| With
a string of three multi-platnum albums and being one of the
most successful hard rock groups in the early 1980's, Loverboy
dared to ask the world one simple question, "Are you
ready to rock?".
This
is the 'loosely based on facts' story of Loverboy's rise to
fame and subsequent fall from rock superstardom.
The
band that would be known to millions around the world as Loverboy
was formed in 1979 when guitarist Paul Dean, vocalist Mike
Reno, drummer Matthew Frenette, bassist Paul Smith and keyboardist
Doug Johnson came up with an idea of a band while working
in a sweatshop on Canada's west coast. Not any band mind you,
a band that rocks!
Mike
Reno: Yeah, we decided being a rock band would be a step
in the right direction. Hell, any step is a step in the right
direction when you're packaging used gym socks for distribution
on the very lucritive Chinese prostitution market.
And
with that the quintet of rockers went off to open for KISS,
ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, I/O Stream, JFK's inaugural address,
the 1939 Berlin Olympic games, and the list goes on.
The
band was riding high until in 1984 when Paul Dean overdosed
on a lethal mixture of fizzy Bottle-Caps and Jolt Cola in
a small British telephone booth while trying to make a call
to the President of Spain. They were never able to get him
out.
Paul's
death was only the first of many setbacks the band endured
throughout the mid to late eighties. They went through replacement
guitarist after replacement guitarist. But no one had the
right sound to fill Dean's shoes.
Matthew
Fernette: It was really hard in the beginning to find
someone to take Paul's place. We tried everybody but nobody
could make that guitar scream and bust out like Paul did.
Andrew:
So what did you do?
MF:
Well we obviously brought Paul back to life. It was the only
thing we could do.
Andrew:
How did you manage that?
MF:
One night Doug and I were watching late night Scandinavian
infomercials. One of the infomercials was for a Resurrecting
machine developed by a brilliant Norwegian scientist by the
name of Dr. Njokleskburg. And it was only 3 easy payments
of $19.95! So we bought one and we were off to England where
Paul had died. They still hadn't gotten him out of the phone
booth.
After
the resurrection of Paul Dean the band went on touring in
some of Europe but mostly around Strip Clubs and amateur porn
studios. Things were going even more downhill in 1987 when
they're song "Chasing the Angels" was featured on
the Iron Eagle II soundtrack.
Paul
Smith: I told Mike that the Iron Eagle II thing was a
bad idea. He thought otherwise. He cited how well that Dangerzone
tune did in Top Gun. Even though we were on the Top Gun soundtrack,
we just didn't have that tune that pushed us over the top.
In retrospect, it was the worse thing to happen to us. I mean,
Paul died on us, AGAIN!
Yes
it was true. In fact by the time the 90s rolled around Paul
Dean had been deceased no less than 12 times and twice he
was thought to be dead, but later found out that he was just
lying in the ditch for undisclosed reasons. The 90s also hailed
in a new era of Grunge Rock, Power Rangers and McDonalds Pizza,
things that Loverboy couldn't possibly keep up with.
So
with a string of successes and a ball of failures, Loverboy
won our hearts with their soothing melodic tones and outrageous
guitar riffs. |
