 | Most Recent Posts Cheap Trick's RockfordPosted Aug-17-06 17:24:21 PDT Updated Aug-19-06 17:34:48 PDT Cheap Trick has reached a new plateau in the world of Power Pop Rock. Rockford, their latest album, is a great listen from start to finish. Not one clinker in the crowd. If you listen all the way through each song, you’ll hear the full range of Robin Zander’s vocals, Rick Nielsen’s understated, but more varied than ever, guitar, powerful drumming by Bun E. Carlos and substantial bass from Tom Peterson. The overall sound of Rockford is in the minor key, with a certain longing feeling to almost every song. There is a touching melancholy to this music without as much outrageous foolishness of some of Cheap Trick’s earlier music or sappy radio-friendly music of their 90s output. This is a band that knows its status in the music world, longs for the glories of the past, but forges on, with a wonderful sound for today, while looking forward to the future with no regrets. Rockford reminds me of the Beatles Revolver, with song after memorable song that still stands up years after it was made. On this album, the vocals are up front, with Nielsen’s excellent falsetto backing up, responding to, and in harmony with Zander’s voice, which goes from a whisper, to a scream and all points in between. The rhythm section plays a big part, while the guitar experiments with single riffs, kazoo sounds, startling swings, and psychedelic noise at the end. Robin’s real voice is used throughout - no electronic trickery. Cheap Trick produced Rockford themselves, and it shows their true unaltered greatness. What you hear is what they played and sang in the studio. No gimmicks that rely on computers to duplicate. The lyrics on many of the songs are filled with witty wordplay and references to their own previous songs, other songs on the album, and the songs of other people. All the words are well-chosen , and for the most part, show where Cheap Trick is now in it’s career, it’s relationship with the overall music business, and it’s faithful fans. “Welcome to the world, it’s a brand new day!” is how the album starts out. Welcome to the World is a cool, powerful start to pull us into the album. My first impression was the Kinks on speed. Perfect Stranger - 60s sound, with lots of depth, a great beat, vocal, harmonies, and guitar bits. “Don’t need another perfect stranger driving me insane, saying it’s time for you to change.” Enough said about what this song is about! If It Takes a Lifetime - Breathy, low vocals grow to a determined strong voice singing “All I want to do is just be with you.” Guitar part sounds like it from a Revolver song, including strings playing in the background. Cheap Trick saying they will always be here for the audience. It ends abruptly and goes directly into... Come On, Come On, Come On, a real rave-up rocker that you will remember for a long time. I guarantee you’ll be singing it to yourself long after the CD is over. There asking all of us to join in the fun that they obviously have with each other and their music. The fifth song, O Claire is by far my favorite on this album and one that I sing over and over. The first time I listened to it, it brought tears to my eyes. It has two parts with two memorable melodies and lines: “Just Between the two of us” and “Bye bye love, goodbye, see you on the other side.” It’s a ballad, but not a sappy love song. It reminds me of George Harrison. This Time You Got It. That’s for sure - they definitely got it- a near-perfect album and song. This starts with a piano and a Beatle-ish “Yeah”, a memorable guitar riff, and lots of tricky lyrics, like “You could be king for a day” and then “You could be queen for a day.” After a pause, Zander sings “You blew me away.” It then becomes a full-out rocker with a great guitar part and floating, falsetto vocals. Give It Away is a hard charging song about throwing out all your bad memories and living life to the fullest, with an unusual guitar lick and great words. One More is the most fun song on the CD. It starts out with drums like I Want You to Want Me. Then it changes to a quirky, funky sound that reminds me of the Rolling Stones’ Miss You, with hilarious high-voiced responses from Rick to Robin’s calls. I laughed out loud! Then it morphs into a different song after Zander sings “All I need is one more day…” I think they will have a lot more good days. Then Nielsen does some frantic guitar playing to the end with phantom "Yeahs" and one last chorus from Robin. Straight forward 60ish rocker with a sentimental message, Every Night and Every Day is about living life to the fullest, with Zander hitting some of his famous high notes and Roger Daltry-type screams. Memorable line “In the key of life.” Most Beatle-like song on the album, Dream the Night Away, is the first of the Power Pop trio that ends the disc. Strident vocals, clanging guitar, kazoo-sounding guitar, great harmonies, a truly wonderful song. More obvious 60s influences, very emotional vocals, All Those Years