AboutKathy Expertise History of the band, their music, lyrics, instrumentation, touring, hits, chart activities, and just about everything else in between.
Experience
REO Speedwagon fan for over 35 years, having attended hundreds of concerts all over the world
Organizations belong to: President of REO FANS, the band's largest fan club with members in all 50 states and 26 countries overseas. Check us out at SPEEDWAGON.INFO and REO-FANS.COM!
Other great REO sites? SPEEDWAGON.INFO: http://Speedwagon.info
REO FANS eGroup: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/REOFANS
Gary Richrath: http://GaryRichrath.com Gary Richrath eGroup: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Gary_Richrath
Publications: REO FANS NEWS, Editor & Publisher for the last 15 years
Education/Credentials: Attorney
Awards and Honors: With a 30+ year photographic history of the band, one of her photos was selected to appear on the band's 25th anniversary t-shirts. She was also featured on VH-1's "Rock Collectors" program in January 2000 where her rock photography was displayed.
Question Kathy,
Are you still president of the REO fan club?
What is Gary Richrath up to?
Is there any chance for a reunion?
Scott
Answer Hi Scott!
Yes, I'm still rockin' with REO and President of REO FANS.
Gary currently lives in California. A number of years ago, he was approached by REO to consider some special projects with the band, but nothing was ever finalized. When REO contemplated the release of a 25th anniversary album, the band's management contacted Gary about the possibility of writing one or two new songs on the CD, and issued this press release:
"REO is planning to release a 25-year career retrospective on Epic
Records. Cronin and Richrath will be heading into the vault together
to find unreleased tracks, out-takes and alternative versions of
songs. They also hope to write some songs together to be included in
the collection, which may even feature a little guitar playing by
Richrath." -- 1994 REO Press release.
Unfortunately, that project fell through.
In September 1998 at the request of former REO drummer Alan Gratzer, Gary briefly joined REO onstage at the County Fair in Los Angeles to play a few licks from the band's encore song, "157 Riverside Avenue." Gary again made a brief appearance with REO in Los Angeles in May, 2000 for the same encore.
When REO's "Behind the Music" episode aired on August 12, 2001, REO's lead singer Kevin Cronin said on the program, "The door has always been open to Gary." However, the following day in Indianapolis, Cronin announced that REO's current lead guitarist, Dave Amato, was in the band "forever." This appeared to remove any doubt regarding Mr. Cronin's intentions.
However, Cronin may be mellowing over the years. In April 2008, he appeared on the Bob & Tom show, and had this to say:
"Bob: Do you have time for one real quick question? I was reading
about some of your earlier work. Is it true that Hi Infidelity, that
the final version of that album, some of those were actually demo
cuts?
Kevin: You know, more than some of it, man. Actually, over half of it
is from the demo. You know, we've been searchin' for that demo tape,
it's like the REO Speedwagon Holy Grail. We literally, you know,
searched through the vaults of EPIC Records in New York and Los
Angeles, and we've been trying to find that demo tape. And, uh...
Bob: I have an album you can borrow.....
Kevin: Really? (Laughter)
Bob: Yeah, it's vinyl. If you really want it.
Kevin: But it's just one of those things that we're looking for. And
when we find it, we're gonna, er, we're starting to put together a
kind of an REO Speedwagon fan kinda box set type thing, and we really
wanna have some fun with it. We've got fans spanning 40 years right
now, and we want to put something together, and we want that Hi
Infidelity demo to be part of it. But it's gonna be, you know, just a
treasure trove of everything if you're a fan of the band, it's going
to be one of those things that the band's going to put together. You
know, I talked to Alan Gratzer, our original drummer, the other day
and he's going to get involved in it. He's my good buddy, and we're
gonna try to find Richrath and get him in the mix here and get him
working on this thing and have some fun with it. So we've got that
coming up."
It's anyone's guess if anything will ever come to fruition.
Right now, Gary's using a small studio in California to record new material off and on. He occasionally returns to Illinois for family visits.
