REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon reached a peak at Epic Records in 1980 and ’81 with Hi Infidelity, an album which has sold close to a staggering 10 million copies in the U.S. The release, which included the enduring radio hits “Keep On Loving You” and “Take It On The Run,” is being commemorated this year with HI INFIDELITY: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION to be released July 19th. Pairing the original album with a second CD of previously unreleased ‘Crystal Demos’ of nine of the album’s ten songs, the double-CD package is being released to all physical and digital retail outlets through Epic/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, at a time when recognizing the tremendous influences this album had on the rock genre couldn’t be more timely, 30-years later.

The newly-remastered HI INFIDELITY: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION is a reminder of a sound and feeling that came to a dominant position at the pre-dawn of the MTV era. There is a real urgency to the power ballad “Keep on Loving You” and the surging “Take It on the Run” that defined an era, and gave the album its emotional core. It was “Keep On Loving You,” released November 1980, that truly galvanized the imagination of the American public following the horror of December 8th. The REO ballad became a stirring anthem of hope in the nationwide mourning period after John Lennon’s death. Hi Infidelity was released November 1980. The week of February 21, 1981, Hi Infidelity had the bittersweet distinction of taking over the #1 position on the Billboard 200 album chart from John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy, which had held the top spot for eight weeks. Hi Infidelity was certified RIAA gold and platinum on February 2, 1981, and went on to stay at #1 for 15 straight weeks.

But the week of March 21, 1981, was one to remember for rock fans, the week that “Keep On Loving You” (certified RIAA gold on March 4th) replaced Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also the week that Billboard inaugurated its new Top Tracks chart, which provided an alternative for artists and bands that were not tailored for Top 40, but nevertheless were getting saturation airplay at FM radio, were selling RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum, and were filling arenas and stadiums.

The first week of the new Top Tracks chart (March 21, 1981) boasted no less than four songs by REO Speedwagon, all from Hi Infidelity – “Keep On Loving You” and “Take It On The Run” (both eventually reaching the Top 10), “Don’t Let Him Go” (which hit #11), and “Tough Guys” (#25). A week later (March 28th) “Out Of Season” was added, giving REO five tracks from Hi Infidelity that were simultaneously receiving airplay on FM rock radio. The Top Tracks chart morphed into the Album Rock chart in 1986, and the Mainstream Rock chart in 1996; in between, Billboard launched the Modern Rock chart in 1988. In a sense, Hi Infidelity was the root of all these changes.

Hi Infidelity, REO’s ninth studio album (and 11th Epic album overall at the time) was not only a breakthrough for the band, but for the world of rock in general. It had taken REO seven albums and a decade on Epic to earn a platinum record, for the live double-LP, You Get What You Play For, certified by the RIAA in August 1977. Their next album, You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish (their first LP to be co-produced by Kevin Cronin, who went on to co-produce virtually every REO release to this day) was certified RIAA gold in June 1978. The album after that, Nine Lives was certified RIAA gold in December 1979.

But the success of Hi Infidelity, 101 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart, was unprecedented for an American rock band, selling more than a million copies every year, through its 7x-platinum certification by the RIAA in 1986. (It was certified 9x-platinum in 1995.) In turn, its success bolstered the band’s catalog, raising 1972’s R.E.O./T.W.O. to gold in August 1981; 1973’s Ridin' the Storm Out to platinum; You Can Tune a Piano… to double-platinum, and so on. After Hi Infidelity, REO achieved platinum for Good Trouble (1982); double-platinum for Wheels Are Turnin' (1984); and gold for Life As We Know It (1987).

“The heavens, our emotions, the music business, and REO fans all over the world, were all perfectly aligned. There was a common sense of purpose, of longing and loss, within the band members’ collective psyche, that erupted with a burst of creativity, and resulted in the music of Hi Infidelity.” – from the liner notes written by Kevin Cronin

Originally formed in Champaign, Illinois, REO Speedwagon is still led today by keyboardist Neal Doughty (founding member since 1967), Kevin Cronin (who has fronted the band since 1972 on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards), and bassist Bruce Hall (who joined in 1977) – along with lead guitarist Dave Amato (member since 1989) and drummer Bryan Hitt (since 1990). Together, REO continues to define the essence of two enduring genres, arena rock on the performance side, and classic rock on the audio and video side.

As Cronin writes, “Hi Infidelity was a major life changer for all of us. On our eleventh album, we went from being the perennial Midwestern underdog, to at last hitting the global big time. Suddenly, the world was listening, and watching… But the truth is, it all still boiled down to the music, the songs, some inspired performances, and a great deal of good fortune. We were a tight knit, dedicated group of individuals, with a dream, a purpose, and no doubt that we would pull it all off.”