Cheap Trick Live Album Thread

This thread will cover all officially released live performances, in all formats.

From Wikipedia:

Cheap Trick at Budokan is a live album recorded by Cheap Trick in 1978. It is number 430 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

Cheap Trick found early success in Japan, and capitalized on this popularity by recording Cheap Trick at Budokan in Japan on April 28 and 30, 1978 with hordes of screaming Japanese girls nearly drowning out the band at times. This album (which appeared in Japan several months before being issued in the U.S. where it had sold briskly as an import) broke the band into global pop stardom. The album went platinum in three months and reached #4 on the Billboard 200. It also ranked #13 on Billboard's Top Pop Albums of 1979 year end chart. The single "I Want You to Want Me" reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and became the group's biggest selling single. The second single, a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" also charted, reaching number 35. The album also introduced two previously unreleased original songs, "Lookout" and "Need Your Love".

A sequel, Budokan II, consisting of the remaining tracks from the concert not included on the original album, was released in 1993. The album was deleted as the band was unhappy with the presentation of the album.

An expanded version of the album was released in 1998 as At Budokan: The Complete Concert, remastered and fully restored to include all the concert tracks left off the original album. While it's missing "Stiff Competition", "On Top of the World", and "How Are You?", that were recorded at Budokan and released on Budokan II (1993), these songs were recorded in 1979 during their follow-up tour.

A 30th Anniversary Edition, Budokan! was released on November 11, 2008, as a four-disc set. In addition to the two-disc "Complete Concert", it includes a DVD and CD version of the concert from April 30, 1978. The filmed concert had originally been shown on Japanese TV, and was not previously commercially available.

Track Listings

ORIGINAL 1979 ISSUE

All songs by Rick Nielsen, except where noted

Side one
"Hello There" – 2:27
"Come On, Come On" – 3:03
"Lookout" – 3:15
"Big Eyes" – 3:47
"Need Your Love" (Nielsen, Tom Petersson) – 9:07

Side two
"Ain't That a Shame" (Antoine Domino, Dave Bartholomew) – 5:10
"I Want You to Want Me" – 3:38
"Surrender" – 4:40
"Goodnight Now" – 2:42
"Clock Strikes Ten" – 4:11

Budokan II

"ELO Kiddies"
"High Roller"
"Southern Girls"
"Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace"
"California Man"
"Downed"
"Stiff Competition" (From 1979 Tour)
"How Are You?" (From 1979 Tour)
"On Top of the World" (From 1979 Tour)
"Can't Hold On"
"Oh Caroline"
"Auf Wiedersehen"


At Budokan: The Complete Concert

Disc one

"Hello There"
"Come On, Come On"
"ELO Kiddies"
"Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace"
"Big Eyes"
"Lookout"
"Downed"
"Can't Hold On"
"Oh Caroline"
"Surrender"
"Auf Wiedersehen"

Disc two

"Need Your Love"
"High Roller"
"Southern Girls"
"I Want You To Want Me"
"California Man"
"Goodnight"
"Ain't That a Shame"
"Clock Strikes Ten"


30th Anniversary Edition Box Set

(Includes the Complete Concert cds also)

April 28, 1978 DVD

"Hello There"
"ELO Kiddies"
"Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace"
"Look Out"
"Downed"
"Can't Hold On"
"Oh Caroline"
"Surrender"
"Auf Wiedersehen"
"Southern Girls"
"I Want You to Want Me"
"California Man"
"Goodnight"
"Ain't That a Shame"
"Clock Strikes Ten"

[I]Bonus Tracks[/I]

"Come On, Come On" (1978 performance)
"Voices" (2008 performance)"
"If You Want My Love" (2008 performance)
"Looking Back" - 2008 interviews

April 28, 1978 CD

"Hello There"
"Come On, Come On"
"ELO Kiddies"
"Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace"
"Big Eyes"
"Look Out"
"Downed"
"Can't Hold On"
"Oh Caroline"
"Surrender"
"Auf Wiedersehen"
"Need Your Love"
"High Roller"
"Southern Girls"
"I Want You to Want Me"
"California Man"
"Goodnight"
"Ain't That a Shame"
"Clock Strikes Ten"

 

I like their live stuff. I have At Budokan, Budokan II and The Complete Concert 2CD set. I never let go of Budokan II since those 3 tracks from 1979 are available nowhere else. I also love their live version of Day Tripper.

 

Great idea for a thread!

Looking forward to posting and reading the other responses!!

 

What else can be said except WOW.

This album has been a constant companion, in all formats and versions, for over 30 years now. It is my "go to" album when I need a pick me up. If Cheap Trick had never made another album, after this, they would be even more respected and legendary than they are.

