Kevin Cronin, Ian Anderson, Ted Lange

November 17, 2016

 Audio of interviews posted below (Scroll down)

Iconic Lead Singer of REO Speedwagon Kevin Cronin guests on Las Vegas Backstage Talk radio show with Comedian Michele LaFong.

“Keep On Loving You” rockers REO Speedwagon will bring nearly 40 years of hits to the Orleans Showroom November 19-20.

Loosely formed in 1967 playing frat parties at the University of Illinois, REO Speedwagon signed with Epic Records in 1971. The band released nine albums throughout the ‘70s, culminating with the twice-platinum “You Can Tune a Piano but You Can’t Tuna Fish” in 1978.

REO Speedwagon exploded to the top of the charts, setting the bar for other rock bands with their 1980 release “Hi Infidelity.” The colossal hit spent 15 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 10 million copies. The group’s most commercially successful album, it remained on the charts for 65 weeks and spawned the #1 single “Keep On Loving You” as well as hits “Take It on the Run,” “In Your Letter” and “Don’t Let Him Go.”

The band continued releasing hit albums into the ‘80s, including 1984’s “Wheels Are Turnin’” and its #1 single “Can’t Fight This Feeling.” REO Speedwagon released “Find Your Own Way Home,” their 15th studio album, in 2007. Two years later, they teamed up with fellow Midwestern rockers Styx for the single “Can’t Stop Rockin’,” which became the title track for the groups’ hit summer tour with .38 Special.

The current lineup includes founding member Neal Doughty, iconic lead singer Kevin Cronin, longtime bass player Bruce Hall, former Ted Nugent guitarist Dave Amato and former Wang Chung drummer Bryan Hitt.

Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)

Legendary Prog Pioneer Ian Anderson guests on Las Vegas Backstage Talk.

A sequel to Thick as a Brick (1972), entitled Thick as a Brick 2, was released on 3 April 2012. It is billed as being performed by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson instead of being a Tull album proper. Anderson is currently on tour performing both albums in their entirety. A trailer for the newer TAAB album is posted on YouTube.
Anderson played the flute on the track “Cannonball” by The Darkness on their 2012 album, Hot Cakes.
Congratulations on your new album release Homo Erraticus.-a concept album blending rock, folk, and metal music.

Ted Lange

Actor/Director Ted Lange guests on LVBST radio show with Comedian Michele LaFong.

Comedian Jeff Wayne, will be performing his one-man show, “Big Daddy’s Barbeque,” for one day only at the Starbright Theater, 2215 Thomas Ryan Blvd., Summerlin, Sunday, Sept. 21.
The Los Angeles Times says this show is “Ferociously funny.” Variety dubbed the show “a one-man riot.” NPR says, “Jeff Wayne has an attitude like Al Bundy, this guy is laughs plus!” Wayne spent many hours researching barbeques, as he began writing the show. Once it was on paper he went to his friend, Ted Lange, who is best remembered as, Isaac (the bartender) on the television series, “The Love Boat,” and asked him if he would direct the show. Lange has kept busy since the “Boat” years directing movies. He just completed filming 26 episodes of “Mr. Box Office,” starring Jon Lovitz, and will be on the “Love Boat” float in the annual Rose Bowl Parade.

The plot of the show is simple: Jeff plays a letter carrier on his day off. He has his weekly barbeque, where he invites his friends over (the audience), and as he cooks Wayne pontificates and opines. “They say you should cut down on red meat, I stopped using Ketchup.” And he tells his audience about the lady we never see but her presence permeates, his XX-wife Phyllis. “Yes we were married, divorced and then I remarried, I wanted my house back!” There is a problem at today’s barbeque, Phyllis has been given tickets to the opera, and she wants to go. Big Daddy doesn’t. Many critics have had the same response, “it’s like watching Ralph and Alice Kramden in the “Honeymooners,” as Big Daddy tries to laugh, sing and dance his way out of going to the opera.
Wayne was always a funny kid, and as soon as he was able to leave Kentucky, Jeff traveled west to learn how to make people laugh, eventually landing at the world famous Comedy Store in Hollywood. A seasoned veteran today, Wayne continues to perform his stand-up comedy at clubs, colleges, cruise lines, and on all the top television shows such as HBO, Showtime, A&E, Fox, and Comedy Central. The late Joe Delaney, of The Las Vegas Sun, tagged him as a “blue collar Lenny Bruce.”