LOVE TRAX: The Song That Got The Girl

Today’s THROWBACK LOVE TRAX has the story of a song that really did help the guy get the girl!

“I Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon was a big hit for the band in 1985. It was their second and last No. 1 hit, the first being “Keep On Loving You” in 1980.

REO’s lead singer Kevin Cronin wrote the song, coming up the verses several years prior in the mid-70s.

The song was inspired by some very real feelings Cronin had for a friend. She was part of his friend group – and he said she was “of course, going out with my friend, so I kept it to myself. There was a group of us who would hang out together… and she was always there. Eventually she and I were becoming friends, but there was no hanky-panky going on. The more I got to know her, the more I liked her, but I couldn’t say anything about it.”

Cronin said he finished the song when he “couldn’t fight the feeling anymore” and finally expressed his true feelings to the woman. They got together, had a great relationship, and while it ended, they stayed friends.

Oh, and get this – the rest of the band referred to the song as “that stupid ballad” – until it became a big hit!