Lobo (musician)
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| Lobo | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Roland Kent LaVoie |
| Born | July 31, 1943 |
| Origin | Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Pop, country, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitarist |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Label(s) | Laurie, Big Tree, MCA, Lobo Records, Curb, Ponycanyon Records |
| Associated acts | The Rumours (Gram Parsons, Jim Stafford) |
| Website | www.fansoflobo.com |
Lobo (born Roland Kent Lavoie, July 31, 1943), is an American singer-songwriter who was successful in the early 1970s, scoring several Top 10 hits, including "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," "I'd Love You to Want Me" and "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend." Lobo's songs have been characterised by their sweet melodies, sumptuous instrumentation and soulful lyrics. This has made him well known outside the Western world, including Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early career: 1960s
Born in Tallahassee, Florida, Lavoie was raised by his mother in Winter Haven, Florida with six siblings. He began his musical career in 1961 as a member of a local band, The Rumours. The band included Gram Parsons and Jim Stafford, as well as drummer Jon Corneal, who later joined Parsons' International Submarine Band.
In 1964, while attending the University of South Florida, Lavoie joined a band called the Sugar Beats and met producer Phil Gernhard. He recorded a regional hit for the band, a cover of Johnny Rivers' song, "What Am I Doing Here".
During the 1960s, Lavoie performed with many other bands, including US Male, The Uglies, and Me and the Other Guys. It was in the latter band that he met musician Billy Aerts, who became a member of Lobo's touring band in the early 1970s and produced Lobo's comeback album in 1989.
Again working with Gernhard, his first solo record was released in 1969, the single "Happy Days In New York City" backed with "My Friend Is Here". Both were original tracks. It was released on Laurie Records.
[edit] Me and You and a Dog Named Boo: Early 1970s
By 1971, Lavoie had started calling himself Lobo (Spanish for wolf). Gernhard was an executive for Big Tree Records, and the company released his first single, "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo". The first major hit for the label, it reached number 5 in the US and launched a successful series of singles. The song also reached number 4 in the UK.
His debut album, Introducing Lobo, followed that May. In June his second single "She Didn't Do Magic" was released. In September "California Kid And Reemo" was released. Another single was The Albatross. It was around this time that Big Tree Records was merged with Bell Records. In the confusion, Lobo's second album Close Up was lost and never released.
Maintaining the Lobo alias, he released Of a Simple Man in 1972, which yielded back-to-back Top 10 hits, including his biggest, "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend", which reached #8 in the US charts, and "I'd Love You To Want Me". "I'd Love You To Want Me" was Lobo's biggest hit, climbing to #2 on the Billboard charts in 1972, and later reached #1 in Germany and in mid-1974, #5 in the United Kingdom.
With the release of Calumet in 1973, Lobo had three more Top 40 hits: "It Sure Took a Long, Long Time," "How Can I Tell Her" and "Standing at the End of the Line." He made an appearance on American Bandstand that year and also released a fourth single from Calumet, "There Ain't No Way." A fifth, "Standing At The End Of The Line" was released in 1975.
[edit] Just a Singer: Mid-1970s–1980s
In June 1974 Lobo's fourth album Just A Singer. It was the first album by Lobo to contain tracks not written by Lobo. The only single from the album was "Rings".
His last Top 30 single for Big Tree, "Don't Tell Me Goodnight", was released in 1975. Lobo also released the album, A Cowboy Afraid Of Horses and his last single for Big Tree, "Would I Still Have You", was released. The label followed up with a compilation that year, "The Best Of Lobo".
In 1976, Lobo started to break from Big Tree and Phil Gernhard, releasing the album Come With Me in Europe on the Philips label. "At First Sight" was the single. Neither were released in US.
1977 Lobo signed with Curb Records in 1977 and released the single "Afterglow", which was co-produced by Lobo and Gernhard. Another single, "You Are All I Ever Need" was released in 1978. It was last single to have Gernhard as producer.
In 1979, Lobo resurfaced on MCA Records, where he was paired with producer Bob Montgomery and released the single "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love", which reached #23. He also released his first US album in four years, Lobo. Other singles for Curb were "Holding On For Dear Love", "With A Love Like Ours" and "Fight Fire With Fire".
Dissatisfied with the production of his records, Lobo sought a release from his Curb contract. He moved to Nashville and in 1981 he started his own label, Lobo Records, and released several singles including "I Don't Want To Want You", written by his brother, Roger Lavoie, "Come Looking For Me" and "Living My Life Without You". All making the country charts.
Lobo Records became Evergreen Records in 1985. It released two singles, "Am I Going Crazy" and "Paint The Town Blue", a duet with Robin Lee.
[edit] Revival: 1990s–2000s
Meanwhile, Lobo's popularity was growing in Asia, fanned by the release of his greatest hits compilations in 1987 and 1988.
