Little River Band - Time Exposure
#430
By John Harrington Bland
August 1981
Little River Band
Time Exposure
Genre: Yacht Rock
Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
John’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Highlights:
The Night Owls
Man on Your Mind
Take it Easy on Me
Love Will Survive
(I always approach these reviews with a bit of dread… which is probably why it takes me so long to write them. Should I do an in-depth history of the band in question? Compare and contrast this record with their previous ones? Note how their styles have -- or haven’t -- changed? Where does this album fit in the general zeitgeist of 1981? Or should I just take this one record at face value, disregarding everything else, and write my gut reaction to it?)
That being said...
Things I discovered while researching this review:
Little River Band was originally formed by (among others) Graham Goble, Glenn Shorrock and Beeb Birtles. I think Beeb Birtles is an awesome name.
There is actually a place called ‘Little River’ outside Melbourne, Australia. None of the band members are from there, or ever lived there. They just thought it would be a cool name for a band.
Rick Springfield played in a very early incarnation of LRB.
George Martin produced this album.
There have been about twelve million lineup changes over the years. None of the original members are still affiliated with the band.
An incarnation of LRB is still on the road, and will very likely be playing a state fair, bowling alley, casino resort, suburban coffee shop or corporate event near you as soon as this pandemic is over (seriously, these guys will play anywhere).
An American bassist, Wayne Nelson, joined LRB for this album. He’s still on tour with them. He sings lead on the opening song, “The Night Owls”.
“The Night Owls” was the very first music video I ever saw.
More information can be found here here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_River_Band. Or here: https://reallittleriverband.com/eventstour/
Now, on to the review itself:
Ah, Yacht Rock! An entire genre of music devoted to middle-aged white guys everywhere who love to spend their leisure time on fiberglass catamarans and in cozy faux-wood-paneled ski lodges. Jazzy electric pianos. Doobie rhythms. Wry lyrics (often about how said middle-aged white guy is a ‘fool’ for ‘letting the right one go’). The Little River Band didn’t invent it, nor did they perfect it, but they’re definitely of it.
But it’s 1981 and Yacht Rock (or soft rock as it was known then) is kinda on a downward swing. And after six years and quite a few massive hits, so is Little River Band.
As I said above, “The Night Owls” was the very first music video I remember seeing (back when HBO, to which we had just subscribed, had thirty-minute video blocks between crappy movies), so I’ve got a soft spot for it. Not a great song but it does fill me with nostalgia.
“Man on Your Mind” isn’t too bad either. These days it would end up on a B-list of Yacht Rock essentials.
“Take it Easy On Me” is Yacht Rock at it’s finest. Glenn Shorrock’s baritone is in great form here, rough and bluesy, and it fits in beautifully with Nelson’s soaring tenor and the harmonizing of Goble and Birtles. I can really listen to this song over and over again.
It goes downhill from there. Like an out-of-control skier off a double-diamond run.
“Ballerina” is quite possibly the purest expression of yacht rock ever recorded. I don’t mean that in a good way. Our skier’s headed for some trees.
But he regains his balance -- briefly -- on “Love Will Survive” and manages to just miss getting gored by a pine branch. He might, just might, make it to the lodge for a snifter of Chivas before hitting a communal hot tub.
But no! He’s plummeted over a cliff and rescue patrol says there isn’t enough of him left to formally identify. It’s that bad.
“Full Circle” is an a capella-and-snare-drum pseudophilosophical pap. Like a bad tribute to The Association. Yacht Rock does NOT do philosophy. It’s saving grace is that it’s only 1:55 long. “Just Say That You Love Me” is awful. Just terrible. One of those ‘things were so much better back in the ‘60s’ numbers. It’s so out of place I nearly yanked my headphones off in fright the first time I heard it. Screeching vocals and feedback. Yacht Rock does NOT screech. Then we’ve got something called “Suicide Boulevard”. Yacht Rock does NOT do heavy; it kills the buzz. And then the Beatles-esque weirdo “Orbit Zero” for which I blame George Martin. Not a terrible song, but it doesn’t fit with the rest of them. Okay, it’s not terrible but it’s not good either. Yacht Rock does NOT do psychedelia.
“Don’t Let the Needle Win” may be the jauntiest, jangliest, finger-snapping anthem about heroin addiction I’ve ever heard. Yacht Rock does NOT do social commentary.
“Guiding Light” is a ballad.
In closing, “Long Jumping Jeweller” is an upbeat, boogie-woogie tune with lyrics that make absolutely no sense. Must be an Australian thing.
I must admit I had higher hopes for this one. These guys harmonize about as good as any band in rock history. “Take it Easy On Me” belongs in the Yacht Rock Hall of Fame (a genre which, despite my mockery, I adore unrepentantly).
But the rest should be tossed overboard with the chum.
https://open.spotify.com/album/76BubGTTioRfDDSyzPpnVM?si=jcjSGN9cSU-IbMRV4vfv4w
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