Loverboy: Together They're a Winning Hand
(Rockline! Magazine, January 1986)

Separately, they’re five distinctly different personalities; Together They're a Surefire Combination!

In past years, they've been labeled "rock's five nice guys," "the clean-cut Canadians," even "a band so wholesome the Boy Scouts should offer them an honorary membership." Yet, the wholesome band image that has become synonymous with this Canadian quintet remains only a small part of the picture. Loverboy are five distinct personalities, each an equally important part of this consistently successful, platinum-producing combination.

Now that their latest, long-awaited effort, Lovin' Every Minute Of It (their first since '83's Keep It Up) with its rowdy title hit has blasted them right back to the top of the charts, Rockline! has all the facts on each member of this winning team.

Doug Johnson--The Child Prodigy

Believe it or not, Loverboy's hard rockin' keyboardist was trained in classical piano as a young boy. "I was something of a musical prodigy . . . I could play the piano by the time I was four. By age seven, I was into Beethoven," he adds. In fact, Doug didn't learn to play rock music until he was 18.

Doug decided to enter college to study medicine, then left school and his native Vancouver for Calgary when, he says, he just couldn't smother those rock 'n' roll sparks. Once there, remembers Doug, "I met up with a lot of young, artistic people. Since I was always into music, it seemed a natural direction. Of course, I couldn't make a living out of playing music, so I took a job at a pipe mill . . . and at night, I'd moonlight with a band."

After a stint with two area bands, All the Rage in Paris and Foster Child, Doug met Loverboy founder Paul Dean one night while playing the college circuit.

"Driven" Paul Dean

Doug often compares Paul Dean, Loverboy's main songwriter and co-producer, to his own father. "I respect him tremendously, sort of like how I feel about my father," he says. "I have periods where I rebel against him, but my respect in unwavering."

And in many ways, 39-year-old Paul is the father of the band. He hit on the concept for Loverboy after having played as a professional musician for 18 years in a total of 13 bands. Just as Paul decided to take some time off, away from the music scene, he met up with another Canadian veteran musician, Mike Reno. Together, they formed Loverboy in 1979.

Over the years, Paul has earned a solid reputation as a devoted, ambitious, dynamic rocker, traits certainly in evidence since his earliest playing days. He's the guy who keeps working long after the others call it a night; he's also the one who felt a year of rest and relaxation in '84 was just what the band needed. Paul's creed goes something like this: "Take your time--and be sure of yourself and everyone else."

If anyone ever managed to perfectly sum up Paul's personality, it was probably band manager, Bruce Allen, when he stated simply, "If you could see the dedication and commitment that guy has--he's driven!"

Mike Reno--Loverboy's Coverboy

With his trademark headband, blue eyes and charismatic stage presence, Loverboy's frontman has become the face most associated with the band. Mike began his music career as a pre-teen drummer. Weaned on rock classics like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, and having an older brother who was already in a band, young Mike thrived on his purely musical environment. In time, he polished his singing and writing skills, moved form Canada's lake country to Calgary (where he hoped to find more opportunity in the field), and weaved his way in and out of six bands before jumping on the Loverboy bandwagon.

Why does he see Loverboy as the perfect combination he'd always been looking for? "We're real with us there's no facade," he explains. "We're singing and playing right from the heart."

Matt Frenette--Frenetic Drummer

Loverboy's Matt was introduced to the band by a long-time acquaintance on the Canadian rock scene, Mike. He'd also worked with Paul for a year in a band called the Great Canadian River Race. Matt's proven ability as a drummer made him the logical choice for the fourth Loverboy.

This 31-year-old powerhouse began his drumming career at age three, when his dad brought home a set of bongos. As Matt grew, the size of the bongos would buy him grew, too. He joined the school marching band in his native West Vancouver, and by eleventh grad, was on the road with a country/rock band. Matt recalls, "At the end of August, I called my dad to ask him to register me for my senior year in high school--and he said no! Stay on the road, he said, it's the best education of life--but then he let me decide what I wanted to do."

Matt returned home to finish high school, then joined the Great Canadian River Race, then a band called Streetheart (which toured for a while with Rush)--and his exceptional talent has kept him on the road ever since.

Matt adds, "Every cent I ever earned has been from drumming. I never had any odd jobs."

Scott Smith--The Final Draw

Loverboy's final addition didn't begin his rock career as a musical prodigy--in fact, police work was his first career goal. Then as a student at the University of Manitoba, he began to take his bass more seriously and law enforcement less so. Scott eventually joined Canada's rock 'n' roll circles, befriending people like Prakash John, Alice Cooper's bassist and Canadian songwriter Tim Thorney (whom he still considers a major influence). Scott had found his niche.

Scott was just the level-headed yet supercharged catalyst Loverboy (in its final version--Scott replaced the band's original bassist) needed to soar. Although he never had worked with another band, he was asked to join the team in '79. He recalls the moment, "Paul Dean phoned me and conned me into quitting school for Loverboy. The rest, as they say, is history."