Blame . Without the loveable moptops there would never have been a Cheap Trick – and without the band from Rockford, Illinois, what we now call pop-rock probably would have been a very different animal too. Blessed with an innate sense of melody and an irreverent sense of buffoonery, Cheap Trick were almost seen as punk rock, certainly when compared to the behemoths who dominated the US charts in the 1970s.
Seriously, Cheap Trick were prepared to take the piss out of themselves and everyone else, while crafting songs so hummable that if writing memorable hooks were an offence they’d have been locked up with no chance of parole. It started in 1968 with the band Fuse, with guitarist (very much the main songwriter) and bassist Tom Petersson. One album for Epic proved unsuccessful, as did a name change to Sick Man Of Europe and a relocation to Philadelphia.
By 1973 they’d become Cheap Trick, adding drummer Bun E. Carlos and vocalist Randy Hogan. The latter didn’t stay long, ousted in favour of Robin Zander.
Three albums – 1977’s self titled debut and , plus the following year – enjoyed modest success, but it was 1979’s live album that hit the commercial jackpot, turning Cheap Trick into a major force on the American chart and also giving them a global reputation. Moreover, it helped that they had a distinctive image, which was the sum of two duos: Zander and Petersson were the pretty boys; Nielsen and Carlos were the wacky looking pair. By the end of the 70s, Chea.