Ross Warner, who was written for Deadbase: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Songlists and the Grateful Dead Tape Compendium, Vols. II and III (along with numerous musical features and reviews for Glide Magazine) has written his first music biography on Cheap Trick. The book is titled American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond and will be released September 3rd but is available for pre-order now and features a Foreword by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready.
The book also features interviews with BCR’s Cary Baker, one of the band’s earliest fans since 1975. Scheduled to coincide with the 45th anniversary of Cheap Trick at Budokan, it covers the band’s initial rise, with a special focus on the oft-mythologized at Budokan story. Forever immortalized by their shout-out in the cult teen movie classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheap Trick has been cited by Nirvana, , Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Pearl Jam (thus McCready’s involvement) as a main influence. Warner interviewed many of those who were on stage with the band and in the studio, with much archival material sourced from the legendary writers on the 1970s rock scene from Rolling Stone, Creem, Crawdaddy, Trouser Press, Circus, Sounds, the New Musical Express, and Hit Parader, among others. Band members and management from this time were also interviewed, although their contributions appear uncredited in fashion. This of course, is also quintessential Cheap Trick.
From the Publisher’s Announcement: They’ve sold more than 20 million albums, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they’re one of Homer Simpson’s favorite bands—but even today, fifty years after they first formed, Cheap Trick remains to many a club band with a cult following. They certainly started out that way, with a carnival-like stage show featuring four perfectly mismatched characters: guitarist Rick Nielsen, in bowtie, sweater, and baseball cap, stood next to blonde dreamboat Robin Zander, while the mysterious, chestnut-haired bassist Tom Peterson held down the bottom end with drummer Bun E. Carlos, never seen without his cigarette or tie.
American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond tells the unlikely story of the band’s path to greatness, from their origins in Rockford, Illinois to their massively successful live album At Budokan to the many, many ups and downs that followed. This is a rollicking tale of artistic genius, rock excess, hilarious misbehavior, chance encounters with music’s biggest names, and international stardom that brought new meaning to the phrase “big in Japan.” American Standard gives an intimate look at a truly original band—whether you consider them rock icons or criminally underrated.
