Born in Kent, England, Glenn Shorrock migrated to South Australia with his family at the age of 10. From 1962, he sang in the vocal trio the Checkmates, later singing with the Twilights from 1964 to 1969 and with Axiom from 1969 to 1971. Travelling to England in 1971 with Axiom, who disbanded soon after, he released his first solo single Let's Get the Band Together (1971) followed by Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby (1972). With Esperanto he released two albums and was a supporting act to Cliff Richard in 1974.

Along with Graham Goble, Beeb Birtles and Derek Pellicci, all formerly of the Adelaide group Mississippi, Shorrock formed Little River Band (1975-1982). Little River Band achieved significant Australian and American success before Shorrock left to pursue a solo career in 1982. His first solo album, Villain of the Peace (1982), was released in Australia and America, with his single We're Coming to Get You reaching No. 6 in the Australian charts in 1983. In early 1983 he recorded a duet with Renee Geyer - a revival of the Dusty Springfield hit Goin' Back. The success of this single led to Shorrock and Geyer touring nationally together later in that year.

In 1984 Shorrock's career took a turn towards television and radio - he was contracted to host the ABC television program Rock Arena and employed as breakfast announcer for Sydney radio station Magic 11. After appearing as Eddie and Doctor Scott in The Rocky Horror Show (1985), he continued to perform in more theatrical settings, with his later credits including Che in Evita (1989), One for the Money (1986-1987), Go Cat Go (1990-1991), Two Up (1996) with Wendy Stapleton, and Grease: The Arena Spectacular! (1998). In 2001 he joined the cast in the inaugural production of Australian Night at the Proms and later toured Australia with Axiom and The Twilights in the successful Long Way to the Top concert series (2002).

Shorrock was honoured in the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1991, and in 1994 Little River Band was similarly honoured. In 1993 Shorrock joined forces with Brian Cadd and released the album Blazing Salads, touring Australia under the same name. In 1995, Glenn fronted Little River Band during their 20th anniversary tour of the United States.

His most recent solo album, Spin Me 'Round, was co-produced with Brian Cadd and released in 2000. Since 2002 Shorrock has performed together with original Little River Band colleagues Birtles and Goble as Birtles Shorrock Goble. They released their first album, Full Circle, in 2003. In 2004 Shorrock was again honoured in the ARIA Hall of Fame along with the 'classic' line-up of the Little River Band.

In 2005 Shorrock toured Australia in the The Reminiscing Tour - Glenn Shorrock & Friends along with Doug Parkinson, Wendy Matthews and a fifteen piece orchestra.

Information from

• National Union Catalogues - Music Australia

Record number

1129073333663

Other names

• Glen Shorrock

Born

• 30 June 1944, Kent, England

Gender

male

Activities

• Singer
• Songwriter
• Performer

Honours

• ARIA Hall of Fame, 1991

References

• "Shorrock, Glen", in Warren Bebbington (ed.), Oxford Companion to Australian Music, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 515

Updated

12 October 2005

To cite this page

http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ma-ANL%3AMA~1129073333663