From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cheap Trick is an American
band from , formed in 1973. As of 2010, the band currently consists of
() and Daxx Nielsen (), who replaced founding member
on drums. Their biggest hits include "", "", "" and "".
They have often been referred to in the Japanese press as the "American ". In October 2007, the
passed a resolution designating April 1 as Cheap Trick Day in the state. The band was also ranked No. 25 in 's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
In 1961, Nielsen began playing locally in
using an ever-increasing collection of rare and valuable guitars. He formed several local bands with names like The Boyz and The Grim Reapers. Brad Carlson, later known as Bun E. Carlos, played in a rival Rockford band, the Pagans. Finally, Nielsen formed
in 1967 with Tom Peterson, later known as Tom Petersson, who had played in yet another local band called The Bo Weevils.
Fuse released a
in 1970, which was generally ignored. Frustrated by their lack of success, Fuse recruited the two remaining members of
in 1970 and ended up playing around the Midwest for 6–7 months under two monikers, Fuse or Nazz, depending on where they were gigging. With Bun E. Carlos joining on drums, Fuse moved to
in 1971. They began calling themselves "Sick Man of Europe" in . After a European tour in 1973, Nielsen and Petersson returned to Rockford and reunited with Carlos.
was the original lead singer for Cheap Trick. He left the band shortly after its formation and was replaced by Robin Zander. The name was inspired by the band's attendance of a
concert, where Petersson commented that the band used "every cheap trick in the book" as part of their act. The band recorded (with Hogan), an official demo, "Hot Tomato", around mid 1974, parts of which would form "", which was first called "Tonight, Tonight" (and a slightly different structure), and "".
Nielsen and Petersson performing in 1977
With Robin Zander now on vocals, the band recorded their first official demo in 1975 and played in warehouses, bowling alleys, and various other venues around the . The band was signed to
in early 1976 by A&R man , at the insistence of producer
who had seen the band perform in Wisconsin. The songs they had written and performed would
such as "I Want You To Want Me" which was first performed on April 17, 1975, in Milwaukee. The later-hit song was played that summer, and frequently throughout the spring and summer of 1976 throughout the aforementioned Midwest locations.
The band released their first album, , in early 1977, produced by Jack Douglas. While favored by critics, the album was not successful in terms of sales. The album's lone single "Oh Candy" failed to chart. However, the band began to develop a fan base in Japan and "" was a hit single in Europe. Their second album
was released later that year and was produced by Tom Werman, who brought out their lighter and more pop-oriented side, producing an album much more polished than their first. However, the band bemoaned In Color's production and would re-record it many years later. Moreover the album was largely unsuccessful. The singles "Southern Girls", "I Want You To Want Me", and "So Good To See You", failed to chart. However, "I Want You To Want Me" and "" were hit singles in Japan, with the latter going to No. 1 on the charts. In Color ultimately was ranked No. 443 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The band's third album, , released in May 1978 and again produced by Tom Werman, combined elements of the first two albums. Regarded by many fans and critics as their best album, the lead-off track "Surrender" was Cheap Trick's first single to chart in the United States, peaking at No. 62. It has gone on to become one of the band's signature songs. Heaven Tonight is also noteworthy as the first album recorded with a . Perhaps most importantly, this album made the band megastars in Japan.
None of Cheap Trick's first three albums made it into the Top 40 in the United States. In Japan, however, all three albums became . When Cheap Trick went to Japan to tour the country for the first time in April 1978, they were received with a frenzy reminiscent of . During this tour, Cheap Trick recorded two concerts attended by their loyal Japanese fans at the . Ten tracks taken from both shows were compiled and released as a live album titled , which was intended to be exclusive to Japan. Demand for the import album became so great that Epic Records finally released the album in the United States in February 1979.
