Working for the Weekend

"Working for the Weekend" is a song released in 1981 on Canadian rock band Loverboy's second album Get Lucky. 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.

"Working for the Weekend" is ranked No. 100 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	16
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	11
US Billboard Hot 100	29
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	2

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 and one episode of the Cartoon Network series Regular Show.

The song was also featured in the 2006 film Click, featuring Adam Sandler, it was sung by Terry Crews while 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

Parody

Christian parody band ApologetiX did a parody of the song called "Working for the Weakened" for their all-'80s parody album Wise Up and Rock.

In media

"Working for the Weekend" was used in a Saturday Night Live skit involving Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley as two auditioning dancers hoping to be hired by Chippendales.

The song was featured in the 2001 Ben Stiller film Zoolander during the scene where Derek is working in the coal mines with his father and brothers, and in the 2006 film Click during the scene where a man (played by Terry Crews) sings along to the song in his car.

It was also featured on the soundtracks to the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Saint's Row 2.

It was also used on the Cartoon Network series Regular Show, in the episode "Caffeinated Concert Tickets".

In the episode "It's Never Too Late For Now" of the American comedy 30 Rock, Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) was said to have been in Loverboy, and a clip from the video for this song, with a young Pete edited in, was played.

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) performed the song on Conan on 20 November 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.

It was used in a TV commercial for Toyota in 2012 which featured NASCAR driver Kyle Busch sing along to the song while driving a Toyota Camry which was transformed from Busch's NASCAR car to a Camry.

It was used in a TV commercial for Radio Shack that aired during Fox's coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014.

The 2015 film Pixels featured the song as part of its underlying references to the 80's and its video games.

Rock Band 3

It was made available to download on May 3, 2011 for play in Rock Band 3 Basic, and PRO mode which utilizes real guitar/bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits/keyboards in addition to vocals.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics