Lene Lovich (born March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and made her a leading figure of the new wave music scene.
Lovich was born Lili-Marlene Premilovich in Detroit, Michigan, to an English mother and American father of Serbian descent. After her father had health problems, her mother took her and her three siblings to live in Hull, England. Lovich was 13 years old at the time. She met the guitarist/songwriter Les Chappell when they were teenagers, and he became her longtime collaborator. In autumn 1968, they went to London to attend art school.
Over the following decade, Lovich attended several art schools, busked around the London Underground and appeared in cabaret clubs as an "Oriental" dancer. She also travelled to Spain, where she visited Salvador Dalí in his home. She played acoustic rock music around London, sang in the mass choir of a show called Quintessence at the Royal Albert Hall, played a soldier in Arthur Brown's show, worked as a go-go dancer with the Radio One Roadshow, toured Italy with a West Indian soul band, and played saxophone for Bob Flag's Balloon and Banana Band and for an all-girl cabaret trio, The Sensations. She recorded screams for horror films, wrote lyrics for French disco star Cerrone (including the sci-fi dance smash "Supernature", later recorded by Lovich) and worked with various fringe theatre groups. She was also one of thousands of audience members invited to sing along at the 1972 Lanchester Arts Festival at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry when Chuck Berry recorded "My Ding-a-Ling" for Chess Records.
In 1975, Lovich joined The Diversions, a funk group that put out three singles and an album on Polydor Records, without success.
Over the following decade, Lovich attended several art schools, busked around the London Underground and appeared in cabaret clubs as an "Oriental" dancer. She also travelled to Spain, where she visited Salvador Dalí in his home. She played acoustic rock music around London, sang in the mass choir of a show called Quintessence at the Royal Albert Hall, played a soldier in Arthur Brown's show, worked as a go-go dancer with the Radio One Roadshow, toured Italy with a West Indian soul band, and played saxophone for Bob Flag's Balloon and Banana Band and for an all-girl cabaret trio, The Sensations. She recorded screams for horror films, wrote lyrics for French disco star Cerrone (including the sci-fi dance smash "Supernature", later recorded by Lovich) and worked with various fringe theatre groups. She was also one of thousands of audience members invited to sing along at the 1972 Lanchester Arts Festival at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry when Chuck Berry recorded "My Ding-a-Ling" for Chess Records.
In 1975, Lovich joined The Diversions, a funk group that put out three singles and an album on Polydor Records, without success.
In 1977, Lovich, along with recording engineer Alain Wisniak, provided lyrics for "Supernature", a song featuring music composed by French percussionist and disco music performer Cerrone. The song, with its surreal lyrics describing a world in which nature has risen to fight against desecration and destruction by humanity, is indicative of Lovich's interest in animal rights issues. In 1978, disc jockey and author Charlie Gillett presented her recording of "I Think We're Alone Now", a cover version of a song originally performed by Tommy James and the Shondells, to Stiff Records boss, Dave Robinson. Robinson immediately proposed to release it as a single on Stiff, for which Lovich and Chappell had to write and record a B-side at short notice. They came up with ""Lucky Number", which was then released as an A-side and became a Top 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart.
Invited by Robinson to participate in the forthcoming Be Stiff Route 78 Tour in 1978, Lovich quickly recorded her first album for Stiff, Stateless, which contained "Lucky Number" and another Top 20 hit, "Say When". Lovich's musical style combined her own quirky inventions with contemporary punk rock and new wave styles. She then recorded the albums Flex and No-Man's-Land for Stiff over the next few years, as well as an EP titled New Toy, the title cut penned by touring band member Thomas Dolby. She also recorded vocals for "Picnic Boy" by The Residents.
Invited by Robinson to participate in the forthcoming Be Stiff Route 78 Tour in 1978, Lovich quickly recorded her first album for Stiff, Stateless, which contained "Lucky Number" and another Top 20 hit, "Say When". Lovich's musical style combined her own quirky inventions with contemporary punk rock and new wave styles. She then recorded the albums Flex and No-Man's-Land for Stiff over the next few years, as well as an EP titled New Toy, the title cut penned by touring band member Thomas Dolby. She also recorded vocals for "Picnic Boy" by The Residents.
Following her departure from Stiff, Lovich released "Don't Kill The Animals," a single with Nina Hagen, with whom she had previously appeared in Cha Cha, a film that also starred Herman Brood; together, the three created the film's soundtrack.
In 1989 she recorded the album March on Pathfinder Records. It was only moderately successful and was not released until nearly a year after the album's single "Wonderland" had been issued and had become an American dance hit. She also toured the US three times immediately before, during and shortly after the release of March, giving US fans their only glimpse of her for many years to come. All three tours culminated with benefit concerts for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Her tours supporting March were done with a semi-full band, featuring the electronic duo Tanz Waffen as her backup band in addition to herself and Chappell.
In 2012, Lovich began performing with a new band comprising Subterraneans frontman Jude Rawlins on guitar, bassist Lydia Fischer, keyboard player Kirsten Morrison, and Morgan King on drums. The Lene Lovich Band made their live debut at London's 12 Bar Club on October 29 that year. In 2013 the band undertook their first high-profile tour, concluding with shows in London and Berlin, and was the fifth act to be announced for Rebellion Festival 2013. Valkyrie replaced Fischer on bass in 2014 as the band undertook their first major European tour. They performed at Rebellion again in 2017 co-headlining with The Primitives before undertaking Lovich's largest tour in 27 years, opening for The Psychedelic Furs. In September 2013, Lovich and Rawlins started a record label together, Flex Music, giving Lovich control of her back catalogue for the first time. Flex Music was launched with a limited edition handmade CD box set of her first three albums, plus a bonus CD of rarities, entitled Others: Volume 1. From 2015 to date, Lene regularly has been performing live with her Lene Lovich Band.
