More than a quarter of a century after creating some of the most popular anthems in the annals of Canadian rock music, Loverboy is still a hot commodity on the concert scene, and will be bringing its high-energy stage show to Barrie next week, as part of the Rock 95 Birthday Bash.

The band will also be bringing some hot new sounds, as Loverboy recently released it first studio album in a decade

Just Getting Started features 10 songs, and is available across North American in most stores that sell music, as well as online from various legal music download sources.

It is classic Loverboy, in that it contains straight-ahead, catchy, fun hard-rock tunes, such as the title track, as well as the tongue-in-cheek tune One Of Them Days. There’s also the more sedate and contemporary sounding Fade To Black and Real Thing, as well as the emotive ballad, The One That Got Away.

Band co-founder, lead vocalist and number one promoter Mike Reno told Simcoe.com that radio stations are already playing many songs from the album in regular rotation.

“I did a swing through Alberta last week … and every radio station is playing a different single. There’s at least three singles there now. The ballad (The One That Got Away) is being played all across the country. Rock radio is playing One Of Them Days; adult contemporary radio is playing Fade to Black, because it’s a tiny bit softer. It’s not really a ballad but it’s not really heavy. And every station I went to said ‘we’re just dying to jump on Just Getting Started,” he said.

“And then if you get deeper, you’ll find there’s a whole bunch of other great songs on there. I think Lost For You is going to be a smash. Real Thing, I think, is a total smash,” he said confidently.

Reno actually had no intention of writing a new Loverboy album when he began working with Vancouver-based songwriter/producers Sean Hosein and Dave DeViller.

“I thought I’d really like to write with them for whatever reason, I’d just like to write with them … so then I get a call out of the blue, and they asked me to come in and sing on some demos, because they’re trying to sell some songs to a really good artist in the States, and if the demos are really good, with a really good voice on it, they’ve got a better chance of selling the song,” Reno said. “And I said, ‘wow, this is a great coincidence.”

Once he started singing, he said he could see the two producers talking between themselves. They were so impressed with Reno’s singing that they asked if he wanted to write a song with them the next day.

“And that’s how it started. So I sat down and wrote a song with them the first day, and we just kind of rough demoed it with a guitar and drum machine,” he explained. “And they said, ‘can you come back tomorrow?’ And I said, ‘absolutely.’ And we wrote another one. And the next day we wrote another one, and we just kept writing and writing and writing, and eventually we had about 30 songs.”

At one point in the middle of these intense creative sessions, Hosein and DeVillers told Reno he thought these songs were perfect for Loverboy. Reno agreed, and brought bandmates Doug Johnson (keyboards) and Paul Dean (guitar) in on the process.

They decided to whittle it down from 30 songs to 10 for the record.

“We said, ‘let’s give them 10 hit songs.’ So the criteria to make the top 10 were it had to be a hit single, and it had to be a hit single destined for a certain style of radio station. We said, why be stupid? Why stupidly just cut a bunch of songs, whereas if we cut songs for specific styles of radio stations, they’re bound to play it,’” he said.

Loverboy is still a staple on classic rock radio stations around the world, and they have become ingrained in the popular culture, as many of their biggest hits, including Turn Me Loose, Working for the Weekend, The Kid is Hot Tonite and the ballads When It’s Over and Heaven In Your Eyes continue to be used in movie soundtracks.

The band, which includes Reno, Dean, Johnson, original drummer Matt Frenette, and bass player Ken ‘Spider’ Sinnaeve (who took over for original bassist Scott Smith, when Smith was declared lost at sea in 2000) play more than 100 shows a year around the world, and have become known for the power and potency of their live shows.

“I’ve said this a million times during the course of my career; Loverboy is about high-energy fun and positive lyrics. And you know when you go to a Loverboy show you are going to have a good time, hands down, without a doubt,” Reno said. “That’s why we still have people coming to our concerts. That’s why, last night, I played for 15,000 people (in Houston).”

The band also road tested all of the songs that appear on Just Getting Started, without telling the audience they were new songs, and was greeted by great ovations. People were even singing the words to the chorus on some of them by the end, even though they’d never heard the tune before.

“A few weeks ago we were playing a show and we did the ballad, The One That Got Away, in the middle of the set … to give it a try,” he said.

“Eight rows back, there’s a young woman standing there and she starts crying, because it’s a bit of a sad song. It’s about ‘you didn’t believe in me, and now I’m leaving and I’m the one that got away.’ She must have gone through something, because she heard the words and she connected with the vibe and she started crying. Well, I almost started crying because I could see here standing there and she was weeping. And Paul looks at me, and he almost starts crying. We both got goose bumps and after the show we said, ‘God, that was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. But I think we’re touching a nerve.”

The band is embracing the younger music downloading generation, and is offering them a break. On many of the sites where you can download Just Getting Started songs, they’re selling for only 59 cents, as opposed to most other songs, which go for 99 cents per download.

As well, Reno and his bandmates have the satisfaction of knowing that the album is going to be sold in all American Wal-Mart stores (more than 6,500 in all) for $8.82.

Getting the music to the people is what it’s all about, according to Reno, who said he doesn’t even really mind if people “steal” the music.

“I love the way it sounds. I love the album cover. I love the fact that we’re almost giving it away. I love the fact that we’re giving half-price downloads on most of the download systems. And I’m perfectly aware that more than half of the people in the world will steal it,” he said.

“I’m happy with all of that. I understand that. So what I’m saying is before you steal it, it’s only 50 cents or so, give your head a shake, help out. Or steal it, and then come to the show and buy a t-shirt.”

For more information on Rock 95s Birthday Bash, Friday, Oct. 26, at The Roxx, visit www.rock95.com. Kim Mitchell is also on the bill.

For more information on Loverboy and their new album, visit www.loverboyband.com

-    Jim Barber is the Arts, Sports and Lifestyles Editor of the Barrie Advance. Contact him at jbarber@simcoe.com.