Cheap Trick performing in 1978 in , at the
Cheap Trick at Budokan launched the band into international stardom, and the album went
in the United States. The smash track was the live version of "I Want You to Want Me", which had originally been released on In Color. It reached No. 7 on the , and became Cheap Trick's biggest-selling single. The second single, "", peaked at No. 35. "" had already been recorded for the forthcoming
album that had already been finished, but after the unprecedented success of At Budokan, Epic postponed the album's release. Dream Police was released later in 1979 and was their third album in a row produced by Tom Werman. The
of the album was a hit single, as was "". Dream Police also found the band taking its style in a more experimental direction by incorporating strings and dabbling in
on tracks like "Gonna Raise Hell".
A four track
was released in mid 1980 and consisted of previously unreleased material. One side of the record contained live recordings and the other side had studio recordings. The live tracks were a faux live cover of ' "", and "Can't Hold On", a bluesy track performed at Budokan concerts in 1978. The studio tracks were "Such A Good Girl" and "Take Me I'm Yours", which the record claims were recorded in 1976 and 1977, respectively. However, while they were older songs, they were recorded with Jack Douglas in early 1980. A total of nine tracks were recorded with Douglas, and remain obscure as they have only been issued on compilations, promotional samplers, and contest giveaways. For years, there was a false rumor that this was an album that had been rejected by Epic Records.
By 1980, when
was released, Cheap Trick was headlining arenas. All Shook Up, produced by former
producer , reached No. 24 on the charts and was certified gold, but the album's high-class background did not save it from descriptions like " gone psycho". Many fans of the band's earlier albums saw All Shook Up as too weird and experimental. One song from the sessions, "", appeared on the soundtrack of . This, and "" both missed the top 40, peaking at #44 & #48, respectively. A later reissue of All Shook Up included "Everything Works" as a bonus track.
Nielsen and Carlos participated in sessions for
and 's album , recording a bass-heavy and experimental version of Lennon's "", but were never used on the subsequent release, with Lennon favoring a 'lighter' sound. (The Cheap Trick version can only be found on the
and on various bootlegs.) Nielsen and Carlos were also involved in recording a heavier and slower version of Yoko Ono's "I'm Moving On", but that has never seen any official release (only on bootlegs).
On August 26, 1980, before the release of All Shook Up, Petersson left the group to record a solo album with his wife Dagmar. The five-song mini-LP titled
was released in 1984.
replaced Petersson for the All Shook Up tour, and the band recorded five songs with Comita to contribute to two movie soundtracks. "I'm the Man", "Born to Raise Hell", and "Ohm Sweet Ohm", which were produced by Jack Douglas, went to the film . An accompanying soundtrack album for the film was never released and the songs weren't released until 1996 (on the
box set). "" and "I Must Be Dreamin'" went to the film
and were produced by . "Reach Out" was written by Comita and . Comita left the band after completing the 1980-81 World Tour that promoted the All Shook Up album as well as the demo sessions for the band's forthcoming album. He would later claim that he co-wrote songs that appeared on the band's next two albums and was not credited.
became Petersson's steady replacement. In July 1981, CBS Inc. sued Cheap Trick and their manager Ken Adamany for $10 million, alleging they were attempting to coerce CBS into re-negotiating their contract and had refused to record any new material for the label since October 1980. The lawsuit was settled in early 1982 and work commenced on the next album—, produced by Roy Thomas Baker. The band changed direction again, this time opting for an album full of brash, shout-along hard rock songs. The album spawned two minor hits with the power ballad "" and the innuendo-laced rocker "". The music videos for both songs received heavy rotation on .
The following year, Cheap Trick released
as producer. Rundgren downplayed the band's brash side and returned them to a more clean, pop-oriented sound similar to that of In Color. The album never found much of an audience and Cheap Trick's commercial fortunes were in decline. The first single was a cover of ' "". Epic Records, desperate for a hit from the band, forced the group to record the track, which had been a hit single in Europe. Rundgren refused to produce the song, and it was instead produced by One On One engineer . It failed to chart, as did the second single and fan favorite "". The Ian-Taylor-produced "Spring Break", which was a contribution to the soundtrack of the 1983 comedy film , was also issued as a single, which also failed to chart. In 1984, the band recorded the title track "" to the
comedy , which Nielsen later called "one of the worst" songs he'd ever written. The track reached No. 36 on Billboard's
but was off the chart after two weeks.
