The Loved Ones | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
Genres | R&B, rock, blues rock |
Years active | 1965–1967, 1987 |
Labels | W&G In (1966–1967) Astor Karussell/PolyGram Raven Mushroom |
Past members | see members list below |
The Loved Ones were an Australian rock band formed in 1965 in Melbourne following the British Invasion. The line-up of Gavin Anderson on drums, Ian Clyne on organ and piano, Gerry Humphrys on vocals and harmonica, Rob Lovett on guitar and Kim Lynch on bass guitar recorded their early hits. Their signature song, "The Loved One", reached number two on Australian singles charts and was later covered by INXS. In 2001 it was selected as number six on the Australasian Performing Right Association's (APRA) list of Top 30 Australian songs of all time. Their debut album, The Loved Ones' Magic Box , was released late in 1967 and included their other hit singles, "Ever Lovin' Man" and "Sad Dark Eyes". They disbanded in October 1967 and, although the band's main career lasted only two years, they are regarded as one of the most significant Australian bands of the 1960s.[ citation needed ] They reformed for a short tour in 1987 which provided the album Live on Blueberry Hill. Humphrys lived in London from the mid-1970s until his death on 4 December 2005. On 27 October 2010, the Loved Ones were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.
The Loved Ones were formed in Melbourne in October 1965 by Gerry Humphrys (originally from London) on vocals and harmonica, Kim Lynch on bass guitar and Ian Clyne on organ and piano. [1] [2] They were all former members of a trad jazz group, the Red Onion Jazz Band, in which Humphrys played clarinet and sang and Lynch played tuba. [3] Red Onions Jazz Band was released as an eponymous album in 1964 on W&G Records blue label. [1] Following the British Invasion, led by the Beatles' tour of Australia in mid-1964, the band split as the three members wanted to switch to R&B and felt they had drifted towards more mainstream 1940s jazz. [4] [5] The Loved Ones were named after Evelyn Waugh's short and darkly satirical novel The Loved One . [4] [6] To round out the line-up, Humphrys, Lynch and Clyne recruited former Wild Cherries guitarist Rob Lovett. [5] [7] Their first drummer, Terry Nott, was soon followed by Gavin Anderson. [4] [8]
The Loved Ones became renowned as an exciting, if erratic, live act in a Rolling Stones/Animals mould and rose to prominence in the local club and dance scene. [1] [6] The group's visual impact was heightened by their striking mod stage attire and the band had a strong focal point thanks to the charismatic stage presence, saturnine good looks and growling blues-influenced baritone voice of Humphrys, who is widely acknowledged as one of Australia's finest male pop-rock vocalists. [6] [9] The Loved Ones were also one of the first Australian pop bands to use the electric piano (a Hohner pianet) as part of their regular stage set-up and their distinctive keyboard-based sound set them apart from most of their contemporaries.
