On Their Own, on the Road

Cheap Trick has sold maybe a zillion albums since it came blasting out of Chicago in 1977.

With plenty of hits--including “I Want You to Want Me,” “Surrender” and “Ain’t That a Shame” --the melodic arena rockers have continued that endless road trip, which will include a return engagement to the venerable Ventura Theatre on Saturday night.

Opening will be youthful guitar-god-to-be Corby Yates.

For 22 big ones, Cheap Trick will be a cheaper date than its $35 New Year’s Eve show a few years back.

Prices may fluctuate, but the band has remained stable through the years. Rick Nielsen, the guy with the baseball cap who could be a finalist in the Huntz Hall look-a-like contest, is the guitar player. Robin Zander is the blond babe-magnet and lead singer. Tom Petersson is the bass player, and Bun E. Carlos sits in the back, pounding those drums.

After spending virtually its entire career on major labels (mostly Epic), Cheap Trick is now the master of its own fate, having just released its first independent album, “Music for Hangovers.”

The new one is a live recording of four sold-out shows, each night featuring a performance of one of the band’s first four albums.

Carlos agreed to discuss his favorite band.

So how’s “Music for Hangovers” doing?

So far so good, as far as I know. The distributors weren’t too happy about it being played on the Internet, but it works both ways for them. Either there will be a ready demand for it or else they won’t have to buy many copies of it if it bombs. They win either way.

Has your music changed over the years?

Our music is pretty much about the same, I guess. Rick and Robin still write good songs.

Why did Cheap Trick start its own label?

We asked around and shopped around, but with all the corporate mergers, no one seems willing to take on new bands or invest the time in them. We’ve been on tour with so many new bands that put out an album and were dropped. No one will wait for a band to record three albums any more.

How do you account for the band’s longevity?

Like a lot of bands that started out when we did, we went out on the road. We established ourselves by having albums and by lots of touring. Even when we had an album that didn’t do too well, we could still go out on the road and pay the bills.

What’s the secret to surviving on the road?

Try not to get too screwed up. We usually go onstage dead straight. Then maybe we’ll have a drink or whatever afterward. Basically, you need to eat healthy, get sleep and no all-night parties.

How did you quit smoking?

I used tobacco for about 30 years, then I got tired of waking up hacking, plus there’s always the big “E.” I don’t have emphysema and I don’t want it, either. I’m a drummer, so I can’t be breathing through a tube. I quit cold turkey. I’ve quit for a day--every day--for the last five years.

What’s the most misunderstood thing about Cheap Trick?

A long time ago, some people used to think we were some sort of novelty act. Then just a while back, this guy from a drummer magazine asked me the very same thing -- if we were some sort of novelty act. I wanted to reach through the phone line and choke him.

What advice would you give aspiring rock stars?

Write lots of good songs. Play enough paying gigs so you can get the band thing together.

Why did you end up being the drummer?

You get to hide behind the drum set and you don’t have to stand in front of the audience half-naked.

DETAILS

Cheap Trick and Corby Yates at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., 7 p.m. Saturday; $22; 653-0721.

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Veteran blues guy Bob Jones puts the “local” in local music. Even though he lived over the hill, he graduated from Camarillo High School because Thousand Oaks didn’t have its own school in 1962. Playing locally since 1958, Jones has long been the master of the low-budget, guy-and-a-guitar show. But these days he’s expanded his payroll threefold as the Bob Jones Trio, which plays tonight at bigger and better Cafe Voltaire in Ventura.

Jones has played almost everywhere in the county, including a lengthy stint at the defunct Red Baron near the Oxnard Airport and other places that exist only in memory. For a while in the late ‘60s, Jones had his own place called the Back Door, a legendary dive down on Front Street in Ventura.

“I was in way over my head,” he said. “I just wanted to bring people to town that I wanted to see, and I did, too -- Canned Heat, Taj Mahal, Lightning Hopkins, people like that. I hope anybody I still owe money is no longer living.”

Jones doesn’t play this week’s hip blues or those ubiquitous Chicago blues, but rather the stuff that came before, such as Robert Johnson and obscure artists like Sleepy John Estes. Jones will be the guy wearing the hat and a smile.

DETAILS

Bob Jones at Cafe Voltaire, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura, 9:30 p.m. Friday; $3; 641-1743.

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On a basic weekend day, the Ventura Harbor is fairly crowded with locals, looky-loos and all those sea gulls too stupid to find the dump. Sunday’s fourth annual SeaFest should increase business exponentially.

There will be music on four stages, including reggae and Jimmy Buffet songs from Uncle Monkey, classic rock from Groove Juice, swing music from the Frank Umbro Trio, country music from Desert Breeze, Andean folk music by the Markahuasi Band and dance music from the busiest reggae band in SoCal, Urban Dread.

In addition to all this music will be numerous booths, a swimsuit fashion show, pony rides, parrot shows, plenty of food and, hopefully, plenty of sun.

The six-hour event begins at 11 a.m. Admission is the ever-affordable free. Ditto for the parking, and shuttle service will be provided every 15 minutes from the Sheraton and Alexander’s near the harbor entrance.

DETAILS

The fourth annual SeaFest at Ventura Harbor Village, 1559 Spinnaker Drive, 11 a.m. Sunday; free; 644-0169.

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Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.