Known for other hits such as “I Want You to Want Me,” “Dream Police,” “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Tonight It’s You,” “The Flame” and “Heaven Tonight,” Cheap Trick’s current album, The Latest, has been well received. The Japanese press referred to Cheap Trick as the “American Beatles…”
“Sleep Forever” by Cheap Trick at rehearsal for an upcoming PBS Soundstage Special at The Music Resource Center, http://musicresourcecenter.org, Charlottesville, Virginia, Jan 21, 2010.
Music Resource Center is a state-of-the-art after-school music initiative. Kids can take lessons and/or use the instruments, rehearsal rooms, and recording studio(s). The mission of the Music Resource Center is to educate and inspire young people and hopefully better equip them through music education, performance opportunities, and life skills mentoring for the future. The Center was started in 1992 by John Hornsby and other area musicians and relies on contributions.
Cheap Trick had a great experience there and would like to encourage others to learn more about this asset to the Charlottesville community.
Dave Frey: I’m not very good with a camera. But I was there and had one. The room is a chapel that’s seen a lot in it’s 100-some years and was the first African American owned church in town. The vibe was great and the sound was warm because all that wood throughout the room soaked it up. The song also has a special place for me because it honors a long-time Cheap Trick road associate/friend of ours who has passed.
by Howard Wyman [Via Daily Swarm]
In a fascinating post on the Tunecore blog,Tunecorner, Cheap Trick’s manager Dave Frey explains how Soundscan hurts artists by compiling and then selling their information to other record labels and music sellers, who then use it to cannibalize and undercut sales of new albums by way of predatory marketing for their own cheap, outdated wares. It’s an interesting and disturbing window into both the music and “information” marketplaces, how everything we do as fans — where we purchase cds or tickets or downloads, even where we read about our favorite artists — gets compiled into stats and files that are packaged and sold to whoever cares enough to pay, i.e. whoever stands to profit from such information. Yet even as Dave Frey has done his best to keep Soundscan’s greasy clutches off his clients’ industry whereabouts, the info-vulture still manages to purchase and re-sell enough information about Cheap Trick as to give parasitic former labels the opportunity to undercut sales of the new album (The Latest) with their own cheap re-issues and stupid repackaged “greatest hits” type crap.
So, if you’ve ever felt lame about purchasing some generic-looking “Best Of” instead taking the leap on an actual album, now you can and should feel a little lamer.
Many of you have seen the “Cheap Trick Truck” at some of the shows in the midwest over the course of the last few years. The truck is currently on display at the Chicago International Auto Show and is being auctioned tonight by the RealWheels Corporation, the company that designed it. It is listed as “Cheap Trick Avalanche” and this link is for the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200438626253
CLICK HERE for Popshifter’s review of the Toronto show
BLAST MAGAZINE interviews Rick
CLICK HERE for Blast’s coverage of the Boston show
After the CT show in Toronto, Robin and Rick stopped by to visit with Joe Perry backstage at the Joe Perry Project/Motley Crue show.
2/4/10
PHOTO BY JOHN BIONELLI
February 03, 2010 – Green Police, the Audi commercial already being touted as one to watch on Super Bowl Sunday, takes an entertaining approach to the choices we can all make to benefit the environment.
The obvious point of the Green Police commercial is to tell American viewers that one of the easiest green choices they can make is to drive the 2010 Green Car of the Year, the Audi A3 TDI clean diesel luxury car.
But one aspect of the Green Police ad that’s certain to remain with viewers of the Super Bowl is … the music. Audi asked Cheap Trick to return to the recording studio to remake the rock band’s classic hit “Dream Police” for a big Super Bowl presentation. The result? “Green Police” a song that combines the message of the A3 TDI Green Car of the Year win and the high-energy beat of the original tune.
“We have no doubt that viewers will walk away from the Super Bowl with that song playing in their heads,” said Scott Keogh, Audi of America Chief Marketing Officer. “It is certain to make the environmental message behind the Green Police ad hard to forget.”
Now, fans of Cheap Trick, Audi or catchy advertising tunes can listen to the band’s Green Police track at this AudiUSA.com address:
http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/models/a3_tdi/green_police.html and at http://www.youtube.com/cheaptrick.
The Green Police Super Bowl ad marks the third straight year Audi has played a prominent role in the NFL championship game, which draws 100 million viewers each year. The size of that audience makes it a natural advertising venue for Audi, which favors high-impact positions for its marketing efforts. It is also a premier platform to build even more awareness of the A3 TDI and the Green Car of the Year awarded in December by Green Car Journal at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
For Cheap Trick, the role in the Audi Green Police Super Bowl ad comes as it continues an international tour with concerts in places ranging from Toronto to Los Angeles.
The UK’s classic rock radio station “Planet Rock” is running a poll for the best classic rock live album of all time – “Cheap Trick at Budokan” has been included. CLICK HERE to vote for CT!
Cheap Trick’s performance on Artist Confidential will be rebroadcast on Classic Rewind Sirius 15 or XM 49 this week at the following times – all times listed are Eastern Time Zone:
Wednesday Feb 3 at 12 midnight (that’s tonight at midnight)
Thursday Feb 4 at 6:00 pm
Friday Feb 5 at 6:00am
Australian photographer Bob King has posted a gallery of classic Cheap Trick concert shots – click the photo for the full gallery!
“Onetreehillpodcast.net” has just released an interview with Rick Nielsen. CLICK HERE for the full clip!
Cheap Trick and Audi of America come together to rock the big game on Sunday, February 7. Cheap Trick went back to the studio to rescore the hit “Dream Police” and renamed it “Green Police”. The new version will be featured as the music track in the Audi A3 TDI clean diesel commercial scheduled to air during the game. The entertaining TV spot shows how choosing the green car A3 TDi clean diesel is an easy way to lend a hand to Mother Nature when faced with many difficult eco choices. A limited number of free downloads will be available at www.facebook.com/audi.
VOTE FOR THE AD!
YouTube: www.youtube.com/adblitz
AOL: Fanhouse
