Released October 1981 Length 3:40 | Genre Hard rock
pop rock Label Columbia | |
Recorded 1980–81, Mushroom Studios
(Vancouver, British Columbia) Writer(s) Paul Dean
Mike Reno
Matt Frenette | ||
"Working for the Weekend" is a song by Canadian rock band Loverboy from their second studio album Get Lucky (1981). It was written by guitarist Paul Dean, vocalist Mike Reno, and drummer Matt Frenette, and produced by Dean and Bruce Fairbairn, and released as the lead single from the album in October 1981. The song contains more of a pop feel than the other songs that the band produced, but this new sound proved to generate success, as the song reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in the United States in January 1982.
Contents
"Working for the Weekend" is ranked No. 100 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.
Background
The song originated when guitarist Paul Dean was out walking one Wednesday afternoon, looking for inspiration in his songwriting. He noticed that much of the area was deserted, as most people were at work. "So I'm out on the beach and wondering, 'Where is everybody? Well, I guess they're all waiting for the weekend,'" he later said. Mike Reno, the band's vocalist, suggested they change the title to "Working for the Weekend". According to Dean, he first began writing the song in a hotel room following a Montreal concert. At the time, the band were still playing bars to little response from patrons. After completing the song, they used it to open one set, and Dean recalled that "the dance floor was packed."
Cover versions
The song was covered by former American Idol contestant and country music artist Josh Gracin on the 2005 soundtrack to the film Herbie: Fully Loaded.
The song was also featured in the 2006 film Click, featuring Adam Sandler; it was sung by Terry Crews while he sat in a traffic jam.
American virtuoso guitarist Paul Gilbert included an instrumental cover of this song as the first track on his 2014 album Stone Pushing Uphill Man
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) performed the song on Conan on November 20, 2013 suggesting he had been asked to cover the song by Rob Ford as Ford's campaign song for re-election as Mayor of Toronto, the lyrics parodying Ford's ongoing substance abuse scandal.