Working for the Weekend by the band Loverboy: The Story of One Song...

"Working for the Weekend" is a song by Canadian rock band Loverboy, released in 1981 as part of their second studio album Get Lucky.

The song was written by the band's guitarist, Paul Dean, vocalist Mike Reno and drummer Matt Frenette. It is noteworthy that in "Working for the Weekend" power-pop motifs prevail more clearly than in all other tracks of the band... Actually, the new sound brought Loverboy success: the song turned out to be a big hit in the discography of the Canadian band... That's why we offer to remember the history of its creation!

The story of the creation of ...

The song came about while guitarist Paul Dean was taking a walk on a Wednesday afternoon looking for inspiration for new compositions... Paul's attention was drawn to the fact that the street was almost deserted... No wonder, as most people were working.

"So, I walk out onto the beach and wonder, "Where's everyone?" "Apparently everyone is waiting for the weekend..." - I thought later," Paul Dean recalled.

According to Dean, he first started writing this song in a hotel room in Montreal, right after a concert. At the time, the band was still playing in bars, despite the poor response from the customers.....

Curiously enough, it took years from the creation to the recording of "Working for the Weekend"! Here's what the author of the hit told us:

"It took a long time to create this tune... The germ of the song appeared in a hotel room in Montreal: I sketched it out right after the show. I remember I started humming something and I kind of had the chorus and verse ready... The hardest thing was to think about the transitions: the chorus, the guitar riff, the heavier guitar riff... It wasn't very good at first!"

When the song was ready, Mike Reno, the band's lead singer, suggested changing the title to "Worked for the Weekend". Everyone was in favour of the idea! And so "Working for the Weekend" was born....

Success!

Fans of the band know that some of Loverboy's early hits are "Turn Me Loose" and "The Kid Is Hot Tonite." However, "Working for the Weekend" became not just a third chart-topper, but the band's calling card! According to Paul Dean, when the guys played this song for the first time, "the dance floor was full"....

Paul Dean:

"We used to play 'Turn Me Loose' and 'The Kid Is Hot Tonite' in bars, and... nobody was dancing. No one was into it... Then we kept thinking, "Oh my God, are we ever going to reach these people?" And so, after playing our two main tracks once again, we went on stage for our third set, "Working for the Weekend". And guess what? The dance floor was full! And I said: "Great, maybe now we can get our music out there...". You know, it's really hard to get people to sit up and pay attention to a new song..."

Well, as a result, "Working for the Weekend" became a big hit for Loverboy! The song was later included in VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" list.

Music video

The band Loverboy was very lucky, because the song "Working for the Weekend" was released the same year that MTV channel appeared on the air! It's worth noting that the band from Canada didn't have a big budget... So - filming the music video for "Working for the Weekend" was a lot of fun. Here's what Mike Reno says about it in his book "MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video":

"We played that song over and over again... And what I thought was interesting was the director was like, 'OK, we're going to shoot another take, now go change.' And I was like, "What do you mean?" And the director was like, "You need to put on different clothes, and we're also going to change the lighting a little bit"... So basically we just had to put on different clothes, fix your hair, take a break, and then jump back on stage and do the same thing over and over again... It was stupid and tedious, but there was nothing left to do - we didn't have the money for a good music video..."

Popular covers ...

Many covers of "Working for the Weekend" have subsequently been recorded! Some of the most successful include versions by artists such as: former American Idol contestant and country singer Josh Gracen, American guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert, Ron Burgundy's (Will Ferrell) character...

Popularity in the media...

With a light New Wave style synth sound and a groovy character that is welcome at any party, this song has gained a lot of popularity in the media! The energetic yet pleasant sound combined with the lyrics about nightlife makes this song extremely popular! That's why "Working for the Weekend" has been used in so many films and TV shows!

This song can be heard on the musical-humour programme Saturday Night Live (1990 edition), when Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley compete to be the dancer for the Chippendales!

"Working for the Weekend" is also heard in the film "Model Male."

Gamers know this track from such bestsellers as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Saints Row 2.

The song is played in an episode of Family Guy called "Don't Be Dickens at Christmas", at the moment when Peter dances with Patrick Swayze's ghost.

There are plenty of examples proving that this song is still relevant and loved by millions of people. However... why them? Because it is clear that "Working for the Weekend" is one of the strongest creations of Loverboy. Also, this composition once again proves that it is not for nothing that 80s were marked in the history of music as "golden era"....