You see, The Little River Band has continued to be a touring entity in the US for many years without the involvement of original members Shorrock, Graeham Goble and Beeb Birtles.

They chose to relinquish their ownership and be bought out in 1996, leaving non-founding member and guitarist Stephen Housden as the sole owner of the band name.

Housden is no longer a member of the touring outfit with Wayne Nelson, who joined in 1980, remaining as the lead singer and bassist.

The recent invitation from The Tonight Show to perform a hit or two in celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary was shot down by the original members who refused the rights to any material written by them.

Fair enough but the melee certainly won’t stop the current incarnation of LRB touring, most likely to audiences who have no idea about the band’s history.

Interestingly, the LRB makes no mention of the previous members but does list all of the albums with no note that many of them contain absolutely no input from the current line-up.

It’s all legal alright, but perhaps a little misleading.

In celebration of LRB’s anniversary, here are two of my favourite bands who continue to perform with no original members in their line-up.

Black Lace are renowned for perhaps the most annoying pop hit ever with 1984’s Agadoo.

Beginning as a four piece in 1973, the line-up consisted of vocalist Alan Barton and guitarist Colin Gibb by the time they hit the charts with such musical abominations as Superman and Do The Conga. 

Barton departed in 1987 to take his lack of musical credibility to Smokie. Unfortunately, he was killed in a tour coach accident on tour in Germany.

The current line-up of Black Lace is Dene Michael and Ian Robinson who continue to tour their novelty schtick around the UK and Europe. 

They recently made absolutely no impression on the UK charts with a mambo version of Agadoo (2009), a football version of I Am The Music Man (2010) and a reworking of Do The Conga (2011).

The Sugababes are a UK pop girl band who have sold over eight million albums in the UK. Formed in 1998 by Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan, they are best known in Australia for their hits Round Round and Freak Like Me. 

With a street credibility and unique look that puts them a cut above the garden variety girl bands, they were also infamous for their backstage catfights.

Shedding members on a regular basis, the final line-up when the Sugababes went on hiatus as a musical entity in 2011 was Amelle Berrabah, Jade Ewen and Heidi Range. 

In 2013, the original members came together to form a new group imaginatively called Mutya Keisha Siobhan.

peterayoung.com