In 1985 they were reunited with , who had produced their debut album, to record . The band originally intended to return to their rough-sounding roots on the album, but Douglas backed out of the mixing process due to the legal issues he was having with
at the time.[] It was instead mixed by , who added more elements of typical 1980s production. This album was called their "best collection of bubblegum bazooka rock in years". The album also featured
on keyboards, and he was also enlisted to assist in the songwriting process. The album's first single, "", reached No. 8 on the Billboard's
chart and the video received heavy rotation on MTV. The following singles "Little Sister" and "How About You" were released as promotional singles only. During this time, , between gigs as keyboardist/lead singer of the bands
and , toured with the band as a keyboard player and background vocalist.
Cheap Trick also participated in a
project organized by Kansas drummer , touring as part of the First Airborne Rock n Roll Division, the band joined other rock bands at land and water military installations to entertain those serving in the United States Armed Forces.
In 1986, the band recorded "", the end-title cut for the film , released June 1986. They then released
in the fall, produced by . Some of the songs contained elements of funk, and the band utilized female back-up vocalists for the first time. However, synthesizers and computer-programmed sound effects drowned out most of the prominent instruments, most noticeably the guitar. The album's lone single, "" failed to chart, but many blame the album's poor success on the record label's lack of promotion. The music video for "It's Only Love" made history as the first music video to prominently use . The Doctor turned out to be the final album with Jon Brant as bassist. Brant parted on good terms with the band, and has performed with the band a number of times since as a special guest or filling in for Petersson.
Petersson rejoined the group in 1987 and helped record 1988's , produced by . Due to the band's commercial decline, Epic Records forced the band to collaborate with professional songwriters. "", a typical '80s "factory ballad", was issued as the first single and became the band's first-ever No. 1 single. The second single, a cover of 's "" also reached the top 5. Three other singles from the album were "", "", and "". Each one charted successfully, and Lap of Luxury went
and became recognized as the band's comeback album.
was released in 1990 and was also produced by Richie Zito, as the band attempted to capitalize on the success of Lap of Luxury. This time, however, the band was allowed more creative control and professional songwriters were only used on a handful of songs. The first single "Can't Stop Falling Into Love" reached No. 12 on the charts but failed to reach as high as the label expected. The second single, the
penned "", suffered a worse fate reaching only No. 50. The following singles, "If You Need Me" and "Back N' Blue" were not successful, although the later single reached No. 32 on the US Mainstream Rock charts.
In 1991, Cheap Trick's
was released. It included twelve (twenty-eight on Japan pressing) of the band's most successful or popular singles and one new track, a cover of ' song "", which was an outtake from the Lap Of Luxury sessions.
was released. It featured the tracks that had been omitted from the original live album, plus three more tracks from their follow-up tour in 1979. The release was not authorized by the band, and it is now out of print. That same year, Robin Zander released his
solo record on , produced by . Guitarist , best known for his work with , collaborated with Zander on most of the album's tracks. The album was largely unsuccessful but the single "" reached No. 13 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and No. 64 in Canada.
The group left Epic after the disappointing sales of Busted to sign with . In 1994 the band released , which was produced by producer , best known for his work with . The album's title track was issued as the first single and reached No. 16 on the US Mainstream Rock charts. The album's sales were poor, and it peaked at only No. 123. By the time the album came out, there had been a variety of significant changes in the band, both music-wise and appearance-wise. The style of music is more on the "hard rock" side, their "heaviest" album since One On One. Ted Templeman's heavy-handed production was also the subject of much criticism. Rick Nielsen grew a goatee, and Robin Zander's voice grew noticeably deeper. The band also contributed a cover of John Lennon's song "" on the
The band quickly parted ways with Warner Bros. and decided it was time to go back to basics. They concentrated on the strength of their live shows, which were near-legendary, and they decided to release new recordings to independent labels instead of major companies. Over the next few years, Cheap Trick toured with several bands they had influenced, such as
and . At the end of 1995, the band independently released Gift, a two track Christmas CD that benefited Chicago-area charities. They spent the next year recording demos with Tom Werman and . They then released the 7 inch vinyl single Baby Talk/Brontosaurus on -based indie label , which was produced by Albini. Now back on speaking terms with their former label, the band released , a four disc box set that included dozens of rare and unreleased studio and live recordings along with some of the band's singles and favorites, on Epic Records. The collection, however, was criticized for lacking several of the band's most well-known and much-loved songs.
