Loverboy

All Music Guide:

One of the most popular North American rock bands of the 1980s, Loverboy scored a string of multi-platinum albums and hit singles with their canny blend of pop hooks and polished but energetic arena rock. Loverboy were formed in 1979 by vocalist Mike Reno and guitarist Paul Dean; both were veterans of Western Canada's rock scene (Reno had worked with the band Moxy, while Dean toured and recorded with Scrubbaloe Caine and Streetheart), and Dean was rehearsing with a new band in Calgary, Alberta. One of the musicians working with Dean invited Reno to stop by and jam with the group, and Reno quickly concluded he'd found the singer he'd been looking for. The two began writing songs together, and with the addition of Jim Clench on bass, Matt Frenette on drums, and Doug Johnson on keyboards, Reno and Dean's new band became Loverboy. After a few initial gigs (including a show opening for Kiss in Vancouver), Paul Clench left Loverboy, and Scott Smith became their new bassist, completing the band's definitive lineup.

Loverboy's initial demos attracted no offers from American record labels, but Columbia's Canadian branch signed them, and the group shortly went into the studio with producer Bruce Fairbairn and engineer Bob Rock. The result was Loverboy's self-titled debut, which was an immediate hit in Canada, selling over 700,000 copies in a matter of months. Columbia then signed Loverboy for the United States as well, and on the strength of hit singles like "The Kid Is Hot Tonight" and "Turn Me Loose," the album climbed the charts in America while the group toured hard in support. Released in 1981, Get Lucky, also produced by Fairbairn, was even more successful, spawning the band's signature tune "Working for the Weekend" and rising to the Top Ten of the Billboard album charts. Get Lucky also won an unprecedented six Juno Awards, the Canadian music industry's highest honor. Issued in 1983, Keep It Up maintained the multi-platinum success of Loverboy's previous albums, and the band launched an eight-month world tour in support.

In 1984, Reno took time out from the band's busy road schedule to record a duet with Ann Wilson of Heart, "Almost Paradise," for the soundtrack to the film Footloose; it became a major hit, rising to number seven on the Billboard singles charts. For their fourth album, 1985's Lovin' Every Minute of It, Loverboy aimed for a harder sound with the help of producer Tom Allom, best known for his work with Judas Priest. However, while the album still fared well, it didn't sell as well as the first three LPs, and 1987's Wildside, which reunited the band with Fairbairn, was their first album not to go platinum. With sales down and Reno and Dean experiencing creative differences, Loverboy quietly broke up in 1988. Reno and Dean both released solo albums, and the band staged a short reunion tour in support of a 1989 greatest-hits album, Big Ones.

In 1991, Brian MacLeod of the venerable Canadian band Chilliwack was diagnosed with cancer, and Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi staged a benefit concert to help with his medical expenses. Loverboy, who had worked with both acts in the past, reunited to join the bill, and enjoyed the experience so much that they booked full tours for both the United States and Canada in 1992 and 1993. Changing tastes stalled the band's recording career during this period (Reno has told more than one reporter, "Nirvana killed my career"), but in 1997, Loverboy returned to the studio to record VI, their first studio effort in ten years, and the band continued to tour periodically until November 30, 2000, when Scott Smith died as the result of a boating accident. In 2001, the band launched a tour dedicated to Smith, with new member Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve (formerly with Tom Cochrane, Red Rider, and Streetheart) joining in on bass.

The same year, the band released Live, Loud & Loose, a collection of concert recordings taped between 1982 and 1986. A 25th anniversary tour was staged in 2005, and in 2007, Loverboy issued their seventh studio album, Just Getting Started. Loverboy were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2009, and in 2012 the band reunited with engineer Bob Rock to record a pair of new songs, "Heartbreaker" and "No Tomorrow." These two tracks, along with a third new tune, were featured on the album Rock ‘n' Roll Revival, which combined the new numbers with fresh studio recordings of nine Loverboy favorites.

