The Loved One

Today’s music story is a little different because we get to talk about not one band but two, two bands who had successful careers, reached iconic status and both had something else in common.

The first band, The Loved Ones were formed in Melbourne in October 1965 with Gerry Humphrys on vocals and playing harmonica, Kim Lynch was the bass guitarist and Ian Clyne was on both the organ and the piano.

Rob Lovett was then recruited to be a guitarist and Terry Nott as drummer to complete the band with Gavin Anderson coming in as a replacement drummer later on.

The band recorded “The Loved One” as their debut single in 1966 with the song released in May that year and it was a success, in fact their first three singles charted no lower than No. 11 on the Kent Music Report.

“The Loved One” is short in length with song just over two and a half minutes in length but is memorable for the hand claps and Gerry’s singing abilities that made him one of the best in the nation perhaps of all time.

The band disbanded in 1967 after recording just one EP, one Album and six Singles with a live album recorded during a brief resurrection in 1987 but their ability to create hits as all six of their singles charted and their iconic status earned them a place in the ARIA Hall of Fame.

So you’re wondering who the second band is? The band is INXS, a six piece band who became superstars but in this story they weren’t there yet.

So what does INXS got to do with The Loved Ones? The answer is “The Loved One” as INXS recorded the song and actually released it as a non-album single in 1981.

“The Loved One” was the band’s first Top Twenty single with the band achieving nineteen more Top Twenty singles between 1981 and 2005 though the count moves to twenty if you include “Never Tear Us Apart” reaching No. 11 in 2014.

The DVD version of Australia’s Ultimate Songs combined both The Loved Ones and INXS clips of “The Loved One” which there are plenty of differences from the singing style to the instructions used (INXS did not do the hand claps) but it is good if you want two versions for the price of one.

INXS in 1987 released their acclaimed album “Kick” and Track 6 of that international hit album was “The Loved One” and this version is a different recording to the 1981 single and it fitted in nicely with the album’s hit tracks like “Never Tear Us Apart” and “Need You Tonight”.

Gerry Humphrys was at the Melbourne Music Festival a year later and his soundcheck was recorded and thankfully it was uploaded to YouTube for viewers to see Gerry give a new take on the iconic song.

Two bands, one song and both were successes and the success of the two has ensures that “The Loved One” will be played long into history.