ROLAND KENT LAVOIE

Born: July 31, 1943
in Tallahassee, Florida
Currently resides in Southwest Florida.

Best remembered for early seventies soft-rock perennials, "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" and "I'd Love You to Want Me," Lobo was the alias of singer/songwriter Kent LaVoie.

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Kent LaVoie was born on July 31, 1943 in Tallahassee, Florida. He is one of seven children and was raised in Winter Haven , Florida. He says he knew his mother had been a singer in a big band but never met his biological father. He came to find out later that his father had been a guitar player in a big band also. This lead him to believe that his interest in music came from several genes from both parents.

A Fender Stratocaster guitar and a little amp were Kent LaVoie's first purchases after being introduced to the magic of music from a kid living down the street who showed him an old worn out guitar and taught him a few chords.

In 1961, he was asked to join a band named "The Rumors" due partly to the fact that he had such a "fancy" new guitar. It is said that the Rumors were the first rock and roll band in Winter Haven. They played cover songs like Del Shannon's "Runaway" and songs by "The Ventures" etc.

Jim Stafford and Gram Parsons were in the other band in town called "The Legends". Later on when both bands had disbanded, Stafford and Parsons would join Kent in a revised version of "The Rumors". Parsons died at a young age and Stafford would later be co-produced by LaVoie.

In 1964, while attending the University of South Florida in Tampa, Kent LaVoie met Phil Gernhard. Gernhard, who had produced Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs big hit "Stay", would also go on to produce among other hits, Dion's "Abraham Martin and John", The Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy and the Red Baron" and the Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow". Gernhard produced LaVoie's first regional hit called "What Am I Doing Here" with the band Kent was in called "The Sugar Beats" and would later produce all of Lobo's hits. Although the group proved short-lived, it inaugurated a lengthy collaboration between LaVoie and producer Gernhard. Together they would also produce the Jim Stafford favorites "Spiders & Snakes" and "Wildwood Weed."

While he was with the little known group "The Uglies" in 1966, he released a single "It's Gonna Be So Hard" backed with "Is This Guy Not Supposed To Cry". Both songs were written by Brooke Chamberlain, a local disc jockey.

In 1968, Kent joined the band "Me And The Other Guys". This is when he met up with Billy Aerts. Billy would become a member of Lobo's touring band in 1971-72 and in the 80's and 90's he would be a major part of Lobo's music.

LaVoie and Phil Gernhard again crossed paths in 1969 and recorded a song Kent wrote called "Happy Days In New York City" backed with another original song called "My Friend Is Here". This was Kent's first solo recording. He signed with Laurie records and the single was released.

As the seventies dawned, Lavoie was writing songs one day and needed a rhyme for "me and you". As he pondered that thought he looked up to see his German Shepherd named "Boo" just outside the sliding glass door. The song "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" was born. Sensing the song's hit potential -- but also wary of succumbing to one-hit-wonder novelty status -- he adopted the Lobo moniker. "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" was released in April 1971, on the Big Tree label and after the single cracked the Top Five in the spring, many assumed the record was the product of a group and not a solo act. It became Big Tree's first major hit and Gold record. His album "Introducing Lobo" followed in May and in June his second single "She Didn't Do Magic" was released. In September "California Kid And Reemo" was released. It was around this time that Big Tree Records was merged with Bell Records.

"Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" went on to be a monster international hit thus beginning a career that produced nearly 20 million record sales world wide and several top ten hits in the early seventies including "I'd Iove You To Want Me", "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend", "Don't Tell Me Goodnight", "How Can I Tell Her", and more .

In 1977 Lobo signed with "Curb Records" and under Warner/Curb his first single "Afterglow" was released co-produced by Lobo and Gernhard. Lobo's second single for Warner/Curb in 1978, "You Are All I Ever Need", was released in April. This was the last single to have Gernhard as producer.

During 1979, Curb records moved Lobo to MCA/Curb and hooked him up with producer Bob Montgomery and released his next single "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love" This was his return to the top 30 and was hailed as his come-back. But it would be short lived. In November his first album in 4 years "Lobo" was released followed in December by his single "Holding On For Dear Love".

