Yeah, I Like REO Speedwagon. You Gotta Problem Wid’ Dat?
Yesterday, I mentioned REO Speedwagon in a post I wrote about those rock one-hitters I discovered while working my first AOR radio gig.
This morning, Jeff over at The Midnight Tracker gave me an inside tip on a little “midwest madness” he’ll be serving up on his site in the days to come. (Sorry, can’t spill the beans…).
This afternoon, my kids were recounting their trip to see the Ice Capades, wherein one of the skaters did a routine to Roll With The Changes.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
I’m destined to post about those much-loved, sometimes-reviled kings of midwest rock and roll.
I bought Nine Lives at Peaches Records and Tapes in Buffalo in 1979 because I loved the song Only The Strong Survive. Otherwise, I’d never heard all that much of REO Speedwagon when I landed at the aforementioned radio station in 1981. Maybe 157 Riverside Avenue had crossed my path a time or two, but that was about it.
It then and there that I discovered Roll With The Changes and Time For Me To Fly, to this day two of my favorites from the album that, to this day, has one of my favorite titles: You Can Tune A Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish.
A few years later, I got to do a phone interview with Alan Gratzer (a local fave who grew up in Upstate New York) and when Hi Infidelity was ubiquitous, I got to see their show in Rochester from backstage, with a gorgeous French Canadian girl who spoke just enough English to be dangerous. (Oh, yeah, it was a great show. Amazing sound they had in those days).
So, yeah, I like REO Speedwagon and my kids do too. After a couple listens to Roll With The Changes, my 8-year was at the piano, working out the chords (and my 10-year old was trying to tune a fish).
Roll With The Changes - Hands down my favorite REO song, probably because of Neal Doughty’s hands. Still one of the great B3 solos of all rock and roll.
Time For Me To Fly – Great harmonies.
Keep On Lovin’ You – OK, I know it was overplayed and people revolted. But, twenty years on, you have it admit: it’s a great pop song.
Can’t Fight This Feeling – Sappy late model REO…but, I like it anyway.
Cool little post — nice to see another REO fan in the blogosphere. The Legacy “Essential REO Speedwagon” never leaves my iPod.
Rob
EightE1
Dig the REO Speedwagon! I’m kind of partial to the live one, “You Get What You Play For.”
[Every now and then someone comes around and points out what a dumbass I am when it comes to music. It's a hard pill to swallow, to admit that no matter how much I try, I'll never be quite cool as he is. Just like in high school. I think I'll go listen to Bon Iver and then shoot myself. MJ@F45]
How old are you? Were you around during the supposed heyday of this nutless pretenders? In the late 70s rock was nearly dead, taken over by disco. Punk and New Wave were just coming out of the woodwork and largely under the radar. Going to clubs was painful enough with all the disco, but if you asked the DJ to play some rock and roll here is what you got: Riding the Storm Out – REO; Never been any Reason – Head East; and a Bob Seger song. Always. Go to a party and all you would hear would be Fleetwood Mac, REO, or Boston. It was enough to melt your brain. As a teen into rock, I bought several REO LPs. Still have them. But as my taste in music broadened, I left REO behind as the teeny bopper rock that it is. You can listen to this crap to your own delight. I had to suffer through my cousin singing (rather horribly, I must add) an REO song at her own wedding. Me? If REO comes on the radio, within 2 bars I am on a new station. You could say its like getting so drunk on tequila that even the smell still makes you want to vomit.
You post a lot of great music on this blog, but REO Speedwagon? Please! They sucked back then and time hasn’t made them any better. W
OH YEAH, one of my favorites is the live version of Riding the storm out. My wife and kids cringe if they hear me playing it, but i just crank it up!
Rather amusing the way some folks cannot accept that their own taste isn’t universal – and anyone thinking in a different way must be A) old B) an idiot or C) both.
Now I am far from being a big fan of pop, but I can appreciate hooks and craft and solid production value, and REO had all of that. How easy it is to forget that any cliché was once a fresh, innovative idea, so great and becoming so popular that it was copied ad nauseam.
Reo had a “density” in their sound that made it like little else. They layering of certain sounds – I am thinking piano, strings, acoustic guitar – had never been done quite with the same dedicated intensity.
My wife hates them for exactly the same reason I like them – she needs silences and hates limiters and compression. But, heck, if only for the melancholic effect, it;s worth a listen…
I love REO Speedwagon i saw them in concert a couple weeks ago and they were simply amazing! check out this review i found! http://bostonmusicspotlight.com/article.php?id=2336