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| Nardwuar | Mike Reno, what kinda guy is Paul Dean? Is he kind of a testy guy, after working with him for twenty-odd years? What’s it like being working with Paul Dean, Mike Reno?
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| Mike Reno | He’s an eccentric. | |
| | Because I once went trick or treating with my friends to his house in West Vancouver! In fact I actually saw him outside his house and yelled at him, “Were you in Loverboy?” And he yelled back, “What do you mean, were!” He was like really angry. | |
| | Well, I can see that happening. It’s funny because athletes probably get the same thing – child actors, athletes, and rock stars as it were. When you get to a certain point, people think you’re finished, but really it’s the only job we do. Athletes have to retire when they’re thirty, thirty-two. The band has never sounded better and they love playing together, and when somebody says something like, “Weren’t, weren’t, didn’t you used to be in Loverboy?” That kind of enrages you because that is all you do, that is all you’ve ever done, and it’s what you do now. So if somebody thinks it over, it’s just a little bit of a hit to the ego. | |
| | We were just on, like, Hallowe’en, and we saw Paul and weren’t sure if it was him and we just yelled at him , and he just sort of ran away in his Mercedes car. We tried to form a giant human chain at the bottom of the driveway and stop him from getting by and say, “Hey, Paul, we really like your band.” But he just drove right off and gave us the finger! | |
| | He’s a funny guy. He takes things funny. He takes things the wrong way sometimes. He’s a sensitive artist and he’s a bit of an eccentric, but he’s an awfully good songwriter and he’s a great guitar player. | |
| | | Paul Dean gave Nardwuar and friends the finger |  | | |
| | Is it true that your old keyboard player Doug Johnson wouldn’t play on your song on the Top Gun soundtrack for political reasons? | |
| | I think it was probably sparked mostly because of the fact that he didn’t play on the track, and I think his nose was a little bit out of joint and he took the anti-political stance as a way to easily back down from it. But he never quit the band over it; he just didn’t want to put his name or picture on the single cover. | |
| | Mike Reno of Loverboy, is it true that when you recorded the power ballad “Almost Paradise” with Ann Wilson from Heart, that you were never actually in the studio together? It was kind of done Sinatra/Bono duets style? | |
| | Totally wrong. I can call you on that one. We met in Chicago. We were both touring. We both had a day off at the same time. | |
| | Now, Mike, truthfully, did you guys have a little bit of an affair? There was that rumour going around that you guys had an affair together? | |
| | Absolutely! We had two children together. Are you kidding? The alimony payments are killing me here! | |
| | Have you got any film offers at all? | |
| | The only thing we did was Guiding Light in the early days and it was a nerve-wracking experience because I had never seen a soap opera before and I didn’t know how it was supposed to go, but now that I’ve done videos and talk shows and TV shows like | |
| | You guys did Guiding Light? | |
| | We did the Guiding Light and it was one big embarassment as far as I’m concerned! | |
| | And, Mike Reno of Loverboy, on your new CD, Six, are you teasing us a bit, Mike? Teasing us with a headband on the inside photo? It looks like it could be a headband over your chin. | |
| |  | Reno and headband | | |
| | What? I didn’t actually put it on. I justheld it in front of my face. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek. That’s the way we always are. I didn’t want to throw it on. I thought it would be too easy. | |
| | Do you have a big headband collection? | |
| | Do I ever! | |
| | Do you have Loverboy treasures, memorabilia stored away? Like, do you still have the hot red pants? What happened to that stuff? | |
| | Uh, I have a lot of that stuff in storage. You just keep it around for fun and look at it every once in a while with the kids and have a good laugh. The red leather pants, however, are on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Vancouver in a big case. It’s unbelievably stiff. | |
| | All right, Mike Reno of Loverboy, keep on rockin’ in the free world. And doot doola doot doo... | |
| | Right on! | |
| | Mike Reno, doot doola doot doo... | |
| | Doot doot! | |
| | Nardwuar in full Loverboy gear
(circa 1984) | |  |
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Loverboy's home page |
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Jam's concert review |
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