! Beeb. Full Circle Graeham wrote this song for the Time Exposure album back in 1981 and we felt the words are so relevant for what we’re doing now as Birtles Shorrock Goble that we have decided to call our upcoming CD/DVD release, Full Circle. For those of you who saw our two shows at The Forum recently, we sang "Full Circle" a cappella off to one side of the stage. This coming October, November and December we will be taking our "Full Circle" tour around Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand to promote the CD/DVD.
We hope to see all of you at some of these shows. The release of the CD/DVD is scheduled for late September, early October and
you can visit www.umusic.com.au/bsg/ to pre-order either the CD or the DVD. July 21, 2003 This has been a whirlwind of a trip so far and today is my first chance to
catch my breath. Our shows in Newcastle and Sydney were very well received and our thanks to all of you who attended. In particular the last show at Canterbury/Hurlstone was fun because it was an afternoon show and we had a bit of a meet and greet afterwards with some of you. Our first few days in Melbourne have been absolutely crazy because of press and publicity and on Wednesday we started loading in to The Forum for the DVD shows. For those of you who attended the Saturday night show, you were privileged to be part of something that had been in the works for quite some time without Glenn’s knowledge. As we took our final bow for the evening, Mike Munro, host of the television show, "This Is Your Life" walked out on stage and totally took Glenn by surprise. He was definitely caught off guard as Graeham and I stepped back leaving him standing out in front. We don’t often see the emotional side of Glenn but this was an evening to remember because of all the surprise guests who were flown in for the show. Glenn was seen to wipe away tears several times during the taping of the show. After the show we were able to catch up with a number of people from our past at the after show party upstairs at The Forum. I heard that some of us saw the sun come up the following day! What a night to remember... Saturday July 5th. So you know what they say? Be there or be square! Beeb. Friday June 20, 2003 QUOTE OF THE DAY: "They are the heart of one of the greatest vocal groups of all time and
recorded songs that have formed the soundtrack to many of our lives." This is what Universal managing director George Ash was quoted as saying in
the Melbourne Herald Sun earlier this month about Birtles Shorrock Goble. BSG’s first project for Universal will be a live CD and DVD to be recorded at
The Forum in Melbourne on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19. The
projected release date will be late October 2003. We’re rehearsing some new songs over the next couple of weeks in preparation for the recording and filming of this DVD. It will be packed with 20 of our classic hits as well as six or seven new songs. We're also doing a few shows in New South Wales prior to the Melbourne shows. (Scroll down to see the dates and venues.) I'm looking forward to seeing all of you at the shows in Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne. See you there! Beeb. For over 20 years now, their legion of fans have not been treated to a new recording by these multi-award winning singer/songwriters who gave us such classic hits as 'Curiosity Killed the Cat', 'It's A Long Way There', 'Help is on Its Way', 'Happy Anniversary', 'Home on Monday', 'Reminiscing', 'Lady', 'Take It Easy On Me', 'The Night Owls', 'Cool Change', 'Down on the Border', 'The Other Guy', 'Everyday of My Life', 'Man on Your Mind', 'Lonesome Loser'. Now this is about to change! On Friday July 18 and Saturday July 19 at The Forum Theatre, Flinders Street Melbourne, BSG will once again appear on stage together to make a live recording. Audiences will be part of the filming and recording of their new DVD and CD and treated to 20 of their favourite chart-topping hits along with new songs in a two hour performance. BSG have been signed by Universal Music Australia to record a DVD and an album that are set for Australian and International release later in the year. Universal Managing Director George Ash said, " Beeb, Glenn, and Graeham are the heart of one of the greatest vocal groups of all time. The opportunity to see them perform live and create a new recording couldn't be more exciting for all of us at Universal." "It will be a blast to get our voices together again after 20 years and carry on the tradition," said Glenn Shorrock. "As well as our old classics, we have all written new material for the DVD and CD". The combination of Beeb Birtles, Glenn Shorrock and Graeham Goble (BSG) is amongst the most extraordinary talents to ever emerge from Australia. It was their harmony dominated brand of rock and their unique song-writing talents that were the core of Little River Band's success and mass appeal. LRB's staggering success paved the way for future Australian artists in America. Their chart successes resulted in many 'firsts' for an Australian band, including 13 top 40 singles and appearances in the Top 10 on the Billboard charts for six years in a row. Other groundbreaking achievements included: The BSG magic returns on July 18 and 19 at The Forum Theatre when fans will once again be treated to the legendary sound of one of Australia's most popular harmony driven bands. Other Upcoming Shows BSG will appear at several venues throughout the Sydney area prior to the Melbourne concerts. Please contact the venues directly for ticket sales! July 8 - West Leagues Club Newcastle April 2003 Shangri La Hotel – Bangkok, Thailand We arrived in Bangkok late at night after an eight and a half-hour flight
from Sydney and checked into the Crown Plaza Hotel where we were staying.