brings out the singer in all of us, with it’s high verses and low choruses. The title immediately reminded me of George Harrison’s song All Those Years Ago, but that is a bright song compared to this. This is the most emotionally meaningful song on the CD. The guitar sound , with some keyboards mixed in is unique and restrained enough to let the words shine through. “It’s a lonely, lonely life” For many it is. The one will make you think back on what you had when you were younger and maybe even bring a tear to your eye. Decaf is the big bang-up finish to the album. It is the heaviest song in this set, with serious-sounding, but tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Sounds like some one on a caffeine high, urgently talking about the stresses of life. “It could happen to you” will stick in your mind forever. And the line “You’ve got everything to die for” is another one of their funny lines. Robin’s voice keeps getting lower until Rick ends the song with guitar feedback and a disjointed scream in the background. I ask that everyone who listens to this CD and likes it call their local rock station and ask them to play Rockford! This great music really needs to have a chance for everyone to hear it. Every song on the radio these days does not have to be by the latest fave. Some older bands like Cheap Trick put out great contemporary music that the Clear Channel stations and their ilk won't play. Let them know there is an audience for quality rock music, no matter where it comes from.
The Rumbles' "Jezebel"Posted Aug-16-06 17:04:29 PDT
The Rumbles' biggest hit was Jezebel, written by Wayne Shanklin for
Frankie Layne. He had a Billboard #2 hit with it in 1951. The Rumbles
got the idea for recording this song after seeing Herman's Hermits
perform Jezebel on the Ed Sullivan Show in about 1967. It was never
released as a single, but appeared on Herman's Hermits album from that
year, There's a Kind of Hush All Over the World. Here are the lyrics to
Jezebel: If ever a devil was born without a pair of horns
It was you, Jezebel, it was you If ever a pair of eyes promised paradise It was you, Jezebel, it was you If ever a devil's plan was meant to torment man Deceiving me, grieving me, leaving me blue Jezebel, it was you Been better had I never known a lover such as you Forsaken dreams unknown in the silent tone of your charm Jezebel If ever a devil's plan was meant to torment man Deceiving me, grieving me, leaving me blue Jezebel, it was you Night and day, every way Jezebel, Jezebel, Jezebel!!!! Some of the original words were changed for their version. This was a really good recording that I believe was done in a studio in Chicago, with a horn section to add a Latin flavor. They still play it today in their shows since Steve Hough, the only original member, was the lead vocalist on the recording Cheap Trick in OmahaPosted Aug-16-06 16:30:42 PDT Updated Aug-27-06 00:37:31 PDT
I will be writing a review for Cheap Trick's new album Rockford for
eBay, and that reminded me of my long association with Cheap Trick over
the years. I first heard of them in 1976. When I heard the name, saw
what they looked like, and read some of their song titles, I
assumed they were a gay group. It turned out that was just a
tongue-in-cheek act that they put on as part of their overall image.
(Side note: I thought the same thing about AC/DC, but they most
certainly aren't gay!) Cheap Trick, as I've seen over the years, has 2
sides to their music: the oddball, goofy music that the die-hard fans
love and the rest of us just shake our heads at, and the power pop
music people have come to love and remember always. I
saw them again on August 26th in Burnside MN at Renegades. Read my
review at
http://www.cheaptrick.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?s=1d5671e7c28db0a43100222e8f3b7ddc;act=ST;f=3;t=8270. When I was a kid - the 50sPosted Aug-16-06 16:12:24 PDT Here are a few memories from my pre-teen years: My introduction to rock 'n' roll music was through my mother, of all people. She was 37 years older than me, but knew a coming trend when she saw one. She recorded Elvis Presley, off the radio, doing "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" on our Recordio record-cutting machine. Our family had the only one of these devices I had ever seen. (I still haven't seen another!) It looked like a suitcase, but when you opened it up, there was a turntable, radio tuner and a microphone on a cable, attached to the lid. It was made by Wilcox-Gay. You could use it to make 6" and 10" records at 78 rpm speed, on blank metal and plastic based discs. It had a cutting needle for recording, and another needle for playing records. She also recorded "Stranded in the Jungle" by the Cadets and other songs I can't remember at the moment. The main reason Dad bought this device was to record the family. I still have several albums of these records with my voice as a little kid, along with Mom and Dad and my 2 brothers and various aunts and uncles. More to come.
