{"id":3080,"date":"2024-01-26T14:55:04","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T14:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=3080"},"modified":"2024-01-26T14:57:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T14:57:12","slug":"from-the-vaults-loverboy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=3080","title":{"rendered":"From the Vaults – Loverboy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll chemistry problem for you.\u00a0 Mix two members of the popular Canadian band Streetheart with a singer from another well known Canuck band, Moxey, stir in an up and coming producer named Bruce Fairbairn and what do you get?\u00a0 One of the most successful AOR (Album Oriented Rock) bands of all time, Loveboy.\u00a0 When they came to the attention of record buyers south of the US\/Canadian border, everyone proclaimed them \u2018an overnight success\u2019 but anyone who has ever tried their hand at forming a band will tell you, it is never that easy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Take guitarist Paul Dean, for instance.\u00a0 When he was a member of Streetheart, they released a well received album (<\/span>Meanwhile Back in Paris <\/span><\/i>(1978)). Dean thought they had it made:\u00a0 \u201cWe killed.\u00a0 It was really a great band.\u00a0 I used to think it was the Led Zeppelin of Canada.\u201d\u00a0 The band was enormously popular in their native country, but Streetheart never really caught on in the rest of the world (aka:\u00a0 the US of A).\u00a0 Dean was fired and found himself playing bass in a covers band in Calgary.\u00a0 Dean said there were two sides of this coin:\u00a0 \u201cIt was a tough time for me, but one thing for sure, [getting fired] kicked my butt into gear.\u201d As he was fired from Streetheart, we won\u2019t count him as one of the two members of that band previously mentioned in the chemistry formula above.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One remaining member of Streetheart who would join Loverboy was keyboard player Doug Johnson.\u00a0 He and Dean had begun writing songs together – there was definitely something there but the equation was still missing key ingredients.\u00a0 Drummer Matt Frenette was the other Streetheart member to migrate to the new band but they still did not have a lead singer.\u00a0 That slot remained open until one Michael Rynoski came on the scene. \u00a0 Rynoski, aka Mike Reno,\u00a0 had spent three years with Moxey but became disillusioned when he realized they didn\u2019t share his ambition to make a bigger splash in the music world.\u00a0 As he told <\/span>Classic Rock <\/span><\/i>magazine, \u201cI wanted to achieve more and they kept trying to hold me down, but after a while I said, \u2018I can\u2019t do this.\u2019\u00a0 So I moved on [to Calgary].\u201d\u00a0 It turns out leaving Moxey and British Columbia behind was the right move for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reno was singing with an unsigned band in Calgary at night while working construction during the day (\u201cCarrying cement around,\u201d is how Dean puts it.).\u00a0 Dean continues, \u201cI had heard him sing in a band called Spunk, but at the time Mike was actually looking for a gig as a drummer.\u00a0 I thought he was an incredible singer, so I said, maybe we should write some songs. We hooked up the next day and wrote <\/span>Always On My Mind.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Before the Dean\/Johnson\/Reno project could take flight, there were some other small details to be worked out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First, they needed a bass player.\u00a0 The original one was a stockbroker by day and he didn\u2019t pan out.\u00a0 Dean then paid the train fare for another candidate from Toronto, but he wasn\u2019t the answer, either.\u00a0 The third time’s the charm – they picked up Scott Smith who had been playing with an artist <\/span>CRM <\/span><\/i>describes as, \u201cThe quirky Canadian chanteuse, Lisa Dal Bello.\u201d\u00a0 The second piece of business was finding a way to get out of a contract Dean had signed with WEA\/Atlantic Records when he was with Streetheart.\u00a0 In order to get away from WEA\/Atlantic, Dean and Johnson cut some purposely bad demos which got them dropped like a hot potato.\u00a0 The next box to check on their agenda was getting signed by a manager.\u00a0 They cut another set of demos on a boom box which got the attention of Bachman Turner Overdrive\u2019s manager, Bruce Allen.\u00a0 Once he punched their ticket to board his management train, they relocated to Vancouver to be closer to Allen\u2019s\u00a0 base of operations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The demo of <\/span>Turn Me Loose <\/span><\/i>was the track that did the trick and it would also become their debut single.\u00a0 Dean told <\/span>CRM, \u201cTurn Me Loose <\/span><\/i>was the track I\u2019m sure got us the record deal.\u00a0 Mike nailed the big note in the line \u2018<\/span>I\u2019ve got to do it my way\u2019<\/span><\/i> in one take.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t believe it, he sounded amazing.\u201d\u00a0 Allen was turned down by numerous labels including CBS who had come to Canada to see the band but passed.\u00a0 Allen was also Bruce Fairbairn\u2019s manager so he was more than happy to connect him with Loverboy as soon as they had a record deal in their pocket.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dean had been disappointed before, so his enthusiasm for their debut album (<\/span>Loverboy <\/span><\/i>(1980)) was muted:\u00a0 \u201cI thought, this is another great combination, as it had all the elements.\u00a0 My mission was to keep going, keep moving forward and this was a successful example of that philosophy.