Formed out of a rock ‘n’ roll stew of other bands from the ‘70s, Loverboy was there at the nexus of the “arena rock” era. 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, amongst them the anthems "Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", which are still main-stays of the classic rock and rock hits radio stations.
Their name was chosen, so the legend goes, while browsing through a magazine, where they saw a Cover Girl ad. Cover Girl became Cover Boy became Loverboy. The group, with Jim Clench 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.
They cut their first album March 20, 1980, with Mike Reno ( previously with Moxy as Mike Rynoski) on lead vocals, Paul Dean ( previously with Streetheart and Scrubbaloe Caine) on guitars and vocals, Jim Clench (formerly of April Wine and BTO, ) on bass guitar, Doug Johnson (born in New Westminster December 19, 1957) on keyboards, and Matt Frenette ( on March 7, 1954) on drums.
Their first album, the self titled Loverboy, became a huge hit with eventually over 700,000 records sold in Canada alone. The album made its American debut in November 1980, and would go on to sell two million copies. The band went on an extensive touring spree that year putting on over 200 shows opening for the likes of Cheap Trick, ZZ Top, Kansas, and Def Leppard.
The 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. That year Loverboy received six Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent Grammy Award) in one year, a record that still stands today.
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.
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 not on any of their albums or compilations. Throughout the ‘80s the band had hit after hit with tunes such as "Destruction" , “Lovin' Every Minute of It”, "This Could Be The Night", "Heaven In Your Eyes", a song featured in the movie Top Gun, and "Notorious". The band broke up upon the departure of Doug Johnson (who had balked at “Heaven In Your Eyes” being in Top Gun and refused to appear in the video for the tune because it was in a movie glorifying war) over creative and personal differences between Dean and Reno. The group briefly reunited in late 1989 to tour behind the greatest hits album, Big Ones which fulfilled their obligation to Columbia Records.
The band came together yet again 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. They had the best time they had had in years, and decided to hit the concert trail again. From ‘91 through ‘94 the band stayed on the road promoting their second and third compilation albums. Johnson rejoined the band in 2000 but around the time bassist Scott Smith was declared dead after being lost at sea.
For more than three decades, Loverboy has been lovin' every minute of it...and now are releasing Rock N Roll Revival
The sprit is there and the sound will be familiar, the boys haven’t lost that “arena rock” beat and that hit making vibe. The track 'Rock 'n' Roll Revival' brings Mike Reno and Paul Dean back to the collaborative spirit of the 80's that wrote all those hits records. As far as the classic hits on the album, these songs are reflective of the evolution of the past 30 years of playing them LIVE and the new treatment, though not straying far from the originals, come through fresh.
Featuring original band members Mike Reno, Paul Dean, Matt Frenette, Doug Johnson along with Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve (who replaced the late Scott Smith), Loverboy recently reunited at Bryan Adams' Vancouver studio The Warehouse, with their original engineer, legendary producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Aerosmith, The Cure, Bon Jovi). Next month, Loverboy will hit the road on a massive nationwide tour as special guests supporting Journey and Pat Benatar featuring Neil Giraldo. This tour comes full circle for Loverboy as they played with Journey three decades ago, in support of their iconic album, GET LUCKY.
Loverboy supporting Journey and Pat Benatar featuring Neil Giraldo opened on JULY 21 San Bernardino, CA San Manuel Amphitheater now the tour is in Watertown, NY Watertown Fairgrounds tomorrow, when the CD officially is released. then on the 15th in Canandaigua, NY Constellations Brands PAC on to Louisville, KY Kentucky State Fair on the 17th. Check the bands website for further dates.
Copyright © 2012 Robert Carraher All Rights Reserved
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