Matt Wells: Mike Reno

September 5th, 2008

See the latest episode of Where You At, Baby? with Mike Reno, this Sunday at 8:30pm ET on MuchMoreMusic!

Oh Mike Reno. Aside from the fact that I had a HORRIBLE cold while in Vancouver to hang with the headbanded (is that a word?) superstar himself, I had so much fun checkin in with Mike Reno.

Knowing how many MILLIONS of albums Loverboy had sold I was curious to see how Mike was living, and as you’ll see in the show he’s living very modestly – no gold plated doors or servants running around, which Mike attributes to 2 divorces in the light-hearted way only Reno can. But he did tell me that after the first Loverboy album, he was set for life, everything after that was just gravy … he also told me he lost a SHIT load in some bad investments as well – but TRUST me, Mike is doing just fine. Mike has a super grounded outlook on his fame and success and doesn’t take any of it for granted or take himself too seriously. A really cool guy to chat with.

It was my first time in Vancouver and I couldn’t have had a better tour guide and the conversation was super interesting. We had a long chat about the early 80′s payola scandal and how that actually HURT loverboy… I had heard bits and pieces of this story before, but to hear it from Mike’s mouth was AMAZING – turn it loose PROBABLYY would have gone number one. (You can soon check it out in the “extras” section of the show page).

Something I didn’t know was that Huey Lewis and The News were given their very first big tour by Loverboy and Mike remembers a time when Huey was telling him they weren’t sure if they could keep going or if their music was gonna hit. Good thing Huey kept at it I think.

Also, it is true I was literally tripping over gold and platinum records in Mike’s house and garage, they were EVERYWHERE, but he doesn’t like putting them on the walls, they are just stored behind couches and in the garage (he JUST moved in). His lady actually put the big ass 9 MILLION sales one on the wall while he was on the road and he took it down when he got back. Shit… I’d hang it around my neck.

He also told me about the time he changed hotel rooms one night in Vancouver so he could accommodate more friends for a party, and this was a time before cell phones… his band couldn’t find him and all left for a show in Anaheim… no one realized he was in a different room. He had to rent a leer jet on his own dime, then a cop car (that had leather pants and a headband waiting for him inside) picked him up and drove him to the gig where he literally jumped on stage and performed to 60, 000 people!

The thing I loved about this guy is that he still has the desire for a number one hit and to be the biggest rockstar in the world again. Huey told me that he is done with that part of his life, he likes playing the hits but doesn’t have that same competitive gumption bands have when they are young. Mike STILL has that fire under his ass that he had when he played in his first band and it’s really inspiring.

Loverboy: 80s cheese yes, but one of the most successful CDN bands EVER. And they SHOULD at the VERY least be in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Turn it loose,
=matt

Posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 1:22 pm by Matt Wells and is filed under We <3 TV.