Curb records again moved Lobo in 1980. Now on Elektra/Curb, "With A Love Like Ours", again produced by Bob Montgomery, was released in September . In December "Fight Fire With Fire" was his last single for Curb. Not satisfied with the sound and production of his records Lobo asked for and was granted a release from his contract with Curb.

The 1980's brought the start of a new era for Lobo including his production of chart topping hits for country artists Joe Stampley and Christy Lane.

In 1981, along with Johnny Morris, Lobo formed the Lobo Records label in Nashville. His first single "I Don't Want To Want You", written by his brother Roger was released in November and faired well on the Country music charts. But with the lack of a major distributor it could not go beyond the top 30.

In 1982, Lobo had a sting of minor hits on the country charts starting with "Come Looking For Me" released in March. Then, along with Kenny Earl and Narvel Felts, Lobo, under the group name "Wolfpack" released a single called "Bull Smith Can't Dance The Cotton Eyed Joe" written by Lobo and his brother Roger. In August his last single for Lobo Records, "Living My Life Without You" was released.

During 1985, Lobo pulled out of Lobo Records and the label became Evergreen Records. Lobo released two singles while with Evergreen. "Am I Going Crazy" in March and "Paint The Town Blue" in June. "Paint The Town Blue" was a duet with Robin Lee (of "Black Velvet" fame) and was the song that got her signed to a major label.

With Lobo's popularity growing in Asia, WEA released his "Best Of Lobo" album on CD in the Asian market in 1987 and in 1988 released "The Best Of Lobo II".

With the surge of popularity in Taiwan Lobo recorded and released, in 1989, his first new album in 10 years. The "Am I Going Crazy" album was released in Taiwan on UFO/WEA records and produced by Billy Aerts. In June of 1990, Curb Records released the "Greatest Hits" CD world wide, in response to Lobo's Asian success..

With his popularity soaring in Asia, in 1994 Lobo signed a multi-album deal with PonyCanyon Records in Singapore. His first release was "Asian Moon". This album consisted of tracks from "Am I Going Crazy" along with newly recorded tracks.

In 1995 his second PonyCanyon album was "Classic Hits". A collection of re-recorded Lobo hits and covers of other artist hits. In December a Video Laser Disc was released called "Music Videos Lobo Golden Hits".

During 1996-97, Lobo was getting releases on Rhino (the Big Tree catalog), PonyCanyon (Asia), and Curb labels. In Asia Lobo signed a multi-album deal with the newly formed label Springroll Entertainment. In July his new album "You Must Remember This" was released in two formats. One with vocals and one as an instrumental album. This album was a collection of standards. In November Rhino released all of Lobo's Big Tree albums on CD in Europe. "Introducing Lobo" and "Of A Simple Man" were the first release. both albums on one disc. Then "Calumet" was released with bonus tracks. Finally "Just A Singer" and "A Cowboy Afraid Of Horses" were released on a single disc.  Just before Lobo was to go in the studio to record his next album for Springroll/PonyCanyon, the Asian stock market took a dive and PonyCanyon Singapore was one of the casualties. PonyCanyon shut down their Singapore office and Lobo lost his contract.

In 1998, Lobo retired to his home in Florida.

On August 21, 1999 a "Greatest Hits" CD was released in Japan. This album contained all of Lobo's Curb recordings, less "Our Best Time". It also contained a previously unreleased Elektra/Curb track called "New York Hold Her Tight".

In January 2000, Lobo signed with a German record company and went in the studio to record a new album. This double CD album contains a compilation of previously released songs, plus two newly recorded tracks.

In January 2001, Lobo traveled to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, FL to take part in the PolKat Reunion, a unique gathering of some of the great talents that had originated in that small but musically fertile area of Central Florida.

Lobo already leaves a legacy of great works but as baseball great Yogi Berra always said, "It ain't over till it's over".