\u201d\u00a0 There would be no disappointment this time around.\u00a0 Reno recalls, \u201cThe public just jumped all over it, and don\u2019t forget that this was at a time when people would actually go out and <\/span>buy<\/span><\/i> a record.\u00a0 I was totally amazed at how great it was, just one of those moments in time I guess.\u00a0 [Unlike Moxey] this was really working for me.\u00a0 I was elated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dean happened to be looking for a rental house in North Vancouver when he ran into fellow Canadian singer\/songwriter Bryan Adams.\u00a0 Dean said, \u201cBryan showed up at the rental place and said to me:\u00a0 \u2018Congratulations, you know you\u2019ve got a hit, right?\u2019\u00a0 So he explained to me that <\/span>Turn Me Loose<\/span><\/i> was racing up the charts in all the radio trade magazines.\u201d\u00a0 Now they had to go out and prove they had what it takes on tour.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Loverboy\u2019s first show as a full band was a tough one – opening for KISS in Vancouver.\u00a0 They would also find themselves opening for Kansas but the 40 dates they did with ZZ Top really stands out in Dean\u2019s mind:\u00a0 \u201cThe ZZ Top tour was tough, as their audience were hardcore biker blues fans.\u00a0 It was very educational, a baptism by fire almost.\u00a0 The band were great guys and very generous to us, but the fans were a tough nut to crack.\u00a0 I remember one gig in Cape Code when all hell broke loose.\u00a0 I put on my [baseball] batter\u2019s helmet while the audience threw cigarette lighters, bottles, ice cubes and coins – it all came raining down on us.\u00a0 We managed four songs before being booed off stage.\u00a0 That was a wake up call, I can tell you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Obviously they learned their chops on the road and would become one of the top touring acts.\u00a0 Ahead of them still loomed the prospect of the dreaded \u2018sophomore album\u2019.\u00a0 Many bands spend a lot of time on their debut records and find writing and recording the second album while touring extensively a problem.\u00a0 Loverboy had no such trouble with their second LP, <\/span>Get Lucky <\/span><\/i>(1981).\u00a0 Keeping the same formula and producer in place, they were able to craft a set of songs people were able to identify with.\u00a0 <\/span>Working for the Weekend <\/span><\/i>became a major mid-80s blue-collar anthem and sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone.\u00a0 Their working man image was enhanced when Reno was photographed sporting a sweatband that would become his trademark.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reno thinks the songs on <\/span>Get Lucky <\/span><\/i>held their own and the momentum they had built with their first album certainly helped propel the band forward.\u00a0 Dean now says, \u201cWe rehearsed the songs for <\/span>Get Lucky<\/span><\/i> in dressing rooms.\u00a0 In fact, I remember writing <\/span>Watch Out<\/span><\/i> with Doug while driving across Texas between gigs, singing that track into a ghetto-blaster.\u00a0 <\/span>Get Lucky <\/span><\/i>sold three million copies immediately in the U.S.\u00a0 That was a really great feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If it ain\u2019t broken, don\u2019t fix it.\u00a0 Album number three (<\/span>Keep It Up<\/span><\/i> (1983)) again used Fairbairn behind the board.\u00a0 Fueled by the singles <\/span>Hot Girls in Love <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Queen Of The Broken Hearts<\/span><\/i>, it marked their third Top 10 album. \u00a0 When Fairbairn wasn\u2019t available to work on their next record, they turned to British producer Tom Allom who had great success working with Judas Priest.\u00a0 <\/span>Lovin\u2019 Every Minute of It <\/span><\/i>(1985) turned out even better with the band pumping out an even harder edged rocking sound.\u00a0 As the mid-1980s waned, so did the band\u2019s fortunes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first album to stiff (and to do so spectacularly) was 1987\u2019s <\/span>Wildside.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a bad album and Bruce Fairbairn was back in the saddle, but the band was a little mystified as to what had changed.\u00a0 Dean says, \u201cWe were the darlings of MTV but the first single, <\/span>Notorious<\/span><\/i>, just didn\u2019t get the air time.\u00a0 We cut a very expensive video for <\/span>Love Will Rise<\/span><\/i> and they refused to play it – they spun it once.\u00a0 I guess they\u2019d just had it with what they perceived as hair bands, and Loverboy were no longer considered part of their roster – I can understand it – if trends hadn\u2019t changed, Bing Crosby would still be in heavy rotation.\u201d\u00a0 Reno echoed Dean\u2019s thoughts:\u00a0 \u201cI think there is a moment, a point when things become redundant because you\u2019re too famous or you\u2019re too wealthy or too popular or people start to get jealous,\u00a0 They begin to dislike you or they change their feelings toward you and you change your feelings towards them,\u00a0 It happens,\u00a0 It\u2019s the same reason why style changes.\u00a0 We were pretty tired by then.\u201d\u00a0 The \u2018tired\u2019 resulted in a brief \u2018retirement\u2019 between 1988 and 1991 but except for that brief hiatus, they have continued to do live shows with new records coming at greater intervals of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Styles were indeed changing.\u00a0 Grunge was the new thing and Loverboy\u2019s career seemed to be headed for the \u2018where are they now\u2019 files.\u00a0 At the time, Dean didn\u2019t get grunge, particularly Nirvana.