Tom Peterson ThunderBird II

[godofthunder]

 I don't think CT could write a bad song, I just don't think the iphone generation is all that interested.

[Pekka]

I don't think CT could write a bad song, I just don't think the phone generation is all that interested.

Well, "The Doctor" album isn't Rick Nielsen's finest hour. It was bad time for the band anyway, all the record company pressure, horrible production etc. Then came the "The Flame" which is awful too but written by an outside writer (Nick Graham, ex- Atomic Rooster and Skin Alley bassist/flute player BTW).

[godofthunder]

 While not written by the band The Flame is very popular and was in the set list both time I saw them. Not my favorite but wish I could write a song that bad.

[gweimer]

While not written by the band The Flame is very popular and was in the set list both time I saw them. Not my favorite but wish I could write a song that bad.

I think "The Flame" is actually their biggest hit.  Yeah, I wish I could write a song that bad, too.  There's a lot of good material during the Jon Brandt years.  I love the bass line of this one with him.

[Pekka]

There's a lot of good material during the Jon Brandt years.  I love the bass line of this one with him.

That album is one of my favs! Great songs and Rundgren's production suits the band much more than Roy Thomas Baker's bombast on "One On One" 'though there were some good songs on that too. Good counterpart album to "Next Position Please" is Utopia's eponymous 1982 release.

[mc2NY]

i agree with you on that one. cheap trick IS irrelevant. when is the last time they put out something that didn't suck front to back? i guess the fan boys keep the legacy going.

As irrelevant as Led Zep, The Beatles or Stones, Tom Petty, or the Allman Brothers.

All of them have incredible catalog bodies of work, including CT. And CT is still touring pretty close to its original line-up and are great live.

I cannot think of a single modern band that shows the potential to have a catalog even close to any of the above "irrelevant" bands. Most acts now are throwaway artists who only put out product for the moment that has very little shelf life.

Actually, I might argue Cheap Trick IS still relevant in the Rock world, solely because they are still banned from the RnR hall of Fame. So, despite the string of great rock/pop releases and managing to survive for 40 years...they still gave Jan Wenner a big enough middle finger at some point for him to still have a hardon to keep them banned. And yet CT carries on unphased. They still manage their catalog pretty well, releasing material on contemporary media....seemingly more hip to Internet and other marketing tricks than most other acts of similar vintage. They even manage to still get press and endorsements, when most old,acts are largely ignored. CT may actually hold the record for being on more movie and TV soundtracks than other bands. He'll....just last season, Rick Nielsen managed to weasel a segment on American Pickers. He also had his guitar collection featured in his own hard cover book. What other musician has managed that?

I think most new bands could learn a lot for CT, despite how "irrelevant" they are.

[godofthunder]

Agreed. "As irrelevant as Led Zep, The Beatles or Stones, Tom Petty, or the Allman Brothers."

[stiles72]

I doubt Gibson has any plans to come out with a Bird with Nickel/Chrome hardware, or a different bridge other than the Three Point. If they wanted to, they could have by now. And I doubt they'll make a Thunderbird II, since it would seem to me to be kind of pointless (other than for cosmetics) since you can just turn the bridge pickup off.  I run just the neck pickup on occasion when I want it to be extra loud, but dialing in the bridge helps cut out or cancel certain frequencies that seem to usually just get in the way for me.

[TBird1958]

 Cheap Trick has far more relavance for me than any of the other bands listed 

[Highlander]

... What other musician has managed that?

JAE, and that's the only other one of any significance I can think of...

[dadagoboi]

JAE, and that's the only other one of any significance I can think of...

That was in collaboration wit Nielsen after he saw his guitar book.

[rexdiablo]

We've got a local "group" of musicians that gets together every 6 weeks or so for 1-3 theme shows. Usually 24-30 musicians show and we all have rehearsed a few songs, so everyone can get their stage time in.  Last weekend was their one and only Cheap Trick show- and my dumb ass was out of town! And I've been looking for an excuse to get Carlo to build me an 8 stringer, too...

Anybody else involved with this kind of thing locally?

[gweimer]

As a former member of the FDP, we were known to host state-wide jams.  I hosted a number of events, and they were always interesting.  It was the same sort of event - people from all over would talk about songs to play, and we'd then start building 3 song sets from people that knew common songs, fleshing out any gaps with volunteers.  It was a lot of fun, and there were some interesting people there.  Two department heads from OSU were among our ranks.  The head of the OSU Astronomy department has a dead-mint '66 Precision.

I've also read about some people that have done King Crimson jams.  They would work up a song list, assign players ahead of time, and I guess everyone did their homework and then played together for the first time at the jam.  Crazy stuff.

[leftybass]

That was in collaboration wit Nielsen after he saw his guitar book.

Steve Howe.