A typical year for Little River Band involved time off to write new material, time to rehearse new songs to ready them for recording, approximately three months to record a new album, rehearsals for the road and then the touring. 1976 was the first year we toured overseas. The band had only been in existence since early 1975 but had already recorded their first album, Little River Band, and within a year our manager had secured a release for us throughout the world with EMI/Capitol. We were away from home for five long months but we didn't care because we knew what it took to establish our name overseas and there was a certain determination for wanting to be the first Australian band to do it from Australia.

What Little River Band fans may not know is that on the eve of our departure for the States we had a change in membership when Rick Formosa and Roger McLachlan were replaced by David Briggs and George McArdle. They were really thrown off the deep end when it came to having to learn all of the band's material in such a short time and were just settling in as the new guys on that tour! We became a favourite with Capitol Records reps across the States because of our willingness to do press and radio plus they themselves became ardent fans of the band's music. We could cut the music and reproduce those harmonies live--in fact I think we were a better band live than on record!

Life on the road was often a 'hurry up and wait' business--rush to the airport and wait to take off. I took this photo of Glenn Shorrock with his wife Jo at the airport in Las Vegas. The headline of Glenn's newspaper reads, "Elvis' Heart Fails." As it happened, we performed in Las Vegas on the very day that Elvis died.

I will never forget our very first show in Virginia where we opened for the Average White Band. It was fall and driving through Virginia as the leaves were turning was a beautiful sight. It was probably a college gig in front of 3,000 - 5,000 kids but the vibe at the show was incredible. The very next night we played a small club in Washington, D.C. with the Sanford and Townsend Band ("Smoke From a Distant Fire") which held no more than 150 to 200 people. That would be the way it was on that particular tour, one night playing in front of thousands of people and the next night some small club somewhere, always opening up for the headlining act whose sound system and lights we used. It was a great way to ease into life on the road because we played no more than a forty-five minute set so we could showcase only our best songs.

I was 28 at the time and took it all in my stride. On those early tours we traveled by plane and rental cars so our patience was often put to the test waiting for planes to depart, waiting for our luggage to come off the belt, waiting for cars to be rented, loading the cars and finally driving off to our destination for that day. I was almost always one of the designated drivers, I seemed to have no problem switching from driving on the left side of the road, as we do in Australia, to the right--plus I really enjoyed driving.

A typical day for us was to check into the hotel or motel where we were staying and wait to hear from our tour manager when we would go to the venue. Being the opening act, we usually arrived for our sound check and stayed to play the show that night. A couple of us would go off to do press. The Capitol Records rep would take us to do radio interviews or press for the local newspaper.

Probably the hardest thing about being on the road is having to live out of a suitcase. Your clothes get saturated with perspiration from playing the show night after night and so every few days we'd have to go looking for a laundromat! Do you know how time consuming it is when you have to sit at a laundromat and wait for your clothes to wash and then for them to dry? Then, depending on where you were at the time, you always had to have the right change to feed the washers and dryers! For those of you who think it must have been so much fun on the road, to be able to travel around the world, to get to see all the sights etc., forget it! Sightseeing? Who had time to go and sightsee? No, I'm afraid that life on the road as a rock and roll band kept us very busy.

David Briggs and Glenn Shorrock in a restaurant in Holland, my homeland.

As far as getting my exercise, I was a jogger. No matter where we were in world, I had my running shoes and shorts with me and I would go for a forty-minute run. I don't think the other guys were into exercise as much as I was. It's just that my philosophy was, while I was on the road, I may as well be productive and so I was. Glenn Shorrock found it difficult to write on the road but Graeham and I always had an acoustic guitar with us at all times and wrote songs for our next album. If I felt restless, I would find a mall and look around or buy something I needed. If I was in my hotel room and not in the mood to play my guitar, I would hand write letters to family and friends back home. That was what passed the time for me while still doing something constructive.

I would save up the per diems I was paid on the road and spend it on things I really wanted. My very first purchase of this nature was an Olympus OM2 SLR camera which I still use to this day. I became a mad photographer and have many photo albums filled with memories of life on the road. Many of the photos you see throughout this site were ones that I took with my camera!

Derek Pellicci with John Hartman, drummer for the Doobie Brothers. We performed with the Doobies somewhere in southern California.

As the band started getting hit records, we slowly started headlining some of our shows and travel changed in that we rented tour buses to take us from city to city. Much of our time was spent traveling. If the distance was more than five hundred miles, we would leave after the show to be sure we would make the next show in time. The buses were decked out with sleeping bunks but sleeping was something you had to get used to with the sound of the engine. We traveled in three buses. For the guys in the band, we had a smoking bus and a non-smoking bus. The third bus was for the road crew and I hate to think what took place on that bus! Our equipment was transported around in two semi-trailers.

Everyone had their moments with getting bored with this kind of lifestyle and I've heard my share of stories with guys in rock bands getting crazy or not being able to handle the road. Personally, I loved life on the road. I met some wonderful people--people who since have been back in touch because the Internet has made that possible. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have traveled the world and see the places I have seen. I think now that my daughters are fully grown, I would do it all over again given the opportunity! And now I've had that opportunity as Birtles Shorrock Goble are together again!

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