Firing on all cylinders, driven on by thousands of screaming teenage girls (the cover of CREEM called the group "Budokan Beatles"), the band is captured here at the peak of their live powers.

The album was orignally intended to be a "souvenir" for their Japanese fans, never meant for release outside of Japan. The band recorded 3 nights - 2 in Tokyo, and 1 in Osaka. The Osaka recording is the source for the master take of their breakthrough live single, "I Want You To Want Me" - simply because the crowd in Osaka was louder during the call/response of "CRYING CRYING CRYING" - which was a big part of the song becoming so popular on US Radio.

When Tom Werman was approached to prepare the album for release, he refused, saying the tapes were poorly recorded. The band then called upon Jack Douglas to help them out. Typical of 70's live albums, serious overdubbing was applied to tighten things up. Rick Nielsen is quoted as saying they " 'fixed' Robin's guitar work" - which in the case of "Ain't That A Shame", means, Rick overdubbed Robin's parts with his own. Compare the original version to the first cd issue, (which has several songs that are either undubbed, or from the Osaka show - an error by the engineer preparing the cd back in the early 80's), or the single cd in the box set, and it's completely different. Tom reportedly overdubbed nearly all of his bass parts, as it wasn't captured to the band's liking.

The first cd issue also apparently mistakenly uses the Osaka recording of "Goodnight Now" - Robin's voice breaks in a couple of places, and Rick's closing "Thank You Tokyo - Cheap Trick Says - Good Night!" is truncated to "Cheap Trick Says - Good Night!" - presumably because they used the wrong tape, and he doesn't say Tokyo, but Osaka, and since this is SUPPOSED to be recorded At Budokan....

So, the first cd issue (which was in print until they reissued it in the late 90's, after the release of "The Complete Concert" - which was made into a double cd, ala "KISS ALIVE!" - when it clearly would fit on one disc!) has different or undubbed versions of these songs:

Need Your Love (solo is clearly different)
Ain't That A Shame (undubbed or different night)
Goodnight Now (from Osaka, not Tokyo)

The 1993 "unauthorized" sequel has the best sound of all the Budokan recordings, despite a layer of dubbed in audience noise. The cd is a mixture of both Budokan shows, along with 3 tracks from the 1979 Budokan show.

There is a "ballsy-ness" to these tracks that is missing from all other releases. I find it amusing that Cheap Trick constantly complains about Tom Werman making them sound pussified on the studio albums - but compare "Budokan II" to "At Budokan", and they seemingly preferred Werman's tones to the full throttle attack heard on the "unauthorized" Budokan II.

While OOP, Budokan II can be had quite cheaply on Amazon, and is worth seeking out. While I totally love At Budokan, I always found it strange that nearly every other live recording I had heard during the 1978-1979 hey day, was MUCH HEAVIER with more guts than Budokan. These would be the widely booted 1977 Rockford Armory radio Broadcast, the June 1978 Boston Paradise Theatre broadcast, and the Dec 1978 Passaic NJ Capitol Theatre broadcast - all capture the band pretty much loud as hell, kicking azz and taking names.

Forgetting about all that (as a 19 year old kid, I didn't know about "overdubbing" and didn't care - it doesn't lessen my love for this album a whit!), what we have here is a live album that holds its own amongst the known classics: Live at Leeds, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, and Made In Japan (which probably ALL have loads of "fixes" too!) to name a few.

If you have NEVER heard Cheap Trick, I SERIOUSLY recommend starting with "At Budokan". It's a joy to listen to.

 

I always wondered about that breaking up noise on Robin's vocals. Thanks for the other insights as well.

 

Very cool. Were there any differences in the original Lp versions released in America and Japan?

 

I think basically anything live is good - if you're a fan you need them all.

The band may have been unhappy with Budokan II but I love, love, love it - if you see one GET IT.

There are also many live recordings that we cannot talk about here that are awesome.

 

7" single California Man b/w I Want You To Want Me

In the fall of 1978, California Man was released as last single from "Heaven Tonight". Billboard ran this very cool (and rare) ad for this release, that featured a GREAT promo shot of Rick standing with his guitar, and a surfboard (where is the t-shirt for THAT!).

What nobody noticed at the time, was that the version of "I Want You To Want Me" on the b-side was the live version that would eventually become a smash hit 9 months later, when "At Budokan" would finally be released in the USA (and the rest of the world) after the import sold a (reportedly) 50,000 copies - and that's really something, since since it was nearly THREE TIMES the normal price of an album! As big a Cheap Trick fan as I was, I was hard pressed to spend 25 bucks on ONE ALBUM (hey, I was making like 5.25 an hour then - that was REAL money!) I broke down and bought a "open" store copy for like 15 dollars (still a lot at the time) at the record store at the Mall of NH - sans obi.