Early in 1966, they signed to the In Records label, a subsidiary of W&G Records. [9] Their debut single was "The Loved One", which reached number nine on the singles charts in May. [10] The song was written by Clyne, Humphrys and Lovett. [11] [12] It has a complex double rhythm, which is joined by hand clapping, and Humphrys' bluesy and soaring vocals. [13] [14] According to Lovett, the inspiration for the hand claps came from Clyne, who went to a nightclub to talk to another musician: [14]
Yeah, the organist said he liked it but he thought we should put some hand-claps in so the audience didn't get lost. In those days most people were brought up with 'easy listenin' music – C&W, very straightforward. In the end, the hand-claps were more dominant than the 2-beat pattern so the whole thing sounded a bit like a crazy waltz. As it turned out the organist was absolutely right. It would never have made it without his suggestion and the way he played. He really gave it some atmosphere and suspenseful excitement – building up on the first chord sequence till it burst out into the second and Gerry screamed out his, 'Yonder she's walking'. [4]
The director, Peter Lamb, filmed the group performing it for a documentary on mid-1960s Melbourne, Approximately Panther (1966), with Go-Set writer Doug Panther interviewing other local acts including Lynne Randell and Bobby & Laurie. [15] The song was an Australian Top 20 hit again in 1981 when covered by INXS. [9]
The Loved Ones' released their second single, "Ever Lovin' Man", in July 1966, which peaked at number seven on the Go-Set National Top 40 singles chart in October while "The Loved One" was still in the Top 20. [10] [16] To promote their singles, the group appeared on ATV-0 popular music series The Go!! Show on 24 October to perform "The Loved One", "Ever Lovin' Man" and "More Than Love". [17]
A cover of Fats Domino's version of "Blueberry Hill" was released in December 1966, which reached number 11 on the Go-Set singles chart. [16] A self-titled EP was released [6] After some personal crises, Clyne left and moved to Sydney; he was replaced by Treva Richards (ex Delta Set) on piano and organ in September. [1] [6]
We had a falling out between Ian and the rest of us. Nothing really that Ian did, except he did get sick of being the only one to do any of the promotional or organising work. We were all kids, and if anyone would do it, the rest stood back. As a result, Ian was cast into the position of being the nagging parent, and became more in tune with our manager than the rest of us. Without going through the details, it came messily down to his being fired.
— Rob Lovett [4]
After leaving the Loved Ones, Clyne played in the Black Pearls, the Ram Jam Big Band, Excalibur, Levi Smith's Clefs and Chain; [18] he was in Aunty Jack's backing group, the Gong, in the mid-1970s. [1] [6]
In February 1967, The Loved Ones released "Sad Dark Eyes", which peaked in the Top 20. [16] This was the first single with Richards' input. "A Love Like Ours" was released in April and also reached the Top 20. [16] Each captured an emotional intensity and musical inventiveness which marked them out from their peers. [6] On 23 April, they performed at Festival Hall, Melbourne and recorded live versions of "Ever Lovin' Man", "Sad Dark Eyes" and "The Loved One". They supported the national tour by Eric Burdon and the Animals and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich in April. [6] In May, Lynch left and they added a new lead guitarist, Danny De Lacy (from Los Angeles), with Lovett moving to bass guitar. [5]
In August 1967, "Love Song", was released but did not chart. [1] They released their debut album, The Loved Ones' Magic Box, in October 1967. The Loved Ones split in late October, two years after they formed. [9]
The split was a non-event. We had been in Perth for two weeks on what felt like a very long tour. A miserable tour by the end. It started off so well. We were mobbed at the airport and smuggled off in the caterer's van. We had people who spotted us and chased the cars that whisked us off, waving their autograph books in vain. We did TV, we did radio, we did concerts, we did a trip round Albany, Kalgoorlie and other places on the way – one-nighters – but the record company, W&G, hadn't thought to put any records in the shops. Anyway, at the end of the tour the promoters disappeared. I can't remember if we even had our tickets home. We got back to Melbourne broke and completely dispirited. People tell me our last gig was at Opus (Ormond Hall in Prahran) but I have to say I haven't any recollection of it.
