RIP Gary Richrath (REO)

What was alternative in the '80s?

 

Y

You are probably missing the reference.

 

Possible.

 

New Order, Smiths, U2, REM...

The great Pixies were created in the 1980s, but even their greatness cannot overshadow all the lick my love pump glam rock and mind numbingly bad pop rock.

 

Hence, why I said REO wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

 

REO: Champaign's own -- at least until Cronin joined.

Golden Country was their only good song.

 

RIP to Gary Richrath and props to REO Speedwagon ... they paid their dues and made it big, living the dream thousands of Midwestern musicians dreamed in the 1960s and 1970s. I enjoyed the music of their late 1970s and early 1980s heyday, and I think the often-overlooked "Nine Lives" album is very solid.

BTW, I think Richrath got the solo writing credit for "Take it on the Run," and that was a sore spot later between him and Cronin, who claimed he actually wrote most of the lyrics.

 

Coco, was it Richrath who wanted the band to keep its edge while Cronin was pushing for ballads? I know there was a major struggle about that, but I'm not sure about the second principal.

 

From what I recall from Behind the Music (you just knew REO had to have one), Cronin wanted to clean up his personal life, and Richrath wanted to party on -- part of their rift. Also, Cronin was supposedly jealous that Richrath's guitar parts were the things that people dug about the power ballads. I wouldn't put it past Cronin to revise history re his feelings for Richrath, who had health and weight issues for decades.

In my book, lots of great songs with some dreck mixed in. Somewhere along the line, the siren song of commercial success kicked in, providing the ethos in which the emotion-filled Time for Me to Fly (my second favorite REO song behind the Mike Murphy version of Riding the Storm Out) morphs into the treacly Can't Fight This Feeling.

 

They did have one great video version of "Can't Fight This Feeling" though. Jump to about 5:45 for the payoff.

 

Anytime I read something about Kevin Cronin,
the underlying theme is pretty clear: "What an asshole."

 

In some cases, literally.