Today’s classic song of the day is from that artist known as Lobo (real name: Kent LaVoie). The song, released in June of 1972 (then reissued in December of that year), is “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend.” This one went all the way to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart.
“Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend” was written by Mr. LaVoie and was an immediate follow-up to his number-two hit, “I’d Love You to Want Me,” which itself was a follow-up to 1971’s “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo.” To me, this gentle tune is memorable for the lyrics in the chorus, which go:
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So, let’s just let the story kinda end
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So, don’t expect me to be your friend
I like that the lyrics matter-of-factly state that the protagonist can’t remain friends with his old lover, because it would be too painful to keep seeing her. “I love you too much to ever start liking you,” indeed; most of us can relate to that.
Although “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend” was his last big hit, Mr. Lobo continues to record and perform today. He’s 81 years old.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, an older Lobo telling the story behind “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend.” It’s about what you’d expect.
[…] Lobo, the artist and writer of the song, was a guy with the given name Kent LaVoie. A Florida native, Mr. LaVoie joined his first band in 1961. (That band, the Rumours, included future big-time artists Gram Parsons and Jim Stafford, a fairly unusual combination of talents.) He played with a number of other bands throughout the decade and released his first solo album in 1969. He started calling himself Lobo (which is Spanish for “wolf”) in 1971 when he signed with Big Tree Records. His first single for that label was “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo,” and several other singles followed, including “I’d Love You to Want Me” and “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend.” […]