Rear-View Mirror: The long road to stardom traveled by Cheap Trick

Every week, Rich Terfry looks back in our Rear-view Mirror at a great song from the good ol’ days. This week, the long road to stardom traveled by Cheap Trick.

Cheap Trick didn't take the short cut to success. In fact, they took the long way around.

The band formed in Rockford, Ill. in 1973 inspired in part by a concert by British rock band Slade.

After seeing Slade's show, bass player Tom Peterson commented "Man, they used every cheap trick in the book!"

After playing bowling alleys around the mid-west for a few years, they were signed to a record deal with Epic in 1975. They released their debut album in 1977, but nothing happened. Not at home anyway.

In Japan however, the kids went crazy. When the band played there for the first time in 1978 is was like Beatlemania all over again. So, going where the money was, that's where the band focussed their efforts. The band's first three albums all went gold in Japan, so in 1978 they decided to record a live album in Tokyo that was only intended for Japanese release. But then something strange happened.

Maybe the frenzy of the crowd captured on the recording was infectious because the album took off in the U.S. and even more so in Canada, going all they way to number one and reaching quintuple platinum status.

This breathed new life into the band's earlier albums and songs like "I Want You To Want Me" and "Surrender" became smash hits. Suddenly the band was working with the biggest names in the business. Their next album, All Shook Up, was produced by legendary fifth Beatle George Martin and members of the band participated in sessions for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Double Fantasy.

One of the songs that had to take a trip to Japan before becoming a hit at home. An anthem about embarassing parents, it's "Surrender" by Cheap Trick.

Listen to the entire audio version of Rear-View Mirror by hitting the play button below.

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Here are some other great editions of Rear-view Mirror:

Mott The Hoople "All the Young Dudes"

Beach Boys "Sloop John B"

Amy Winehouse "Rehab"

New York Dolls "Personality Crisis"

Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"

George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA"

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Rolling Stones 'Miss You'

The Coasters 'Run Red Run'

Elvis Costello, 'Alison'

James Brown, 'Hot (I Need to be loved loved loved)'

Inner Circle, 'Tenement Yard'

Ray Charles, 'I Don't Need No Doctor'

Curtis Mayfield, 'Freddy's Dead'

Gang Starr, 'Beyond Comprehension'

Bo Diddley, 'Bo Diddley'

Aretha Franklin, 'Rocksteady'

CCR, 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain'

Howlin' Wolf, 'Smokestack Lightning'

Bobby Womack, 'Across 110th Street'

Roy Orbison, 'In Dreams'

Foggy Hogtown Boys, 'Man of Constant Sorrow'

Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here'

Neil Young, 'Cortez The Killer'

Bob Dylan, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'

Little Eva, 'Loco-Motion'

Elvis Costello, 'Watching the Detectives'

Jimmy Cliff, 'The Harder They Come'

The Verve, 'Bittersweet Symphony'

Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly with his Song'

R.E.M., 'Radio Free Europe'

Radiohead, 'No Surprises'

Led Zeppelin, 'Ramble On'

Glen Campbell, 'Wichita Lineman'

Rolling Stones, 'Beast of Burden'

John Cougar Mellencamp, 'Pink Houses'