REO Speedwagon - Sophisticated Lady (Live in Lansing, Michigan 1980) FM Broadcast

REO Speedwagon - Sophisticated Lady (Live in Lansing, Michigan 1980) FM Broadcast

Neal Doughty
Kevin Cronin
Bruce Hall
Alan Gratzer
Gary Richrath

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1966, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The group's best-selling album, Hi Infidelity (1980), contained four US top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies.
Over the course of their career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted 13 top 40 hits. REO Speedwagon's mainstream popularity waned in the late 1980s, but the band remains a popular live act.
On November 21, 1980, Epic released Hi Infidelity, which represented a change in sound, going from hard rock to more pop-oriented material which happened to way to many rock bands from the 70’s. Hi Infidelity spawned four hit singles written by Richrath and Cronin, including the chart-topping Keep On Loving You (Cronin), plus Take It on the Run (Richrath), In Your Letter (Richrath), and Don't Let Him Go (Cronin), and remained on the charts for 65 weeks, 32 of which were spent in the top ten, including 15 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Hi Infidelity sold over 10 million copies.
The band's follow-up album, Good Trouble, was released in June 1982. Although it was not as successful as its predecessor, the album performed moderately well commercially, featuring the hit single Keep the Fire Burnin'.
REO Speedwagon toured the US in 1985, including a sold-out concert in Madison, Wisconsin in May. 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. 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.
1987's Life as We Know It saw a decline in sales.

R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971)
R.E.O./T.W.O. (1972)
Ridin' the Storm Out (1973)
Lost in a Dream (1974)
This Time We Mean It (1975)
R.E.O. (1976)
You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish (1978)
Nine Lives (1979)
Hi Infidelity (1980)
Good Trouble (1982)
Wheels Are Turnin' (1984)
Life as We Know It (1987)
The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken (1990)
Building the Bridge (1996)
Find Your Own Way Home (2007)
Not So Silent Night ... Christmas with REO Speedwagon (2009)