Intro (Edit)

Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, that gained popularity in the late 1970s. Cheap Trick created a substantial fan base through a hard-edged yet melodic pop sound that combines the tunefulness of The Beatles with the speed and energy of punk rock. Their biggest hits include “Surrender”, “I Want You to Want Me”, “Dream Police” and “The Flame.”

Cheap Trick continues to tour with the original lineup, and their most recent release, Rockford, has gained critical acclaim. The band is most popular in Japan, where they have remained popular superstars since their first album. They have been often referred to in the Japanese press as the “American Beatles”.

In 1974 Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson, and Bun E. Carlos chose Robin Zander to front their band. They renamed the band they were in to Cheap Trick.

Cheap Trick performed around Rockford, southern Wisconsin, and the Chicago area while they developed a unique stage show. Epic Records A&R man Tom Werman signed the group on the recommendation of producer Jack Douglas, best known for his work with Aerosmith. Their debut album Cheap Trick, produced by Douglas, was released in February 1977. While the album received great reviews, it did not sell many copies. One single was issued, “Oh, Candy,” but did not chart.

They opened shows for The Kinks, Boston, Santana, Kiss, and other headliners as they toured constantly, playing as many as 250 shows a year. At the same time, the band began to develop a large fan base in Japan.

The next album, In Color, was released later that year, and features some of the band’s most well-known songs, such as “Big Eyes,” “Downed,” “Clock Strikes Ten,” and “Come On, Come On.” The album also featured the debut of “I Want You To Want Me,” which had previously been recorded for the debut album but did not make the final cut. The album sold slightly more copies than the debut LP. The band has always been vocal about the album’s poor production, as producer Tom Werman attempted to bring out the band’s lighter and pop-influenced side. While the album was a flop in the US, it made the band superstars in Japan, where the album went gold and “Clock Strikes Ten” became a number one single.

Heaven Tonight was released in 1978, and combined the elements of the first two albums to produce a hook-filled pop-rock album with an attitude. Teen anthem “Surrender”, one of Cheap Trick’s signature songs, was issued as the first single from the album. The album featured more of the band’s most well-known songs. The album became their first Gold record in the US, and further cemented their superstar status in Japan.

Not one of Cheap Trick’s first three albums made it into the Top 40 in the United States. In Japan, however, all three albums became gold records. When Cheap Trick went to Japan to tour the country for the first time, in 1978, they were received with a frenzy reminiscent of Beatlemania. During this tour, in April 1978, Cheap Trick recorded a live show for their loyal Japanese fans at the Nippon Budokan. The show was released as a live album titled Cheap Trick at Budokan, which was intended to be exclusive to Japan. The album suddenly became a popular import in the United States, and demand for the album became so great that Epic Records finally issued the album in the US in 1979.

By 1980, when All Shook Up was released, Cheap Trick was headlining arenas. All Shook Up—produced by former Beatles producer George Martin—reached #24 on the charts and was certified gold. The Found All The Parts EP was also released in 1980 and consisted of previously unreleased material, including a fake live cover of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper”.

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History (Edit)

Before the release of All Shook Up, Petersson left the group. Pete Comita 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 Rock & Rule. “Reach Out” and “I Must Be Dreamin’” went to the film Heavy Metal and were produced by Roy Thomas Baker. Comita left the band after a only few months, during pre-production of the band’s next album. Jon Brant became Petersson’s steady replacement. One on One, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, was started in 1982. The album spawned two minor hits, “If You Want My Love” and “She’s Tight.”

The following year, Cheap Trick released Next Position Please with Todd Rundgren as the producer. The first single was a cover of The Motors “Dancing The Night Away.” Epic Records, desperate for a hit from the band, forced the group to record the track. Rundgren refused to produce the song, and it was instead produced by Ian Taylor. It failed to chart anyway, as well as the second single and fan favorite “I Can’t Take It.”

In 1985 they were reunited with Jack Douglas, who had produced their debut album, which resulted in Standing on the Edge. 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 Yoko Ono at the time. This album was called their “best collection of bubblegum bazooka rock in years.”

In 1986, Cheap Trick released The Doctor, which turned out to be the final album with Brant as bassist.

Petersson rejoined the group in 1987 and helped record 1988’s Lap of Luxury, produced by Ritchie Zito. Due to the band’s commercial decline, Epic Records forced the band to collaborate with professional songwriters. “The Flame,” a typical 80’s “factory ballad,” was issued as the first single and became the band’s first-ever #1 single. Lap of Luxury went platinum and became recognized as the band’s comeback album.

Busted was released in 1990 and was also produced by Ritchie Zito, as the band attempted to capitalize on the success of Lap of Luxury. This time, however, the band was allowed more creativity and professional songwriters were only used on a handful of songs.

The group left Epic after the disappointing sales of “Busted” to sign with Warner Bros. Records. In 1994 the band released Woke Up With A Monster, which was produced by legendary producer Ted Templeman. 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 “grunge” side, due to producer Ted Templeman’s much criticized heavy-handed production. Rick Nielsen grew a once trademark goatee, and Robin Zander’s voice grew noticeably deeper.

The band quickly parted ways with Warner Bros. and decided it was time to go back to the 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 who had been influenced by them, such as the Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. In 1996, the band independently released Gift, a two track Christmas CD that benefited Chicago-area charities.

In 1997, Cheap Trick signed with indie label Red Ant Records and released Cheap Trick, produced by Ian Taylor, who the band had previously worked with in 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 earlier.

In 1999, the band recorded a cover of Big Star’s “In the Street” for use as the theme song for the television show That 70’s Show. It was released on the show’s soundtrack, That ’70s Album (Rockin’).

After spending a good part of 2001 writing songs and about six weeks of pre-production, Cheap Trick went into Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York in March 2002, where the band put together their first studio album in six years, Special One in May 2003. At the same time, the band brought their record label to Big3 Entertainment. While the lead-off single “Scent of A Woman” was typical Cheap Trick fare, most of the album’s tracks were acoustic-based. The band also contributed a re-recorded version of “Surrender” to the comedy film Daddy Day Care and made a cameo in the film.

In 2006, Cheap Trick released Rockford on Cheap Trick Unlimited/Big3 Records. The first single from the album was “Perfect Stranger” produced by Linda Perry and co-written by Cheap Trick and Perry.

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Update (Edit)

On June 19, 2007, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Resolution 255, which designated April 1 of every year as Cheap Trick Day in the State of Illinois.

On April 24, 2008, Cheap Trick played live at the Budokan for the 30th anniversary of the 1978 album Live at Budokan.

On July 5, 2008 at their concert in Milwaukee, Rick Neilsen announced to the crowd that the show was being recorded for a future cd and/or dvd release.

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