In 1997, Cheap Trick signed with indie label
and released , produced by Ian Taylor, who the band had previously worked with in 1982 and 1983. The band attempted to re-introduce themselves to a new generation, as the album was self-titled and the artwork was similar to their first album which had been released twenty years before. Tom Werman would later claim that he had produced a track on the album and was not credited. The album was critically acclaimed and hailed as a return to form. Eleven weeks after the release, Red Ant's parent company
declared . The single "" only reached No. 119 on the charts, and the band again found themselves without a record label. Two other singles were released from the album, "Baby No More" and "".
Cheap Trick began to rebuild in 1998 by trying to restore normal relations with Sony/Epic and the music retail community. They established their own record company, Cheap Trick Unlimited. They toured behind the release of At Budokan: The Complete Concert, and the
reissues of their first three albums. One of the multi-night stands from this tour resulted in , a vibrant live effort that featured members of
on two tracks.
performing at
Cheap Trick Unlimited sold the CD exclusively on
for 8 weeks prior to releasing it in stores. To support the record they toured with , and also played a concert with Pearl Jam. That same year, the band spent time in the studio recording with , who had produced the Baby Talk/Brontosaurus single. The band began re-recording their second album, In Color, as well as a handful of other miscellaneous tracks. The recordings were not finished and have yet to be officially released, but they were leaked onto the Internet. The band also revealed in an interview that a rarities album was in the works and initially planned for release in early 2000. However, it was never released.
In 1999, the band recorded a reworked cover of 's "In the Street" for use as the theme song for the television show . It was released on the show's soundtrack, . The group also re-recorded "Surrender", which was available exclusively .
In early 2000, Cheap Trick entered into a license with the now- to directly download and create custom CDs for over 50 songs. After spending a good part of 2001 writing songs and about six weeks of pre-production, Cheap Trick went into
in March 2002, where the band put together their first studio album in six years,
in May 2003. At the same time, the band brought their record label to Big3 Entertainment. While the lead-off single "" was typical Cheap Trick fare, most of the album's tracks were acoustic-based. Two following singles "" and "" were released. The album was met with mixed reviews, with one of the larger subjects of criticism being that the last two tracks on the album were basically the same song. The band also contributed the 1999 re-recorded version of "Surrender" to the comedy film
and made a cameo in the film. They toured with
on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour that same year. In Japan, the band's entire catalog released between 1980 and 1990 was re-issued in remastered form.
In late 2003, Bun E. Carlos starred in a
commercial with , drummer of .
In April 2005, Cheap Trick released the five-track Sessions@AOL EP for digital download.
In 2006, Cheap Trick released
on Cheap Trick Unlimited/Big3 Records. The first single from the album was "" (produced by
and co-written by Cheap Trick and Perry). The following singles "Come On, Come On, Come On" and "" were released shortly after. The band promoted the album through appearances on the
satellite radio networks and a North American tour. That same year, "Surrender" was featured as a playable track in the hit video game , and the albums Dream Police and All Shook Up were re-issued in remastered form with bonus tracks. One On One and Next Position Please (The Authorized Version) were released as . The band also appeared in a
advertising campaign called "This Is Your Wake-Up Call" featuring the band.
performing at
In 2007, officials of Rockford, Illinois honored Cheap Trick by reproducing the Rockford album cover art on that year's "city sticker" (vehicle registration). On June 19, 2007, the
passed Senate Resolution 255, which designated April 1 of every year as Cheap Trick Day in the State of Illinois. In August of that year, Cheap Trick honored the 40th anniversary of
by playing the album in its entirety with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Edwin Outwater, along with guest vocalists including
and . , who engineered all the sound effects on Sgt. Pepper, engineered the same sounds for the two live concerts. The Chicago chapter of the
honored Cheap Trick at the 2007 Recording Academy Honors event in Chicago on October 11, 2007. Nielsen and Carlos were on hand to receive the award, which was presented to them by Steve Albini.
