Remember the Song? – No. 3

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Little River Band – We Two. Formed in Melbourne in 1975 this is one of the great bands to come out of Australia. And this song is the band in 1983 running on the fumes of their commercial success. We Two was one of Little River Band’s final Top 40 singles, peaking at number 22 on the Billboard  Hot 100.

The band never broke up and still tours, but the original members left before the turn of the century, and with no Australians left in the group, it’s now an American band. Uh, what? Founding member Beeb Birtles derisively refers to them as a tribute band. So, what’s the deal? Trademarks. Stephen Housden joined the group as lead guitarist on The Net, the album from which this song comes. While he left in 2006, he remains the sole owner of the Little River Band name and trademark, and he works hard to keep founding members from profiting from the brand they built. Relations are acrimonious between him and the original members to put it mildly.

Enough about the legalities and ugliness of the music business. Let’s talk about We Two. I’ve been a fan of Little River Band for a long time and played their songs to death on the radio, but until a few years ago I’d never heard this one. I came across it on iTunes when looking at The Definitive Collection, which is an expanded greatest hits package released in the United States in 2005. I instantly liked it.

John Farnham replaces original lead vocalist Glenn Shorrock and holds his own on a midtempo song lamenting the loss of a romantic relationship. We Two  has the classic Little River Band vocal harmonies. I like the insistent bass and how tightly the rhythm section plays together, and the steady rhythm guitar gets my attention at the beginning of the song, too. While no solo, there is an instrumental break at the midway point featuring a repeating guitar riff that flows through the whole song. Atmospheric keyboards come in at the tail end of the composition and run through the fade. We Two doesn’t quite live up to the legacy of the band’s previous work, but on its own, the song is an enjoyable listen:

For the record, I saw Little River Band at a casino on the Oregon Coast in 1996. I think the only original member at that point was the drummer, Derek Pellicci. What was cool was seeing Peter Beckett on guitar and vocals. Beckett is the former lead singer and guitarist of Player, which had the big 1977 hit, Baby Come Back. He joined Little River Band in the late 1980s, and they performed his old group’s song that night. Would I recommend seeing Little River Band in concert today? No. It’s a bunch of guys operating under the name with a tenuous connection to the past. I wouldn’t recommend listening to the modern lineup’s rerecording of the classic songs either. Yeah, they actually did that.

What are your thoughts? Like the song? Hate it? Comment below. ↓

This is part of a series I’m doing on forgotten and obscure songs. Get caught up here.

Silver Falls in Winter

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Silver Falls State Park is just a short drive from our home in Salem, Oregon, and through the years I have shot plenty of video and taken many photographs. It’s a favorite place of ours.

Until January we had never visited during winter, but my wife and I had a day off at the end of the month, so we took a weekday trip. We’ve been to South Falls quite a bit, which is where the main parking lot is located. About a mile away is a much smaller lot that fills up quickly on weekends. Trails there lead to North Falls and Upper North Falls. We viewed these waterfalls for the first time, and with the soaking winter we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest, they were amazing to behold…and hear! We wrapped up our trip with a quick hike to South Falls, which was also more active than we had seen in the fall and summer.

I took my video camera with me to capture the look and feel of the various falls. The midwinter colors in the park are beautifully bleak compared to the bright green foliage in the summer and the glorious colors of autumn. That said, the water is very alive — everywhere — and it is spectacular:

We make it to the park about once a year, and every time we visit I wonder why we don’t go more often. There is a lot more to see than the areas we’ve hiked, and our daughter is getting older and more capable of navigating the trails. Actually, she just asked a couple nights ago when we were going again. This may be the year our trips increase.

Remember the Song? – No. 2

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Heart – How Can I Refuse. This band, from Seattle, Washington, was a force from 1975 to 1995. They had a long string of hits over two distinct eras. They began as a hard rock-folk rock band. Mid-career they left the folk roots behind and embraced an arena rock-glamour rock sound and image. The 1983 album, Passionworks, was the beginning of the transition. The record didn’t set the world on fire, but it did spawn a Billboard  Hot 100 hit, How Can I Refuse, which peaked at number 44 and was a number one hit on the Billboard  Mainstream Rock chart. This song pops up on SiriusXM from time-to-time, otherwise it’s largely forgotten by anyone not a Heart fan.

There are six writers credited with the composition, which is a bit surprising considering there is nothing particularly original about the lyrics or even the song structure. How Can I Refuse is about the lust and infatuation of a new relationship with a relentless rock beat that propels the song forward. It screams 1980s.

Rhythm is the star of the song, and it sounds angry. The hybrid electronic-acoustic drums and bass provide the driving beat with the rhythm guitar riding on top. Other guitar parts come in and out. The bridge features syncopated drum fills, which make an otherwise unremarkable part of the song interesting. Meanwhile, the lead guitar is restrained until the end with the only solo coming as the song begins to fade. While the lyrics reveal a bit of vulnerability, Ann Wilson’s bellowing vocals exude confidence and a touch of fury. It’s a vintage performance. Don’t mess with her!

Heart is still active and in the mid-1990s stripped down their sound, employing more acoustic instruments and dropping the electronics — a return to their roots with a modern sensibility.

What are your thoughts? Like it? Hate it? Even remember it? Comment below. ↓

This is part of a series I’m doing on forgotten and obscure songs. Get caught up here.