Rancho was actually an amazing little street, such an amazing little creative community because at the time, Pat Benatar lived on Rancho, too, just a few houses down, and so did Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics, Tom Petty was up the hill, and there was also David Crosby and Graham Nash, and Ronnie James Dio lived just up Balboa in one of those castles.
And right next door was Mike Connors from Mannix. Then the Mannix guy came out, and it just made our day. Is it nice to come back home? Robbie is going to be there, all my friends, my kids, my wife. This is our homecoming, the second to last show on the tour. I want to have a party, see all my friends, and rock my brains out. Back then, there was an innocence still in the band, and the truth is, we were in a horrible place and just about to get dropped by our label, as always, so we just tried to make the best record we could while going through all this personal chaos.
We had no idea what was in store for us. Just amazing. Song after song after song. Before we recorded it, everyone in the band was as miserable as we could be possibly be in our personal lives, but that always leads to the best songwriting. MTV started that year, too, and we just really hit on something.
I mean, there was also a lot of fun and a lot of laughs, but until that point none of us had really talked about the problems we were having.
All the women in your lives were cheating on you? Oh yeah. Gratzer had been a drummer since high school, and was playing in a local group on the weekends, while Doughty had learned some Beatles songs on his parents' piano. Doughty started to follow around Gratzer's band, eventually sitting in on a song or two. The keyboard player was the leader, but several other band members weren't happy with the situation.
On the last day of the university's spring semester, guitarist Joe Matt called the band's leader and told him that he, drummer Gratzer, and bassist Mike Blair had decided to leave the band and start a new one with Doughty. They made a list of songs to learn over the summer break, and Doughty got a summer job to buy his first keyboard. The members returned to school in the fall of , and had their first rehearsal before classes even started.
An ad in the school paper got them their first job—a fraternity party that turned into a food fight. They continued to perform cover songs in campus bars, fraternity parties, and university events. The first line up consisted of Doughty on keyboards, Gratzer on drums and vocals, Joe Matt on guitar and vocals, and Mike Blair on bass and vocals.
Crownover played guitar for the group until the summer of when Bill Fiorio replaced him. Fiorio then departed in late , eventually assuming the name Duke Tumatoe , and went on to form the All Star Frogs. Another guitarist, Steve Scorfina, came aboard briefly, and was replaced by Gary Richrath in late Richrath was a Peoria, Illinois -based guitarist and prolific songwriter who brought original material to the band including REO's signature song "Ridin' the Storm Out".
With Richrath on board, the regional popularity of the band grew tremendously. The band signed to Epic Records in Paul Leka , an East Coast record producer, brought the band to his recording studio in Bridgeport , Connecticut where it recorded original material for its first album. With their equipment being hauled to dates in a friend's station wagon, REO played bars and clubs all over the Midwest.
The most popular track on this record was " Riverside Avenue ". The title refers to the Westport, Connecticut address, where the band stayed while recording in Leka's studio in nearby Bridgeport and remains an in-concert favorite.
Although the rest of the band's line-up remained stable, REO Speedwagon switched lead vocalists three times for their first three albums. Luttrell left the band in early , eventually becoming the vocalist for Starcastle. He was replaced by Kevin Cronin. Cronin recorded one album with the band, 's R. Cronin's return came after Greg X. Volz turned down the position for lead vocalist due to his commitment to Christianity.
The album was REO's first to make the Top 40, peaking at The album sold over 2 million copies in the U. In the band took a turn back to hard rock with the release of Nine Lives. The stage was now set for the band's most popular era. In the fall of , REO Speedwagon released Hi Infidelity , which represented a change in the music from hard rock to more pop -oriented material.
Hi Infidelity sold over 10 million copies and set the bar for rock bands across the country. Good Trouble and Wheels Are Turnin' were follow-up albums which also did well commercially, the former containing the hit singles "Keep the Fire Burnin'" U.
On July 13, , the band made a stop in Philadelphia en route to a show in Milwaukee to play at the US Leg of Live Aid , which broke a record for number of viewers. By the end of the s, the band's popularity was waning. In early , Richrath was asked to leave over disagreements with Cronin regarding musical direction. Back up singers Carla Day and Melanie Jackson were also added in to boost the group's vocal sound onstage.
The album produced only one, and at this time the last, Billboard Hot single, " Love Is a Rock " at Harms was disillusioned and his tenure in the group ended in early Shortly after his departure, Richrath assembled former members of the midwestern band Vancouver to form a namesake band, Richrath. Richrath continued to perform for several years before disbanding in the late s. When that label went bankrupt , the album was released on the ill-fated Castle Records which also experienced financial troubles.
REO Speedwagon ultimately self-financed this effort, which failed to chart. The commercial failure of the band's newer material with its revised lineup demanded a change in marketing strategy.
As a consequence, Epic began re-releasing recordings from older albums with updated artwork and design. From to the present, the label released over a dozen compilation albums featuring greatest hits, including 's The Ballads. Louis , which was released as a live concert video Arch Allies: Live at Riverport. Though it did not chart as an album, it produced two singles which appeared on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary radio chart.
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