Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock and roll band from Rockford, Illinois that gained popularity in the late 1970s. The band members are Rick Nielsen (guitarist and main songwriter), Bun E. Carlos (born Brad Carlson) (drums), Robin Zander (vocals and guitars), and Tom Petersson (bass guitar). Nielsen and Petersson formed the band after their former band called Fuse broke up shortly after they had released their debut album Fuse in 1969.
The band was signed to Epic Records and released Cheap Trick in 1977. Cheap Trick's most famous album is At Budokan, which was recorded at Tokyo's famous Nippon Budokan Hall. The album went triple platinum.
While they never quite gained the same commercial success as the monster of a live album At Budokan achieved, Cheap Trick gained a substantial following with their brilliant hard-edged yet blissful pop sound. While most power-pop contemporaries like The Knack, The Shoes, and The Raspberries stuck to writing songs in the vein of The Beatles and The Who, Cheap Trick's songs were every bit as catchy as their pop predecessors, had the hard edge of many of the heavy metal bands at the time (note "ELO Kiddies" and "Clock Strikes Ten"), as well as the speed and energy of the emerging punk rock scene ("He's a Whore"). Their music had a big impact on American culture; Steve Albini and Kurt Cobain have both cited Cheap Trick as an influence on their work (Albini covered "He's a Whore" with his band Big Black and in a Rolling Stone magazine article Cobain said: "We sound just like Cheap Trick only the guitars are louder").
The band's biggest hits over the years include "I Want You to Want Me", "Surrender", "Dream Police", "Don't Be Cruel", and the monster Power Ballad comeback hit "The Flame".
In 1977, Cheap Trick opened for KISS in California where KISS was to record their "KISS Alive II" album. Bun E. Carlos said that before the show started KISS's drummer Peter Criss was so intoxicated that Carlos almost had to put on makeup and take his place.
Cheap Trick wrote and performed songs for the animated 1983 movie Rock & Rule.
They released Cheap Trick, another eponymous album, in 1997.
More recently, the band recorded the theme song, a cover of Big Star's "In the Street" (Cheap Trick dubbed the cover "That 70's Song"), for the FOX television series That '70s Show. "That '70s Song" also includes part of the chorus of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" ("We're all alright! We're all alright!"). The band has also been referenced several times on The Simpsons: in one episode, Apu was interrupted while singing along to "Dream Police".
Bassist Tom Petersson is credited for having the idea for a 12-string bass. The first 12 string bass was designed by Jol Dantzig and custom made by Hamer Guitars following a request from Petersson. Petersson has also used 12 string basses made by Kids (a Japanese guitar maker), Chandler, and Waterstone, as well as a most impressive array of 4, 5 and 8 stringed basses from other manufacturers.
According to Bun E. Carlos, Robin Zander plays a Hamer 12-string (guitar as opposed to bass) in addition to a Gibson Firebird, Chandler "Telecaster" and Rickenbacker 325. Rick Nielsen is an avid collector who, despite rationalising his guitar collection, still has over 250 guitars currently in his possession. He has collaborated with manufacturers for some weird and wonderful personalised custom designs (most notably with Hamer), including three 5-necked guitars.
As of October 2005, the band can be heard performing "Baby Muggles", the theme tune to Comedy Central's The Colbert Report.
Cheap Trick is currently managed by Silent Partner Management.
Discography
- 1977 Cheap Trick (debut) aka: Cheap Trick (1977)
- 1977 In Color
- 1978 Heaven Tonight
- 1978 At Budokan
- 1979 Dream Police
- 1980 All Shook Up
- 1982 One on One
- 1983 Next Position Please
- 1985 Standing on the Edge
- 1986 The Doctor
- 1988 Lap of Luxury
- 1990 Busted
- 1991 Greatest Hits (1976-1991)
- 1994 Woke Up With a Monster
- 1997 Cheap Trick aka: Cheap Trick (1997)
- 1998 At Budokan: the Complete Concert
- 2001 Music for hangovers live album
- 2003 Special One