j age 2
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thursday, September 28, 1978
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i
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Nielsen latest eccentric on rock scene
By Doug Vefl
Although there appears to be no logical
explanation for it, the music business at
tracts and coddles more than its share of
freak personalities. Alice Cooper comes
quickly to mind as do many
others-Keith Moon, David Bowie, Bette
Midler, Dr. John, Johnny Rotten and yes,
even Elvis Presley was "weird" when he
started out.
Take away the musical abilities of these
persons, drop them back into the main
stream of the everyday world and surely
recent Omaha show. Like birds perched on
a power line the picks are tucked into the
wires running up and across the stand
before him. He snatches a pick, runs off a
lick or two and then effortlessly flicks it
30 rows back into the crowd, like a Yankee
Stadium souvenir. Another time he gave a
worthy halftime twirling exhibition
spitting the plastic piece high into the air,
deflecting it upward again with the face of
his guitar before finally swinging away. 35
rows back.
But none of his childish antics take
away from his musicianship. He never
Photo by Mark Billingsley
Lead guitarist Rick Nielsen is the band's focal point as the hard touring Cheap Trick gains a loyal cult following.
six of seven would quickly be escorted to
the loonybin of their choosing. Not quite
all there.
Now, another name can be added to
the list-Cheap Trick, lead guitarist and
stage performer extraordinaire Rick
Nielsen.
Nielsen and his Cheap Trick sidekicks
bassist Tom Petersson, vocalist Robin Zan
der, and drummer Bun E. Carlos-deliver
a slick brand of stylized power pop music
thought to be extinct since the decline of
the Who and the disbanding of the Beatles.
And while the music hints of other days, it
is truly Cheap Trick's own inspired crea
tion. Most of all, their music is simple.
Nothing more complicated than titles like
"Come On, Come On", "Hello There",
"Southern Girls", "Big Eyes", "You're
On Top of the World", and "Stiff Compe
tition". There is, of course, a healthy
preoccupation with sex.
One of a kind
But back to Nielsen. As a freak
personality, he may have no active rival. To
be sure, his appearance is one of a kind.
Nielsen's crewcut head, bent-brim skull
fitting baseball cap and pop-eyed peepers
conjures up images of a shorn Marty
Feldman ready for a sandlot encounter.
His clothes are even stranger. Dressed in
a lived-in, white short-sleeved shirt and dark
olive green workpants, Nielsen appears
nondescript enough. Topping off his casual
look is a red, button-down, rib-knit sweater
emblazoned with Cheap Trick buttons and
stickers. A Cheap Trick bow tie (patent
pending) is the finishing touch.
Onstage, Nielsen transcends his simple
fascade. Thanks to extra-long cable, Niel
sen and one of his array of 15 guitars
covers the full breadth of the stage.
Action. Among his stage antics are up
raised thumbs and menacing "get ready to
rock" sneers aimed at spectators closest
to the stage. Nielsen also leaps atop a glass
floored platform; he is shadowed by the
flashing lights from below and paled by the
spotlight from the balcony. He writhes and
twists around finally raising the guitar
above his head in mock musical victory.
But the real showstopper is the guitar
pick sideshow. Nielsen went through ten to
fifteen dozen picks during the band's
misses a note and regularly discovers notes
other guitarists have never even thought
about. At one point in the concert Nielsen
returned from a backstage visit with three
guitars slung over his small frame. After
some nifty soloing on each guitar he raised
it high above his head and flung it stage
right (hopefully) into the hands of one of
the band's roadies.
Members enthused
The members of the band seem just as
enthused with Nielsen's antics as so the
2,500 spectators crammed under the Music
Hall's roof. Petersson, who looks like a
cross-cloning of Mick Jagger and Joe
Namath peers toward Nielsen and beams a
cover boy smile. Zander, who is obviously
in love with his tailored Brooks Bros, white
suit, dances and dips to avoid Nielsen's
cable as the guitarist darts across the stage
perimeter. And all the while, Bun E. Carlos
chainsmokes his way through the theatrics
with the expressionless scowl of a business
man campaigning for election to the Board
of Regents in 1969.
