Slumgullion #104

Hollies graphic from the band’s official website.

I Want You To Watch This. Cheap Trick fans in the Chicago area can catch the band performing on the PBS program, Austin City Limits. It airs tonight (Friday, March 9th) from 8:00 to 9:00 PM on WYCC Channel 20. Also, I've been informed by musician/journalist Dan Pavelich that the concert can be seen on the Austin City Limits website.

Theatre Nebula is in the midst of a three weekend run for its production of Jason Robert Brown’s contemporary musical, Songs For A New World, at Cutting Hall in Palatine. Showtime is 8:00 PM on Friday and Saturday, and 3:00 PM on Sunday. The same times hold true for next week’s performances on March 16th-18th.

Speaking of Cutting Hall, the newly-minted, Palatine-based Fremont Street Theater Company will be staging its first production, the musical, Anything Goes, at the venue in August. Auditions begin on May 29th. As noted by Brian Slupski on Palatine Patch, Fremont Street Theater Company is headed by businessman Elroy Sandquist.

Palatine resident Mordecai Smyth has a new video for “Georgina Jones” from his fun and very 1960s-influenced CD, Sticky Tape And Rust. The song is a tribute to Georgina Jones, a daring and sexy 1960s Brit TV heroine. Just kidding about Mr. Smyth being from Palatine. He’s a Londoner who recently teased me on Facebook about sharing my hometown events with rock fans in the UK. He’s still welcome to have tea at my house if he ever does visit Palatine.

I have a feeling Mordecai Smyth would really hit it off with drummer Brad Elvis. In addition to leading the Chicago indie rock band, The Handcuffs, Brad Elvis frequently entertains on Facebook with his quirky sense of humor and vast pop culture knowledge. Recently he’s been posting pics of himself modeling custom-made rock and roll shirts from Cellophane Flowers. They look really cool, especially the one inspired by The Monkees. The Westmont, Illinois company specializes in Beatles-related clothing items, but is up for trying “anything unique.” I couldn’t find a website, (there’s an English band by that name) but Cellophane Flowers does have a page on Facebook.

Congratulations to Chicago’s own synth rockers, Dot Dot Dot, who will mark the fifth anniversary of their very first performance tomorrow with a celebration at the Tilted Kilt in Elgin. And happy birthday to the band’s vocalist-guitarist, Adam.

Chicago-based alt rockers WhiteWolfSonicPrincess are having their CD Release Party for 10 + 1 on April 1st at Red Line Tap from 4:00 - 6:00 PM. Anyone who follows WWSP guitarist-vocalist James Moeller’s freewheeling JimmyDumpsSunnyJimmy blog knows how psyched he is about this new release. Looking forward to hearing the songs.

The Second Disc online newsletter is reporting that The Hollies are set to release a new CD titled Radio Fun sometime in May. The 32-track compilation will feature the band performing live at the BBC throughout the 1960s and ‘70s. Drummer Bobby Elliott wrote the liner notes. Despite the presence of songs like “Bus Stop,” “I Can’t Let,” “I’m Alive,” and “He Aint Heavy, He’s My Brother,” Radio Fun isn’t a greatest hits package. It concentrates instead on album tracks and cover versions of other artists. Very fun, indeed.

Michael Quercio, the former lead singer-bassist for the 1980s neo-psychedelic band The Three O’Clock now does a podcast with co-host Lina Litonjua called The Michael Quercio Paisley Underground Consortium every Sunday from 4 to 6 PM. Not sure if that’s Pacific time, but it can be found online.

Speaking of cool podcasts, don’t forget Boris’s Secret Weapon, which can be heard on Woody Radio, on Tuesdays from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM; Thursdays from 9:00AM to 5:00 PM; Fridays from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Anyone who has ever seen an Elizabeth Swann from The Pirates Of The Caribbean action figure that looks more like Mike Ditka than Keira Knightley will appreciate the celebrity dolls created by artist Noel Cruz. As reported by Amanda Schneider in a recent edition of the online newsletter, Lost At E-Minor, Cruz paints over the faces of celebrity dolls to make them look a hell of a lot more like the actual performers. In fact, his renditions of Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Farrah Fawcett, and the kids from the Twilight movies are so lifelike, they’re almost scary. There’s no mention of prices, but it looks like Cruz puts his dolls up for auction on eBay.

CD Review: Robin Zander - Self-Titled

Here’s some good news: Cheap Trick has announced through its website and Facebook page that Sandy, the truck driver who was injured when the stage collapsed during the band’s concert at the Ottawa Bluesfest on July 17th, has been released from the hospital.

The following review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer in 1993.

