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ROCK BAND #30 - REO SPEEDWAGON Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Jtmlam59: Rock band series is done. Tired of negative logs from fellow catchers. We have not been as active over the past 18 months due to family medical issues requiring a lot of travel out of state (father dying of cancer), moving parents into assisted living, helping dad who is on hospice care, and getting their home cleaned out and ready to sell. We have had no time to maintain caches, so I am just going to archive all of them. 😡

To other catchers who know what we have been going through and those who have enjoyed this series, we appreciate your visits and wish you the best. Cache on! 😎

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Hidden : 11/30/2011
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Please use stealth, block with your geobike, as you retrieve and replace. Please cover up & replace cache as found to prevent muggling.
Also remember that this is a hiking or cycling trail. Cachers should not be pulling over on Dam Neck road to try and make these caches P&G's.

***** Please do not go into the woods when searching. Cache is not in the woods or past the green "Metal" box. *****

LAM and I both enjoy listening to REO songs. We have seen them in concert about three times when they have come to Virginia Beach. Great music, and a great band. So, "After tonight", why don't you "Break away" from the couch and get "Back on the road again" and "Keep pushin" to get to GZ.

After all, this cache was placed "Just for you" so you need to "Keep the fire burning" because "I do' wanna know" who can get FTF! so get out your I-Pod and start "Blazin' your own trail again" to the tune of "Riding the Storm out". After all we know you "Can't fight this Feeling" to go after this cache. Remember that "Only the strong survive" and we all have to "Roll with the Changes". So while your taking your "Sweet time" and "Shakin it loose" in "The stillness of the night", stick with it and remember that only the "Tough guys" survive. We recommend you take a "Sophisticated Lady" along with you to help make the find. You might be able to "Take it on the Run", but now it's "Time for me to fly" so you can get on with finding this cache! :-)

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US. Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than forty million records and has charted thirteen Top 40 hits. REO Speedwagon's popularity has declined over the years but the band still tours regularly, and remains popular on the fair and casino circuits and teams up with other acts to play larger venues. In summer 2010, the band – then touring with Pat Benatar – announced that it will release a 30th anniversary deluxe edition reissue of Hi Infidelity

History
REO Speedwagon took its name from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck and fire engine, manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company. ("R.E.O." are initials of the company's founder, Ransom Eli Olds, who also founded Oldsmobile, once a division of General Motors.)

REO Speedwagon was formed by students attending the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois in the fall of 1967 to play cover songs in campus bars. The first line up consisted of Alan Gratzer on drums and vocals, Neal Doughty on keyboards, Joe Matt on guitar and vocals, and Mike Blair on bass and vocals. In the spring of 1968, Terry Luttrell became lead singer, and Bob Crownover and Gregg Philbin replaced Matt and Blair. Joe McCabe played sax at this time until moving to Southern Illinois University. Crownover played guitar for the group until the summer of 1969 when Bill Fiorio replaced him. Fiorio then departed in late 1969, eventually assuming the name Duke Tumatoe, and went on to form the All Star Frogs. Another guitarist, Steve Scorfina, came aboard briefly, and was replaced by Gary Richrath in late 1970.

Richrath was a Peoria, Illinois-based guitar player and prolific songwriter who brought original material to the band including REO's signature song "Ridin' the Storm Out". With Richrath on board, the regional popularity of the band grew tremendously. The Midwestern United States was the original REO Speedwagon fan stronghold and is pivotal in this period of the band's history.

The band signed to Epic Records in 1971. Paul Leka, an East Coast record producer, brought the band to his recording studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut where it recorded original material for its first album. The lineup on the first album consisted of Richrath, Gratzer, Doughty, Philbin, and Luttrell.

Early yearsWith their equipment being hauled to dates in a friend's station wagon, REO played bars and clubs all over the Midwest. The band's debut album, REO Speedwagon, was released on Epic Records in 1971. The most popular track on this record was "157 Riverside Avenue". The title refers to the Westport, Connecticut address, where the band stayed while recording in Leka's studio in nearby Bridgeport and remains an in-concert favorite.