The show on the following night was for the Hagemeyer company who were
holding their annual convention in Bangkok all week with various Australian
entertainers performing nightly. We were part of the entertainment for their
final night. There was some delay because of the changeover in themes for
the evening but luckily we were able to squeeze in a quick soundcheck before
heading back to our hotel to get cleaned up for the night. And what a fun
night it turned out to be! The dance floor was jammed with everybody wanting
to get a better look and listen to the band play. I saw people singing along
to the words of our songs during the evening probably because they bring back
so many memories for all of us. So considering we weren’t using our own
equipment, I think we did pretty well and I think everybody had a great time
with us. As a band we really enjoyed being in Bangkok and couldn’t get over
the friendliness of the Thai people. I really hope we can make it back there
again sometime soon and thanks to Hagemeyer for allowing us to be a part of
your annual convention for 2003! I hope we can be there next year with you
as well! Of course I remember playing Revesby many, many years ago and we were always
so well received there. Well, let me tell you that nothing has changed in
twenty years. The crowd is as enthusiastic as ever and hung with us for the
duration of the show. This was the last performance for our Sydney week
before flying to Bangkok to play a corporate show so we were in the mood to
blow it out and make it a good one! The faces in the crowd let us know that
they were enjoying it as much as we were. We had a great time!
I hope we can do it again sometime in the near future. Let me apologize to
all the fans who attended our week of Sydney shows because of Graeham’s
nonattendance. Unfortunately he is still recovering from his illness and we
hope that he will get better soon. Shellharbour Workers Club
Shellharbour is a little town south of Wollongong in New South Wales,
Australia. It took us about an hour and a half to drive there from Sydney
and we stopped along the way to take in one of the spectacular views from the
mountains down the coastline. In fact, I took some photos of the guys in the
band there. They weren’t quite ready for us when we arrived so some of us
had something to eat in the club’s dining room. As you can imagine, the
seafood in Shellharbour is fresh and delicious. Martinez, our support act,
were very well received by the audience and it was obvious from their
reaction that this crowd was going to have a good time no matter what! We
hit the stage at about 9:45 and played our set for the next hour and a half.
I thought we played a pretty good show despite the fact that the Shellharbour
people are a rather talkative crowd. People were yelling out requests they
wanted to hear even though we covered most of our well-known songs. I hope
we can make it back there sometime as I really liked the venue and people!
Thanks to the Shellharbour people for coming out and seeing the band perform! Oh my God, what a rowdy lot were there at the Castle Hill RSL on April 11th.
From the time we opened with "It’s A Long Way There", you people were hanging
with us through every song. That made it a very enjoyable night considering
we were without Graeham again. Unfortunately he’s going through a very tough
time at the moment with his health. We hope he will get better soon and be
able to join us back on stage because we do miss his presence instrumentally
and vocally! But you people who were at the show need to applaud yourselves
because your enthusiasm made it a very entertaining show for us.
I know that you were reliving your past through all of our songs but you’re
allowed to, we’re all at that age now, you know? Really, it was a great
night thanks to all of you! I hope we can play that room again sometime later in the year! South Sydney Juniors Rugby Club Thursday, April 10, 2003 we played the South Sydney Juniors Rugby Club.
Unfortunately Graeham was still not well and we played the show again with
Chris Lloyds filling in for him. Seemed like we got off to a bit of a slow
start or maybe the audience was just a little too relaxed at the beginning
but they sure made up for it as we got going. Love it when I see people
singing along to the words in our songs; that’s such a thrill to me. You
South Sydney people sure showed your enthusiasm by the time we got half way
through the set, and then by the end of the show, you were rocking! We were
certainly having a great time and I could see that the audience was really
into it as well! You guys got to see a good show so thanks for showing us how much you enjoyed
it!
Until next time! Balmain Leagues Club Campbelltown Catholic Club Well, what can you do, you know, when you’re suffering from the first night jitters! I’m glad the people of Campbelltown could see the humor in it and laughed along with us all the way. And it wasn’t just me, I think we all made a few clangers through the night. One of the funniest things was me forgetting the words to, "Everyday Of My Life", and Glenn pointing out that I sang the same verse four times in the song. My apologies! Honestly though when you have a night like that, you just have to make a decision that you’re going to have a good time and laugh your way through the whole set and hopefully entertain everybody who was there that night. Despite all of our mistakes, I could see quite a few people digging it and singing along. So Campbelltown, thanks for cutting us some slack! We’ll make it up to you next time around! What's New in 2003 Well, here we are in 2003 with a quarter of the year already behind us! Wow, time flies! I'm heading back down under in early April for some performances in Sydney leading up to a corporate show in Bangkok, Thailand for Hagemeyer. See the tour schedule below. As I mentioned last year, we are still moving forward with recording a brand new DVD with special guest artists at venues to be announced as well as having "It's A Long Way There", a retrospective Little River Band DVD to be released soon by EMI Australia. I hope to see some of you at the Sydney clubs! All the best from Beeb.
Tickets for the Sydney area shows are available through the individual venues. |
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For a while now we’ve been looking for a title for this DVD and kind of stumbled on to it by chance while trying a couple of different songs for the acoustic set. We decided to try a song of Graeham’s called, "Full Circle" we recorded for the Time Exposure album because of what the words say. We sang this a cappella off to one side of the stage on both nights at The Forum before moving into our positions for the intro of "It’s A Long Way There". Personally I thought it was a very dramatic beginning to the show because of the fitting words and the fact that it was just our three voices and nothing else.
Beeb Birtles, Glenn Shorrock, Graeham Goble (BSG), as the founding members of Little River Band, dominated the charts in Australia and conquered the US market during the late 70s and early 80s. Their unique harmonies and songwriting talents left a timeless legacy of hits that are as popular today as ever.
Revesby Workers Club
Castle Hill RSL Club
Alejandro Vega
Simon Hosford
Dave Beck