Anyone who knows me personally knows that I spent several months in Calgary, Alberta in 2019... and visited for a day in 2022 as well. I love the city. It was a great place to work and live and visit, and I would gleefully return.
Why am I spending time evangelizing Calgary?
Because today's Wicked Guilty Pleasure hails from Calgary. Formed in 1979, they got their start as Kiss's opening act in Vancouver.
Seriously. That was their first live performance.
An album followed in 1980, and their first single, released in 1981, was "Turn Me Loose". Mike Reno really sells the song - practically begging to do it his way or no way at all. It ended up being a Top 40 hit in the US (and a huge hit on rock radio in the States as well) and Top 10 in Canada. It also won the 1982 Juno Award for Single of the Year.
It would be their biggest Canadian hit (but by no means their only!), but they did a lot more in the US, where MTV embraced them.
And, yes, they are Canadian Music Hall of Famers - 2009 inductees - beating Shania Twain there by 2 years.
And yes, they are still together - after a brief hiatus in the late 80s, they reformed in the early 90s and never looked back.
And Mike Reno is older, but still commands the stage. That classic bassline is still there. The classic guitar is still here, more than 40 years after its initial release.
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