One Track Mind: Little River Band, "Happy Anniversary" (1977)

by Pico

Honest, we didn't intend it this way, but it has become 70's & 80's Classic Rock Week here at da' S~L~O~B. Sure, there was a little jazz organ and Louisiana legend thrown in for variety, but at this time last week you couldn't tell me that our high and mighty little slice of the blogosphere would feature Journey, Aerosmith and Little River Band all in the span of a few days.

Little River Band? Ah, yes, today's One Track Mind.

You see, our humble music review factory will reach it's one year anniversary in just a few days. That initial gusher of articles which kicked off the site occurred on June 27, 2006. Granted, one year isn't a lot of time for most going concerns, but somewhere I read that the typical life of a blog is only five months, so we figured this is something worth popping a cork over.

Besides, we never won any awards and we don't get a lot of daily hits (although it's trending in the right direction). Our longevity is about the only thing we can hang our hat on until our genius is finally understood.

So as I showered with this milestone in mind, I wondered what can be done to mark the event. Lessee...the "anniversary"...that I've got "on my mind"..."this is our first year"...I "need a little help from above"...

Pretty soon that long lost old 8-track from Little River Band's Diamatinia Cocktail was playing in my mind, repeating the third track over and over again. It was a hit on the radio, too. If you were listening to Top 40 around 1977-78, you know all about "Happy Anniversary," which narrowly missed the Top Ten at that time.

For those of you who weren't around, "Anniversary" was one of those snappy, mildly country-ish pop tunes laden with rich harmonies that sounded like soft California rock at it's finest---except that these blokes were from Down Under. The deal-sealer is that funky undercurrent; the popping bassline not only works with the Nashville elements of the song, it makes the song downright irresistible.

The upbeat tone of the song belies that fact that it's about a busted relationship, but hey, it's got that funky bassline, so everything's good.

In fact, the album from which this ditty came from, the aforementioned Diamantina Cocktail is arguably the best CSN album that Crosby, Stills and Nash never made. I'm not the biggest LRB fan out there by far, but the first few albums were pretty solid. Which is about the same you can say for a lot of classic rock bands, when you think about it.

But, back to the inspiration for pimping this song. We're gonna have something more substantial a little later on to mark the event. In the meantime, we thank you, Dear Readers, for your visits.


Listen: Little River Band "Happy Anniversary"

Purchase: Little River Band - Diamantina Cocktail


"One Track Mind" is a more-or-less weekly drool over a single song selected on a whim and a short thesis on why you should be drooling over it, too.