More about The Coachmen.Posted Aug-15-06 16:31:15 PDT Updated Aug-15-06 17:01:25 PDT While going through some personal papers today, I ran across 3 things concerning The Coachmen: 1) A clipping from The Omaha World-Herald, dated 11/23/65. It's an ad for Omaha teen night club the Way Out Club at 6104 Ames. I remember this place was on the second floor of a small office building. It ended up having to close when Ames Ave. was closed down shortly after that date to be completely rebuilt. You couldn't get to the place for months! The ad lists The Coachmen on November 21st for a dollar admission. (See picture below.) 2) A clipping from The Omaha World-Herald, dated 12/14/65. On the back of a High School Press column that I saved because it included something I wrote, is part of an article entitled "Beatles, Elvis Vie for Teen Popularity". Did you know that, according to this, The Coachmen shared Favorite Singers honors with The Beatles, Elvis, Petula Clark, the Rolling Stones, and the Supremes, in a Question of the Week poll for teenagers? Pretty good company, I'd say! 3) And did you know Coachmen drummer Bruce Watson also was a journalist? He wrote this article in The Gateway as a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (also my alma mater) in the October 18, 1968 edition: New Shops Liven The 'Old Market' Drive downtown, go past the busy neon-light show, and you'll find rows of dingy fruit warehouses and empty buildings, smothered in dust. This is the natural and real setting of the "Old Market" and it's growing number of children. Those children are infants, existing in the form of shops. They are small and incomplete, but growing in size and number. More important, together they have all the potential of Chicago's "Old Town." The market is not impressive as it is now, but only because it is far from finished. A Start It has a start in the form of a women's boutique (Reba), an import shop (British Imports), an underground film house (Edison's Exposure), an excellent art gallery (Gallery at the Market), an art school (The Loft) and a psychedelic goodies shop (The Farthest Outpost). William J. Johnson, Art Director of Northern Natural Gas and co-owner of "Reba", predicts "There could easily be 100 shops in operation by next summer. Most of the available space has already been rented for appropriate businesses." Among these shops will be a coffee-record shop called "Other People." It will open Nov. 1 and feature live music. The Market will sport another art gallery, a leather shop, a candle and pottery shop (The Wicked World), a French restaurant and bar, an antique shop, a book store and more clothing-import shops. Relaxed Atmosphere The atmosphere will be relaxed. Sales people won't hassle you. No one will frown if you want to sit down, drink coffee and talk. Much of the activity will happen outside as in European markets. Next year, a fountain will be built in the intersection of 11th and Howard Streets, the heart of the Market. According to Johnson the cost will be split between the Nebraska Arts Council and the city of Omaha. Johnson likes to think that Omaha isn't as conservative as it might appear. "We opened three weeks ago and sold half the stock during the first weekend. Women over 40 bought most of it. We were really surprised," Johnson commented. "This type of thing hasn't been offered here before. Many people want an atmosphere like the Market will offer and the things that go with it, like outdoor concerts," he added. Impressive shop The most impressive Market shop operating right now is the "Gallery." It's loaded with good original art and is a must for those who know art is more than a source of decoration. Much of the work on display was created by local artists. The Gallery sits quietly at 1102 Howard, below "The Farthest Outpost" (second floor) and "The Loft" (third floor). Edison's Exposure screens underground film on Friday, Saturday and some Wednesday nights. Andy Warhol's "Chelsea Girls" will have its first Midwestern showing Oct. 18-19. Films begin at 6:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., depending on length, and are repeated at 10 p.m. The Market is not yet a complete reality, because it isn't physically together. It has a start, plus the necessary ideas, promotional support and interested people. By next summer it will hopefully be at or near completion. It should be worth waiting for. If Bruce hadn't been a Coachmen, he could have made a great entertainment reporter!
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