Skool me on Cheap Trick
batmon
27,574 Posts
Ive never delved into their catalog and caught the bug this weekend.
Heard them sporadically over the years and have been hestitant.
Used to see them on tv throughout the late 70s/early 80s.
I had a co-worker who repped them hard.
Imm start w In Color and work my way out from there.
It seems like they are a fusion of Arena, New Wave, Punk, and Glam.
Critique pleez.....
Heard them sporadically over the years and have been hestitant.
Used to see them on tv throughout the late 70s/early 80s.
I had a co-worker who repped them hard.
Imm start w In Color and work my way out from there.
It seems like they are a fusion of Arena, New Wave, Punk, and Glam.
Critique pleez.....
Comments
Rent/Netflix the Cheap Trick plays Sgt Peppers DVD. Cheap Trick has been referred to as the American Beatles and this DVD is great musically even if I didn't like all the guest singers.
Robin Zanders vocal range is pretty crazy. Rick Nielson's song writing catalog is massive along with his guitar collection. Tom Patterson the bass player is credited with "inventing" the 12 string bass though he didn't actually make it but was early in it's use on popular recordings. Bunny Carlos is a solid drummer and keeps and ash tray where a cowbell usually goes on a drum set. Unfortunately he's not really in the band any more and suing them. Just saw them 6 months ago and they still put on a good show with Rick's son as the drummer now.
In Color is one of their best LP's for sure. I'm a big fan of All Shook Up for it's weirdness and variety.
Obviously Live at Budokan is a must and considered of of the best live albums ever. Has their killer version of Ain't That a Shame and shows how much they could rock LP songs that weren't as hard on record.
Pretty much all their LP's have something good. Also a number of tracks that came out later as bonus tracks are are good.
Lookout
All I Really Want is You
I Know What I Want
Reach Out (Heavy Metal Soundtrack)
She's Tight
California Man
Invaders of the Heart w/ My Generation false intro
Day Tripper
Tonight It's You
O Claire
If It Takes a Lifetime
Sick Man Of Europe
Producer Jack Douglas originally suggested that Lennon use Cheap Trick as the backing band to play on the song.[2][3][7] A version was recorded on 12 August 1980 with Cheap Trick's guitarist Rick Nielsen and drummer Bun E. Carlos backing Lennon.[2][3][7][8] They also recorded a version of Yoko Ono's "I'm Moving On," which is a companion piece to "I'm Losing You."[7][8]
Lennon was impressed enough with their performance that Lennon told Carlos that he wished Nielsen had been his 2nd guitarist for "Cold Turkey," but ultimately this version was not included on Double Fantasy (nor was the Cheap Trick-backed version of "I'm Moving On.")[2][3][8] Possible reasons for their exclusions are that Cheap Trick's management may have wanted too much money, or that Lennon believed that the performances were more "heavy" than he wanted.[7] However, when the Double Fantasy version of "I'm Losing You" was recorded, the version with Cheap Trick's backing was played through the session musicians' headphones to help inspire their performances.[2][3][7] The Cheap Trick version was eventually released on John Lennon Anthology, albeit without an overdubbed guitar part played by Nielsen.[7][8]
"But the session that I most wanted to know about were the legendary John Lennon "Double Fantasy" sessions with Cheap Trick in 1980. Only three songs were recorded before Yoko banned Cheap Trick, citing that they were using John. I told Rick that I recently found a bootleg with the three unreleased Cheap Trick/John Lennon tracks. He asked, "so, could you tell the difference?" I sure could, the tracks seemed to rock more, with even Yoko's song sounding inspiring. Rock comments, "that's the only way you could handle it, have us behind her voice & you need kind of schizophrenic stuff going on." But, why did the band do only one session with Lennon? Nielsen didn't blast Yoko, just explained diplomatically, "we were asked to do more for vocals. What I call those John Lennon baby voices (sings a little). But & ah & by then they were finished. We didn't get lucky enough to play on that one." Still no real answer as to why the recordings didn't wind up on the final record."
