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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZREO SPEEDWAGONRock group named after a make of fire engine, formed in 1967 in Champagne IL. Founder members were U of I students Alan Gratzer (b 9 November 1948, Syracuse, NY), drums, and Neal Doughty (b 29 July 1946, Evanston IL), keyboards; plus Gary Richrath (b 10 October 1949, Peoria IL; d 13 September 2015), guitar; Terry Luttrell, vocals, Gregg Philbin, bass. After their eponymous LP debut '71 Luttrell was replaced by Kevin Cronin, himself replaced after R.E.O. T.W.O. '72 by Mike Murphy. They played long tours on the stadium circuit with Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Kansas; they were seen as a bar band who might make it and wished well by critics; they made it eventually without getting better, managed until '77 by Eagles boss Irv Azoff. They crept slowly up the charts with Ridin' The Storm Out, Lost In A Dream, This Time We Mean It '74-5 to the top 75 LPs; then Cronin returned, his country-tinged singing giving Richrath's songs a little more distinction, yet R.E.O. '76 slipped back below no. 150. Two-disc Live/You Get What You Play For did better; You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish '78 was a top 30 LP, perhaps because of its silly title; they produced Nine Lives '79 themselves; after two-disc compilation A Decade Of Rock And Roll 1970 To 1980 (later followed by Second Decade Of Rock And Roll 1981 To 1991), Hi Infidelity '80 was no. 1 for 15 weeks, including no. 1 'Keep On Lovin' You', soundalike top five 'Take It On The Run' (also UK hits) and two others, their first top 40 entries: they struck it rich as USA radio became completely spineless, making major-label money- spinners of faceless bands like REO, Kansas, Journey, Styx who could graft an occasional hook on to otherwise unmemorable songs. Later LPs were less frequent: Good Trouble '82 (with no. 7 'Keep The Fire Burnin''), Wheels Are Turnin' '84 (with no. 1 'Can't Fight This Feeling') were both no. 7 LPs, followed by Life As We Know It '87; The Earth, A Small Man, His Dog And A Chicken '90 reached only no. 129. |