Music Monday Oct 9: Cheap Trick

Weekend Wrap-up Oct 7: Just the Posts. Tuesday Tidbits: Multi-genre Writing

Music Monday Oct 9: Cheap Trick

There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.

Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.

Maybe you will find a new favorite.

CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music

If you listened to North American rock radio on the late 70s/early 80s, you will no doubt be familiar with the music of Cheap Trick.

There wasn’t a band quite like them, from the cigarettes smoking drummer to guitarist Rick Nielson’s slightly insane onstage persona and unapologetic guitar playing*. You could argue there was a hint of Angus Young, but both bands did form in 1973.

I see their influence in the 80s mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap (excellent movie BTW), and the band Scum of the Earth featured in the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.

It took them until 1988 to score their first #1 hit:

*What does that mean? Well, he wasn’t the best or the worst guitar player, and he just went out and played his heart out, messy or not.

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/