REO Speedwagon’s Hi Infidelity was released: November 21, 1980

Hi Infidelity REO Speedwagon

Released: November 21, 1980 Peak: 115 US, 6 UK, 2 CN, 6 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 0.06 UK, 13.40 world (includes US and UK) Genre: arena rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Don’t Let Him Go (3/21/81, 24 BB, 11 AR) Keep on Loving You (11/29/80, 1 BB, 9 AR, 7 UK, platinum) Follow My Heart In Your Letter (8/8/81, 20 BB, 26 AC) Take It on the Run (3/21/81, 5 BB, 6 AR, 19 UK, gold) Tough Guys (3/21/81, 25 AR) Out of Season (3/28/81, 59 AR) Shakin’ It Loose Someone Tonight I Wish You Were There Total Running Time: 34:55 The Players: Kevin Cronin (vocals, guitar, piano) Gary Richrath (guitar) Neal Doughty (keyboards) Bruce Hall (bass) Alan Gratzer (drums)

Rating: 3.893 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Quotable: “If you need proof why arena rock was giant, this is it…This is really arena rock’s Blood on the Tracks.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “If you need proof why arena rock was giant, this is it.” AMG REO Speedwagon could arguably be credited with bringing arena rock to its pinnacle. They “had been slogging it out in the arenas of the U.S.” AMG for nearly a decade, “building up a sizeable audience because they could deliver live.” AMG This was much the same story for the band’s peers like Styx, Journey, and Foreigner. The difference is that all those bands had landed a couple top ten albums. The highest REO ever previously reached was #29. Then, in 1981, all four bands topped the album charts. However, REO got their first “with this incredibly mainstream collection of power ballads and economic hard rock.” RO They did it with a fifteen-week chart-topper which sold more than 9 million copies in the U.S. This was “a record that not just summarized their strengths, but captured everything that was good about arena rock. This is the sound of the stadiums in that netherworld between giants like Zeppelin and MTV’s slick, video-ready anthems.” AMG “The band’s strongest attribute is its inconspicuous nature. You never see it coming. Kevin Cronin has a serviceable voice and Gary Richrath is a solid if unspectacular lead player” RO “but there’s a real urgency to the songs and the performances.” AMG Keep on Loving You set “the pattern for the power ballads that would take many a hard rock band to the top of the charts throughout the ‘80s.” RO That song “and the surging Take It on the Run…define their era.” AMG There’s also “the Bo Diddley-inspired opener, Don’t Let Him Go” AMG and other radio-friendly songs like “the sun-kissed ‘60s homage In Your Letter, and Tough Guys.” AMG “What’s really great about these songs is not just the sheen of professionalism that makes them addictive to listen to, but there’s a real strain of pathos that runs through these songs – the album’s title isn't just a clever pun, but a description of the tortured romantic relationships that populate this record’s songs. This is really arena rock’s Blood on the Tracks, albeit by a group of guys instead of a singular vision, but that makes it more affecting, as well as a killer slice of ear candy.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for REO Speedwagon STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide RO Rob O’Connor, Amazon.com WK Wikipedia First posted 10/6/2010; last updated 11/17/2023.

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REO Speedwagon “Ridin’ the Storm Out” charted

Ridin’ the Storm Out REO Speedwagon

Writer(s): Gary Richrath (see lyrics here) Released (studio version, album cut): December 21, 1973 Released (single): February 1974 Released (on live album): January 1977 First Charted (live version): May 28, 1977 Peak (studio version): 46 CL, 9 DF Peak (live version): 94 US, 97 CB, 79 HR, 6 CL, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 8.7 video, -- streaming

Awards (live version): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The rock band REO Speedwagon formed in Champaign, Illinois in 1967. Keyboardist Neal Doughty and drummer Alan Gratzer were the only original members left by the time the band released its self-titled debut in 1971. By then, singer Terry Luttrell, guitarist Gary Richrath, and bassist Gregg Philbin rounded out the group. For their second album, Kevin Cronin replaced Luttrell, but then Cronin left over creative differences during the making of the band’s third album, 1973’s Ridin’ the Storm Out. He was replaced by Mike Murphy. That album was the first to chart for the band, reaching a measly #171, but eventually going platinum. The title song was written by Richrath about the band stuck in a harsh blizzard at a bar named Tulagi’s in Boulder, Colorado after a show. WK1 According to Cronin, Richrath was messing with the tour manager and trying to get lost. When they really did get lost, they had to stop and “ride the storm out.” SF The song was released as a single, but failed to chart – at least originally. Murphy stuck around for the next two studio albums, but Cronin returned after a four-year absence for the 1976 album R.E..O.. The band released their first live album, You Get What You Play For, the next year and found their first chart success on the Billboard Hot 100. The live version of “Ridin’ the Storm Out” – this time with Cronin on lead vocals – only reached #94, but has become a “classic rock radio staple.” WK2 The band continued to grow its following until they pulled off a #1 hit in 1980 with the song “Keep on Loving You” and its chart-topping, ten-million-selling album Hi Infidelity. A studio version of the song with Cronin on lead vocals was eventually released in 2018 on the box set The Early Years 1971-1977. WK1 Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for REO Speedwagon SF Songfacts WK1 Wikipedia page for Ridin’ the Storm Out album WK2 Wikipedia page for Live: You Get What You Play For album First posted 7/21/2022.