Saturday, July 12, 1997 By BLAIR S. WATSON --

Mike Reno of Loverboy is still loving every minute of it. With a new album and tour, he's ecstatic about life, even though his Vancouver-based band's status may not equal its early '80s heyday.

"We're working hard," says Reno. "We're starting from the beginning."

At this point, Loverboy is an independent act that has to negotiate for album distribution from country to country -- a giant step back from being one of Canada's hottest rock commodities a little more than a decade ago.

Loverboy, whose catalogue contains five albums and two greatest hits packages, has released their latest, Six, in Japan, Europe and England.

The album is currently only available in North America at the band's concerts or through a 1-800 number.

"It's not easy," says Reno. "Record companies are reluctant (to sign us up) just because of how the business is. So we're really starting at the beginning again and it's really humbling.

"But we're standing at attention and we're doing our best."

Whether their best is enough is something only time will tell as Loverboy enters its fifth year on the comeback trail.

Reno says his band called it quits in 1989 due to demands of constant touring and changing tastes in popular music, not to mention his concerns about the amount of time he was spending away from his family.

"I wanted to take some time off. I wanted to become me -- dad, Mike, friend, husband. I didn't want to be a puppet on a string," he says.

"Loverboy had been a 10-year run and I just said: `OK; hold it.' Music was kind of changing and I felt that we were really going to look like idiots if we didn't change with it.

"And I wanted to stop going out on the road for awhile because I had just had a baby and I wanted to stay home. I wanted to be around for the little fellows, you know?"

Reno, 42 and a father of three, says that for him the decision to take a break was not a tough one.

When he started having children, his priorities changed -- as did those of other members of the band, he says.

But now that Loverboy is back to the relentless touring it was known for in the past, how does Reno address this priority to be with his family?

He says he just takes them on the road with the band.

"Half the kids are on our road crew," says Reno with a giggle.

Bass player Scotty Smith has two kids who handle the guitars, while Reno's "handle the drinks and towels," he says.

Reno reveals that the band's frenetic guitar player is now a father as well.

"You heard it here first! Paul Dean finally decided to have some children," cracks Reno.

Loverboy's fortunes seem to be looking up with the band's touring schedule being a near non-stop situation.

But Reno says the group has been mostly playing in the U.S. at fairs and radio-sponsored events.

Although these shows may attract as many as 10,000 people, he says most shows are much smaller -- with the bands performing on a simple stage with some lights and a sound system.

"I would like to have more people looking after us, like with wardrobe and other things in that department. I would like to have our own plane like we used to," says Reno.

"But what I'm doing now is very, very rewarding."

Loverboy performs on the Stampede's Coca-Cola stage tonight at 8 p.m.