Sophomore year of college found me volunteering at the campus radio station while considering a major change from art to media. I'd pick up a pile of LPs to screen, write up nutshells, and make recommendations. Being the new guy, I ended up with the records no one was interested in. In the middle of an armload of forgettable dreck, was Cheap Trick's 1977 debut. It knocked me right out. I raved, and the station got me tickets to a show at The Starwood, in Hollywood, with John Cale opening. Still one of the best concerts I've ever seen. "Cheap Trick" remains in my top 30. I found this identical replacement for my original in Spin That! my neighborhood shop, a few months ago for $10.
"In Color" was a huge disappointment to me after this. It was the sound, not the songs. In 1997 they recut it with Steve Albini, and even though it was never finished or released, the leaked bootlegs are the real deal.
Happy Monday!
-BBJ
5 comments:
I still hold out hope that the Albini sessions will get a proper release, even if it's part of an archive package or something. I probably prefer the songs from In Color to the songs from the debut, just not the production. At least they got it right by Heaven Tonight.
The Albini version of In Color has got much more grit and power. A wonderful band, regardless.
- Paul in DK
As a long time Cheap Trick fanatic, devotee and occasional defender, I must say I was never impressed with Albini's mix. I agree, "In Color" lacks balls, but rerecording it with nastier guitars wasn't the answer. This was the answer:
https://www.discogs.com/release/2865288-Cheap-Trick-In-Color
Kevin Gray remastered the record with proper bass and drum levels, and his mix of the original tapes, surpasses all. It's not cheap, but this version made me love "In Color" a lot more than I did.
Agreed Sal. I like the Albini version more than you, but the K Gray remaster is by far the best sounding version
The debut is my favorite Cheap Trick album. Of the big first 3 LP's I'd rank In Color 3rd. A while back Sal mentioned the Kevin Gray remaster of In Color. I was able to trade a Rhino Handmade CD to a guy in exchange for the album. Sal wasn't kidding around. The sound on that thing is revelatory, not just for the bass and drums, but a lot of the vocal details. It's a pity the Gray mastering didn't get wider circulation.
With regard to BBJ's Cheap Trick/John Cale show at the Starwood I went to one of them too. I think they did three. Cale was camped out in SoCal for a good part of March 1977. He played a couple gigs at the Topanga Corral too. That's when I was really into Cale. At the Starwood, he was the Special Guest of Cheap Trick. In other words, he opened. I thought it was kind of weird that an up-and-coming act would headline over Cale. But I didn't care because Cale headlined at the Corral and I got to see one of those longer sets. He was doing stuff from Paris 1919 through Helen of Troy. And some new stuff which later wound up on the Animal Justice EP.
Cale also headlined the Starwood just ten days prior to the Cheap Trick co-bill. I missed those because I was busy traveling around seeing all the California gigs of the Queen-Thin Lizzy Tour.
Cheap Trick's debut didn't get much airplay in SoCal. If it wasn't for KROQ I wouldn't have heard them at all. KMET & KLOS didn't catch on until In Color. The debut LP only bubbled under the Billboard 200 at #207. But they delivered on the album's promise when on stage. What a great live band! The Starwood was my first Cheap Trick. They did three nights but I had tickets to the Tubes at the Whisky on the other two nights. But a couple weeks later they opened for the Runaways at the Santa Monica Civic on a Friday night. April Fool's Day, no less. Cheap Trick had some early fans in attendance and certainly made a bunch more. The Runaways were, well, the Runaways and they gave the people what they came for. For a Friday night on the weekend before Easter vacation I was surprised to see the Civic was only half-full. Approximately 1500 in a 3000 capacity.
Next time I saw them was at the Whisky which has been nicely preserved for posterity.
VR
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