REO SPEEDWAGON’S 30-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MULTI-PLATINUM #1 BREAKTHROUGH HIT HI INFIDELITY BRINGS RE-RELEASE WITH DOUBLE-CD PACKAGE DUE OUT JULY 19, 2011
Anniversary Package To Include Previously-Unreleased Demos of Nine Songs and Liner Notes From Front man Kevin Cronin, Available Everywhere through Epic/Legacy
Los Angeles, CA…(May 24, 2011) – The year 1981 marks the debut of the groundbreaking MTV Networks and, simultaneously, as MTV was hitting the airwaves, changing music forever, REO Speedwagon held the #1 album spot with their multi-platinum Hi Infidelity, making an impression that has also come to last decades. Now, marking its 30th Anniversary, the highest-selling rock LP of 1981 is being commemorated with HI INFIDELITY: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, with special, never-before-released demos and more, available at all physical and digital retail outlets on July 19th through Epic/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.
Hi-Infidelity was a career-changing album for REO Speedwagon, achieving a staggering number of accolades, chart positions and sales, among them:
· Highest-selling rock LP of 1981
· Has sold close to 10 million copies in the US
· February 21, 1981; the album hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and remained at #1 for 15 weeks straight; taking over John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s “Double Fantasy,” which previously held the spot for eight weeks
· Remained on Billboard 200 album chart for 101 weeks, unprecedented for an American rock band at the time
· Album certified RIAA Gold and Platinum on February 2, 1981; since been 10x Platinum certified
· Single “Keep on Loving You,” certified RIAA gold on March 4th, replaced Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” at #1 on Billboard Hot 100 on March 21, 1981
· March 21st, 1981, the first week of Billboard’s then new “Top Tracks” chart (now known as the Mainstream Rock Chart) boasted four songs from Hi Infidelity: “Keep on Loving You” and “Take It On the Run,” which both hit the top 10; and “Don’t Let Him Go”(#11) and “Tough Guys” (#25); “Out of Season,” joined those four a week later
· “Take It On the Run” was the 9th music video ever to be played on MTV
The HI INFIDELITY: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION will pair the original album with a second CD of previously unreleased ‘Crystal Demos’ of nine of the album’s 10 songs. Additionally, the album packaging will include notes from original lead guitarist Gary Richrath and the liner notes were written by lead singer Kevin Cronin, taking the reader on a trip behind the curtain to the roots of many of the songs: “I remember writing the verses to piano, after sleepwalking into my home studio around 4:00 a.m….A long simmering response to the bullies of my youth came in the form of ‘Tough Guys’…Bruce wrote and sang ‘Someone Tonight,’ which is one of the gems from the Crystal Demos… ‘I wish You Were There’ [was] a little gospel thing that I had written in the house where I grew up in suburban Chicago.”
HI INFIDELITY: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION by REO SPEEDWAGON (Epic/Legacy 88697 69579 2, originally issued November 1980, as Epic 36844)
Disc One – Selections: 1. Don’t Let Him Go • 2. Keep On Loving You • 3. Follow My Heart • 4. In Your Letter • 5. Take It On The Run • 6. Tough Guys • 7. Out Of Season • 8. Shakin’ It Loose • 9. Someone Tonight • 10. I Wish You Were There.
Disc Two: The Crystal Demos – Selections: 1. Someone Tonight • 2. Tough Guys • 3. In Your Letter • 4. Follow My Heart • 5. Take It On The Run • 6. Don’t Let Him Go • 7. Keep On Loving You • 8. Shakin’ It Loose (Instrumental) • 9. I Wish You Were There. (All tracks previously unreleased.)
“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 of REO Speedwagon
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 and guitar), 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. Summer tour dates begin at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre on June 4th and take the band through more than 40 shows where they’ll showcase the best of Hi Infidelity with the live performances that audiences have grown to love over the last three decades and continue to sell out time and time again.
“Kevin and I go way back, having met right about the time I joined Styx. There was probably no one more keenly aware of their chart positions than we were for all those weeks back in 1981. Most exciting days indeed!” – Tommy Shaw of Styx
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.”
REO SPEEDWAGON ON TOUR
Date City Venue
June 4 Los Angeles, CA The Greek
11 Anderson, IN Hoosier Park Racing & Casino
16 Louisville, KY Iroquois Amphitheater
17 Ozark, MO Show Me Music & Arts Festival
18 Tulsa, OK Guts Church
23 Richland Center, WI Star Spangled Celebration
24 Norfolk , NE DeVent Center
25 Ft. Dodge, IA The Oleson Park Bandshell
26 Hinckley, MN Grand Casino
30 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
July 1 Naperville, IL Naperville Ribfest
2 Rothbury, MI Electric Forest Festival
4 Del Mar, CA San Diego County Fair – Grandstand
21 Sault Ste Marie, MI Kewadin Casino
23 Goshen, IN Elkhart County Fair
25 Oshkosh, WI ConocoPhillips Plaza
27 Sacramento, CA Golden1 Stage @ The Cove
30 Medicine Hat, Alb. Medicine Hat Stampede
Aug. 2 Great Falls, MT Montana State Fair
6 Ridgefield, WA Amphitheater at Clark County
19 Imperial, NE Chase County Fair
21 Rapid City, SD Central States Fairground
24 Rhinebeck, NY Dutchess County Fair
26 Lancaster, PA Freedom Hall at Lancaster County CC
27 Blue Ash, OH Blue Ash Towne Square
28 Woodstock, VA Shenandoah County Fair
Sept. 3 New Lenox, IL New Lenox Commons
4 Wauseon, OH Fulton County Fair
15 Hutchinson, KS Kansas State Fair
17 Frederick, MD Great Frederick Fair
18 Pittsburgh, PA Trib Total Media Amphitheatre
23 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre