Cheap Trick

I’ve always admired Cheap Trick. First of all, they didn’t look like any other band. They had two bonafide looking rock stars in lead singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Peterson. Their great guitar player Rick Nielsen looked like Huntz Hall from the old Bowery Boys films and the drummer Bun E Carlos looked like an old uncle you would have somewhere.

They were a hard-working band from Rockford Illinois in the mid-70s. None of their first three albums made it in the top 40 but they did have a single to chart…a single off their third album “Heaven Tonight” was the first to chart in America…”Surrender” (Studio Version) peaked at #61 on the Billboard 100 in 1978. They were not getting any traction in America but in Japan, they were getting huge.

They toured Japan in 1978 with a Beatlemania atmosphere and played at Budakon and recorded a live album there. “Cheap Trick at Budakon” is what finally broke them in America in 1979.

I got to see Cheap Trick in 1984 in Opryland and I  became a fan. They had some great rockers but also some power-pop gems like “Voices.” The albums I like are Heaven Tonight, Dream Police, In Color and of course Live at Budakon.

They never had that milestone studio album that really marked their career like some bands but they made enough good music to be remembered. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Voices

You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear

Hey, it’s me again
Plain to see again
Please, can I see you every day?
I’m a fool again
I fell in love with you again
Please, can I see you every day?

You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear
You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear

Words don’t come out right
I try to say it oh, so right
I hope you understand my meaning
Hey, it’s me again
I’m so in love with you again
Please, can I see you every day?

You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear
You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear

I remember every word you said (word you said)
I remember voices in my head (in my head)
I remember every word you said (word you said)

(I) Your voices 
(Heard your voice) Cool voices 
Warm voices
It was just what I needed to

(Words) Cool voices 
(Don’t seem right) Warm voices
Your voices
It’s just what I needed for

(Love) Warm voices
(Is the word) Your voices
Cool voices
It was just what I needed to

(I) Your voices 
(Heard your voice) Cool voices 
Warm voices
It was just what I needed to
Just what I needed to
Just what I needed

You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear
You didn’t know what you were looking for
Till you heard the voices in your ear

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

17 thoughts on “Cheap Trick”

  1. Not to sound like a pompous jerk but I think you mean Huntz Hall from The Bowery Boys. I felt like Cheap Trick who I am a fan of hit it real big with the Lap of Luxury album and The Flame which I think was a huge hit. Wasn’t a real fan of the album though. I prefer their upbeat stuff.

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    1. You are not a jerk at all thank you… what pisses me off is I knew that but I looked up the name to verify and why I put his name I don’t know. Thank you for pointing that out…. I will correct it.

      They had other writers to write the Flame I didn’t like I didn’t like it too much. Their sound was too commercial.

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  2. I became a fan- and I am sure many did with the breakthough Live At Budakon album- I had not heard of them up to that point. I then bought the back catalog and was a fan until Lap of Luxury. I haven’t bought any of their albums since. Surrender- has to be my favorite Cheap Trick song! Has anyone ever seen Rick Nielson without a ballcap on?

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    1. Yes for Lap Of Luxury the record company brought in some of those 1980s outside writers.
      When I think of Cheap Trick I think of Live at Budokan and songs. Some great songs though. My favorite probably has to be Voices.

      I have never seen him without it… You would think he would slip up once in 40 years. It’s part of him now.

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      1. I hate to put him in the same sentence- as fellow hat wearer Mike Love- but I don’t think Mike has been in public without one in 50 years…

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      2. I was curious and I found a pic from probably around 74 or so of Rick…he had hair…it could have been thinning…

        Yea with Love it’s been since the 60s…

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  3. Like so many others, I liked the live Budokan LP and bought it but really LOVED ‘Dream Police’ album back then. Listened to “Voices’ repeatedly back then and it still stands up well to me. I remember being such a fan in that era I sent away for a Cheap Trick bowtie– can’t recall ever WEARING it though!

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    1. They were really a hard working band… Tom Petty, the Cars and Cheap Trick help bring back power pop to the masses…

      Love the story about the bow tie… I would send off for everything Beatles and baseball then

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  4. I’m a huge Cheap Trick fan. Voices is one of my favorite songs. I loved the way Cheap Trick bridged Pop and Rock over a steady stream of Punk. To me they were very Beatlesque with a Ramones edge. Voices is lush–no Ramones influence here–Pop reminiscent of ELO’s Can’t Get It Out of My Head and Telephone Line–all obvious homages to The Beatles.

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    1. For a Beatles fan they were great to me. The bridge in “If You Want My Love” is very Beatles like. Like you said they had a rockier edge also and The Ramones are a good example.

      I only got to see them once and they hooked me. I liked them before but they are better on stage than their albums to me…and that is not a put down…that is just how good they are live.

      I want to do something on ELO soon. Jeff Lynne is a great pop/rock song writer, singer, and producer.

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      1. Yes I have seen Cheap Trick live too. They are very good but Rick Nielsen was spitting into the crowd–doing a Johnny Rotten imitation, I guess–and I got spat on. It was the last concert that I fought my way to the front barricade for. It soured me a bit on the experience. Ha! Not a Punk at all, just like the fringes of the music. Thought I would be safe at a Cheap Trick Concert but it just goes to show–wannabes are sometimes more dangerous than the real deal.

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      2. Wow I never heard of him doing anything like that… not cool at all. Yea that would sour the experience….
        I liked a few punk bands like The Clash and The Ramones… I’ve seen Cheap Trick listed as punk… I guess I know why now..

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  5. I loved Cheap Trick since Surrender. I didn’t see them live until a few years ago when they opened for Aerosmith. I was so disappointed in the crowd. It’s like no one knew who Cheap Trick even was. They did a good set, but I felt like I was the only one in the arena who was appreciating them.

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    1. That was a great double bill… I will say that. That is a shame about the crowd. I’ve never understood why they were not as big as some of their peers. From the video I’ve seen of them recently they sound as good as they did in the younger days.

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      1. I agree, it should have been a great double bill. But it seemed everyone in the arena was just waiting for Aerosmith. I was there for Cheap Trick, and was basically that one person in the back of the arena cheering for them. I went to finally have my Cheap Trick moment, and was denied. 😥

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      2. I’m sorry…Well that sucks! I would go see Cheap Trick over Aerosmith any day. I like quirky bands and Cheap Trick is…and I mean that in the best way. They have such a variety of songs.

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