Glenn Shorrock

by Brendan SwiftA veteran of the Australian music industry, singer/songwriter Glenn Shorrock has had a long and successful career in the U.K. and Australia spanning more than three decades. Arriving in Australia with his family from England during the mid-'50s, Shorrock soon developed a passion for rock & roll and formed the vocal quartet the Checkmates. Under the influence of the Beatles after they achieved popularity in Australia, the Checkmates became the Twilights and from 1964 to 1969 had several hit singles in Australia. After they broke up, Shorrock spent three months managing the Australian group, the Avengers. In May 1969, Shorrock joined the supergroup Axiom in the U.K. until their breakup in 1971. Shorrock signed a solo deal with the MAM record label and released three singles.
In 1972, Shorrock joined the 12-piece international rock orchestra Esperanto. Their debut album, Esperanto Rock Orchestra, was released in 1973. Shorrock made a minimal contribution to their next release, Danse Macabre, and by their third release in 1974, Last Tango, had taken on a management role. The band had little success and Shorrock left to sing backup vocals for Cliff Richard. In October 1975, Shorrock returned to Australia where he formed the Little River Band. LRB's long run of success only came to an end after Shorrock decided to leave in February 1982, to be replaced by another Australian stalwart, John Farnham.
Shorrock already had a Top Ten single with Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover" back in 1979, and recorded his debut album, Villian of the Peace, in L.A. In late 1982, Shorrock toured Australia and also sang on Renee Geyer's single "Going Back." He recorded another single with the Bushwackers, "We're Coming to Get You," which reached number six on the national charts in October 1983. His next single, "Restless," appeared on the soundtrack to the ary film World Safari II. Shorrock compared ABC-TV's Rock Arena in 1986 and released his next single "American Flyer." He also toured with the stage show One for the Money. In 1988, Shorrock rejoined the Little River Band for the next three years. In 1991, he was inducted into the Australian Record Industry (ARIA) Hall of Fame. In 1993, he formed the Blazing Salads with Brian Cadd and they released a self-titled album in the same year.