Little River Band “Lonesome Loser” charted

Lonesome Loser Little River Band

Writer(s): David Briggs (see lyrics here) First Charted: July 14, 1979 Peak: 6 US, 7 CB, 11 GR, 4 HR, 13 RR, 15 AC, 19 CL, 3 CN, 19 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 8.0 video, 42.45 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Little River Band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. The original lineup included three singers – Graeham Goble, Glenn Shorrock, and Beeb Birtles. They landed three top-30 hits in Australia before they broke through to the American market with “It’s a Long Way There,” a #28 hit. It was their first of a dozen top-40 hits in the U.S. from 1976 to 1983. While most of the band’s songs were written by the singers, “Lonesome Loser” was penned by guitarist David Briggs. He uses gambling imagery to tell the story of a man unlucky in love. He realizes he isn’t going to solve his problems just by having a woman in his life. He has to get his life together first. “Lonesome Loser” was the lead single from their 1979 album First Under the Wire. It came in the midst of the band’s four consecutive top-10 hits in 1978 and ’79. Goble, Shorrock, and Birtles all sing together at the opening of the song, giving it a distinctive a capella intro. On a personal note, I generally consider 1979 – when I turned twelve – to be ground zero for when I first actively started paying attention to music. I wouldn’t start my own charts until 1982 (see first chart here), when I was fifteen years old. However, I retroactively created a list of My Top 100 Songs Pre-1982 which included “Lonesome Loser” and its follow-up, “Cool Change.” Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Little River Band SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 6/30/2022; last updated 12/27/2022.