 Cheap Trick: Combining a love for British guitar pop songcraft with crunching
power chords and a flair for the absurd, Cheap Trick provided the necessary
links between '60s pop, heavy metal, and punk. Led by guitarist Rick Nielsen,
the band's early albums were filled with highly melodic, well-written songs that
drew equally from the crafted pop of the Beatles, the sonic assault of the Who,
and the tongue-in-cheek musical eclecticism and humor of the Move. Their sound
provided a blueprint for both power pop and arena rock; it also had a
surprisingly long-lived effect on both alternative and heavy metal bands of the
'80s and '90s, who also relied on the combination of loud riffs and catchy
melodies.
Cheap Trick's roots lie in Fuse, a late-'60s Rockford, IL, band formed by Rick
Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson, who released an unsuccessful album on Epic in
1969. After the record failed to gain any attention, the band relocated to
Philadelphia and changed their name to Sick Man of Europe. The group toured
Europe unsuccessfully in 1972, returning to Illinois in 1973. Not long after
their return to Rockford, Nielsen and Petersson changed their band's name to
Cheap Trick, adding drummer Bun E. Carlos and vocalist Randy "Xeno" Hogan. Hogan
was fired the following year and ex-folksinger Robin Zander joined the group.
Between 1975 and the band's first album in 1977, Cheap Trick toured constantly,
playing over 200 concerts a year, including opening slots for the Kinks, Kiss,
Santana, AC/DC, and Queen. During this time, the band built up a solid catalog
of original songs that would eventually comprise their first three albums; they
also perfected their kinetic live show.
Cheap Trick signed with Epic Records in 1976, releasing their self-titled debut
in early 1977. The record sold well in America, yet it failed to chart. However,
the group became a massive success in Japan, going gold upon release. Later that
year, the band released their second album, In Color. It backed away from the
harder-rocking Cheap Trick, featuring a slicker production and quieter
arrangements that spotlighted the band's melodic skills. Due to their constant
touring, the record made it into the U.S. charts, peaking at number 73; in Japan
it became another gold-seller. The band realized that they were virtual
superstars in Japan when they toured the country in early 1978. Their concerts
were selling out within two hours and they packed Budokan Arena.
Following the recording of the George Martin-produced All Shook Up, Petersson
left the group in the summer of 1980 to form a group with his wife, Dagmar; he
was replaced by Jon Brant. Released toward the end of 1980, All Shook Up
performed respectably, peaking at number 24 and going gold, yet the single "Stop
This Game" failed to crack the Top 40. One on One, the group's seventh album and
the first recorded with Brant, appeared in 1982. Although it peaked at number
39, the record was more successful than All Shook Up, eventually going platinum.
Nevertheless, the group was entering a downhill commercial slide, despite the
fact that its music was becoming increasingly polished. Next Position Please,
released in 1983, failed to launch a hit single and spent only 11 weeks on the
charts. Standing on the Edge (1985) and The Doctor (1986) suffered similar
fates, as the group was slowly losing its creative spark.
Petersson rejoined the band in 1988 and the group began working on a new record
with the help of several professional songwriters. The resulting record, Lap of
Luxury, was a platinum Top 20 hit, featuring the number one power ballad "The
Flame" and a Top Ten version of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel." Busted,
released in 1990, wasn't as successful as Lap of Luxury, peaking at number 48
and effectively putting an end to the group's commercial comeback. Cheap Trick
signed with Warner Brothers in 1994, releasing Woke Up With a Monster; the
record spent two weeks on the chart, peaking at 123. That same year, Epic
Records released a sequel to At Budokan, Budokan II. Compiled from the same
shows as At Budokan, the record provided an effective reminder of why the group
was so popular in the late '70s, not only for the public, but for the band as
well.
On April 30, 1998, the group began a four-night Chicago stay, devoting each show
to reprising one of their first four albums in its entirety; the dates later
yielded a 1999 live LP, Music for Hangovers, issued on their own Cheap Trick
Unlimited label. A band-authorized hits collection followed in 2000. (See the
band's official website for more information: /www.cheaptrick.com.) By the dawn
of the new millennium, Cheap Trick were still without a label, but had retained
their loyal following as they kept touring the world (surprisingly, Cheap Trick
turned down an offer to open up for their old pals Kiss on the masked quartet's
farewell tour of arenas and amphitheaters in 2000), as another live set saw the
light of day in 2001. Entitled Silver, the double-disc set (and companion DVD)
was a fine document of a star-studded and career-spanning 25th anniversary show
from August 28, 1999, in their hometown of Rockford, IL. The band also recorded
a studio album, released in 2003 as Special One. It was followed in 2006 by
Rockford.
|
