Chicago Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: What Happens Next?

"It's that those reading his statements are reading into it that he's a jerk. If you want to believe someone's a jerk, you will. The written word reveals nothing."

 

After Carl Wilson, Peter Cetera is my favourite vocalist of all time. There's no way I've wanted to believe the guy's a jerk. But from reading everything he's publicly posted on the HOF Induction so far, the only conclusion I can come to is that is he is indeed being a jerk.

 

Paging Nostaljack!

 

I don't have access to YouTube with sound at the moment, but can someone check some old Chicago live clips? I could swear I pulled up live clips going all the way back to the 70s of "25 or 6 to 4" where Chicago and Cetera did the song in a lower key.

It sounds like in Cetera's present-day concerts, he does "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" in the original key, but not "25 or 6 to 4." If he indeed was doing it in a lower key back in the 70s and 80s, my guess is it's as much about *saving* his voice during a concert as opposed to literally not being able to hit the notes. Especially back then.

As for parsing Lamm's statement about changing keys, while the syntax of his statement is open to interpretation, I'm pretty sure he means changing the key is "not going to happen." Otherwise, within that sentence, his mentioning Cetera's request to change the key makes no sense. He's clearly bringing it up as an example of Cetera's requests/demands that have contributed to any deals falling through on this HOF thing.

While I have a hunch Cetera may not be the sole reason behind all of this craziness (I think the HOF does micromanage stuff like who is playing, what they're playing, etc.) he certainly isn't coming out looking very good.

Everybody is all over the place on this one. Lamm seems sort of hands-off, non-confrontational and conciliatory, but seems to suggest a key change is out of the question. Meanwhile, Cetera originally seemed to feel doing a song on stage with the current Chicago lineup (in addition to other invitees) was okay, but then in a later interview says he doesn't care to play with the current lineup.

I'm guessing the HOF emphatically said NO to Cetera playing separately with his own band (and Cetera isn't the sole figurehead of Chicago like Fogerty is for CCR, so they wouldn't likely entertain Cetera playing *instead* of Chicago, nor do I think would anyone want to see that), and the HOF probably didn't want to foot the bill to pay to bring in all the former members Cetera suggested, just to jam on one song. There is a precedent for non-inducted members to show up to ceremonies, Bruce Johnston from the Beach Boys being one example.

Cetera sounds pretty good singing "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" on his recent live shows judging from YouTube clips, in its original key no less, so it's a bummer that they couldn't just get Cetera and Seraphine to step in place of the current Chicago guys and just do that song.

I suppose I should give Cetera a little bit of props for being unfiltered. I'm pretty sure the stuff he's writing on his website is NOT being filtered by any PR people or agents, etc. Unfortunately, it kind of looks like there's nobody around telling him "Hey, you may have some valid points, but you're coming across looking like a total tool." Someone needs to tell him, whether it's deserved or not, he's not going to go down as one of the cool "rebels" that rejected the HOF. He didn't say "f you" to them because of some ethical or moral issue. They couldn't reach a deal on which songs to play, or some sort of logistical issue. He's going to go down on the list of "divas who wouldn't show up", which is a bummer because I doubt the story is that simple either.

Hopefully Cetera will spell out specifically what the Chicago guys and the HOF wanted, and we can decide whether those ideas sounds reasonable or feasible or not.

Lamm seems to be staying out of the fray for the most part, and frankly I'd rather see him a bit more adamant about fighting for Cetera's involvement (even if it means bowing to a few of Cetera's grandiose ideas, and even if it means being a bit confrontational with the HOF). Lamm's not being a diva about anything, but he also seems very "meh, whatever" about the idea of Cetera being involved. "Sure, sounds fine" is sort of the attitude I'm getting.

I'm not a huge fan of either Chicago or Cetera, but I do think the Chicago guys would theoretically be a least a tiny bit nervous if Cetera *did* play with the band and garner positive reviews. While Lamm and everyone clearly were not blocking Cetera, it seems like they haven't put in any extra effort to make it happen either. But who knows?

 

Here's a nice reminder of what a truly awesome group Chicago once was.

 

I think at this point in Chicago history, and for levity's sake, it's high time to pay tribute to the second "greatest" album cover of the 1970s (Orleans...take a bow)! All I can say is...well...we'll always have Paris......


"But Lamm said, 'Danny and Peter are connected to the hip.'"

 

???

Ed

 

Everything as in 3 kinda-short emails? What about what we're getting from Lamm? What about how the Hall itself might be involved. We don't know enough to accurately discern who's really at fault.

Ed

 

True and I'm more than willing to change my stance if any more information comes to light. However, as it stands Cetera appears to be the problem.

