Lene Lovich was born Lili-Marlene Premilovich in Detroit, to an English mother and American father of Serbian descent. After her father had health problems, her mother took the 13-year-old Lovich and her three siblings to live in Hull. She met guitarist/songwriter Les Chappell when they were teenagers, and he became her longtime collaborator and life partner. In the autumn of 1968, they went to London to attend art school. It was there that Lovich first tied her hair into the plaits that later became a visual trademark, though at first she braided her hair to keep it out of the clay when studying sculpture.
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 Dali at his home. In 1975, Lovich joined the Diversions, a funk group that released three singles and an album without success. 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.
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.
During 1982 she was having disputes with Stiff. Following her departure from Stiff, Lovich released “Don’t Kill the Animals,” a single with Nina Hagen, with whom she had appeared in Cha Cha, a film that starred Herman Brood; together, the three created the film’s soundtrack. In 1989, after an absence of several years to raise a family, Lovich 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 U.S. three times immediately before, during and shortly after the release of March, giving American fans their only glimpse of her for many years to come.
In 2012, Lovich began performing with a new band. The Lene Lovich Band made its live debut at London’s 12 Bar Club in October 2012. In 2013, the band undertook its first high-profile tour, concluding with shows in London and Berlin, and was the fifth act to be announced for Rebellion Festival 2013. The band 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 record label 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 entitled Others: Volume 1, which contained Lovich’s first three albums and a bonus CD of rarities. In 2015, Flex reissued Lovich’s 1982 album No Man’s Land in digital format.
