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".
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] 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][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.
[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.
[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.
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'.
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.
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.
[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.
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.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.
He formed Gerry and The Joy Band in 1971,[18] a floating aggregation that, at times, included members of Daddy Cool and the Aztecs.
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.
In the early 1990s Lovett joined The Fudds, alongside Chris Dyson, Stewart MacFarlane, Vic Mavridis and Peter Robertson.
[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.