REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon can be booked through this site. REO Speedwagon entertainment booking site. REO Speedwagon
is available for public concerts and events. REO Speedwagon can be booked for
private events and REO Speedwagon can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this REO Speedwagon booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for REO Speedwagon, we act as YOUR agent in
securing REO Speedwagon at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
REO Speedwagon and work directly with REO Speedwagon or the responsible agent for
REO Speedwagon to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of REO Speedwagon for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
REO Speedwagon Biography
Three bands were the undisputed arena rock kings of the early
'80s -- Styx, Journey, and REO Speedwagon -- yet all weren't overnight
success stories (in fact, each group began pursuing different musical
styles originally -- prog rock, fusion, and straight-ahead hard rock,
respectively, before transforming slowly into chart-topping mainstream
rockers). REO Speedwagon first formed in 1968, via a pair of University
of Illinois students, keyboardist Neal Doughty and drummer Alan
Gratzer. After graduation, the group signed on with then-unknown
manager Irving Azoff (who would later guide the careers of such
multi-platinum acts as the Eagles and Steely Dan), which led to the
outfit building a devoted following in the Midwest due to nonstop
touring. By the early '70s, Doughty and Gratzer had welcomed aboard
guitarist Gary Richrath, who would soon prove to be the group's
sparkplug (and one of rock's more underrated players), in addition to
bassist Gregg Philbin and singer Terry Luttrell. It was this lineup to
be featured on the quintet's 1971 self-titled debut recording for Epic
Records.
The debut failed to break REO through to the mainstream, as the band's
future was thrust into uncertainty shortly thereafter, when Luttrell
left the band. Newcomer Kevin Cronin got the gig, he was a
folksinger/guitarist beforehand, with little to no experience fronting
a loud rock & roll outfit. The Cronin-led lineup appeared to be
headed in the right direction though, judging from 1972's R.E.O. 2, but
the other members grew impatient with their slow progress toward a
commercial breakthrough, and gave Cronin his walking papers. Up next as
REO's frontman was Mike Murphy, whose debut with the band, 1974's
Ridin' the Storm Out, was their first album to chart on Billboard and
spawned a concert standard with the rocking title track. Murphy stayed
onboard for a couple of more releases -- 1974's Lost in a Dream and
1975's This Time We Mean It -- but neither managed to push REO to the
next level.
Once more, a frontman change was required, and instead of searching for
a fresh new face, REO welcomed back Cronin. The move paid off almost
immediately, as REO found their niche by streamlining their sound and
focusing on melodic rockers aimed at radio, as well as power ballads
aimed at teenage girls' hearts. 1976's R.E.O. signaled the beginning of
the veteran group's winning streak, as both 1977's Live: You Get What
You Play For and 1978's You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish
were REO's first to earn gold and platinum certification. Another live
album, Live Again, was also issued in 1978, followed up a year later by
another gold-certified hit, Nine Lives. Although REO was slowly inching
their way to big-time success, no one (not even the band) could have
predicted the massive hit that their next album turned out to be, Hi
Infidelity. Issued at the tail end of 1980, it became one of 1981's
biggest albums -- spawning one of the best-known power ballads of all
time, Keep on Loving You, as well as such popular rock radio hits as
Don't Let Him Go and Take It on the Run. Hi Infidelity would
eventually go on to sell more than nine million copies -- catapulting
REO to arena-headlining status.
REO Speedwagon continued to score further hit albums (1982's Good
Trouble, 1984's Wheels Are Turnin') and singles ( Keep the Fire
Burnin', the number one hit power ballad Can't Fight This Feeling,
etc.), but the hits dried up shortly thereafter. 1987's Life as We Know
It managed to go gold, but their fans' sudden disinterest coupled with
turmoil between certain bandmembers led to the exit of both Richrath
and Gratzer by the end of the decade. REO opted to soldier on, however,
with replacement members Dave Amato (ex-Ted Nugent, guitar) and Bryan
Hitt (ex-Wang Chung, drums) in tow, as their 14-track 1988 compilation
The Hits proved to be a steady seller over the years. Further
underappreciated studio releases followed, such as 1990's The Earth, a
Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken and 1996's Building the Bridge. With
interest at an all-time low, REO was set to pack it up for good, until
a sudden wave of renewed interest in classic rock bands of yesteryear
began to sweep the U.S. during the late '90s, resulting in REO
launching successful co-headlining tours alongside such acts as Styx,
Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Journey, Lynyrd
Skynyrd, and Bad Company, among others.
The '90s saw the emergence of countless REO compilations, including
such titles as The Second Decade of Rock n' Roll: 1981 to 1991, Only
the Strong Survive, The Ballads, and a specially priced three-disc set
of Live: You Get What You Play For, You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't
Tuna Fish, and Hi Infidelity. Additionally, further in-concert releases
cropped up -- Live: Plus, Extended Versions, and a 2001 live set, Arch
Allies: Live at Riverport, split 50/50 between REO and touring mates
Styx. In a 2001 episode of VH1's Behind the Music series that focused
on REO Speedwagon, Cronin and Richrath cleared up any misconceptions of
ill will existing between either camp and voiced approval of a possible
reunion in the future. When REO returned to the studio later in the
2000s, however, it was without Richrath. Find Your Own Way Home, the
band's first studio album of new songs in more than ten years, featured
Cronin along with founding member Neal Doughty on keyboards, longtime
bassist Bruce Hall, and '80s additions Amato and Hitt. ~ Greg Prato,
All Music Guide
Written by Greg Prato