Wikipedia:

Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records. After being rejected by many American record labels, they signed with Columbia/CBS Records Canada and began recording their first album March 20, 1980, with Mike Reno (born in New Westminster, B.C. January 8, 1955 and previously with Moxy as Mike Rynoski) on lead vocals, Paul Dean (born in Vancouver, B.C. on February 19, 1946; previously with Streetheart and Scrubbaloe Caine) on guitars and vocals, Jim Clench (formerly of April Wine and BTO, who was born in Montreal May 1, 1949 but was quickly replaced by Scott Smith born in Winnipeg, MB on February 13, 1955) on bass guitar, Doug Johnson (born in New Westminster December 19, 1957) on keyboards, and Matt Frenette (born in Calgary on March 7, 1954) on drums (also a former Streetheart alumni). The band's hit singles, particularly "Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits radio stations across the United States and Canada. They are currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1979 to 1983 [edit]

It's been reported their name was chosen while browsing through a magazine, where they saw a Cover Girl ad. Cover Girl became Cover Boy, and then became Loverboy. The group, with Jim Clench (ex-April Wine and BTO) on bass, made its live debut opening for Kiss at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, B.C. on November 19, 1979. Shortly after this show, Clench was replaced by Scott Smith.

Originally rejected by all the major record labels in the United States, the band signed with Columbia Records of Canada, and on March 20, 1980, Loverboy went into the studio with producer Bruce Fairbairn and engineer Bob Rock to record what would be their self-titled debut album.

Over that summer, the record became a huge hit with eventually over 1,000,000 records sold in Canada alone. The album made its American debut in November 1980, and would go on to sell three million copies. The band went on a touring spree that year putting on over 200 shows with bands such as Cheap Trick, ZZ Top, Kansas, and Def Leppard.

The band's follow-up album, Get Lucky, released in October 1981 when they were opening for Journey, included the hit tracks "Working for the Weekend" and "When It's Over". It became their best selling album in the U.S., reaching No. 7 on the Billboard album charts and selling over four million copies. In the same year Loverboy received six Juno Awards (Canada's highest award for music) in one year, a record that still stands today. The band would later receive an additional three Juno Awards, bringing their total to nine, which is the most received by a single group or individual.

Loverboy released their third album, Keep It Up, in 1983. Its first single "Hot Girls in Love" became their most successful to that date, reaching No. 11 on the U.S. charts. The video for the song as well as for the follow-up single "Queen of the Broken Hearts" were hugely popular on MTV, and the band embarked on its first tour as headliners.

1984 to 1989 [edit]

In 1984 Loverboy recorded the United States Team theme for the 1984 Summer Olympics, "Nothing's Gonna Stop You Now". The song appeared only on The Official Music of the 1984 Games but not on any of their albums or compilations to date. It can be heard here. They would often play it on tour mixing it in during the performance of "Queen of the Broken Hearts".

Also in 1984, Loverboy recorded a song called "Destruction" which appeared on the 1984 soundtrack of a re-edited version of the 1927 film Metropolis.

Lovin' Every Minute of It, the band's fourth album, and the first not produced by Fairbairn (it was produced by Tom Allom, best known for producing Judas Priest) was released in 1985, with the title single written by Mutt Lange and "This Could Be The Night" co-written by Journey's Jonathan Cain becoming their second U.S. Billboard top 10 hits respectively. In 1986 the band recorded "Heaven In Your Eyes", a song featured in the movie Top Gun, which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard charts. However, Doug Johnson refused to appear in the video as he felt that the film glorified war.

The 1987 release of Wildside followed. While the band scored a minor hit with "Notorious", co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, the album sold relatively poorly and the band broke up in 1988 due to the departure of Johnson and creative and personal differences between Dean and Reno. Dean released a solo album, Hardcore, in May 1989 and a Loverboy greatest-hits album, Big Ones, was released later that same year to fulfill Loverboy's obligation to Columbia Records. The group briefly reunited in late 1989 to tour to promote it (with Geraldo Valentino Dominelli on keyboards in Johnson's place) but broke up again at the tour's conclusion.

1991 to 2004 [edit]

In 1991 the band re-united to join fellow rockers Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi to help raise money for a friend and fellow recording artist Brian MacLeod of Chilliwack who was fighting cancer. The band reportedly recalled that the concert was the most fun that they had had in years and decided that they wanted to do it again. They went on another live touring spree in Canada the following year before launching a 64-concert tour in the United States in 1993. The band's record label released their second and third compilation albums, Loverboy Classics and Temperature's Rising, in 1994. Loverboy Classics went Gold by 1998, coinciding with another American tour. During this time Doug Johnson was not with the band; former Trooper keyboardist Richard Sera replaced Johnson in December 1996. Following the releases of Six and Super Hits in 1997, the band continued touring (Johnson rejoined the band in 1998) until November 30, 2000, when bassist Scott Smith was declared dead after being lost at sea. The band went on to release their first live album, Live, Loud and Loose, in 2001, which consisted of refurbished early live concert recordings from the band's intense touring years from 1982 to 1986. 2001 also brought another round of touring, this time dedicated to their late band member Scott Smith.

