Musical Snobbery at it’s finest

Happy 65th birthday to Roland Kent Lavoie…

The artist known as Lobo began his career at the age of 16 with a local Florida band called, “The Rumours”. Most notable about this group was his band mates Gram Parsons and Jim Stafford. He played in several bands during the 60’s and was signed by Laurie records in 1969 when he released the single, “Happy Days in New York City”. Soon afterward going to Big Tree Records.

By 1971, he had begun going by the name “Lobo” (which means lone wolf in Spanish) and the single “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” which reached #4 in the states and #5 in the UK. This began a string of soft rock hits. “I’d Love You to Want Me” (#2-1971), and “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend” (#8-1973) were his other top 10 hits. However, he charted another 11 times on the top 100 between 1971 and 1979. He also produced several Jim Stafford’s hits as well.

He spent much of the 80’s recording on his own label which was more country flavored, and producing. He had always had a loyal following in the UK and especially in Germany, and a late-80 greatest hits package in Japan brought him renewed respect and popularity. It also leads to him recording several albums just for the foreign market.

There is a fantastic interview with him at: http://www.mybestyears.com/InterviewSpotlights/LOBOKentLavoie110507.html