In 2008, Cheap Trick were selected to be featured in the
Spring/Summer 2008 clothing ad campaign. The black and white commercial put the group on a boardwalk with bicycles, the filming backdrop was a beach for a very modern look for the band. "", a song written by
and covered by the band on Heaven Tonight was used in the advertising promotion. On April 24, Cheap Trick played live at the
for the 30th anniversary of the 1978 album . On July 5, at their concert in Milwaukee, Rick Nielsen announced to the crowd that the show was being recorded for a future CD and/or DVD release. On November 11, the band released At Budokan: 30th Anniversary Collectors Edition, a box set that featured 3 CDs of the band's two concerts at Budokan recorded on April 28 and 30, 1978. A bonus DVD contained concert footage that originally aired on Japanese television, plus bonus features including footage from their return to Budokan for the original album's 30th anniversary.
Also in 2008, the song "" was featured as a playable track in the hit video game .
also featured the unreleased 1998 re-recorded version of "" as a playable track and it was also used for the game's opening sequence.
In an October 2008 interview, Rick Nielsen revealed that several Cheap Trick releases were in store for the future, including a new album produced by
and , and the re-recorded version of In Color.
In 2009, the band released . It was also available in both vinyl and
versions on the band's website. The group also performed the theme song for the film . The group released , their interpretation of the classic
on August 25, 2009. This was released as both a compact disc and a . 2009 also saw Bun E. Carlos launch a separate project including members of , , and : , a power pop quartet whose debut album quickly earned critical praise and repeat airplay on leading syndicated FM radio programs. The band headlined a homecoming show at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL on Thursday, December 10, 2009 as the main act at the 104.3 WJMK-FM holiday show,
In 2010, Cheap Trick's "Dream Police", re-recorded as "Green Police", appeared as the music bed in an Audi commercial that first aired during the Super Bowl. The Audi commercial depicts a man enjoying his Audi TDI, which is apparently painlessly compliant with environmental regulations.
On March 19, 2010 it was announced that Bun E. Carlos was not currently the touring drummer for the band but remains a band member.
He was replaced by Nielsen's son Daxx.
On April 6, 2010 Sony Music began to reissue Cheap Trick's albums that have been out of print via reissue specialist labels Friday Music and Wounded Bird Records. One On One and Next Position Please were released first and have been combined to fit on to one CD. Standing On The Edge and The Doctor were released separately and Busted was combined with the Found All The Parts EP.
In November 2010, the band played a set of shows in the UK, each with an individual setlist and their album
was given away as a free disc with the UK magazine, Classic Rock. On July 17, 2011 at The Bluesfest in Ottawa, 20 minutes into Cheap Trick’s set, a thunderstorm blew through the festival area. The band and crew were on the stage when without warning the 40-ton roof fell. It fell away from the audience and landed on the band's truck which was parked alongside the back of the stage, breaking the fall and allowing everyone about 30 seconds to escape.
On November 10, 2011 Cheap Trick announced plans to open a restaurant/music/museum venue in historic Motor Row in South Loop Chicago.
In 2012, Cheap Trick opened for
on the Global Warming Tour. The tour began in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 16 and ended in Nashville, Tennessee on December 13, 2012.
In 2013, Carlos filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, claiming that even though they claim that he is still a band member, he is not being allowed to participate in band-related activities, including recording a new album. The remaining three members of Cheap Trick filed a countersuit, seeking an official affirmation of their removal of Carlos. Their lawsuit was thrown out by a Delaware judge in late 2013.
