The Loved Ones were an Australian rock group of the sixties, formed in the wake of the British Invasion. Although the band's career lasted only two years, the group is now regarded as one of the most significant Australian bands of the 1960s.
They were formed in Melbourne in 1965 by Gerry Humphreys, Ian Clyne and Kim Lynch who defected from the youthful Red Onions Jazz Band (Humphreys and Lynch had played clarinet and tuba respectively). They then recruited drummer Gavin Anderson and ex-Wild Cherries guitarist Rob Lovett. The band were renowned as an exciting, if erratic, live act in a Stones/Animals mould, and quickly rose to prominence in the local club and dance scene.
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 Humphreys, who is widely acknowledged as one of Australia's finest male pop-rock vocalists. The Loved Ones' were also one of the first Australian pop bands to use electric piano as part of their regular stage set-up and their distinctive keyboard-based sound set them apart from most of their contemporaries. (The above is sourced from Wikipedia).
This song, Sad Dark Eyes, followed the successful singles, The Loved One and Everlovin Man. By this time, Clyne had left and been replaced on piano by Treva Richards. The band had some further single successes, including Blueberry Hill, but broke up in November 1967
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Sadly, Humphreys died in December 2005 of a heart attack. This video slideshow is dedicated to him and the band.
It's not generally known that the released CD of the Loved Ones Magic Box LP includes only one channel of a stereo mix. This meant that some original vocals and instrumentation on tracks such as this one were missing. For example vocal harmony on this track is missing on the released version, and it sounds odd without it. And there is a short introduction missing. This is the difficult to find mix which has both of the original channels. Hopefully the proper mix will be officially released asap.
