The story of how Chicago saved Cheap Trick’s career: “We’re game”
I would argue that hair metal is one of the most hard done by genres within music, with bands like Poison and Cinderella misrepresented as a poor imitation of rock, which seems unfair.
Look, I’m not going to sit here and say that the music which makes up hair metal is the most groundbreaking or complex, but to say that it’s straight-up bad seems slightly mean. While a lot of music is great at allowing you to tap into deep emotions, there are other reasons why you might drop the needle on a vinyl, and one of them is pure escapism.
Whatever your complaints about hair metal might be, you can’t say that it doesn’t provide you with a little bit of distraction from reality. The heavy distorted guitar, paired with the vocals which talk about partying and living the best life possible, allows for a sonic release which a lot of people love to use music in a bid to tap into.
Many thank hair metal for what it has brought to their lives, and some of those people are the members of Cheap Trick, who had a number one song by leaning further into that controversial sound. However, it wasn’t just the genre that Cheap Trick had to thank, as they also somewhat owe the success of the song to the band Chicago, from whom they managed to snag it.
Cheap Trick were having a pretty hard time up until 1988; in 1979, they had had a great deal of success with their live album, Cheap Trick at Budokan, which had brought with it the song ‘I Want You To Want Me’, that was able to capture the minds and hearts of all those within listening distance, and it looked like the band were set for great things, but those great things seemed reluctant to come.
It got to 1988, and the band hadn’t been able to secure a top 40 single in nearly 10 years, so what were they to do? Well, they still had a couple of things going for them in ‘88, the first of which was that their bassist, Tom Petersson, had returned. He had originally left the group after they released Cheap Trick at Budokan, and the band did seem to miss him, such that the energy to their playing style was somewhat missing.
The other thing that was working for the band was that, despite the lack of success, their record label continued to have their back. While a lot of labels would have ditched a band who weren’t bringing home the bacon, Epic Records were willing to give Cheap Trick a song that they felt had the potential to be a real hit, and there were two to choose from, which was up to the band to pick who got what.
“The vice president at Epic told us he had these two songs and they’re both gonna be #1,” recalled drummer Bun E Carlos, “He goes, ‘We got one for you and one for the group Chicago, but you can have first choice’. He said, ‘I think the one, ‘The Flame’ would be good for you guys’.”
What Chicago was left with also managed to help them achieve a number one; however, both bands may not have had these individual successes had they not been assigned to the right track. “The other one was ‘Look Away’,” said Carlos, “And it sounded like some girl singing on the demo. We really didn’t like that song anyway, so ‘Sure, we’ll do ‘The Flame’. We’re game’”.
