I Want You To Want . . . My Poster
It’s not every day that I come across a poster from the great Cheap Trick before they had any albums out. But in this December Showcase auction, I’m excited to see how this one does.
Traced back to 1976, the Rockford four-piece was on the bill, playing in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. The band’s iconic logo was already in place, but definitely not the look they would be known for starting with their explosive self-titled debut in 1977.
Drummer Bun E. Carlos had his signature look already, where he looked like an accountant who just got off a long day of number-crunching. But vocalist Robin Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen, and bassist Tom Petersson look completely different. Zander looks more like Barry Manilow, while Nielsen and Petersson could be mistaken for members of the E Street Band.
As a longtime Cheap Trick fan, I have rarely seen Nielsen pose without a hat on. And he looks so much more subdued here. This is the same guy who would be the court jester of the band, writing one classic after another for decades.
I’m well aware of how many years they put into playing shows before their debut LP came out. By the time they recorded those albums, they had a nice backlog of material to choose from. This is such a great document of “before” times for the band.
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