Our Top 10 Loverboy songs list looks at a band that released their debut album in 1980, just before the start of the MTV era. Mentioning MTV is significant because Loverboy would become one of the most-played bands on MTV in the early 1980s. The exposure on the channel helped the band develop both a loyal fan base and success on a mass cultural level. Their music juxtaposed power-driven rock and roll with pop overtones blended together in well-written and produced recordings that delivered songs that often broke the Billboard Top 40. Loverboy released their first album in 1980. Most of the band’s success occurred between the years 1980 and 1987, when they released four straight platinum albums and a fifth album that went gold. Our top 10 Loverboy songs will look at that period and present ten of our favorite Loverboy songs below. This one wound up being more fun to do than we expected. And that is very telling……..
# 10 – Queen Of The Broken Hearts
Well, there is nothing like a post-apocalypse music video from the 1980s that was filmed in Los Angeles. Once you get past the ridiculous but fun concept, there lies a great rock and roll tune. And that’s precisely why we decided to open up this Loverboy songs list with the fun track “Queen Of The Broken Hearts.” The song was released in 1983 on the album Keep It Up.
# 9 – Notorious
“Notorious” was one of the last Loverboy songs to break the US Billboard Top 40. It was released on the 1987 album Wildside, which was produced by the great Bruce Fairburn. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Todd Cerney, Paul Dean, Mike Reno, and Richie Sambora.
# 8 – Heaven In Your Eyes
The 1980s was a period when movie soundtrack songs were big business. They helped promote a film with an often-played MTV video that served as a coming attraction for the film and a promotional vehicle for the bands performing the song. The song “Heaven In Your Eyes” was featured in the mega-successful motion picture Top Gun. The song’s writing credits were given to Mae Moore, John Dexter, Paul Dean, and Mike Reno.
# 7 – Dangerous
The song Dangerous was the second single released from the Lovin’ Every Minute of It album. Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance wrote the song. The band turned to outside writers for their fourth album. It proved to be a success for the group as the record spawned four singles that broke the Billboard Hot 100, with two of them reaching the top 10.
# 6 – When It’s Over
Continuing with our Top 10 Loverboy songs list, we turn to their mid-tempo hard rocking, power pop ballad “When It’s Over.” And that was probably one too many adjectives. Nonetheless, Mike Reno delivered a powerful vocal on the track. Now, if he could have only gotten rid of that silly headband. The man is such a powerful vocalist, but why did he insist on wearing that headband in almost every video? “When It’s Over” was released on the band’s second LP, Get Lucky.
# 5 – Lovin’ Every Minute of It
As we enter the second half of our Top 10 Loverboy songs list, we turn to the band’s highest-charting song in the United States of their career. The great anthemic-sounding song “Lovin’ Every Minute Of It.” was the band’s first single to break the Billboard Hot 100. The song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. For the video, Mike Reno finally gets rid of the sweatband he wore on his head in every video and brings everyone along for a wild ride. This is an excellent video with a fun intro.
The songs echo the big-time hair band sound of the mid to late 80s, with which groups like Poison, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Ratt, etc… all found extreme success. And that’s because Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who wrote many of these big-time 80s hair band songs, also penned this one for Loverboy. The song was released on the band’s fourth album, Lovin’ Every Minute of It. The album was released in 1985. The Lovin’ Every Minute of It LP released five singles from the record that all broke the Billboard Hot 100.
# 4 -The Kid is Hot Tonight
The first of two songs in a row with the word “Hot” in the title defines a little bit of 80s lyrical trends in songwriting. The song was released on the band’s debut album, Loverboy. The song’s intro and verse scream slightly new wave, but the chorus dives into what would become 80s power pop. It’s fascinating to hear. The power rock pop style would win easily on their next album.
# 3 – Hot Girls In Love
Loverboy released so many great catchy rock and roll pop tunes during their early 1980s period. “Hot Girls In Love” delivered the goods on all fronts. The song’s great opening riff instantly nailed your attention It just kept getting better as you listened deeper into the tune. The song was released on the band’s third studio album titled Get Lucky. The LP was released in 1983.“Hot Girls In Love” was a big-time hit for the band. The song just missed the Billboard Top 10, peaking at number eleven. However, the song reached number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Charts.
# 2 – Working for the Weekend
“Working for the Weekend” represents the 1980s in so many ways. If you were one of the millions of fans embracing MTV in the early days, you would remember viewing the video for this song almost every time you tuned into the channel. Rock and roll meets pop early 1980s style. The song was a massive success for the band and is probably their most famous. “Working for the Weekend” was released on the band’s second album entitled Get Lucky. The LP was released in 1981. Paul Dean, Mike Reno, and Matt Frenette wrote the song.
Read More: Complete List Of Loverboy Band Members
# 1 – Turn Me Loose
We close out our top 10 Loverboy songs with the group’s first hit single entitled “Turn Me Lose.” The song was released in 1979. While “Turn Me Loose,” stands as the band’s first single it also represents the group’s highest-charting song in their native home of Canada. We chose this one because Mike Reno’s vocals just knock it out of the park on this one. Great song and an incredible performance by the musicians in the band. The song was released on the band’s debut album entitled Loverboy. The LP was released in 1980. The song “Turn Me Loose,” was written by Mike Reno and Paul Dean.
Read More: Complete List of Loverboy Albums And Discography
Updated June 4, 2024
Top 10 Loverboy Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024
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