— Rob Lovett [4]
The Loved Ones' Magic Box is considered a classic recording which enjoys cult status and has reportedly never been out-of-print since it was released. [6]
Humphrys initially managed rock'n'rollers the Valentines (with vocalists Bon Scott and Vince Lovegrove). He formed Gerry and The Joy Band in 1971, [18] a floating aggregation that, at times, included members of Daddy Cool and the Aztecs. At that time he moved to the suburban fringes of Sandringham and hosted many functions at his Spring Street residence. He went on to bigger things by hosting the inaugural Sunbury Pop Festival in 1972. In 1973 he returned to London in an unsuccessful attempt to save his failing marriage, giving up his music career to become a psychiatric nurse. [19]
Lovett formed a vocal trio, the Virgil Brothers, with Peter Doyle and Malcolm McGee (Wild Cherries, Python Lee Jackson) in 1968. [1] [18] The Virgil Brothers were managed by Lovett's wife, journalist Lily Brett, and released a number of singles and toured the UK before splitting up in 1970. [20] [21] In the early '70s Lovett's songs were recorded by Peter Doyle in The New Seekers. In the early 1990s Lovett joined The Fudds, alongside Chris Dyson, Stewart MacFarlane, Vic Mavridis and Peter Robertson. They released several albums over the following seven years.[ citation needed ]
Anderson also moved into management, looking after The Party Machine until they split in 1969; he relocated to London and then New York. In 1981 he formed a PR company, Gavin Anderson & Company, which became a large and successful strategic communications business with headquarters in New York and offices throughout the world. [6] [22] Nott joined the psychedelic band, Grunewald Burlesque, and later became an architect in Melbourne. After Lynch left the band he turned to painting. Richards married and moved to Adelaide to raise a family. He lived for a number of years in the former Barr-Smith "Auchendarroch" property in the Adelaide Hills.[ citation needed ]
Following a resurgence of interest in the Loved Ones, prompted in part by the INXS cover of "The Loved One", the band reformed for a live tour in September 1987. The line-up of Clyne, Humphrys, Lovett and Lynch was augmented by Melbourne drummer Peter Luscombe sitting in for Anderson. [5] [23] The album Live on Blueberry Hill followed on Mushroom Records.
In 1999, author Richard Miles wrote More Than a Loved One: The Musical Career of Gerry Humphrys. [24] In 2000, filmmaker Nigel Buesst directed the documentary, Gerry Humphrys – the Loved One. [25] [26] The film includes interviews with band mates, performance footage and Buesst's efforts to track down and interview Humphrys at his suburban home in south London. [27]
An Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV series, Long Way to the Top , was broadcast in August 2001. [28] The Loved Ones featured in "Episode 2: Ten Pound Rocker 1963–1968" where they are described as having "quirky rhythms and charismatic lead singer Gerry Humphries [ sic ], the Loved Ones soon gained a serious cult status". [29] The TV series inspired the Long Way to the Top national concert tour during August–September 2002, which featured a host of the best Australian acts of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. [30] [31] Although invited onto the tour, the band had to decline as Humphrys had to remain in the UK.
Humphrys remained in London where he died of a heart attack on 4 December 2005. He had three daughters. [25]
In 2010, the Loved Ones were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. [32] On hearing of their induction the band said "We were kids who discovered we could actually write and play music we believed in ... and other kids liked it too." [33] Attending in person were Clyne, Lynch and Richards, with Anderson (a resident of New York) and Lovett (London) unavailable. [34] They were inducted by concert promoter, Michael Chugg, while rocker Diesel performed their signature tune, "The Loved One". [35] [36] In October 2010, Magic Box (1967) was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums . [37]
Title | Album details |
---|---|
The Loved Ones' Magic Box |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Live on Blueberry Hill |
|
Title | Album details |
---|---|
The Loved Ones |
|
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Go-Set [16] | KMR [38] | |||||||||||||
1966 | "The Loved One [39] " | 9 | 11 | The Loved Ones | ||||||||||
"Ever Lovin' Man" | 7 [40] | 9 | ||||||||||||
"Blueberry Hill" | 11 [41] | 10 | ||||||||||||
1967 | "Sad Dark Eyes" | 20 [42] | 27 | The Loved Ones' Magic Box | ||||||||||
"A Love Like Ours [43] " | 18 | 26 | ||||||||||||
"Love Song" | — | 83 | ||||||||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. The Loved Ones were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. [44]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | themselves | ARIA Hall of Fame | inductee |
The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. [45]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1966 | themselves | Top Australian Group | 4th |
The Wild Cherries were an Australian rock group, which started in late 1964 playing R&B/jazz and became "the most relentlessly experimental psychedelic band on the Melbourne discotheque / dance scene" according to commentator, Glenn A. Baker.
