''First Under the Wire'' is the fifth studio album by Australian group

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...

, released in July 1979 by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Albums Chart NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...

in mid-1988. and at No. 10 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

, becoming the group's highest charting album in that territory. The album included two top 10 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits in " Lonesome Loser" and " Cool Change".

Reception

''Cash Box'' magazine said "Ringing harmonies are the Little River Band's forte, and its resonant vocal arrangements are in full bloom on ''First Under the Wire''. John Boylan's sterling production adds lustre to the songs, and David Briggs brilliant guitar work continues to be the group's musical focal point." calling the album "A must for AOR, MOR and pop programmers." Mark Allan from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album four stars.

Track listing

; Side A #" Lonesome Loser" ( David Briggs) - 3:58 #"The Rumour" (

Glenn Shorrock Glenn Barrie Shorrock (born 30 June 1944) is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of rock bands the Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and post LRB spin-off trio Birtles Shorrock Goble, as well as being a solo ...

) - 4:18 #"By My Side" (

Beeb Birtles Beeb Birtles (born Gerard Bertelkamp, 28 November 1948) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975 ...

Graham Goble Graeham George Goble, (born 15 May 1947)Goble, Graeham (2006Graeham Goble: Biography. Retrieved on 14 July 2008. is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Little Riv ...

) - 4:25 #" Cool Change" (Glenn Shorrock) - 5:14 #"It's Not a Wonder" (Graham Goble) - 3:56 ; Side B #"Hard Life" (Prelude) (David Briggs) - 2:42 #"Hard Life" (Graham Goble) - 4:46 #"Middle Man" (Beeb Birtles, Graham Goble) - 4:24 #"Man on the Run" (Beeb Birtles, Graham Goble) - 4:16 #"Mistress of Mine" (Graham Goble) - 5:32

Personnel

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(except as noted) * David Briggs -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

s, Roland synthesizer guitars, Electric Sitar on track 10 *

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and acoustic guitars,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, lead vocals on tracks 3 and 9, co-lead vocals on track 8 *

and acoustic guitars,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

, vocal

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

Derek Pellicci Derek Allan Pellicci (born 18 February 1953) is an English-born Australian drummer. He is best known as a founding member of Little River Band. Pellicci lives in Melbourne with his wife, Anne and a son. Early life In 1960, Pellicci's family, his ...

- Sonor and Syndrums

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Clive Harrison -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(tracks 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10) * Mike Clarke - bass (tracks 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10) * Peter Sullivan - piano (tracks 1, 2, 5, 9) * Peter Jones - piano and keyboards (tracks 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10) and orchestrations * Bill Harrower - saxophones on tracks 4 and 8 * John Boylan - acoustic guitar on track 2

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Under The Wire 1979 albums Little River Band albums albums produced by John Boylan (record producer) Capitol Records albums