This American Rock Band has had quite a trip to get to where they are today. The band got together in 1967 and although they did gather some followers during the 1970’s they made a break through only during the 1980’s. Most of the members met at school during 1966 and got together during their summer break to learn some songs. When they returned in 1967 to school they had their very first band practice before going to class. They called themselves ‘REO Speedwagon’ after a flatbed truck using the founder’s initials. They advertised in the schools local paper and received their first gig via the paper. For some time they performed at frat parties, University events as well as the Campus bars. The band players at that time were as follow, Joe Matt played guitar and done vocals joined by Mike Blair on vocals but playing the brass. Doughty handled the keyboard and Gratzer played the drums and joined into the vocals as well. During 1968 the bands lead singer was Terry Luttrell. Matt and Blair were out and thus Bob Crownover and Gregg Philbin joined the band in their spots. There were also other additions to the band such as Joe McCabe, Marty Shepard, Bill Fiorio, Steve Scorfina and Gary Richrath. One would leave and another take his place thus the band went through many changes during the 1970’s. Their album ‘Hi Infidelity’ which was released during the fall of 1980 contained four Top 40 US hits and sold an astounding 10 million copies. As the 1990’s approached the band started to lose their glamour and in 1988 Gratzer also retired leaving Neal as the only member that stuck to the band from the beginning. Over the next two years the band had more numerous member changes but after Richrath left the band lost their contract with Epic and went over to Rhythm Safari Label Company releasing ‘Building the Bridge’ in 1996. This label went bankrupt and the album was released by Castle Records however they were also in dire financial need leaving the band to self-finance thus it did not chart. They continued doing tours and performed all their classics on the road. The end of 2009 REO Speedwagon brought out a Christmas album ‘Not so Silent Night’ and in 2010 they announced that they would be releasing a deluxe edition of ‘Hi Infidelity’ as their 30th anniversary album. The end of 2013 they joined Styx in the ‘Rock to the Rescue’ concert to raise funds for the needy affected by the tornado in Illinois. Here they gained light again to add to their followers. The concert tickets were all sold out and Gary Richrath joined the band on stage as well as Richard Marx for a couple of songs. During the bands years it has sold over 40 million records and had 13 Top 40 Hits with 2 number 1 hits namely ‘Keep on Loving you’ and ‘Can’t fight this Feeling’. Earlier this year 2014, the band announced that they ‘REO Speedwagon’ and ‘Chicago’ would be playing together during this year at 15 events. A heritage band, REO Speedwagon will be visiting the Fallsview Casino Resort and performing some of their biggest hits, including: Keep on Loving You Can’t Fight This Feeling Take it On the Run Tickets are responsibly priced, starting at $35. This is a one night only affair, so reserve you seat while you can. niagarafalls.events/event/reo-speedwagon/
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 20:00:01 +0000
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