Apr 252011
Admit it, there have been times when you’ve thought to yourself, “If only REO Speedwagon had rocked a little harder they may not have been half bad.”
Are you happy, now?
Admit it, there have been times when you’ve thought to yourself, “If only REO Speedwagon had rocked a little harder they may not have been half bad.”
Are you happy, now?
I saw REO Speedwagon at the Lakeland, Florida Civic Center on a double-bill with Black Oak Arkansas in 1978. It was perhaps the worst “major-group” show I’ve ever seen, but I thought that REO was the better of the two groups. Please note: I said “better”, not “good” – REO had competent musicians and occasionally were moderately tuneful with their “friendly” rock but that’s as far as it went. Though ultimately Wonder-Bread bland and flavorless, REO was less annoying than, say, Styx or Journey in that they didn’t have a piercingly high-decibel frontman. They did manage to turn out a somewhat amusingly goofy video once.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6UFhis2xMQ
My god that was horrible. I think I actually prefer the Kevin Cronen version of the group.
It’s like, how much more could this rock? And the answer is none. None more rock. (To paraphrase Nigel Tufnel.)
My favorite band member: the bass player — the band’s plodding boogie sentinel. I actually think his hairline recedes a few *more* inches over the course of this performance.
I call a 15 yard penalty on the guitar player for excessive Wah-wah pedal noodling.
What’s the fringe on the guitarist’s left shoulder attached to, his strap, his shirt, or some kind of fringed scarf/shawl?
I love the host’s animated introduction.
That intro is easily the best thing about that video.
“Friendly Rock” is now my newest iTunes genre!
I wanted him to bust out into a Casey Kasem tirade.
Just think – you can put in REO with the Spin Doctors, Ringo Starr, Bon Jovi, Kix, The Rembrandts, and Huey Lewis and the News.
I give the host credit for an appropriate level of excitement.
Guys, whatever you may think about the REO stuff you know, go back and listen to R.E.O. T.W.O. I think it’s THe best 70s bar band hard rock album by anyone…totally fantastic and full of wild and intense energy. I do like some of their later stuff too, and even think HI INFIDELITY is an irresistible album (I don’t like the two hit ballads, but I like every single other song on the LP) The song here is from their first album, which I never liked much; it’s the addition of Cronin and the second one where they really blossomed. Then Cronin temporarily left and they never really regained what they had with T.W.O. Here’s my fave song from T.W.O. :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_M5saI2IW4
Whatever genre this song is a representative of–whether it is boogie rock or something else–I hate.
It’s a watershed moment for intergenerational rocking out amongst nice people. Let us bang our heads in unison.
If we could just subtract everything this band stands for from the history of rock and roll that would be just super.
I feel the same way about Lou Reed’s “New Sensations,” and while Lou never got a new singer, he was the origin for me for the probably constantly-reused joke: “Hey did you hear? Lou Reed is getting back together!” Which is kinda the same, I figure.
Dude, banging your head is too metal – sex, violence, drugs, Satan, hearing loss, and all that. Nice people nod their heads politely.