Bun E. has stated that the plethora of Japanese pressings floating around at that point in time were actually "rejects" - I don't recall specifically what the problem was, but they didn't meet the quality control - and instead of destroying them, they sold them "grey market" WITHOUT the obi - this is probably what I got - I didn't know and didn't care! I had a Harman Kardon RABCO ST 7 linear tracking turntable at the time, and it sounded fine to me!

 

I recall the price of the Japanese import being close to $15 or so...And a few months later Big Ben's (megastore division of The Wherehouse) had them in the cutout bins for about $2-3/copy...

There was a promo issue of the album issued in the US, at the time when no proper US release was planned. It was titled "From Tokyo To You", Epic AS-518.

 

I remember my friend Marc freaking out when he found the import from Japan with me at OZ Records in Ft Walton Beach. I was ticked because he grabbed it first and bought it. I think I picked up The Beatles Live at the Star Club on Lingasong records. We thought it was cool because the booklet had the words to the songs in Japanese and English. I waited for the US release. He paid $19.95 for his. GREAT LP! Still play it often. I have all the versions except the box set, guess I need to get it now. I forgot it had the DVD.

 

Its almost impossible to overestimate the impact that the original "AT BUDOKAN" album had on a young generation of fans.

And I still love it!

 

Same here.

 

Count me as another fan of Budokan II. Even with the sweetened crowd sounds, the music just has a lot more muscle than it did on the first Budokan.

 

Love Budokan II. Killer album!

 

I remember, I got the first vinyl release on the first day it came out, it cost me $15 which was HUGE for a jr high school student. It was also the first time I saw an OBI...but I was pissed when the US version came out for $5.98

 

The infamous California Man advert from billboard!

 

FINALLY.

"Mastered at Friday Music Studios and Pressed at RTI!"

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....medium=special

 

I have a promo copy of "From Tokyo To You". Below are pics of the letter, and B&W photo that came with it...

 

Page not found. What did you find?

 

Bingo. Even the track selection kills the first release.

 

Friday music is releasing a 180gm vinyl reissue of AT BUDOKAN....!

 

I wish they'd do a full vinyl reissue of "Budokan: The Complete Concert." NM/M copies of the original album are still fairly easy to find; a reissue of just the 10-track LP seems kind of redundant.

 

I have the complete budokan concert. I used to have the original release but traded that one in long ago. When i read that the second one had supposedly a fuller sound ihad to check it out but like others the 3 different tracks make this one very cool and unique/collectable. the complete budokan seems to have a louder more upfront bass sound than II does.

 

Even good sounding high quality pressings from Japan are very easy to find.

 

Music For Hangovers

From wikipedia:

Music for Hangovers is a live album and DVD by the rock band Cheap Trick. The album is a compilation from the band's four nights at The Metro in Chicago, Illinois in 1998. On each of the four nights, Cheap Trick played one of their first four albums in their entirety to open the show, coinciding with the reissues of the albums.

Track listing

"Oh Claire"
"Surrender"
"Hot Love"
"I Can't Take It"
"I Want You To Want Me"
"Taxman, Mr. Thief"
"Mandocello"
"Oh Caroline"
"How Are You?"
"If You Want My Love"
"Dream Police"
"So Good To See You"
"The Ballad of T.V. Violence"
"Gonna Raise Hell"

US COVER, taken outside club Metro in Chicago:



Japanese Cover:




Which imitates THIS cover:


which is a compilation that contains these songs:

1. Bo Diddley - He's Got All The Whiskey (4:43)
2. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Long Neck Bottles (3:18)
3. Carlos Guitarlos - Women & Whiskey (2:18)
4. Gary Bartz - Drinking Song (5:16)
5. Graves Brothers Deluxe - Drinking At The Sea Star (3:19)
6. Imaginations - Tipsy Mood (3:06)
7. Johnny Mastro & Mama's Boys - Bottle Gone Boogie (1:30)
8. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Gimme That Wine (2:58)
9. Montgomery Brothers - Delirium (3:40)
10. Opal - Empty Bottles (2:01)
11. Oscar Brown Jr. - Let's Get Drunk (& Be Somebody) (3:54)
12. Purple Gang - Bootleg Whisky (3:21)
13. Ribeye Brothers - Drinkin' And Stinkin' (3:17)
14. Siegel-Schwall Band - I Think It Was The Wine (3:52)
15. Taraf De Haidouks - Absinth I Drink You, Absinth I Eat You (5:03)
16. Valerie Simpson - Drink The Wine (3:55)

And that cover was used for a backstage pass in the 90's!