Loverboy - Live in Columbus, Ohio April 24, 1982

01. Jump
02. Teenage Overdose – Drum Solo
03. Lady Of The 80’s
04. Lucky Ones
05. It’s Your Life
06. Take Me To The Top
07. Gangs On The Street
08. Turn Me Loose
09. The Kid Is Hot Tonight
10. Working For The Weekend
11. When It’s Over
12. Emotional

Loverboy is a fantastic Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly Turn Me Loose and Working for the Weekend, have become arena rock staples and are still heard to this day on many classic rock and classic hits radio stations across Canada and the United States. After being rejected by many American record labels, they signed with Columbia/CBS Records Canada and began recording their first album on March 20, 1980. Loverboy's founding members were lead singer Mike Reno (previously with Moxy as Mike Rynoski); guitarist Paul Dean (previously with Scrubbaloe Caine and Streetheart); keyboardist Doug Johnson; bassist Scott Smith; and drummer Matt Frenette. Throughout the 1980s, Loverboy accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records. Except for a brief breakup from 1988 to 1991, the band has continued to perform live shows regularly. They are currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
According to Reno, their name was chosen due to a dream by Paul Dean. He had come up with the name after spending the previous night with some of the bandmates, including Reno and their girlfriends, before going to the movies. The girlfriends were browsing through fashion magazines, where the guys in the band saw a Cover Girl advertisement. Cover Girl became Cover Boy, and then became Loverboy in Dean's dream later that night. After being told by Dean about the dream the next morning, Reno agreed to try it out and it stuck. The group made its live debut opening for Kiss at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, B.C. on November 19, 1979.
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 its self-titled debut album.
Over that summer, the record became a huge hit with eventually over one million records sold in Canada alone. The album made its American debut in November 1980, and would go on to sell over two million copies in the US. 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. Their debut single, Turn Me Loose, went on to hit No. 7 on the Canadian charts and No. 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1981. The Kid Is Hot Tonight was also a single. Turn Me Loose easily could have been a number 1 song in any era!
The band's follow-up album, Get Lucky, released in October 1981 when it was opening for Journey, included the hit tracks Working for the Weekend, When It's Over and Lucky Ones. It became the group’s 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. Loverboy released its third album, Keep It Up, in June 1983. Its first single "Hot Girls in Love" became their most successful to that date, reaching No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The video for the song as well as for the follow-up single Queen of the Broken Hearts were hugely popular on MTV, back when MTV was worth watching. Only lasted a few years.
Albums
Loverboy (1980)
Get Lucky (1981)
Keep It Up (1983)
Lovin' Every Minute of It (1985)
Wildside (1987)
Six (1997)
Just Getting Started (2007)
Rock 'n' Roll Revival (2012)
Unfinished Business (2014)