\u00a0 Now he can see it in a different light:\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s only in the past few years that I\u2019ve come to appreciate where they were coming from, song-wise.\u00a0 Now, when I listen to their music and compare it to their contemporaries, [Nirvana] set the standard.\u00a0 They wrote great songs, Kurt Cobain had a great voice, and it was all wrapped up in amazing production.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The catalyst for getting back together in 1991 was a benefit held in October of that year for former Chilliwack member Brian MacLeod.\u00a0 \u2018Too Loud\u2019 MacLeod was fighting cancer and Bryan Adams, Colin James and others banded together to help raise money for his treatment.\u00a0 They managed to raise $50,000 but MacLeod would pass away in early 1992.\u00a0 The only plus from this sad event was Loverboy finding out they missed playing together.\u00a0 They said the MacLeod benefit was the most fun they had had in years.\u00a0 The sent on another spree of live shows across Canada, but all in all, the 1990s weren\u2019t Loverboy\u2019s decade as their record sales declined.\u00a0 The exclamation mark for them came on November 30, 2000 when original bass player Scott Smith disappeared.\u00a0 An avid sailor, he was sailing off the Golden Gate Bridge when a 26-foot wave swept him overboard.\u00a0 His body was never found after a four hour search of those shark infested waters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 2001, the band compiled and buffed up early live concert (circa 1982-1986) recordings that were released as <\/span>Love, Loud and Loose.<\/span><\/i>After Smith\u2019s death, the band dedicated their next tour to him.\u00a0 They dedicated their next round of touring to Smith with Ken \u2018Spider\u2019 Sinnaeve joining the band on bass.\u00a0 The year 2005 found Loverboy celebrating 25 years together and another tour to celebrate that milestone.\u00a0 <\/span>Get Lucky<\/span><\/i> would get its own 25 year celebration with a remastering and re-release in 2006 .\u00a0 They followed this release with their first new studio album in a decade (<\/span>Just Getting Started<\/span><\/i>) in 2007.\u00a0 Loverboy\u2019s most recent albums came out in 2012 (<\/span>Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Revival<\/span><\/i>) and 2014 (<\/span>Unfinished Business<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0 Touring was still the band’s bread and butter with them headlining the Rockingham Festival in Nottingham, Trent University, UK in October of 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Along the way, they were able to get some music into some notable films.\u00a0 Reno\u2019s collaboration with Ann Wilson of Heart (<\/span>Almost Paradise<\/span><\/i>) was a highlight of the soundtrack for the cult movie favorite <\/span>Footloose <\/span><\/i>in 1984.\u00a0 The whole band would also crack the soundtrack for <\/span>Top Gun<\/span><\/i> in 1986 with <\/span>Heaven in Your Eyes.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Reno\u2019s songs were again featured in <\/span>Iron Eagle II <\/span><\/i>in 1986 (<\/span>Chasing the Angels<\/span><\/i>) and again in 1989\u2019s <\/span>Dream a Little Dream <\/span><\/i>(<\/span>Whenever There\u2019s a Night<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Touring with REO Speedwagon and Styx consumed a good part of 2022.\u00a0 Reno told an interviewer in 2023, \u201cWhen we do live shows these days, I notice the songs have come to a better place.\u00a0 We\u2019re playing them a little differently, but the catalyst is still the same.\u00a0 We live these songs – they\u2019re part of our DNA, and they\u2019re part of a lot of people\u2019s DNA.\u00a0 We do shows where we expect to see 3,000 people and seven or eight thousand show up\u2026and most of them are young.\u00a0 It\u2019s freaking me out!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Touring plans for 2024 show them on the road with Sammy Hagar on the <\/span>Best of All Worlds <\/span><\/i>tour.\u00a0 Hagar will be appearing with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham – essentially the lineup that came together as Chickenfoot but with Bonham replacing Chad Smith on drums.\u00a0 Substitute guitarist Vic Johnson for Satriani and you would have another Hagar touring band called The Circle.\u00a0 Johnson is also a member of Hagar\u2019s Waboritas who performed regularly at Hagar\u2019s Cabo Wabo clubs – it seems Sammy likes to tour with as many groupings as he can muster.\u00a0 Loverboy will be opening on this tour.\u00a0 It looks like the closest they will get to Upper Michigan is an April 27, 2024 show at the Ho-Chunk Gaming casino in Baraboo, Wisconsin.\u00a0 Other dates on the tour will literally find Loverboy all over the map but that is okay.\u00a0 Dedicated fans don\u2019t let a little traveling get in the way of seeing a good concert, and Loverboy have proven over and over again that they know how to put on a good show. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Loverboy in their MTV prime . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll chemistry problem for you.\u00a0 Mix two members of the popular Canadian band Streetheart with a singer from another well known Canuck band, Moxey, stir in an up and coming producer named Bruce Fairbairn and what do you get?\u00a0 One of the most successful AOR (Album Oriented Rock) bands of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-new-music","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3080"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3083,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3080\/revisions\/3083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}