The Twilights were an Australian rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1964 by Peter Brideoake on rhythm guitar, John Bywaters on bass guitar, Clem "Paddy" McCartney and Glenn Shorrock both on lead vocals. They were joined by Terry Britten on lead guitar and Laurie Pryor on drums within a year. Heavily influenced by the British Invasion, they became a significant Australian band during the mid-1960s. They were noted for their musicianship, on-stage humour and adoption of overseas sounds and trends. Their most popular single is a cover version of "Needle in a Haystack", which topped the Go-Set singles chart in 1966. Also in that year, they won the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds competition and were awarded a trip to London.
Matt Flinders is a former singer and TV presenter who rose to prominence in the late 1960s in Australia. He had top 5 hit singles with his cover versions of "Picking Up Pebbles" (1969) and "Butterfly" (1971). He hosted his own variety shows, The Matt Flinders Show (1972) and Matt Flinders and Friends (1973) on ABC-TV.
Lobby Loyde, also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer.
Douglas John Parkinson was an Australian pop and rock singer. He led the bands Strings and Things/A Sound (1965), the Questions (1966–1968), Doug Parkinson in Focus, Fanny Adams (1970–1971), the Life Organisation (1973), Southern Star Band (1978–1980) and Doug Parkinson Band (1981–1983). Doug Parkinson in Focus's cover version of the Beatles' track "Dear Prudence" peaked at No. 5 on the Go-Set National Top 40. The follow-up single, "Without You" / "Hair" (October), also reached No. 5. Parkinson released solo material and performed in musical theatre productions.
Kerryn William Tolhurst is an Australian country rock musician, songwriter and producer. He was based in the United States from late 1970s to the late 1990s, although he periodically returned to Australia. He was a founder of the Australian group, the Dingoes and co-wrote their top 40 hit single, "Way Out West". It was covered by fellow Australians, James Blundell and James Reyne in 1991, which reached No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart. He also formed a short-lived group, Rattling Sabres, and wrote their single, "All Fired Up" (1987). The track was reworked by Pat Benatar and released as her single in June 1988, which peaked at No. 2 in Australia and reached the top 20 in the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
"Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" was Australian pop singer Johnny Farnham's first solo single. The novelty song was released in November 1967 and was No. 1 on the Go-Set National Singles Charts for five weeks in early 1968 (six weeks on the Australian charts in 1968 based on the Kent Music Report). It was the largest-selling single in Australia by an Australian artist in the 1960s.
The Australian 1970 Radio Ban or 1970 Record Ban was a "pay for play" dispute in the local music industry that lasted from May until October. During this period, a simmering disagreement between commercial radio stations – represented by the Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters (FARB) – and the six largest record labels – represented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) – resulted in major United Kingdom and Australian pop songs being refused airplay. The government-owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation – which had its own copyright and royalty arrangement with recording and music publishing companies – did not take part in the dispute. The ban did not extend to releases by American artists. Some radio disc jockeys, such as Stan Rofe, defied the ban by playing songs according to their personal tastes.
Somebody's Image were an Australian pop and R&B band formed in 1966, which included Russell Morris on lead vocals. Their highest charting single is a cover version of Joe South's "Hush", which peaked at number 14 on the Go-Set National Top 40. Morris left in 1968 to start his solo career and the group disbanded in the following year.
The Groove was an Australian R&B, pop group which formed in early 1967 with the lineup of Geoff Bridgford on drums, Jamie Byrne on bass guitar, Tweed Harris on keyboards, Rod Stone on guitar and Peter Williams on lead vocals and guitar. In December 1967 their single, "Simon Says", peaked at No. 17 on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles Chart. They followed with "Soothe Me", which peaked at No. 14 in April 1968. Also in April they released their self-titled debut album. In July that year they won the national final of the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds competition with the prize including a trip to London. They relocated there in March 1969, and early the following year they changed their name to Eureka Stockade, they disbanded in 1971. On 13 October 2004 Tweed Harris died of throat cancer, aged 63.