Petersson knows it. Zander and Carlos
know it. All of them are talented musi
cians but Rick Nielsen is the main attrac-tion-this
year's model. A Cheap Trick
cult following is developing around
Nielsen. Many have taken to dressing like
him, minus the tailfin-era hairstyle.
Backstage, Nielsen is decidedly less
manic than onstage. An ivory-complected
girl pushes her way toward Nielsen who is
silently sipping a Fresca. Her promin
nent cleavage, neatly displayed in a skin
tight, black silk pullover, makes first
contact with the guiarist. With an out-of-breath
starlet moan, she asks, "Could I
have your autograph?"
Nielsen smiles easily and suddenly his
eyes appear normal while everyone else
gawks bug-eyed. "Sure, what's your
name?"
She purrs. "Make it to a devoted fan."
Nielsen catches her drift and questions
the sexual innuendo. "And what is the dif
ference between a devoted fan and any
other fan?"
She smiles the smile that tells it all but
Nielsen declines saying he has an
"Important" backstage appointment.
As he settled down at one side of a fold
ing Samsonite cafeteria-style table he re
marks that he and the band are ready for
some time off from the road.
On the road
"We've been on the road ever since our
first album came out in 1976. We played
until Oct. 1 and we'll have about four days
off before starting our next album."
Nielsen and the band have been together
nearly four years. This follows a long
history of bands he and bassist Petersson
played in during their high school days.
"We were a carport band," Nielsen said.
"Our parents couldn't afford garages. As a
matter of fact, my parents were very old. I
was the first test tube baby but I never had
any publicity. My parents couldn't' afford
that either." He laughed and joked that he
was going to exploit it now that "the
English kid is in all the newspapers."
Nielsen glared when asked about the in
fluences that inspire the band's music.
"I like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
except they don't have any guitars." He
seems willing to leave his answer at that. It
is a question he has grown tired of answer
ing. Then suddenly, he continues, "I
listen to the radio a lot. Obviously I
can't say I never heard of the Beatles. At
the time I liked the Rolling Stones better
because they were rougher and tougher.
People were able to understand their
anger and their fascination with drugs, sex
and rock 'n' roll."
Nielsen chose to ignore Cheap Trick's
own emphasis on sex and other adolescent
games as he discussed the band's music.
Trite, but it sells
"You can write about just anything," he
said. "There are all kinds of things to write
about without getting into the typical crap
that most bands do-'Rock 'n' roll, we're
gonna get high, get some girls, come on
backstage, I'll give you my key. . .' C'mon
to me that's real trite but God it sells. Like
crazy."
As Nielsen talked it seemed impossible
he was the same maniac who nearly
ravaged the Music Hall stage only 30
minutes before. He is relaxed, clear-eyed
and very curious.
Asked about that stage personality -the
clothes, the hair, the gestures Nielsen said
he was only being himself.
"I'm comfortable. I mean, I've got
good-fitting clothes. Really, I don't like to
think about my clothes so I can think
about music which is more important to
me. I get up in the morning-sweater shirt,
pants and hat. Next morning hat, pants,
shirt and sweater. Yeah I like variety."
Cheap Trick's latest album, Heaven
Tonite, is their third release .and is doing
moderately well on the national charts.
Critics have been unanimous in their praise
of Heaven Tonite and their second album,
In Color. Still, the band lacks a reputation
and the accompanying mass following.
Nielsen acknowledges the problem.
Don't make it sound like we haven't
sold any records because we are doing all
right. Yeah, the critics have been great, but
we haven't had the luxury of a hit single.
That really makes a lot of difference."
Hit material?
It is not a situation where Cheap Trick
lacks hit material. Their two last albums
together had at least a half dozen songs
suitable for single release. So, what is the
problem?
"The problem is our record company
doesn't give payola." Epic Records, he ex
plains refuses to dole out money, or as is
the case sometimes, drugs to radio station
program directors and disc jockeys in
exchange for playing a certain record. Niel
sen said that is not the only problem.
"We're also on the same label with
Boston. Right now they have an album
out and that is where all the publicity
dollars are going."
And as Cheap Trick plods along, taking
their show to yet another city they each
know they are a band just waiting to
happen.
Douglas R. Weil is a former Daily Neb
raskan entertainment writer. He gradu
ated from the UNL School of Journa
lism in 1977.
