"You're Driving Me Out of My Mind" by Little River Band

Song#:  1539
Date:  07/23/1983
Debut:  81
Peak:  35
Weeks:  11
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  LRB's first album with new lead singer John Farnham, The Net, was not meeting expectations. In their Australian home, it would be their first album since their 1975 debut to miss the Top 10. In the US, after four consecutive gold/platinum albums, The Net, sold poorly and tanked at #61. Partial blame could be placed on the weak showing of the album's singles. "We Two" could only manage a #22 showing while this single flaked just inside the Top 40. The results and changes within the band would lead to founding member Beebs Birtles leaving the group after the supporting tour for the album. This single would be LRB's last to reach the US Top 40.

ReduxReview:  I thought "We Two" was a weak song and this one is not much better. It's an oddly funky tune that just seems out of step with music trends and the rest of LRB's catalog. It's not a bad tune and is certainly acceptable for an album track, but as a single it just doesn't work. LRB was going through changes and this album made that fact very clear.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  In 2002, Birtles would reunite with two other original LRB members, Glenn Shorrock and Graeham Goble, to form a new band. Their intent was to name the group The Original Little River Band. Unfortunately, when each member left LRB they took a pay-out to relinquish rights to the name. The LRB name was owned at the time by guitarist Stephen Housden, who had joined the band in 1981. Without access to the LRB name, the trio then just relied on their own names and called themselves Birtles Shorrock Goble. They released one album titled Full Circle in 2003 and remained together until 2007.

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