Yacht Rock for pedestrians, they rock about as hard as a soft boiled egg.
They are pop rock so if you just can't stand that kind of music then you aren't going to like them. There are one of those groups I liked as a kid growing up in the midwest so I still enjoy them. Obviously it's not for everybody.
As far as pop rock with a new wave flavor I'd say the Cars reign supreme. Much better song writing and great style as opposed to Cheap Trick being pretty much being the antipode to any sense of style.
Checker board guitar guy from Cheap Trick makes me gag, the braided goatee in the video above would be enough to annul their one memorable hit (pretending they'd ever had one).
I agree the Cars are good. I don't think Cheap Trick had any new wave going on. They were part of the 70/80's arena rock thing. Def Leppard, 38 Special, Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Sknyrd etc etc. I don't like a lot of it either, but that's the beauty of music.... different things appeal to different people.
That is all.
This one too...
The songs are there but their production was far too tepid for my tastes in my formative years. Oddly enough the producer was Tom Werman who is the dad of strutter Woimsah.
Cheap Trick was not fond of their tepid record sound either as they enlisted Steve Albini to re-record In Color.
I still think "the Flame" is one of the best 80s power ballads.
Cheap Trick was a Power Pop/Hard Rock band that appealed to young kids and people that hated Disco.
Rick Nielson's "schtick" was that he looked exactly like Huntz Hall of the Bowery Boys and he played that up to the max.
See Photo: http://cheezburger.com/4847877120
Most of their stuff does not hold up for me but the below ballad is an all-time fave.
Cheap Trick was an above average pop rock band best compared to bands like Sweet and bands of that sort who continue to contribute to nostalgia soundtracks.
I'm fairly sure I will never play one of their records again, or feel any reason to own one. But they didn't suck.
Rockford proper had a scene? Or part of a regional scene?
OH NO THEY WEREN'T EITHER
They might have appealed to the same audience, but they surely weren't the same kind of band. Cheap Trick were far too influenced by 1960s Beatlesque pop for that. Those other bands you mentioned were way too hamfisted and (in the case of Skynyrd) prone to long jams. Maybe an extension of power-pop bands like the Raspberries, but no way in hell could they be compared to a Def Leppard.
As far as the "new wave" tag, I don't see why linking Cheap Trick with that movement was such a contradiction. Specially since power-pop bands were accepted by that crowd in the first place. That would make almost perfect sense for 1977-80.
Cheap Trick was influenced by mid-sixties rock and roll. The early punks were influenced by mid-sixties rock & roll. It didn't just come out of a vacuum; the punk and new wave bands were very vocal about the influence of the British Invasion and the American Retaliation (garage-rock). Surf, frat-rock and rockabilly figured into it, too. The Ramones weren't aping Ornette Coleman.
I have nothing against Cheap Trick, but being from Chicago, I heard their music on the radio constantly when I was coming up. For that reason, I'm kinda burned out on them.
I understand what your saying but the average listener doesn't see all those nuances. I've seen Cheap Trick doubled billed with 38 special and def leppard so they appeal to similar crowds even if their music has different roots.
The bass player and guitarist were in a band called Fuse which was 60 psych influenced. Also a case where they say the production was garbage. If u get the cd reissue of that lp it also has the rare Grim Reapers single which was another band rick was in and has a good 60s rock sound.
I need u to need me
I'd love u to love me
I beg of you to beg me
Shine up my old brown shoes
Put on a brand new shirt
Get home early from work
If you say that you love me
Possibly the truest statement of what it means to love someone, OAT
Fusk a Shakespeare
You know u feel like dieing
Right THERE
( pumps hand to heart)
If Fuse leaned more towards psych, it's because they were (or at least hard rock). Their album was released in early 1970, when that sound was still current and not a throwback. I have the original LP; it's quite good.