Hi Michael & Jamie,

It would be interesting to know if Cheap Trick was familiar with Big 
Star or not.  They came a few years after Big Star had released "#1 
Record" and "Radio City", and broken up, so it's possible that they 
could have been, if Rockford had been one of the few hot spots where 
Big Star had some 'reputation'.  I know that I've read that North 
Carolina was a rare hot spot where Big Star actually had some 
popularity and radio play while the band was actually still together.

However, I'm going to throw out a wild guess that Cheap Trick wasn't 
aware of Big Star in the late 1970s when they released their first 
three or four albums.  I'm thinking that what Jamie's probably 
hearing is some common influences.  I know that I can definitely hear 
elements of the Beatles, the Who, and Led Zeppelin in both bands.  
Though they may not share all of the same influences, straight down 
the line, I believe that Big Star and Cheap Trick were probably 
influenced by about 75-percent of the same influences.

Another commonality is that both bands are Power-Pop bands with Hard 
Rock leanings.  When Big Star's members were coming up and playing in 
Memphis, there weren't other Memphis Power-Pop bands so they cut 
their teeth playing Soul and Hard Rock.  I don't know if you all have 
heard the album "Rock City" by Rock City, a band that featured Big 
Star's Chris Bell and Jody Stephens before they joined Big Star; but 
the sound of that album is somewhere between Free, Foghat, and 
Boston.  If Rock City had kepts on, they probably could have been a 
famous Hard Rock band.  Another interesting thing too, is that Led 
Zeppelin recorded parts of LZ III at Ardent in Memphis.  And Rock 
City member, and later unofficial Big Star keyboardest (what 
keyboards they had) Terry Manning was an engineer on that recording 
session.  Now I don't claim that Big Star carries the Led Zeppelin 
influence of a Kingdom Come, Great White, or Whitesnake.  But I can 
hear some LZ in "Feel", and "Watch The Sunrise".  Makes me wonder if 
Chris Bell was present and influenced by the LZ sessions?

I think Cheap Trick also had a Hard Rock leaning, due to the time 
when they came out.  Power-Pop wasn't so popular during that period, 
so they had the choice of appealing to the softer teeny-bopper 
audience or trying to appeal to more of a Hard Rock audience.  And 
Cheap Trick chose to put more Hard Rock appeal into their brand of 
Power-Pop.

Peace,

W.D.

--- In audities@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@...> 
wrote:
>
> Not only do I not hear much Big Star in early Cheap Trick, but I 
would be 
> willing to bet that they weren't cognizant of Big Star's work when 
they were 
> crafting their early material.  Cheap Trick's early work is much 
more 
> steeped in The Move/ELO, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, and, so they 
claim, 
> Patto.
> 
> Jaimie -- what songs do you hear that are Big Star influenced?
> 
> Mike
> 
> 
> 
> Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama
> Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
> Find out about Chicago shows: 
> http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/
> 
> 
> >From: "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@...>
> >Reply-To: audities@...
> >To: audities@...
> >Subject: Re: How does Big Star rate with you?
> >Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 23:10:14 -0400
> >
> >At Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 15:44:08 Josh wrote:
> >
> >>I think the thing with Big Star-- whom I also love-- is that much 
of their 
> >>reputation derives not so much from the quality of the 
recordings, but 
> >>from the breadth of important bands they influenced subsequently 
(without 
> >>going into the litany, the list prominently includes REM and the 
> >>Replacements.)
> >
> >And especially Cheap Trick.
> >
> >I had never heard Big Star until a few years ago when my business 
partner 
> >threw the first album on to see what I thought. Several songs in 
it became 
> >apparent that the first two Cheap Trick albums were a re-reading 
of this 
> >stuff -- except that Zander was a better vocalist. But I remain 
> >non-plussed.
> >
> >It was like meeting your hot girlfriend's Mom for the first time 
and 
> >realizing that the daughter got all the best features. Big Star 
might be 
> >the progenitor, but Cheap Trick is the hot girlfriend.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Jaimie Vernon,
> >President, Bullseye Records
> >http://www.bullseyecanada.com
> >
> >SWAG:
> >http://www.cafepress.com/bullseyecanada
> >BULLSEYE LIVE 365 RADIO: