a bit popularity-wise in 1983. Ides of March Vehicle Live at Song House of Blues 2014. would react to the record. He is a healer, and capable of giving comfort to those in need - he will frequently offer a shoulder for others to cry on. But we also thought it would be a good idea to create a feature in the mag asking our favourite musicians about their worst (or maybe best) times in the dressing up box. Contact, 2023Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft, This page was last modified 17.09.2018 12:42:47, "Now It's Cheat to the Beat, as Reo Speedwagon Finally Arrives with 'Hi Infidelity, http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6700404/reo-speedwagon-gary-richrath-kevin-cronin-interview, "REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin on Louisville, power ballads and if my wife's a slut", "Styx, REO Speedwagon Team Up For "Rockin'" Tour, Single", "REO Speedwagon Plans 'Hi Infidelty' 30th Anniversary Reissue, Tour", "Live Nation Announces REO Speedwagon And Chicago Summer Tour", "Def Leppard Announce Summer Tour With REO Speedwagon and Tesla", "UK TOUR WITH STATUS QUO & THE LOUNGE KITTENS ANNOUNCED", "Styx, REO Speedwagon, Don Felder Ready for 'United We Rock' U.S. Tour, Starting June 20th", https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/upi/9189ddf5a3c738527b4f179c8db3414d/REO-Speedwagons-Hi-Infidelity-receives-10X-Diamond-Award/, Bruce Hall bass, backing and lead vocals, Alan Gratzer drums, percussion, backing vocals, Mike Murphy lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, List of artists who reached number one in the United States. You climb up the mountain, reach the peak Gratzer says that it does not involve a large time commitment. Great band. Alan Gratzer (November 9, 1948) American drummer, o.a. REO Speedwagon - Lost In A Dream. When that label went bankrupt, the album was released on Castle Records, which also experienced financial troubles. [17], The band toured the UK arena circuit with Status Quo in December 2016. Have you ever been tempted to record a solo album? The sound was large and bombastic. REO Speedwagon (originally styled as R.E.O. So I guess I'd have to say that one.. The band released a self-financed album entitled Find Your Own Way Home in April 2007. It wasnt know what the fuck we were doing. REO Speedwagon's mainstream popularity waned in the late 1980s, but the band remains a popular live act. Yes, when Alan left R.E.O. The band played in Champaign area bars in its early years. I made more money from that patent than I had in 18 years of touring, writing songs and getting gold Fiorio then departed in late 1969, eventually assuming the name Duke Tumatoe, and went on to form the All Star Frogs. huge success. He and guitarist Gary Richrath were both members of REO Speedwagon. Register here to be able to buy the magazine or subscribe - and to stay in touch too! Menu There was all this amazing material fitting into my police-style, calf high black leather boots inspired by KK Downing of Judas Priest, of course. We were playing at the arena there and normally they would tape a curtain across the centre of the hall. by Marty Reimenschneider . You have permission to edit this article. Data-Privacy | Epic Records All rock 'n' pop respect to REO Speedwagon, but I cannot climb aboard . Lets begin at the beginning and do this proper, like. We had our share of peaks and valleys over the years, but we always look at that as a challenge. Funny you should ask that question, because just yesterday a fan sent in a piece of video from I believe he said was from 1985, filmed at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Yeah, I've been tempted a number of times of the years and I never quite get round to it. The band ended up going with me. We wanted to promote an image based on something the management people who were advising us at that time were keen on. Paul Leka, an East Coast record producer, brought the band to his recording studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut where it recorded original material for its first album. Quo fans were probably expecting us to sound like Air Supply! boca raton police activity today. Alan Gratz's age is 50. Notable for young adult novels such as Something Rotten (2007 . Thats a complicated question Xavier, but the short answer is that the creativity just wasnt there anymore, and it just wasnt working. Say for example Styx, whom weve toured with quite a lot over the past few years. Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than . The title refers to the Westport, Connecticut address, where the band stayed while recording in Leka's studio in Bridgeport and remains an in-concert favorite. Murphy stayed on for two more albums, Lost in a Dream and This Time We Mean It, before Cronin returned to the fold in January 1976 and recorded R.E.O., which was released that same year. UFOS major failing is their inability to turn up at gigs on time. