Loverboy

Loverboy rose to prominence as one of North America's leading rock outfits throughout the 1980s, amassing multiple multi-platinum releases and chart-topping singles via their sharp combination of memorable melodies and sleek yet vigorous arena-oriented rock. The band took shape in 1979 when vocalist Mike Reno teamed with guitarist Paul Dean. Both musicians had already established themselves in Western Canada's rock circles, Reno through his tenure with Moxy and Dean via tours and recordings alongside Scrubbaloe Caine and Streetheart. While Dean rehearsed a new project in Calgary, Alberta, one of his associates encouraged Reno to drop by for an impromptu session. Reno quickly decided he had located the frontman he sought. The pair started composing material, and after recruiting Jim Clench on bass, Matt Frenette on drums, and Doug Johnson on keyboards, Reno and Dean's project officially became Loverboy. Following several early performances, among them an opening slot for Kiss in Vancouver, Jim Clench departed and Scott Smith stepped in as bassist, locking in the group's classic configuration.

Initial demos failed to secure interest from U.S. labels, yet Columbia's Canadian division offered a contract, prompting the band to enter the studio under producer Bruce Fairbairn and engineer Bob Rock. Their self-titled debut appeared soon afterward and achieved instant success north of the border, moving more than 700,000 units within months. Columbia subsequently extended the deal stateside, and propelled by singles such as "The Kid Is Hot Tonight" and "Turn Me Loose," the album ascended the American charts as the group maintained an intensive touring regimen. The 1981 follow-up Get Lucky, again helmed by Fairbairn, proved even stronger commercially, yielding the band's defining anthem "Working for the Weekend" and reaching the Billboard album chart's upper tier. That release also captured a record six Juno Awards, Canada's most prestigious music-industry accolade. Issued in 1983, Keep It Up sustained the multi-platinum trajectory of prior efforts, prompting an eight-month global trek.

During 1984 Reno paused the group's demanding schedule to record the duet "Almost Paradise" with Heart's Ann Wilson for the Footloose soundtrack; the track climbed to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Seeking a tougher edge for their fourth album, Lovin' Every Minute of It, Loverboy enlisted producer Tom Allom, renowned for his work with Judas Priest. Although the record performed respectably, sales fell short of the first three LPs, and 1987's Wildside, which brought Fairbairn back, became the first release not to attain platinum status. Declining numbers and creative tensions between Reno and Dean led to a quiet dissolution in 1988. Both principals issued solo projects, and the band mounted a brief reunion run tied to the 1989 compilation Big Ones.

In 1991, when longtime Canadian musician Brian MacLeod of Chilliwack received a cancer diagnosis, Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi organized a benefit concert to offset his treatment costs. Having previously collaborated with both headliners, Loverboy rejoined the lineup and found the experience so rewarding that they scheduled extensive U.S. and Canadian tours for 1992 and 1993. Shifting musical preferences hampered new recordings during this stretch, prompting Reno to remark to several journalists, "Nirvana killed my career," yet the group returned to the studio in 1997 for VI, their first collection of original material in a decade. Periodic touring continued until November 30, 2000, when Scott Smith perished in a boating mishap. The following year the band embarked on a commemorative tour for Smith, adding bassist Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve, previously associated with Tom Cochrane, Red Rider, and Streetheart.

That same year saw the release of Live, Loud & Loose, drawn from concerts recorded between 1982 and 1986. A 25th-anniversary outing took place in 2005, followed in 2007 by the seventh studio album, Just Getting Started. Induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame occurred in 2009, and in 2012 Loverboy reunited with engineer Bob Rock to cut two new tracks, "Heartbreaker" and "No Tomorrow." Along with a third original song, these appeared on Rock ‘n' Roll Revival, which paired the fresh cuts with newly recorded versions of nine classic Loverboy numbers.