REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity

REO Speedwagon released Hi Infidelity in the fall of 1980. Through 1981, it seemed like the album was on practically every turntable in the country. Even my best friend Mike, who hardly ever bought a record, had it - so I borrowed his copy for a while so I could have it on my turntable, albeit briefly, as he took it back.

Of course, I now have my own copy on CD, a wonderfully loaded remaster, and now this one on vinyl. At the time, what I knew about REO Speedwagon was on par with what I knew about algebra - which was nothing. To my dear old basketball coach and math teacher, Mr. Cameron, who passed me on the condition that I never, ever take another math class in high school. I promised and kept that promise. I needed to get that C- so that I could meet the minimum requirements to graduate. He's passed away since, but he was a wonderful man.

So, here was REO Speedwagon catching their big break with their ninth release. They'd been on the verge of hitting it big but with Hi Infidelity everything came together, and the album would end up selling over 10 million copies. There were a lot of people who really liked the album - or at least the hits they heard on the radio - and there were a lot of hits on the radio.

Is this a perfect rock record? Nope. Even back then, it was an album that had some great moments and some spectacular WTF moments like "In Your Letter" a song so, well, bad you had to wonder what the band was thinking. Still, as far as flies in the ointment, that's really the only song that I don't care for. The label must have like it though as they released it as a single. The first side is 4 out of 5 for being awesome. Heck, that's pretty good. They can't get that many dentists to agree on anything, so it's a win.

As a young guitar player being able to play the cowboy chords to "Take it on the Run" was pretty cool - even if the song was pure cheese (if you've followed me at all, I know I use that phrase a lot, but I can't help myself. I like cheese). Gary also pulls off an absolute killer of a solo on this one. You'll have to forgive this next bit, I'm not proud of myself but it is what it is ... our cover band would do this song on occasion and we'd replace the work run with bum when we sang it. Like I said, I'm not proud of myself, but I still found myself singing along to the song with the wrong lyrics as I played the record to write this up.

Let's just pretend that never happened and move on shall we?

The second side opens with "Tough Guys" that is an oddly kitschy song that shouldn't work, but it's wrapped up in a rock and roll song and Gary's harmonic squeelies are all over the place on the riff, and it's makes me wonder if a young Zakk Wilde was inspired to add them to his playing. As a kid I didn't play side two as often, and listening to this now I remember why. It just wasn't as punchy, and while the songs are delivered with gusto they were just didn't measure up to the big songs on the first side. Oddly I'm reminded of the early '70s glam bands who loved to channel the '50s. The song's here all have an oddly nostalgic feel to them, but with a lot more distortion on the guitars. I found it interesting that the highlight on the back half was "Someone Tonight" written and sung by Bruce Hall. This could have easily been done by Kevin, but Bruce did a great job.

Closing out the album is a power ballad "I Wish You Were Here" that feels a little like Joe Cocker covering "With a Little Help from My Friends" before morphing into a gospel number with a lot of wicked guitar. If it seems like I'm taking shots, I'm not. This is really good, and frankly it was almost new to me. Like I said, back in the day I really didn't listen to the second side a lot, and making it to the end didn't happen as often.

The band was tight and was anchored by Kevin Cronin's vocals and Gary Richrath's guitar playing. of course this isn't to say the rest of band was just hanging around doing nothing. Bruce Hall and Alan Gratzer were a solid rhythm section, with Bruce's bass laying the sonic foundation that allowed Gary's high fretwork to stand out and cut through the mix. Neil Doughty played keyboards, and along with Alan actually started the band.

Still this, is an essential album by a band who really managed to be in the right place at the right time with a few killer songs, and the rest as they say is history.

Garfield - Strange Streets

I'd seen this before in the bin, but kept flipping through the stacks. I'd see it a few more times, each time stopping to look at it a little more. There was something kind of cool about the cover where the stylized Celtic knot had the dotted yellow line - it was a strange street for sure. I pulled the record out of the jacket and I was struck by the centre image. There was the familiar Mercury label, the same one I'd seen a thousand times on BTOs Head On album. Well, I'd bought things based on odd associations before - like when I had to buy anything that Solid Rock Records released (this was generally a good thing) who knows maybe this was a hidden gem. There weren't any real scratches or rash, just a lot of dirt and dust - it seemed to clean up okay, but we'll see how it goes. The album opens with the title track, and this wasn't straight ahead pop, or rock. It was leaning to the progressive, but with a pop bent. Oddly enough the vocals reminded me of Mi

Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars!

The first time I got this album it was a gift from my old roommate Otto. For a goofy little nebbish he would occasionally surprise me with some left of field musical treasures. Although, I still think he was reaching a little when he brought home the new "Led Zeppelin" album by Kingdom Come and forced me to listen to "Get it On" over and over again. I'd not listened to Mars Needs Guitars in a long, long, long time. The first thing that I jumped out at me was how David Faulkner's vocals reminded me of his fellow countryman Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. I think the reason this never occurred to me was at the time I didn't have any Midnight Oil until Diesel and Dust in 1987. I'm not saying it was all the time, but there were a couple of songs where it stood out. Not a bad thing, just a thing. Even at the time this felt slightly out of step with what was going on in 1985. It seemed like everyone was using drum machines and synthesizers and having t

Saturday Night Fever - The Original Movie Soundtrack

It was going to happen sooner or later. Nostalgia is a cruel Mistress...she can dull the sharpest edges and over time can even soften the hardest of opinions. I found this in the dollar bin, and frankly at a dollar I was worried about what this would cost me. Not only from a monetary perspective, but my time, and more important my credibility. Fourteen year old me was screaming "Don't you dare. DON'T DO IT! Put it down. Walk away!" Then there was grey bearded me holding it and looking at it, thinking, "How bad could it be? I actually kind of like "Staying Alive" and me buying this record won't bring disco back, and no one will have to know I bought this." I pulled the album out of the bin, and carefully took out the records. They'd seen better days, and there were a couple of decent scratches that would no doubt make their presence known later. The jacket was in decent condition, and both of the albums had the original sleeves. I dusted the

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