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Visit. But we know youll enjoy reading it all the same. Today. The organization provides food for 250 people three times a week. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander of Cheap Trick came out and sang the keep I even had the odd serious chat with Moggy Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. Thats when I first realized that something special was going on.. The album was them re-recording their original songs from their late 60's/early 70's output. University of Illinois, playing at the Red Lion, the eventual . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. is fucking awesome man! Theres nothing better well there is, and I think you know what that is!. Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted thirteen Top 40 hits, including the number ones "Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling". sell half that if we were lucky, because we werent that big down in Louisiana. Cronin's return came after Greg X. Volz turned down the position for lead vocalist after becoming a born-again Christian. On March 11, 2012, Kevin Cronin appeared on the Canadian reality TV series Star Acadmie. The breakthrough moment for Survivor occurred in 1982 when actor Sylvester Stallone asked the band to provide the theme song for his movie Rocky III. Reo Speedwagon - This Time We Mean It. What about Survivor with 1982 hit Eye of the Tiger (Jim Pterik, Frankie Sullivan). Hes since retired and is now living up in the mountains in northern California. Alan was a real special dude and youve got to remember he started the band. Gratzer also donates platelets on occasion. O grupo foi de grande sucesso nos anos 80, principalmente nos EUA, e apesar das inmeras mudanas na formao (principalmente em relao ao vocalista), ainda existe, e . Gratzer left REO Speedwagon in 1988, leaving Doughty as the sole original member. 644 pics- Nev City and Auburn 2009 and 2010 362 by Alan Gratzer by Alan Gratzer by Alan Gratzer by Alan Gratzer by Alan Gratzer by Alan Gratzer by Alan Gratzer This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to help show content that is more relevant to your interests. He then joined REO once again in Los Angeles in May 2000 for the same encore but no serious plans for a reunion ever materialized. There were a lot of bands in Champaign at that time, and R.E.O. We were excited about Hi Infidelity, there was a good vibe in the An ad in the school newspaper produced their first job, a fraternity party that turned into a food fight. Dennis DeYoung (formerly of Styx): Im going to be in The Beatles or Ill form my own band and be The Beatles. So for me thats Thats a L. o R. Neal Doughty, Gary Richrath, Wilbur Fruity, Kevin Cronin, Alan Gratzer and Bruce Hall . Harms, disenchanted by the album's failure, left the group in early 1991. alan gratzer restaurant. He is popular for being a Young Adult Author. It messed with my head, it sounded weird and it felt weird, so we did a re-shuffle and by the time we got Home. Neal: Alan lived right across the hall in my dorm at The University of Illinois. Alan Gratzer Syracuse native Alan Gratzer was a founding member of REO Speedwagon and played drums on the band's biggest hits like "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Take it on the Run." 28. have been nicer. UFO had been touring the States since the end of March, starting off with their weakest areas along the East Coast and working across to strongholds like Chicago. I was a dad to our children, but I needed to be their father, Gratzer said. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; As a consequence, Epic began re-releasing recordings from older albums with updated artwork and design. Fifteen weeks at number one on the Billboard charts alone; magazine covers, sold out concerts, fame, fortune and everything in-between lay at the feet of the five men who made up the band at this time: singer Kevin Cronin, guitarist Gary Richrath, drummer Alan Gratzer, keyboard player Neal Doughty and bass player Bruce Hall. On November 22, 2013 they announced a benefit concert with Styx titled "Rock to the Rescue" to raise money for the affected families of the tornadoes in central Illinois. Rather than pronouncing REO as a single word as the motor company did, they chose to spell out the name with the individual letters each pronounced ("R-E-O"). The yellow undershirt was from a store on Melrose in Hollywood called Flips. Surprisingly, the record company allowed us to produce that one ourselves, so we could control our own destiny., We