Although the rest of the band's line-up remained stable, REO Speedwagon switched lead vocalists three times for their first three albums. Luttrell left the band in early 1972, eventually becoming the vocalist for Starcastle. He was replaced by Kevin Cronin. Cronin recorded one album with the band, 1972's R.E.O./T.W.O. but left the band during the recording sessions for 1973's Ridin' the Storm Out because of internal conflicts. Ridin' the Storm Out was completed with Michael Bryan Murphy on lead vocal. Murphy stayed on for two more albums, Lost in a Dream and This Time We Mean It, before Cronin returned to the fold in January 1976 and recorded R.E.O., which was released that same year. Cronin's return came after Greg X. Volz turned down the position for lead vocalist due to his commitment to Christianity.

In 1977, REO convinced Epic Records that their strength was in their live performances. Amazingly, Epic agreed to let them produce their own record, Live: You Get What You Play For. REO Speedwagon's first live album, Live: You Get What You Play For (1977), was certified platinum. In 1977 Philbin was replaced with Bruce Hall to record You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish, released in 1978, which received FM radio airplay. The album was REO's first to make the Top 40, peaking at #29. The album sold over 2 million copies in the U.S., which led it to go 2x Platinum. In 1979 the band took a turn back to hard rock with the release of Nine Lives.

Mainstream success
The stage was now set for the band's most popular era. In the fall of 1980, REO Speedwagon released Hi Infidelity, which represented a change in the music from hard rock to more pop-oriented material. Hi Infidelity spawned four hit singles written by Richrath and Cronin, including the #1 "Keep on Loving You" (Cronin), the #5 "Take It on the Run" (Richrath), "In Your Letter" (#20) (Richrath), and "Don't Let Him Go" (#24) (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 and set the bar for rock bands across the country. Good Trouble (1982) and Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) were follow-up albums which also did well commercially, the former containing the hit singles "Keep the Fire Burnin'" (U.S. #7), "Sweet Time" (U.S. #26) and the un-ranked "The Key" and the latter containing the #1 hit single "Can't Fight This Feeling" plus three more hits: "I Do' Wanna Know" (U.S. #29), "One Lonely Night" (U.S. #19), "Live Every Moment" (U.S. #34) and the un-ranked "Break His Spell".

On July 13, 1985, the band made a stop in Philadelphia (en route to a show in Milwaukee) 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 REO Speedwagon band members' families, and Paul Shaffer on stage for backing vocals. 1987's Life as We Know It saw a decline in sales, but still managed to provide the band with the hits "That Ain't Love" (U.S. #16) and "In My Dreams" (U.S. #19).

Revival of the hits
The commercial failure of the band's newer material with its revised lineup demanded a change in marketing strategy. As a consequence, Epic began re-releasing recordings from older albums with updated artwork and design.

From 1995 to the present, the label released over a dozen compilation albums featuring greatest hits, including 1999's The Ballads. In 2000, REO teamed up with Styx for an appearance at Riverport Amphitheater in St. Louis, which was released as a live concert video Arch Allies: Live at Riverport. The REO portion of the show was released again under three separate titles: Live - Plus (2001), Live Plus 3 (2001) and Extended Versions (2001)(which was certified Gold by the RIAA on 4/26/2006). REO once again teamed with Styx in 2003 for the Classic Rock's Main Event tour which also included Journey. In 2008 they teamed with Styx and Def Leppard for another major tour headlined by Def Leppard to promote its latest album.

Here are some REO Speedwagon You Tube videos: (visit link) (visit link) (visit link)

This cache is part of what we are calling the B&C (Bike and Cache) trail we are putting together to give cachers a nice streach along a established cycling path to get some cycling & caching in. There will be more caches to come as we work to complete this over the next couple of months.

Congrats to WINWINTERS for the FTF!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Abg grgurerq!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)