Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen Gives Us The Latest

Thirty-five years together as a band and still together? Cheap Trick, that little old band from Rockford, Illinois, has just released studio album No. 17 entitled The Latest. One of the earliest purveyors of power/pop/punk, the Japanese press calls them the “American Beatles,” a moniker given to them even before their seminal Cheap Trick At Budokan (a live album the band recorded at Japan’s famed Nippon Budokan Arena) was released in 1979. That’s the album that gave us “I Want You To Want Me,” a song that to this day plays constantly at karaoke bars and on radio stations, jukeboxes, satellite radios, computers and iPods, probably even elevators, all over the planet. We can’t forget the other huge hits, too, like “Surrender,” “Dream Police,” “The Flame,” and even the theme song to the Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
The band has performed no less than 5,000 times, sold 20 million plus records, has had its songs on 29 movie soundtracks and has received 40 gold and platinum recording awards. The man responsible for most of these amazing songs is lead guitar player and chief tunesmith Rick Nielsen, a man who has owned 2,000 guitars, including a few of the now infamous Hamer Five-Neck axes. I sat down with him for a typically humorous discussion but I had to know first what it was like for him and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos to play and record with John Lennon on his Double Fantasy album.

Rick Nielsen – It was Aug. 12, 1980 and I remember that because my son was born that day. When I walked in, I think he thought I was Ricky Nelson at first but [producer] Jack Douglas and John told me to play whatever I wanted on the tracks. I think he knew of us because that was right when Budokan was really popular. We talked about guitars and I actually gave him one of my Fender Telecasters to use; I got it back three years later. I also had a guitar made for him which I gave him and that guitar is now at the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I got to play his Rickenbacker with the set list from Shea Stadium scotch taped to the back of the guitar. I had some cigars that I smuggled in from Canada so we smoked and toasted to my new son and to Sean Lennon who was just a baby then, too. Bun E. got the chord charts that we were working on that day signed by John. It really was like musician to musician. Here I was giving him advice on guitars. It really was quite an honor.

Jonathan Clarke – You guys were models for designer John Varvatos during the last album, Rockford?

RN – Yes, I thought, are they trying to not sell clothes by having us as the faces of the campaign? And I figured if my face was ever going to be on a billboard or a bus stop that it would be an “America’s Least Wanted” poster or graffiti or something, but yeah, John’s been great. To be in an ad from the GQ Designer of the Year was pretty amazing. We were honored to be asked. The photo of us on the new album is from an outtake from one of the ads they did.
JC – There is a song on the new album, “Sick Man of Europe,” which was actually the name of a band you were in pre-Cheap Trick?

RN – Yes, Robert “Stewkey” Antoni (Naz) was the lead singer with Tom Petersson on bass and Bun E. Carlos on drums and it was such a horrible name that we thought we would have a song with the same name.

JC – And the genesis of that title comes from the country Turkey?

RN – Yes, Turkey has been called the Sick Man of Europe; it was a term for the country that I read in the International Herald Tribune in the late ’60s. Basically, [it means] that Turkey is the poor, twisted, SOB, whatever-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong country. The name just resonated with me for some reason at the time so I thought, let’s call the band that. It’s like what I said about the John Varvatos campaign. Was I trying not to become popular and not sell records by naming the band that? If you can tolerate Cheap Trick and a song named “Sick Man of Europe” you are, like, the ultimate fan.

JC – You also cover a Slade song on the new album, “When The Lights Are Out.”

RN – I always loved Slade. And let’s not forget that “Cum On Feel The Noize” was not written by Quiet Riot, it was written by Slade. They never were really huge in the States, but we used to play some of their songs live. One of my favorite lead singers is Noddy Holder. I always liked those lead singers with that pirate swagger. Singers with that crazy blown out-sounding voice like Noddy, Bon Scott and Steve Marriott.

JC – The Latest is going to be released on CD, vinyl and 8-track?

RN – We just thought it would be fun really, why not? Everyone does the same thing so let’s do something a little different. Let’s have something that people don’t do anymore. Almost like album artwork.

JC – And you want someone to develop a Rick Nielsen Checkerboard 8-track player?

RN – Yes, Checkerboard is a must, but streamline it a bit. It would be okay to update the technology a little, but not too much – two RCA plugs in and two out, maybe a USB connection and a plug in too, maybe. See, I’m like a phony/faux inventor – I make stuff that I want, like a power strip with the on/off button on the other end of the power strip as opposed to the way they make them now. It just makes more sense.

JC – Rick, it’s always a pleasure.

RN – I’ve got so much more to talk about, but I can’t remember any of it, so it’s perfect!