2005 to present [edit]

Loverboy celebrated 25 years together in 2005, and began to perform in selected cities to commemorate this milestone. That tour continued with live concerts scheduled well into August 2006. Also in 2005, Loverboy was one of the featured bands on the American version of Hit Me, Baby, One More Time. They performed "Working for the Weekend" and a cover version of "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias on the show. Currently the band features all the original members except for Scott Smith, who was replaced on bass in early 2001 by Ken Sinnaeve (a former member of The Guess Who, Red Rider and Dean and Frenette's pre-Loverboy band Streetheart).

In 2006, twenty-five years after its initial release, Get Lucky was remastered and re-released with several previously unreleased songs, including the original demo of "Working for the Weekend".

In a video interview from March 2007, lead singer Mike Reno confirmed that the band finished recording a new studio album released in 2007. The new album is titled Just Getting Started and was released in October, with a clip of the first single "The One That Got Away" available on the band's MySpace page. The band continues to tour throughout Canada and the United States.

The band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the 2009 Juno Awards.

On February 21, 2010, the band performed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics awards ceremony.

In June 2012, the band announced their new album Rock 'n' Roll Revival would be released by Frontier Records. The band is currently on tour with Journey and Night Ranger.

Media references [edit]

In 1990, Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend" was featured in an extremely popular Saturday Night Live sketch involving Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze auditioning to be Chippendales dancers. The song was also featured in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on Rock station V-Rock, as well as the video games Saints Row 2, and Shaun White Snowboarding. It is also featured in the 2001 comedy film Zoolander. The song was also featured, in full, at the end of the Rob Zombie film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. It was used as the background music to a Diet Pepsi television commercial in which a man is asked what else he would like to experience that is youthful, and he chooses his old van from the 1980s. The song also made a brief appearance in the movie Click. The song was even featured in the third episode of "Regular Show", Caffeinated Concert Tickets as well as the film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. The song was also used in a Toyota commercial featuring NASCAR driver Kyle Busch driving a 2012 Toyota Camry while singing to the song.

Several of their songs were featured in the 2001 cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer, which takes place in August 1981. In 2006, "Turn Me Loose" was featured in the action movie Crank starring Jason Statham.

An early episode of South Park (An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig) made multiple references to a fictional Loverboy song, "Pig and Elephant DNA Just Won't Splice."

In Aqua Teen Hunger Force's episode Revenge of the Mooninites, Err uses the "Foreigner belt" to "Turn Master Shake Loose" to "Hot Girls in Love" because he's "Working for the Weekend". When it didn't work, it was revealed that "those are Loverboy songs, and Loverboy has always sucked." (although Carl said that he saw them at the Madison Square Garden in 1985 and they "kicked ass".)

"The Kid is Hot Tonight" is featured on the soundtrack of MLB 2K9 by 2K Sports and was included in the closing scenes of an episode of cartoon "American Dad," titled "Office Spaceman," Season 3, Episode 56, May 4, 2008, Production Code 3AJN13, where character Roger posed for a PlayGirl magazine photo shoot.

In an episode of Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, Brad Sherwood remarks to a character called 'Hover-boy', "I loved your album Get Lucky!"

In the 2006 independent film A Dog's Breakfast, there is a Loverboy poster on the childhood bedroom wall of Marilyn (played by Kate Hewlett).

In the 15th episode of season 5 on 30 Rock, "It's Never too Late for Now," Scott Adsit's character Pete Hornberger tells Frank Rossitano he was in the band Loverboy for 3 months before leaving the band for a college scholarship in "TV Budgeting." The episode includes a brief clip in which Adsit has been digitally inserted into the music video for the song.

In the 9th episode of 5th season of Scrubs Todd imitates Mike Reno's performance of working for the weekend while attending the air-band 'Cool Cats' audition in the beginning of the episode.