sent our crew down to Long Beach to pick out a nice-looking tuna, we stuck a tuning fork down its throat, then drove out to Joshua Tree National Monument and shot the album cover. He was replaced by Kevin Cronin. And what personal recorded performance are you most proud of? It is always so great seeing Gratz and his FamilyAlan has not changed a bit. The Vietnam War was raging This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. I thought for sure that Gary would be out of the band for a year, two at the most, and then hed realise that hed be better off being back with us. [12], On December 2, 2009 REO Speedwagon released an online video game, Find Your Own Way Home, produced by digital design agency Curious Sense. But we made the most of it! Gratzer and family moved to Santa Barbara. When we look at each other and smile, part of what were thinking is This The commercial failure of the band's newer material with its revised lineup demanded a change in marketing strategy. Dont be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content. They performed "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Roll With the Changes," which featured members of the Beach Boys, the band members' families, and Paul Shaffer on stage for backing vocals. Music video by REO Speedwagon performing Roll with the Changes. In September 1998, Gary Richrath briefly joined REO onstage at the County Fair in Los Angeles to play on the band's encore song, "157 Riverside Avenue". Anyone from Tommy Lee, Nick Mason, Doug Clifford, Jerry Allison, Bobby Elliott, Mick Brown, Phil Rudd Etc. At that point, REO had been making music for almost 14 years. Anyone else collect signature and signed drumsticks? to Cardiff the drum set was back in the stage centre where it belonged. [11], In Summer 2010, the band then touring with Pat Benatar announced that it would release a 30th anniversary deluxe edition reissue of Hi Infidelity. Did drummer Alan Gratzer really leave the band in 1988 to open a restaurant? looking for a different entertainment value.. [6] On July 13, on the way to a show in Milwaukee, the band made a stop in Philadelphia to play at the US leg of Live Aid, which broke a record for number of viewers. It felt to us like the majority of Quo fans were I was wondering what was happening, but something was changing. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Each outfit has a sound that's not exactly intertwined with the other, and neither needs the other to fill an amphitheateryet from Bellevue, Washington have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and 1988s Operation: Mindcrime is considered one of the finest heavy metal concept records of all time. At some point maybe I will record a solo album, but at this point I feel so well represented in R.E.O. he moved to Santa Barbara and opened a restaurant called 'The Mona Lisa Caf'. Iacocca advised Giuffria to look into business opportunities in patents that the US Defence Department was allowing to be released into the public sector. The game was the first "downloadable casual game" produced with a rock band and was cited by numerous publications including The New York Times as an innovative marketing product for a music act.[13]. What about the Ides of March and Jim Pterik from Berwyn, Illinois with Vehicle? The band played in Champaign area bars in its early years. the combination between us wasnt working like it used to, and it was really up to the band to decide what they wanted to do, either just call it quits, or go with Gary or go with me. We knew deep down that thered be a downside to the success we'd achieved. You could say they're currently sitting comfortably in the Yankee Division III, (Division I being the real mega-buck merchants, Zeppelin, the Stones, the Who etc; Division II Aerosmith, Nugent, Heart) which is still pantechnicons of plastic bigger than label-mates and current Stateside big buzz the Specials, for instance. Did you ever eat there and was it any good? made them look like right berks and none more so than at the time of 1986s Rage For Order. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". He formed the band in the fall of 1967, with original drummer Alan Gratzer. The most popular track on this record was "157 Riverside Avenue". It keeps me young at heart. Sort of by happenstance, I've started a small signature and signed drumstick collection. [14], Gary Richrath died on September 13, 2015, due to complications from surgery. There was definitely more guitar and the songs were a lot heavier. Weve maintained a fan base so we can always tour. How did you meet Alan Gratzer? taylormade tp putter weights. Have a HOT TIP? The album produced only one, and - to date - the band's last Billboard Hot 100 single, "Love Is a Rock," which peaked at #65. Alan Gratzer. on rollin chorus part of the song. Now that his own children are grown, Gratzer is giving back to the community by spending three or four hours a week with his little brother from the Grass Valley, Calif., chapter of the Big Brothers Big Sisters. