This Band Has No Past

How Cheap Trick Became Cheap Trick

Brian .J. Kramp

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Paperback

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English

Jawbone
03 January 2023

Rock & Pop music; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups

‘This band has no past’ was the first line of the farcical biography printed on the inner sleeve of Cheap Trick’s first album, but the band, of course, did have a past—a past that straddles two very different decades: from the tumult of the sixties to the anticlimax of the seventies, from the British Invasion to the record industry renaissance, with the band’s debut album arriving in 1977, the year vinyl sales peaked.

This Band Has No Past tells the story of a bar band from the Midwest—the best and weirdest bar band in the Midwest— and how they doggedly pursued a most unlikely career in rock’n’roll. It traces every gnarly limb of the family tree of bands that culminated in Cheap Trick, then details how this unlikely foursome paid their dues—with interest—night after night, slogging it out everywhere from high schools to bars to bowling alleys to fans’ back yards, before signing to Epic Records and releasing two brilliant albums six months apart.

Drawing on more than eighty original interviews, This Band Has No Past is packed full of new insights and information that fans of the band will devour. How was the Cheap Trick logo created? How did the checkerboard pattern come to be associated with the band? When did Rick Nielsen start wearing a ballcap 24/7? Who caught their mom and dad rolling on the couch? What kind of beer did David Bowie drink? And when might characters like Chuck Berry, Frank Zappa, Don Johnson, Otis Redding, Eddie Munster, Kim Fowley, John Belushi, Jim Belushi, Elvis Presley, Leslie West, Groucho Marx, Robert F. Kennedy, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, The Coneheads, Tom Petty, Harvey Weinstein, Michael Mann, Linda Blair, Eddie Van Halen, Elvis Costello, Matt Dillon, and Pam Grier turn up? Read on and find out.

By: Brian .J. Kramp
Imprint: Jawbone
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 215mm, Width: 150mm,
ISBN: 9781911036876
ISBN 10: 1911036874
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 03 January 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Brian J. Kramp grew up in Waukesha and attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison--two cities that played very prominent roles in the history of Cheap Trick. A keen rock fan, Brian has been collecting records for more than thirty years and is the co-host, alongside Ken Mills, of Cheap Talk, a podcast devoted to Cheap Trick, and host of Rock and/or Roll, part of the Pantheon Network.

Reviews for This Band Has No Past: How Cheap Trick Became Cheap Trick

Brian Kramp dug deep for the details. After reading his book, my black-and-white memories are now in color. Great work Brian! - Bun E. Carlos Brian Kramp's amazing, forensic investigation into the band's prehistory and early days does for Cheap Trick what Mark Lewisohn did for The Beatles: unravel myths, pin down elusive details, reveal surprising facts, identify relevant characters, and put it all in historical context. I thought I knew the story, but I learned a lot. - Ira Robbins Brian has meticulously researched the band's history and reveals fascinating things that even the most ardent Trick fan couldn't know without this colorful and fact-filled chronicle. It's a definitive history of a unique and brilliant group - the most talented, clever, and entertaining band I experienced in my thirty years as an A&R man and producer. - Tom Werman Kramp skilfully constructs a gripping linear narrative that reads like a documentary, unearthing a wealth of local, national and international press quotes, review fragments, rare photos, set lists (from bar band days through the first three album/tour cycles), and weird fan mail, shading a vivid backdrop of postwar American history and culture ... Kramp's infectious love of the band is balanced with myth-busting objectivity. - Record Collector Kramp digs into their early days with forensic doggedness ... packed with such detail ... overflows with nuggets. - Classic Rock Brian J. Kramp's extensive tome on the history of America's most farcical and famous bar band provides the ultimate expose for those whose fascination with Cheap Trick verges on cult-like devotion. Kramp leaves no stone unturned in his sleuth-like diligence as it applies to tracking the band's origins around the rapid rise of both their personalities and prominence. - Goldmine So much information is in this book it will blow your mind. One of the best books about a band I've ever read. - Jim Thatcher, Know Good Music podcast Extremely readable oral history ... I couldn't put it down. - Bobby Tanzilo, OnMilwaukee Heavily detailed and expertly researched. - Houston Press The best researched book in rock history. - Michael Shelley, WFMU A very interesting in depth read of the band. - Joe Sundberg, The Grim Reapers/Fuse This book is unbelievable. - Ronnie Barnett, The Muffs The bottom line on This Band Has No Past is that it's an impressively detailed book that will thrill anyone interested in the formation and earliest years of Cheap Trick. - Psychedelic Baby Kramp also covers a lot of the more trivial stuff fans will want to know. What's the true first side of the Cheap Trick LP? What's the origin of that smeary, type-set Cheap Trick logo? Whose parents, exactly, are screwing on the sofa in 'Surrender'? - Psychobabble