David John Briggs AM (born 26 January 1951) is an Australian musician, songwriter and record producer, best known as

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist in the rock band

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top ...

between 1976 and 1981, having joined the band when original lead guitarist Ric Formosa left.

Professional career

In 1976 he joined Little River Band. He wrote their hit single " Lonesome Loser" and co-wrote " Happy Anniversary", and played lead guitar on the albums '' Diamantina Cocktail, Sleeper Catcher, First Under the Wire,

Backstage Pass A backstage pass is a credential which allows its bearer access to restricted areas at a performance or conference venue, most commonly associated with music and entertainment events. Backstage passes can come in the form of lanyards, stickers ...

, Live in America'' and '' Time Exposure.'' Briggs also produced the rock band

Australian Crawl Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams ( bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David ...

and co-wrote their single "Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama" with vocalist

James Reyne James Michael Nugent Reyne Order of Australia, OAM (born 19 May 1957) is an Australian musician. He achieved fame as the lead singer of Australian Crawl, and subsequently went on to a successful solo career. Biography Early years Reyne was born ...

. He produced

Russell Morris Russell Norman Morris (born 31 July 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) reco ...

' ''Almost Frantic'' album and started Rough Diamond Records with Ross Gardiner, a Melbourne-based music writer, which was distributed through

Astor Records Astor Records was an Australian recorded music manufacturer and distributor that operated from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Astor was the trade name of the consumer electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation Pty. Ltd., a division of Electro ...

and then PolyGram. He signed the band No Fixed Address which was one of the first contemporary Aboriginal bands to record in Australia. Subsequently, the single "We Have Survived" was released, which was launched by

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

, the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

at the time. Briggs has also produced songs for artists, released on Rough Diamond. Briggs works as a

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

and producer in Melbourne. Has worked on numerous records since starting the Production Workshop Recording Studio in 1979. Since 2002 he has been a lecturer at

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

, Melbourne, teaching Applied Acoustic Design and Advanced Digital Audio. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

2025 Australia Day Honours The 2025 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2025 by the Governor General of Australia, Sa ...

References

External links

* 1951 births Living people Australian guitarists Australian male songwriters Australian record producers Members of the Order of Australia Little River Band members Musicians from Melbourne People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) Academic staff of the Victoria University, Melbourne 20th-century Australian songwriters 21st-century Australian songwriters {{australia-guitarist-stub