Ian Lloyd (musician)

Ian Lloyd (b. Lloyd Buonconsiglio, 1947, Seattle) is an American rock singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Stories, whose single "Brother Louie" was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973.^[1]

In 1971 Michael Brown and Ian Lloyd formed Stories. They released two albums ("Stories" and "About Us") with a handful of Billboard Top 100 charting singles. Brown left before the band recorded their third (and final) album, (Traveling Underground) which was released under the artist's name, "Ian Lloyd and Stories", and included the Billboard top 40 hit, "Mammy Blue". After Stories he pursued a solo career, with six albums to his credit. Lloyd has performed with numerous recording artists, assuming the role of a session musician. His long discography of work includes background work with artists such as Foreigner, Billy Joel, Peter Frampton, and Yes. Lloyd continues to record, perform, and write, his most recent release being "Everyone's Happy Cause It's Christmas Time".

Stories

Although Lloyd was classically trained on both piano and violin, he first reached international acclaim as lead singer for the band Stories, formed with Michael Brown of the Left Banke in the early 1970s. Lloyd sang lead on Stories' songs like "I'm Coming Home" (played as an anthem during the return of the Iranian hostages), "Mammy Blue", and "Brother Louie". A replayed version of the latter with Lloyd on vocals is used as the theme song to the comedy series Louie starring Louis CK.

Rolling Stone praised Lloyd's songwriting, saying he displayed "a lyricist's most essential gift—the ability to produce a verbal approximation of the music's ambiance." . He wrote songs for Elkie Brooks's 1975 album, Rich Man's Woman.

After a successful run, Stories disbanded and Lloyd pursued a solo career. His albums were well received. In particular was his 1976 eponymous debut, 1979's Goose Bumps (which produced the hit "Slip Away" written by Ric Ocasek of The Cars), Third Wave Civilization (1980), Planet X (1997), "In The Land of O-de-Po" (2009), and his Christmas single, "Everybody's Happy 'Cause It's Christmas Time".

As a backing vocalist

As a backup singer, Lloyd worked with numerous major recording artists, most notably Foreigner, who used Lloyd's vocals on hits like "Feels Like the First Time," "Cold as Ice," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," "Juke Box Hero", and "Double Vision." Lloyd can also be heard on Billy Joel’s "I Go to Extremes", as well as tracks by Yes, Peter Frampton, Survivor, and Ian McDonald.

2015 Tour with The Left Banke

On March 18, 2015, it was announced that Ian Lloyd would be joining The Left Banke on a 2015 co-headline tour in North America. The Left Banke's original lead singer Steve Martin Caro rejoined the current touring version of the band, which also includes George Cameron. Lloyd performs a mixture of solo material and classic material from his time with Stories.

The Ian Lloyd Band and Social Hero

Lloyd continues to reside in New York City. His group, the Ian Lloyd Band, is composed of Ian Lloyd, David Lloyd (Keyboards+backing vocals), Matt Grossman/Dan Natelli (guitars), Antti Janhunen (bass), and Jon Ihle (drums). In addition to their repertoire of Stories' music and songs from his solo catalogue.

He also sang a re-recording of "Brother Louie" for Louis C.K.'s TV series "Louie"

In addition to projects of his own, Ian Lloyd has been a member of New York rock act Social Hero since 1998, performing alongside his son, frontman David Lloyd. He contributed vocals to Social Hero's first album, The Famous, released in 2009.^[2]

References

External links

• Ian Lloyd homepage
• Social Hero homepage
• Allmusic discography
• Ian Lloyd Bandcamp
• Ian Lloyd Myspace
• Ian Lloyd Facebook