James Keays was a Scottish-born Australian musician who fronted the rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player from 1965 to 1972 and subsequently had a solo career. He also wrote for a music newspaper, Go-Set, as its Adelaide correspondent in 1970 and its London correspondent in 1973.
The Masters Apprentices are an Australian rock band fronted by Jim Keays on lead vocals, which originally formed as The Mustangs in 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970 before disbanding in 1972. Their popular Australian singles are "Undecided", "Living in a Child's Dream", "5:10 Man", "Think About Tomorrow Today", "Turn Up Your Radio" and "Because I Love You". The band launched the career of bass guitarist Glenn Wheatley, who later became a music industry entrepreneur and an artist talent manager for both Little River Band and John Farnham.
"The Loved One" is a song by Australian R&B/rock band The Loved Ones and was released in May 1966 as the debut single ahead of their extended play, The Loved Ones, which appeared in December. The song also featured on their debut long play album, Magic Box, in October 1967. "The Loved One" reached No. 2 on the Australian Top 40 singles charts in 1966.
Philip John Manning is an Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Manning has been a member of various groups including Chain and has had a solo career. As a member of Chain, Manning co-wrote their January 1971 single "Black and Blue" which became number one on the Melbourne charts and also Judgement, which reached number two in Sydney. The related album, Toward the Blues followed in September and peaked in the top 10 albums chart.
"Buried and Dead" is a song by Australian rock group, the Masters Apprentices, released in May 1967 on Astor Records as the second single from the band's debut self-titled extended play. It peaked at No. 26 on the Go-Set national singles charts.
"Living in a Child's Dream" is a song by Australian rock group, the Masters Apprentices. It was released in August 1967 on Astor Records as the lead single from the band's second extended play, The Masters Apprentices Vol. 2. The track was written by the group's guitarist, Mick Bower. It peaked at No. 9 on the Go-Set national singles charts.
Ronald Stewart Tudor MBE was an Australian music producer, engineer, label owner and record industry executive. He started his career with W&G Records in 1956 as a sales representative; he became their in-house producer and A&R agent before leaving in 1966.
The Masters Apprentices is the self titled debut studio album by the Masters Apprentices, released in June 1967 on Astor Records. It featured two hit singles; "Undecided" and "Buried and Dead", both of which has been released on The Masters Apprentices EP in February 1967.
Raymond Charles Burton is an Australian musician and singer-song writer. He was briefly a member of rock 'n' rollers the Delltones (1965–66) on vocals, pop group the Executives (1968–69) on guitar and vocals, progressive rockers Leo de Castro and Friends (1973) on guitar, and jazz fusion band Ayers Rock (1973–74) on guitar and vocals. In 1971, Burton was working in the United States where he co-wrote "I Am Woman" with fellow Australian Helen Reddy, which became a number-one hit for her on the Billboard Hot 100 late in the following year. Another song written by the pair, "Best Friend", was sung by Reddy while she was also acting in a disaster film, Airport 1975. As a solo artist, Burton issued an album, Dreamers and Nightflyers, and two associated singles, "Too Hard to Handle" and "Paddington Green", in 1978 in Australia. He returned to the US, where he worked as a song writer.
New Dream were an Australian pop music group formed in 1967 as The Dream when founding mainstays Jenny Johnston on organ and Alex Kadell on lead vocals joined with latter day members of the Final Four. The Dream's repertoire shifted to bubblegum pop and they changed their name in March 1969. Their most popular single, "Soft Delights", peaked at No. 21 on the Go-Set national top 40. They released a sole album, New Dream, in 1973 however they had disbanded late in the previous year. They briefly reformed in 1974 before breaking up again.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)