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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 30^th Anniversary, the highest-selling rock LP of 1981 is being commemorated with HI INFIDELITY: 30^th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, with special, never-before-released demos and more, available at all physical and digital retail outlets on July 19^th throughEpic/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 4^th, replaced Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” at #1 on Billboard Hot 100 on March 21, 1981

·         March 21^st, 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 9^th music video ever to be played on MTV

The HI INFIDELITY: 30^th 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: 30^th 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 4^th 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