Oral history of The Trick. They’re the Pride of Rockford, y’all.
(FUN FACT: Despite his Captain Doofus persona, RIck Nielsen will fuck your ass right up if you touch his hat.)
Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To
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Stewkey of the Nazz was part of primordial Trick?!?! I dinnae know that!
True story/memory: Living in Central Nassau County, Lawn Guyland, circa 1978, pre-“Budokan.” The culture of the white kids there and then hinged on whether you were a Who fan or a Zep fan. (I am ignoring the Billy Joel phenomenon in the interest of brevity). The coolest of the cool kids in our clique, Billy (last names omitted to protect the guilty) was the head of the Who Fan faction. Sitting in the smoking area of the high school (yeah, I know) one day, one of the non-cool kids, Lenny, sidled up and attempted to make a play for cultural relevance by introducing Billy and me and others to the marvels of Cheap Trick, explaining at length why they were so good, and how much he had enjoyed their recent show at some venue in Hempstead, the name of which I forget. When Lenny finished, Billy took an extra long drag on his smoke, and responded “Cheap Trick is music for babies, maaaaaaan . . . . ”
I love ’em, yeah. As a bassist, how can I not? SO MANY STRINGS!!!!! But I’ll always feel like I’m listening to “music for babies” when I spin then, from that long-ago smoke session during the afternoon between-period smoke break, damn you, Billy! Fast forward to 2021: if I had to guess, Billy is still working in menial blue collar jobs and has a long history of petty criminal offenses, while Lenny has long since retired with a fortune made from a brief but wise career in financial services.
Good job, Lenny. You won the cool contest, in the macro view . . .
I say ignore the Billy Joel phenomenon whether brevity is a concern or not.
I love how Tom looks like a Scandinavian Steven Tyler in that pic.
Maybe Rick will re institute the Carnival Game. It may catch on with other performers.