Robin Zander’s self-titled solo effort isn’t as much of a radical departure from the usual Cheap Trick fare as Interscope Records claims, but it does offer some interesting duets and collaborations with an impressive list of guests. “Boy (I’m So In Love With You)” teams Zander with Christina Amphlett of The Divynyls on a dreamy techno ballad about a rekindled love affair, and Maria McKee adds harmonies to the catchy opening track, “Reactionary Girl.” The amiable light rock tune ‘Secret” gets a boost from Stevie Nicks on back-up vocals and Mick Fleetwood on drums. Other guests include J.D. Souther, Don Felder, Dave Stewart, Dr. John, members of The Heartbreakers, and Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson.

Still, Zander pretty much follows Cheap Trick’s more recent (and successful) formula of balancing power pop with lush ballads, while avoiding the AC/DC overkill of the band’s leaner times. A few of the ballads, like “Show Me Heaven” and “Time Will Let You Know” are a little tepid, but the infectious energy of “I’ve Always Got You” and “Tell It To The World,” as well as a rousing cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Jump Into The Fire” ensure that Robin Zander is a success.

Up To His Neck In Classical Rock

Photo by J.D. Motte, from Cheap Tricks’s official website.

Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen dropped by the WXRT studio this morning to have a quick chat with morning man Lin Brehmer about a series of concerts that kicks off tomorrow night at The Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Cheap Trick will be performing the entire Dream Police album, backed by The Bombastic Symphonic Philharmonic with The Rhythmic Noise Mind Choir throughout January and February. Six back-up singers and a 20-piece orchestra will be involved. The concerts will feature the band’s other hits as well.

“We do that as one section of stuff,” Nielsen said, referring to Dream Police. When Brehmer noted that it would be particularly interesting to hear the title track, with all its dramatic instrumentation, backed by an orchestra, Nielson agreed, saying, “The intensity of that is cool.” He added that the Northern Lights people had come up with the idea after having seen one of the Beatles-themed shows Cheap Trick performed during an extended stint in Las Vegas.

Brehmer has a long association with Cheap Trick; his guest appearance as the hyper AM radio DJ during a live performance of “On The Radio” at The Metro can be heard on the On XRT Volume 4 CD, released in 1998. So this morning’s interview naturally included some joking around, such as Nielsen saying that he had chewed out one of the orchestra members during a rehearsal. When Brehmer asked if anyone in the orchestra had a five-neck violin, Nielsen insisted that he actually owns one. It would be interesting to see him playing it at the Dream Police concert, but I’m still not convinced Nielsen was serious. He also teased that Brehmer sounded like Kevin from The Office when he described Cheap Trick’s The Latest CD as, “Nice!”

There was one burning question that went unanswered during the interview: Why isn’t Cheap Trick doing this type of show in Chicago?

CD Review: Cheap Trick - The Latest

The first time I saw Cheap Trick was at Harlow’s rock club (or was it Haywires or Pip’s at that point?) on Chicago’s southwest side. Rick Nielsen used his guitar to poke out the ceiling tiles above the stage, and Robin Zander so effectively conveyed the raw emotions of “Oh, Candy” I could've sworn he was crying. That was prior to the release of Cheap Trick’s self-titled debut, and decades later, it’s inspiring to see the band releasing solid albums at a fast enough pace to make a long-time fan’s headphones spin. The Latest followed on the heels of Rockford, and preceded Sgt. Pepper Live.

Primarily written by the band, The Latest finds Cheap Trick concentrating on what it does best; creating irresistibly catchy power pop. Several references to The Beatles foreshadow the decision to take on the entire Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for performances in Las Vegas. “Miracle” sounds like it could have been one of the better ballads from John Lennon’s solo days. The enticing “Miss Tomorrow” sets guitar-driven rock amidst symphonic swirls while the lyrics mash The Beatles with The Rolling Stones: “Love, you said that love is all you need./Cold, you taught The Beatles “Let It Bleed.” The high-speed “California Girl” sounds like a gender reversal of The Beatles’ early cover of Larry Williams’s “Bad Boy,” and describes the title character as a Sexy Sadie.

A rousing take on Slade’s “When The Lights Are Out” kicks off with Bun E. Carlos’s signature drumming, and Cheap Trick also roars through “Everyday You Make Me Crazy,” “Sick Man Of Europe,” and “Alive.” Even the romantic ballads “These Days” and “Times Of Our Lives” sport a full-bodied sound, while the lush psychedelia of “ Closer, The Ballad Of Burt And Linda” once again taps into those Beatles influences. Luckily, this was the latest from Cheap Trick, and not the last.