Paul got his first guitar 22 years ago, when he was 14. "That seems to be the age when all rock performers get their first guitars--Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards."
He said on a telephone interview, "Yeah, I started begging my folks for a guitar, and they finally ordered me one from a catalogue. It arrived on my 14th birthday, and I was so excited that I missed the school bus, and had to hitchhike to school that day."
But it wasn't rock that first caught Dean's ear.
"I lived way out in the country (about 100 miles outside Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and the only radio station I could pick up was KXLY. I really dug Johnny Cash and the other big country singers."
"Then one day a friend brought over this Ventures album. I thought, 'This is great. Just the kind of music I want to play"
It was a modest beginning--the rock star who admires Dick Clark, Johnny Cash and the Ventures! Had it not been for Cash and that radio station in Spokane, WA., the overnight sensation of 1982 might never have produced an album.
As for the group's name, Dean adknowledges there was some early indecision before choosing the one that stuck. When they decided on LOVERBOY, he got instant affirmation: "My mom tells me now, after all this time, that she used to call me 'Lover boy' a lot when I was a kid. She'd always go, "Hey, Lover Boy, time for bed." Sounds kind of kinky, doesn't it? Of course, she didn't mean it like that." Kinky or weird are not words applicable to LOVERBOY or their music. Paul, referring to his musical tastes says, "I'm basically a heavy guitar player kind of guy. I see our sound as a kind of cross between heavy metal and new wave. I like to talk about heavy things, but I like to put a little bit of irony into the songs."
By his count, LOVERBOY is the 14th band he has played with since highschool. He taught himself to play guitar by listening to records, and wore out at least one copy of the Ventures, "Walk Don't Run." He was 15 or 16 when he joined his first group. "I got into music from a love of it, and I've stayed in the business from a Love of it," adds Paul, whose day jobs over the years included working as a greenskeeper on a golf course and driving a Coca-Cola truck until he was fired for dozing on the job. "And I've stayed in the business from a love of it too. I've given 100 percent to every band I've ever been in. Every band thinks they're going to be THE band. Like baseball, you always think you're going to win the pennant, and I went into LOVERBOY the same way."
Born out of frustration and determination, LOVERBOY has grown into an act worth millions of dollars in record sales, concert box office receipts and merchandise. It was frustration with previous bands that had potential, but never delivered and what drew the members of LOVERBOY together.
Paul's passion for the technical is manifested in a line of guitars he is preparing to market. Prototypes of the Dean Machine, as he calls it, were tested on earlier tours last year. Guitar manufacturer, Odyssey, is now putting the Paul Dean design into production, where it can be purchased by the public.
One gets the impression from talking to Paul Dean, that LOVERBOY will continue to do what it is doing, regardless of the awards and sales it has accrued. "we only do what we like to do," he said. "If the people agree, fine. Everything we've written we wrote with our hearts. All the stunts, antics, and moves (on stage) are for real.
"It definitely happens, we don't try to do anything but what comes out."
One last bit of sage advice that can serve as an inspiration to anyone, anywhere, to help achieve whatever they want: "You go into it assuming you're gonna make the Big Time, otherwise you're wasting your time."