Little River Band’s Graeham Goble calls John Farnham biopic untruthful
Little River Band’s Graeham Goble says the John Farnham biopic’s claims are untrue, but admits he was unhappy when the teen pop idol stole his spotlight: ‘I ran the band and I called the shots’
Graeham Goble has dismissed the John Farnham biopic as untruthful and “dramatic” as he denied there was any infighting in Little River Band.
The 75-year-old record producer, who founded Australia’s most successful music export, welcomed 73-year-old Farnham to the band in 1982 after rising to fame as a teen pop idol.
Now he has objected to the band’s depiction in a new documentary claiming that managing the group was “like managing World War II.”
The band’s former manager, Glenn Wheatley, made the wild claims in the film, suggesting that the infighting of Farnham stealing the spotlight got out of hand.
Goble said Wheatley’s claims were simply “not the truth” when he attended the VIP Sydney premiere of John Farnham: Finding The Voice.
Graeham Goble, 75, (pictured) has denounced John Farnham’s biopic as untruthful and ‘dramatic’ as he denied there was any fighting in Little River Band
“There’s a lot of things they use in documentaries for dramatic effect, but that doesn’t make them true,” he said.
‘Unfortunately this will become the truth, but it is not much. You always have your creative differences, but honestly I don’t remember fighting.’
Nevertheless, the Take It Easy On Me hitmaker admitted that things “got a bit out of hand” when Farnham literally and figuratively stole the spotlight at shows.
The record producer who founded Australia’s most successful music export welcomed 73-year-old Farnham (pictured) to the band in 1982 after rising to fame as a teen pop idol
Now he has objected to the band’s depiction in a new documentary claiming that managing the group was “like managing World War II.” Pictured is the Little River Band before John Farnham joined
Goble said it was “inappropriate” for Farnham to join an established band, which had already sold 30 million records, and make them look like backup musicians.
“We were a rock band. John joined Little River Band, we didn’t join John Farnham. I led the band and I called the shots,” he said.
The original Little River Band line-up, which included Goble, Beeb Birtles and Glenn Shorrock, made history as one of the first Australian bands to make it big in America.
After seven years, Farnham joined as lead singer, but left after five years due to what he claimed was ‘in-fighting’ and ‘pressure’ he put on himself.
The band’s former manager, Glenn Wheatley, made the wild claims in the film, suggesting that the infighting for Farnham (pictured in 1985) got out of hand stealing the limelight, but Goble said Wheatley’s claims were simply “not the truth’ were.