TODAY I’M GOING A BIT OFF FORMAT, BUT I THINK YOU WILL ALL AGREE THAT IT IS MORE THAN OKAY…BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1949 IN PEORIA…GARY RICHRATH…HE GREW UP IN EAST PEORIA AND ORIGINALLY PLAYED SAX IN THE SCHOOL BAND, BUT TOOK UP GUITAR AS A TEENAGER. RICHRATH GRADUATED FROM EAST PEORIA HIGH COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL IN 1967 AND BY 1968 HE WAS IN A BAND CALLED SUBURBAN 9 TO 5… LATE IN 1970, RICHRATH DROVE 100 MILES TO SEE THE BAND REO SPEEDWAGON AND TO BECOME A PART OF IT, WHETHER THEY LIKED IT OR NOT! LOL…WITH HIM AS PART OF THE BAND, REGIONAL POPULARITY GREW AND THE ROCK STATIONS TOOK NOTICE, SIDENOTE…I REMEMBER AS A KID LISTENING TO THE RADIO WITH MY DAD AND ANYTIME AN REO SPEEDWAGON SONG PLAYED HE WOULD TELL ME ABOUT DRIVING TO ISU TO SEE THEIR SHOWS “BACK IN THE DAY”…..GARY RICHRATH OFFICIALLY JOINED REO IN 1971 AND STAYED WITH THE BAND TIL 1989 ST..RICHRATH WROTE, PLAYED GUITAR, AND SANG ON SOME OF REO’S EARLY HITS INCLUDING “RIDING THE STORM OUT” AND REUNITED WITH HIS REO SPEEDWAGON BANDMATES ONE FINAL TIME IN DECEMBER OF 2013 FOR A PERFORMANCE OF THAT SONG AT “ROCK TO THE RESCUE” A BENEFIT CONCERT TO RAISE MONEY FOR FAMILIES AFFECTED BY THE CENTRAL ILLINOIS TORNADOS… SADLY, RICHRATH PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 65 IN SEPTEMBER OF 2015… BUT HIS LEGACY LIVES ON WITH HITS LIKE “RIDING THE STORM OUT” IT’S TODAY’S ROCK REWIND ON 105.7 THE X…CRANK IT UP FOR A LOCAL AND GLOBAL ROCK LEGEND…
