Upstart problem - apache, ssh daemon not running

[Tom H]

>> The contents of /etc/network/interfaces might be interesting.  Is
>> loopback configured correctly?

> I don't know what this file is supposed to contain by default.

> Mine only contains these two lines:

> # Used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8). See the interfaces(5) manpage or
> # /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples for more information.
> ~
>
> I *think* (but may be wrong) that it shouldn't matter because loopback
> should be configured by default (anyway, loopback works - only the
> services don't get started).

No. And this is the problem. You have to have an entry for lo in /e/n/i:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback