These pranksters left a legacy that extends far beyond the power-pop scene.
Cheap Trick: Influences
Their power pop pulls equally from arena rock and punk.
Cheap Trick: Deep Cuts
Arm-swaying anthems give way to sleazy rave-ups.
About Cheap Trick
Artist Biography
Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson inadvertently came up with the band’s name when, during a Slade concert, he quipped that the band used “every cheap trick in the book.”
∙ In 1978, Japanese fans greeted Cheap Trick like they were The Beatles when the band recorded their breakthrough live album at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan arena.
∙ At Budokan (Live), considered one of the greatest concert albums of all time, contains the band’s first Top 10 hit, “I Want You to Want Me.”
∙ By 1980, Cheap Trick was filling arenas, putting on electrifying shows highlighted by Robin Zander’s powerhouse vocals and Rick Nielsen’s power chords on his five-neck guitar.
∙ Cheap Trick scored its one and only chart-topper with the power ballad “The Flame,” from the band’s 1988 comeback album, Lap of Luxury.
∙ The band’s 1999 cover of Big Star’s “In the Street” was used as the theme song for the hit TV series That ’70s Show.
∙ In 2007, Cheap Trick transformed itself into Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Hollywood Bowl, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ masterpiece.
∙ These perennial road warriors, who’ve played more than 5000 shows while selling more than 20 million albums, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
Hometown
Rockford, IL, United States
Genre
Rock
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