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. When we asked our old buddy and longstanding R.E.O. thing. Thank you for reading! Alan Gratzer left in September 1988 after he decided to retire from music to open a restaurant. Born in Hampton, Middlesex, in July 1947, May showed an interest in music at a very early age -- learning to play the ukulele and piano before receiving his first guitar as a present on his seventh birthday. I used to eat there a lot. What about Styx and Dennis DeYoung, formed in the Roseland neighborhood in Chicago? Live scanner feed here:Your browser does not support iFrames. [19], In 2017 the Hi Infidelity album received the Diamond Award for official U.S. sales of over ten million copies.[20]. Chicago has sold over 40 million units in the U.S., with 23 gold, 18 platinum, and eight multi-platinum albums. After bugging his parents for a couple of years to get him a kit, they gave in and got him a toy set. Never one to rest on his laurels, Giuffria now the CEO of G2 Game Design, has been developing new types of games for casinos ever since, recently telling the Toronto Star. Personality Profile. We found 3 records for Alan Gratzer in CA, MO and WA. River Of Life and 9 more. One of Survivors earliest performances (their second gig, according to Peterik, in his autobiography Through the Eye of the Tiger), was at Haymakers Rock Club in Wheeling, Illinois on September 15, 1978. It was also the first album wed produced ourselves and that was a big deal for us, because we never really felt any of the producers wed worked with previously could It does not store any personal data. Was it hard to deal with the band becoming less popular than it had been in those crazy days of the early 80s? LA Fredrickson and Dave Leake talk to the original drummer of REO. Ides of March guitarist Ray Herr was born on September 24, 1947 in Arlington Heights. REO Speedwagon in 1987: Neal Doughty (from left), Kevin Cronin, Gary Richrath, Bruce Hall and Alan Gratzer. Cynics said theyd never replace Michael Schenker, but Tonka excelled himself with some gorgeous guitar-play. All our albums have a very different feel to them., 1980s Hi Infidelity was an insanely successful record, That was our ninth studio album and we were used to getting really excited about an album when we finished it and then having it fall flat on its face. REO Speedwagon ultimately self-financed this effort, which failed to chart. Trying to explain that look to my children and immediate family has been what you might call a challenge!, The Boss - Derek Oliverderekoliver@rockcandymag.com, Editor - Howard Johnson hojo@rockcandymag.com. Although leaving behind life on the road was his ultimate decision, he missed playing music, but not the seemingly endless hotels, airports and nights spent riding on a bus. I remember shortly after we finished the album we went straight back out on the road and didnt know what was going to happen or how the public [1] Matt left early the next year after graduating from school, with Terry Luttrell taking his place on lead vocals. In 1968, Gratzer and roommate Neal Doughty started REO Speedwagon in their residence hall at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Facebook gives people the power to. REO once again teamed with Styx in 2003 for the Classic Rock's Main Event tour which also included another band from their common rock era, Journey. We were all young and hungry, and we didn't Speedwagon rose to the top of the heap!. going to Vietnam. REO Speedwagon - Nine Lives. Firstly Kevin, it was great to finally see REO Speedwagon back in the UK again last December supporting Status Quo. Rock n Roll Thinking readers would also enjoy sharing their photos from the time led us create the Rock Candy websites Rogues Gallery. REO drummer Alan Gratzer was born in Syracuse, New York, and almost immediately displayed an interest in drums. Gary Richrath reunited with REO one final time for a performance of "Ridin' the Storm Out" to end REO's set at the sold-out concert. and then climb down, and you have to realize that theres another peak in the future where you pick yourself up and start climbing up again. View the profiles of people named Alan Gratzer. capture the R.E.O. The band came storming back two years later with Wheels Are Turnin', an album that included the #1 hit single "Can't Fight This Feeling" plus three more hits: "I Do' Wanna Know" (U.S. #29), "One Lonely Night" (U.S. #19), and "Live Every Moment" (U.S. #34).