They Keep Going, and Going, and Going . . . : Why Has Cheap Trick Been Around Since 1977? Because They Like to Play--and Rick Nielsen Still Has 100 Guitars Left

Cheap Trick has sold about a zillion albums since its 1977 debut, blasting out of Chicago like the Cubs in the World Series of Ernie Banks’ dreams. Since then, the band has been on the road a lot and making records and new fans as they crank out that melodic arena rock.

Songs like “Surrender,” “I Want You to Want Me” and “Ain’t That a Shame” continue to live long and prosper on the radio. You can bet your baseball cap that the band will play all those biggies and more when they headline the venerable Ventura Theatre for a pair of New Year’s Eve gigs.

Rick Nielsen is the famous guy with the baseball cap with the upturned bill, looking like he just won the Huntz Hall look-alike contest, flailing away on an endless supply of customized guitars. Robin Zander is the rock god front man that makes the hearts of girls that have them beat faster. Jon Brant is the bassist, and Bun E. Carlos sits in the back and hits the drums.

Opening both shows (7 and 10 p.m.) will be some swaggering, underappreciated, why-ain’t-they-rich rockers out of New Joisey, Dramarama. Those guys and Cheap Trick ain’t no cheap date, however. The shows are $25 and $35, but hey, it’s New Year’s Eve and that’s how it is these days, and you had to find out eventually.

Nielsen talked things over from his Chicago home.

Have you guys played New Year’s Eve gigs before?

Oh yeah, we usually play every New Year’s Eve. It’s always amateur night with a lot of amateur drinkers out there, so it’s always better to play than to compete. We played on New Year’s Eve the first time with Kansas, I think it was, at the Forum (in Los Angeles) in 1978. Then, on the way back to the hotel room at the stroke of midnight, we heard our song, “California Man,” on KLOS. So that was cool.

How many baseball caps do you have?

I’ve got a lot. People still send a lot of hats to me.

How many guitars do you have?

I’ve had about 2,000 over the years. I still have a hundred or two. I have one of Jimi Hendrix’s guitars, a Dave Edmunds guitar. I have a John Lennon guitar that he played on “Imagine.” I also have a 25th-anniversary Fender Stratocaster numbered 000007. The ones that came before were for Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Richie Blackmore and like that.

Let me ask a dumb question. Why do guitarists always change guitars on stage? Is it like a hitter changing bats or what?

I dunno. I’ve always done it. There was never any big plan or anything. I just hit my guitars so hard, I knock them out of tune. The most a guitar lasts for me is two songs. I usually take 17 to 20 guitars to a gig. I’ve got a guitar guy who takes care of them for me. He’s been with me since the ‘70s.

How many Cheap Trick albums are there?

I think there’s about 14 or 16, if you count the greatest hits albums. We just released two albums in Japan, one of them is Budokan II.

You guys were on Epic forever. It’s unusual for a band to stay anywhere for so long.

Yeah, we were at Epic longer than any of their presidents. We were hoping they’d put our names on a bathroom door, a mop closet door, something. We sold a few records for them, but now we’re with Warner Bros., and our new album is due out in February.

How often do you guys tour?

We tour pretty much all the time. We play a lot of colleges. We’re just one of those American bands that likes to play. If we waited until we had a radio hit to play, we probably wouldn’t play as much. We’ve been everywhere--Japan, Australia, South America, Europe.

Why has Cheap Trick lasted so long?

Like I said before, we like to play and we like to think we do a good job. A lot of musicians, our peers, like us. You can go down the list for a lot of the new bands who say we’ve influenced them. Also, we’re too dumb to quit.

What’s the secret to survival on the road?

You have to deal with everything with humor, because the day-to-day drudgery can be intense. So we pick on each other and laugh at each other.

What advice would you give an aspiring rock star still trapped at Burger King in a funny hat?

The main thing is practice, practice, practice. If you have a chance to play, even for little money, take it. Take any job you can get. We’ve played at bar mitzvahs, weddings, funerals. A long time ago, we had gigs in places like Minot or Fargo, N.D., and there’d be seven people in the bar and four of them would be us, and the other three would be fighting on the pool table.

What’s the Chicago scene like these days?

There’s always a lot of good music and places to see it. There’s always a lot of good new bands and good old bands, too.

How ‘bout those Bears?

The Bears are always good on defense and bad on offense. They always have half a team.

Anything you haven’t done yet?

I just did some work with Michael Kamen and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra on an electric concerto. I’d like to see more of our stuff get orchestrated.

Bill Locey writes regularly on rock ‘n’ roll for Ventura County Life.

* PERFORMANCES: The opinionated guide to Ventura County’s rock scene is in the 11-Day Calendar today. Page 9