By JOHN DALY
Loverboy has been a force in Rock and Roll for more than 40 years. The band that’s been “Working for the Weekend” is coming to The Canyon Club on April 18.
For more than 40 years, Loverboy has been “Working for the Weekend” and making audiences happy. The band formed in 1978, when vocalist Mike Reno was introduced to guitar hot shot Paul Dean – both veterans of several bands on the Canadian scene – at Calgary’s Refinery Night Club.
They were rejected by the major U.S. record companies, but eventually signed with Columbia Records Canada, entering the studio with producer Bruce Fairbairn and engineer Bob Rock to record their self-titled debut album, which went on to sell more than 700k records in Canada.
Columbia U.S. released the Loverboy album in Nov. 1980, which went on to sell more than 2 million albums in the states and four million worldwide. Soon the band found themselves playing on mega tours with Journey, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, ZZ Top, Kansas and Def Leppard, to name a few. Then the band quickly became MTV darlings.
The band had a trademark look: Red leather pants, bandannas, big rock sound and high energy live shows. Loverboy has sold more than 10 million albums, earning four multi-platinum plaques, including the 4 million-seller Get Lucky, and a trio of double-platinum releases in their self-titled 1980 debut, 1983’s Keep It Up and 1985’s Lovin’ Every Minute of It.
Check out Loverboy at The Canyon, Tickets Here.
Their string of hits includes, in addition to the anthem “Working for the Weekend,” such arena rock staples as “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “This Could Be the Night,” “Hot Girls in Love,” “The Kid is Hot Tonite,” “Notorious”, “Turn Me Loose,” “When It’s Over,” “Heaven In Your Eyes” and “Queen of the Broken Hearts.”
Loverboy went on to win a still-record six Juno awards in 1982, and until a three-year sabbatical in 1989, the band was one of the Top 5-grossing tour acts in the world, performing in over 100 cities across the U.S. and Canada. The band was the first Canadian group ever to earn Columbia Records’ exclusive Crystal Globe Award, celebrating the sale of more than five million albums outside their native country.
Since 1992, the band has maintained a steady road presence, with Sony-Legacy releasing a greatest hits compilation, Loverboy – Classis in 1993, which went gold five years later.
In 2001, the band released a live greatest hits CD, Live, Loud and Loose, which captured the group doing what they do best, entertaining their legion of rabid fans.
In 2005, Loverboy celebrated 25 years together by performing in selected cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. During the summer tour, the band introduced a couple of brand-new songs, which led to Just Getting Started, their first new studio album in a decade. In March 2009, the group was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame at the Juno Awards show at GM Place in Vancouver, BC, where they joined the likes of Bryan Adams, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and David Foster.
Along with Reno and Dean, Loverboy still includes original members Doug Johnson on keyboards and Matt Frenette on drums, with Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve, a former member of Dean and Frenette’s pre-Loverboy band Streetheart, replacing the late Scott Smith on bass, and continues a healthy touring schedule around the world.
“Being in a band is kind of like being on a team,” said Reno. “Everywhere we go, we try to make it look and sound good.”
The band had a trademark look: Red leather pants, bandannas, big rock sound and high energy live shows. Loverboy has sold more than 10 million albums, earning four multi-platinum plaques, including the 4 million-seller Get Lucky, and a trio of double-platinum releases in their self-titled 1980 debut, 1983’s Keep It Up and 1985’s Lovin’ Every Minute of It.
Their string of hits includes, in addition to the anthem “Working for the Weekend,” such arena rock staples as “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “This Could Be the Night,” “Hot Girls in Love,” “The Kid is Hot Tonite,” “Notorious”, “Turn Me Loose,” “When It’s Over,” “Heaven In Your Eyes” and “Queen of the Broken Hearts.” Loverboy went on to win a still-record six Juno awards in 1982, and until a three-year sabbatical in 1989, the band was one of the Top 5-grossing tour acts in the world, performing in over 100 cities across the U.S. and Canada. The band was the first Canadian group ever to earn Columbia Records’ exclusive Crystal Globe Award, celebrating the sale of more than five million albums outside their native country.
Since 1992, the band has maintained a steady road presence, with Sony-Legacy releasing a greatest hits compilation, Loverboy – Classis in 1993, which went gold five years later.
In 2001, the band released a live greatest hits CD, Live, Loud and Loose, which captured the group doing what they do best, entertaining their legion of rabid fans.
In 2005, Loverboy celebrated 25 years together by performing in selected cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. During the summer tour, the band introduced a couple of brand-new songs, which led to Just Getting Started, their first new studio album in a decade. In March 2009, the group was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame at the Juno Awards show at GM Place in Vancouver, BC, where they joined the likes of Bryan Adams, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and David Foster.
Along with Reno and Dean, Loverboy still includes original members Doug Johnson on keyboards and Matt Frenette on drums, with Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve, a former member of Dean and Frenette’s pre-Loverboy band Streetheart, replacing the late Scott Smith on bass, and continues a healthy touring schedule around the world.
“Being in a band is kind of like being on a team,” said Reno. “Everywhere we go, we try to make it look and sound good.”