 

[CREEEEEEAAAAAKKKKKK]

 

They should just play "Saturday in the Park"... one of their biggest hits and Robert Lamm sings it... problem solved.

 

That was the point of my post that you responded with ??? All you do in this thread is defend Cetera against any other viewpoint when you know just as little as anyone else. I suspect everyone is at fault in some aspect: Cetera with his demands, Chicago with their previous issues, Hall with their "vision" of how the night should go. That is why I maintain there might still be a chance it works out in the next two months. But, the fact of the matter is, if it does not Chicago wins because they get to stand up there and Cetera will be somewhere else doing whatever he is doing.

 

That's why I'm defending him. We know little. Circular argument. The only other thing I did was hypothesize about what Lamm could have meant with his comments. Most have accused Cetera of being totally in the wrong. We don't know.

Ed

 

That's your perception. Mine is that it MAY be all parties: Cetera, Chicago, and the Hall itself. We don't know enough to assign blame to a single entity. That's my point.

Ed

 

I tend to agree with people on this issue. When you look back over the decades at interviews with Cetera, the guy comes off, not only in speech, but in body language as a prima donna. Now grant you, there are far too may in the entertainment biz who are childish(not childlike), cliquish, cynical and sarcastic, tit for tat, tantrums....you name it. The sort of behavior one sees, year in year out, with bands and solo performers can pretty much be considered par for the course, which in and of itself is pretty sad. Seriously, to see grown adults acting like they never got out of their teens is pretty pathetic. Certainly Cetera, whether or not you like his musical style and direction, played a major role in the band's success, that still doesn't make up for piss-poor behavior that should have been outgrown a very long time ago.

 

... and another.

 

Terry just nails it when he takes his solo. He was, no question, the heart and soul of Chicago.

 

This has been a fascinating thread to read. Can someone explain to me what was the original reason for Cetera's falling out with the rest of the band? Was it ego? drugs? money?

I'm truly curious.

 

Actual musical differences. He wanted to start a solo career in earnest and the band wasn't comfortable with that.

 

I'll never forget watching the video for You're the Inspiration and Peter Cetera wearing a sport coat and a Bauhaus shirt!

 

Cetera talks about his split from the band in a 30-minute interview from 2009 that’s up on YouTube (and certainly in numerous other interviews). While it has often been characterized that he “left” the band, he explains that he was essentially fired/forced out. They wanted to do another tour right away, Cetera didn’t, and they told him to sign the contract or he would be replaced. He didn’t sign the contract.

That’s appears to be the technical logistics of how he exited.

What other issues colored all of this, it’s unclear. One could certainly guess that the band was afraid Cetera was going to overshadow the group with more solo hits. But certainly, forcing him out of the band would only expedite that (and he indeed had some solid solo success for at least a couple years). One could also guess that Cetera thought he had a good shot at being a huge solo star, so that may have made his decision to balk at signing the contract a tiny bit easier.

With more level-headedness and better management, one would think they could have worked the whole deal out. I don’t know if it was gutsy or utterly insane for them to fire the guy who was writing and singing most of their hits at that stage (and who sang on many of their old hits in concert too). Then again, they proved (and continue to prove) that a brand name will sell concert tickets even with key “original” (and living) members missing. See Journey, Styx, The Beach Boys, Supertramp, and so on.

An interesting and at least *potentially* telling tidbit is that, at least as of not too long ago, Terry Kath’s daughter mentioned that in directing the documentary on her father, she got interviews with all of the original Chicago guys EXCEPT Peter Cetera. I recall an interview where she indicated he’s known for not giving many interviews and not talking about Chicago. But he certainly did both in the 2009 interview on YouTube, and numerous print interviews are also up online. He even specifically talks about Terry Kath in that 2009 interview. I don’t want to assume anything.
Maybe he really does find it super difficult to sit down with Terry Kath’s daughter and talk about him. Maybe it’s too emotional. But he seems to be comfortable talking about him in other interviews (mentioning in the 2009 interview that, according to him, both Kath and Lamm had “wanted” to leave Chicago in years previous to his (Cetera’s) departure).

 

It was miracle The Police did couple songs together back when they were inducted..
Sting Solo career is ten times more than Peters...
Most of cds tanked after his 92 cd...
He's being spoiled child..

 

Would make a nice bonus track for Chicago VI if they do a deluxe version. Wonder what else they have?

 

Ridiculous that Peter Cetera will not join his former Chicago bandmates for Rock Hall induction.

 

Nice to hear that Danny Seraphine will finally be reuniting with Chicago!