REO Speedwagon In The Studio For 'Hi Infidelity' 45th Anniversary

11-10-2025

The 45th anniversary of REO Speedwagon's "Hi Infidelity' album is being celebrated by the syndicated radio show In The Studio With Redbeard: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands.

Redbeard shared this synopsis for the episode: The hard-charging Illinois band named after an Oldsmobile fire engine (don't laugh, Buffalo Springfield was the manufacturer of a steamroller, for heaven sake ), REO Speedwagon believed in their long game, and their long-suffering record label gave them TEN trips to the plate until the band touched all the bases in November 1980 with Hi Infidelity. Lead singer Kevin Cronin and band keyboard player co-founder Neal Doughty tell the worst-to-first "ten year overnight sensation" story behind "Don't Let Him Go", "Follow My Heart", "Tough Guys", "Take It on the Run", and the #1 "Keep on Lovin' You" here.

Legendary major league baseball manager Leo Durocher reportedly uttered that famous quote, "Nice guys finish last", but with the November 1980 release of REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity, at least one exception refuted Durocher's platitude spectacularly. Matter of fact, if REO Speedwagon was a baseball team, their statistics for their 1980-81 season would be as follows: 9- Hi Infidelity was the band's ninth studio album; 4- the number of times REO changed lead singers; 2- the number of times Kevin Cronin was hired to be that lead singer; 5- the number of charted singles from that sole album; 1- the chart sales peak of both the Hi Infidelity album and its first single, "Keep on Loving You"; plus the first band live concert ever presented on the emerging MTV video music channel; 15- the number of weeks as the top-seller in the US; 10,000,000+ -the number of copies sold of REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity.

In a lot of ways, REO Speedwagon was much like the Midwest region from which they sprang at the University of Illinois at Champaign: solid, unassuming, hard-charging musical journeymen determined to make it. They set it up with songs including "Roll With the Changes","Time for Me to Fly", and "Back on the Road Again" before releasing Hi Infidelity forty-five years ago as Cronin and co-founder Neal Doughty reveal in my classic rock interview, which also serves as a tribute to the late REO guitarist/songwriter for the first twenty years, Gary Richrath.

When Hi Infidelity by REO Speedwagon was released in early November 1980, it was the band's ninth studio album in ten years of trying. While rock radio listeners in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco were just introduced to REO Speedwagon two years earlier with "Roll with the Changes" and "Time for Me to Fly", millions of other Americans between the Rockies and the Ohio River could recall seeing REO play their high school proms, college homecomings, and countless state fairs for ten long years. With the release of Hi Infidelity forty-five years ago, the tumblers all clicked and the jackpot was stunning.

Stream the episode here