In 1989, Lobo released his first new album in 10 years, Am I Going Crazy, released in Taiwan on UFO/WEA records and produced by Billy Aerts.
With his popularity in Asia sustained by the reissue of all his albums on CD, he signed a multi-album deal with PonyCanyon Records in Singapore, in 1994 releasing Asian Moon (repackaging of tracks from Am I Going Crazy along with newly recorded tracks), in 1995 Classic Hits (re-recorded Lobo hits and some cover versions other artists' hits) and in 1996 Sometimes (all new original songs). On another Asian label, Springroll Entertainment, he released You Must Remember This in 1997, an album of pop standards that was released in two formats, one with vocals and the other with instrumental tracks.
The East Asian financial crisis in 1997 drove his record labels out of business and Lobo retired to his home in Florida.
Retirement was short-lived, however, as in 2000 Lobo signed with a German record company, Gmbh Entertainment, and recorded a few tracks for various Hits CD's. He also co-wrote two Christmas songs with Billy Aerts, "A Big Kid's Christmas" and "Late Christmas Eve" that were released on various Christmas compilations from 2000 to present.
Singles recorded during this period include "Caribbean Disco Show", "Let It Be Me", "Who'll Stop The Rain" and "Different Drum". These were all available on different "Greatest Hits" releases.
And his popularity in Asia is having a resurgence, as in 2006 he was touring Southeast Asia.
Strangely, his music has been sampled by Melbourne experimental band Kooties, although they paid little respect to Lobo's original intentions.
In 2008 Lobo released is first new album in over 10 years. Out of Time the newest release from Lobo features some new songs as well as the old favorites. Out of Time represents the step back to the original era of these recordings, revisiting his old songs the same way he wrote them, by doing all the instruments himself they are Out of Time. It refers to the classic nature of those old songs, how they are still favorites, even though they don’t follow the norm of today’s songs. Always classic, always moving forward, that’s Lobo at his finest. It is available exclusively from his web site www.fansoflobo.com.
[edit] Partial discography
[edit] Albums
- 1971 Introducing Lobo (Big Tree)
- 1972 Of a Simple Man (Big Tree)
- 1973 Calumet (Big Tree)
- 1974 Just a Singer (Philips Records)
- 1975 A Cowboy Afraid of Horses (Big Tree)
- 1976 Come With Me (Philips)
- 1979 Lobo (MCA)
- 1989 Am I Going Crazy? (WEA/UFO)
- 1994 Asian Moon (Ponycanyon)
- 1995 Classic Hits (Ponycanyon)
- 1996 Sometimes (Ponycanyon)
- 1997 You Must Remember This (Springroll)
- 2006 Am I Going Crazy (CD reissue - Lobo Records)
- 2006 Come With Me (CD reissue - Lobo Records)
- 2008 Out Of Time (Lobo Records)
[edit] Compilations
- 1990 Greatest Hits (Curb)
- 1993 The Best of Lobo (Rhino)
- 1996 The Best of Lobo (Curb)
- 1996 I'd Love You to Want Me (Rhino)
- 1997 Me & You & A Dog Named Boo & Other Hits (Rhino)
- 2004 The Very Best of Lobo (WEA International)
- 2005 Introducing Lobo/Of a Simple Man (Wounded Bird)
- 2005 Platinum Collection
- 2006 Ultimate Collection (EMI) Malaysia
- 2006 Me & You & A Dog Named Boo & Other Hits (Collectables)
- 2007 Greatest Hits (Lobo Records)
[edit] Charted Singles
- 1971: "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" — US #5 / UK #4
- 1971: "She Didn't Do Magic"/"I'm the Only One" — US #46
- 1971: "California Kid and Reemo" — US #72
- 1972: "A Simple Man" — US #56
- 1972: "I'd Love You to Want Me" — US #2 (Gold) / Germany #1 / UK #5 (1974 release)
- 1973: "Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend" — US #8
- 1973: "It Sure Took a Long, Long Time" — US #27
- 1973: "How Can I Tell Her" — US #22
- 1973: "There Ain't No Way"/"Love Me for What I Am" — US #68/#86
- 1974: "Standing At the End of the Line" — US #37
- 1974: "Rings" — US #43
- 1975: "Don't Tell Me Goodnight" — US #27
- 1979: "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love" — US #23
- 1979: "Holdin' On for Dear Love" — US #75
- NOTE: "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," "I'd Love You to Want Me," "Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend," and "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love" were all #1 hits on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
[edit] Trivia
His song "Whispers In The Wind" is actually taken from Tan Sri P. Ramlee's song "Getaran Jiwa".
"Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" is played before every Hereford United F.C. home game after it was first played before the famous victory over Newcastle United F.C. in the 1971-72 FA Cup.