In 2014, Cheap Trick went on tour as special guests with rock group
behind Boston's new album, .
As of 2015, the band is touring with
in the United States.
Cheap Trick is known for their four decades of almost continuous touring. They have performed more than 5,000 times.
Cheap Trick is known for its use - and large collection - of unusual and vintage guitars and basses.
Robin Zander has played a 1950s
Combo 450 Mapleglo since the late 1970s, as well as a
Corsair Bigsby, a , and various -styled guitars.
Rick Nielsen is an avid collector who has over 400 guitars in his possession. He has collaborated with Hamer on trademark 'themed' guitars, some based on Cheap Trick albums such as Rockford and The Doctor, and even songs such as "Gonna Raise Hell". Hamer has also made unique five-necked guitars and electric
for Nielsen.
Rick Nielsen and Joel Danzig of Hamer created the idea for a . Tom Peterson previously had used an
8-string basses, and asked
of Hamer Guitars to make a 12-string bass. The company initially made him a 10-string bass. Following the successful trial use of that bass, the prototype 12-string bass, The Hamer 'Quad', was produced. Petersson later used 12-string basses made by Kids (a Japanese guitar maker), , and signature models from . His primary choice of 4-string bass is a , though he also owns a very impressive array of 4, 5 and 8 stringed basses from other guitar makers. He is also an endorsee of
Bun E. Carlos has played with many different commercial drum accessories, including
cymbals, rare
, and Capella drum sticks. He is also an avid collector of vintage drums.
Cheap Trick is highly respected by its peers and an influence on its descendants. The band was one of ’s all-time favorites and has received acknowledgment from such peers as
(Rick Nielsen appeared on ), [], and []. In 1979, Robin Zander was informally approached to join British
after the departure of singer . In the 1980s, Cheap Trick garnered support from the hard rock community when bands like ,
cited their influence. An interesting shift happened during the early to mid-90s that helped fortify the band’s credibility - the band was now being seen as influential within the blossoming
mentioned the band as an influence, while
showed their admiration by having Cheap Trick open shows for them. Even earlier, industrial post-punk band
released a version of Cheap Trick's "He's A Whore" as .
According to Poison guitarist C.C. Deville the main riff to "Talk Dirty to Me", is taken from Cheap Trick's "She's Tight", while his solo for the song is taken from "California Man".
Smashing Pumpkins leader
has made a number of onstage guest appearances with Cheap Trick over the years. The thrash metal band Anthrax has covered two Cheap Trick songs, "Big Eyes" and "Auf Wiedersehen". Other bands that have mentioned Cheap Trick as an inspiration and influence include , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
and . Alice Cooper, on his "Nights with Alice Cooper" radio show once called Cheap Trick "America's House Band", citing their following among a wide range of musical genres. Even R&B/Soul artist
has mentioned Cheap Trick to be a big influence.
In the movie , the fictional, down on its luck band
finds renewed success in a sold-out tour of Japan, an homage to Cheap Trick's rise to international success after its tour of that country.[]
and guitarist
of the , a seminal
group, stated in 2011 that he's been a Cheap Trick fan and influenced by their work. The Bad Dolphins recorded 'The Ballad of Bun E & Jon' in Virginia Beach, VA in 2014 on an independent EP VA Rocks.
The lyric "Got my Kiss records out" in the Cheap Trick song "Surrender", is rewritten as a tribute to Cheap Trick in
song "Weeeee!! A KISS Concert!!" (2008) as "Got my Cheap Trick records out".
Current members
 – ,
(1974–Present)
 – , Backing Vocals (, 1987-Present)
 – ,
(1974–Present)
 – , Backing Vocals (–Present)
Former members
 – Drums ()
 – Lead Vocals (1974)
 – Bass, Backing Vocals ()
 – Bass, Backing Vocals (, , 2007; guest 1999)
Touring musicians
 – Keyboards, Backing Vocals (, , 2013; guest , 2014)
 – Keyboards, Backing Vocals (1985)
 – Keyboards, Backing Vocals (, , ; guest 1999)
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