![]() ![]() Now, usually with us when somebody comes up with a good musical idea and begins playing it, everyone else joins in and we take it from there. Studios, where we were rehearsing, sat down at piano and started to play these chords. The next thing we knew, it was a number one record and everyone was calling it a power ballad and acted like we had this strategy for success that made this song happen when really it was just an accident. Everyone kind of got it and sure enough, Gary went over, plugged in his guitar and started playing power chords to this little love song I wrote. It’s the band's job to turn it into an REO Speedwagon song." I was so passionate about this song. And I’m like, "Dude, this song really means a lot to me." "So, dude, that’s not an REO Speedwagon song." And I kind of was like, "You know what? I’m the main songwriter for REO Speedwagon, so if I write a song, it’s an REO Speedwagon song. They were like, "What are you.?" because we were all bringing in songs for this record we were going to make and they looked at me like I was crazy. And the guys in the band looked at me like I was from another planet. I walked into rehearsal and sat down at the piano, which I rarely do because I’m a guitar player, and started playing "Keep on Loving You.". Kevin Cronin stated that he wrote "Keep On Loving You" as a more traditional love ballad, and the band as a whole developed it into its final arrangement as a power ballad. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw rated it REO Speedwagon's all-time greatest song. ![]() "Keep On Loving You" has been a mainstay on 1980s soft rock compilations and has appeared on dozens of 'various artists' compilation albums, as well as several REO Speedwagon greatest hits albums. It peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The single was certified platinum for U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching the number-one spot for one week in March 1981. It was the first REO Speedwagon single to break the top 50 on the U.S. The song first appeared on REO Speedwagon's 1980 album Hi Infidelity. It features the lead guitar work of Gary Richrath. REO Speedwagon performs tonight (March 21st) at Bemidji, Minnesota's Sanford Center." Keep On Loving You" is a soft rock power ballad written by Kevin Cronin and performed by American rock band REO Speedwagon. And so for us to kind of look back fondly and with humor and think back (to) what we were going through, that seems surreal because I remember it so vividly as though it were last week, or something.” But looking back on it, it probably helped motivate us in some way.”Ĭronin explained that Hi Infidelity remains one of those key albums in rock that managed to seep into everyone's musical DNA at precisely the same time: “The record just got under people's skin and I was saying that anyone who was in junior high through college in 1981, y'know, people couldn't help but have this record kind of drilled into 'em - whether they ( laughed) liked it or not. Y'know, the record company was like, 'Something better happen ( laughs) with this next record, or you guys are history,' y'know? Pretty much every record we made, we were on the brink of having our contract canceled. Bandleader and frontman Kevin Cronin told us that forget about the band painstakingly crafting their masterpiece - the only game plan behind the album was to not get dumped by their record label: “Basically, we were in the studio and we had the guillotine hanging above our necks. In concert, REO Speedwagon covers most of its hits - including a healthy dose from Hi Infidelity. REO Speedwagon returned to Number One in 1985 with the three-week chart-topper, “I Can't Fight This Feeling.” Hi Infidelity was the best-selling rock LP of 1981 and has sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. Three more singles were pulled from Hi Infidelty - “Take It On The Run” (#5), “Don't Let Go” (#25), and “In Your Letter” (#20). The album stayed at Number One for 15 nonconsecutive weeks, spent 30 weeks in the Billboard Top 10, and was on the Billboard 200 album chart for a total of 101 weeks - an unprecedented feat for an American rock band at the time. Hi Infidelity hit Number One on February 21st, 1981 ending John Lennon & Yoko Ono's eight-week run with Double Fantasy. It was 42 years ago today (March 21st, 1981) that REO Speedwagon first hit Number One with “Keep On Loving You.” The single was the first to be issued from the band's ninth album, Hi Infidelity, and replaced Eddie Rabbitt's “I Love A Rainy Night” at the spot for a single week before being toppled a week later by Blondie's “Rapture.” ![]()
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