Lobby Loyde (born John Baslington Lyde, 18 May 1941 – 21 April 2007), also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer.
He was a member of two 1960s groups: Purple Hearts, which had a Top 40 hit with "Early in the Morning" in 1966, and Wild Cherries with their hit "That's Life" in 1967. He became a leading figure in the 1970s Australian pub rock scene, particularly as a member of Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs on their No. 8 album, The Hoax Is Over (1971) and Coloured Balls for a Top 20 album Ball Power (1973). He was briefly a member of Rose Tattoo during 1979 to 1980. His solo work includes the psychedelic album, Plays with George Guitar (1971) and the space opera, Beyond Morgia: The Labyrinths of Klimster (2007).
Known for his plectrum guitar technique, Loyde inspired a legion of Australian musicians, and was also cited as an influence by international musicians such as Kurt Cobain and Henry Rollins. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006 where his Rose Tattoo band mate, Angry Anderson acknowledged his prowess, "More than anyone else, Lobby helped create the Australian guitar sound, long before Angus [Young] or Billy Thorpe or The Angels or Rose Tattoo. Lobby inspired Australian bands to step forward and play as loud and aggressively as they could. Loyde died of lung cancer in April 2007 and was survived by his children, Shane, Frances, Rebecca, Vyvyan and Lucinda, and his second wife Debbie Nankervis.
Early years and Barry Lyde
Lobby Loyde was born as John Baslington Lyde on 18 May 1941 in Longreach, Queensland, he later wrote music as John Barrie Lyde and initially performed as Barry Lyde.[A] His mother played classical piano and his father, a builder by trade, was a multi-instrumentalist – drums, harmonica, horn, piano and trumpet – in an 18-piece R&B band and had a large collection of jazz and blues music records. His sister was not interested in a musical career but Loyde learned classical music, on piano and violin, as a child. He built his first guitar out of wood when a teenager and his father gave him a Fender electric guitar and amp. As Barry Lyde, he joined Brisbane group, Devil’s Disciples, in the late 1950s as a guitarist. In 1963, he joined The Stilettos, which played The Shadows-styled instrumentals. Growing up nearby, he competed in talent quests against other Brisbane acts – Bee Gees and Billy Thorpe.
In 1964, as lead guitarist, Barry Lyde joined a R&B group, The Impacts, which had formed a year earlier with Bob Dames on bass guitar, Mick Hadley on vocals, Fred Pickard on rhythm guitar and Adrian Redmond on drums. The Impacts supported The Rolling Stones 1965 tour of Australia and when they arrived in Melbourne found another group with the same name, so were renamed The Purple Hearts. They were named for the pep-pills (see purple hearts) favoured by band members – not the US military decoration of same name (see Purple Heart). Their debut recordings were covers of "Gloria" and Graham Bond's "Long Legged Baby" cut to acetate disc in 1965 at Soundtrack Studios, Brisbane. A different version of "Long Legged Baby" was issued as their debut single on Sunshine Records later in 1965. Their highest charting single, "Early in the Morning", was released in October 1966 and peaked at No. 24 on [[Go-Set|Go-Set'''s National Top 40]]. The band briefly relocated to Sydney then moved on to Melbourne. They had issued three other singles and an extended play, The Sound of the Purple Hearts before splitting on 23 January 1967. "Bob Dames started calling me Lobby because I would lobby the fuck out of people ... My last name's' L-y-d-e, so he put the 'o' in because it rhymed better". 'Lobby' is also used in Queensland for a freshwater crayfish where other Australians would say 'yabby'.
Wild Cherries and Aztecs
In January 1967, as Lobby Loyde, he joined the second incarnation of Melbourne band Wild Cherries on lead guitar. The rest of the line-up was Keith Barber on drums, Peter Eddey on bass guitar, Les Gilbert on organ and Danny Robinson on vocals. They had been an R&B and jazz group but moved into psychedelic rock. Loyde, as John Barrie Lyde, wrote most of the band's four singles for Festival Records including "Krome Plated Yabby" from June 1967. "That's Life" issued in November was their only charting single when it reached the Top 40 in January 1968. In October, Loyde left Wild Cherries to join Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs.