Illinois to Celebrate Cheap Trick Day Every April 1

In Illinois, April 1^st will no longer only be known as April Fool's Day. It will also be known as Cheap Trick Day. The Illinois Senate, in the midst of the battle to get a state budget approved, appointed April 1 of every year to be set as a date to regale the musical contributions of Cheap Trick.

Cheap Trick got its start in, of all the unlikely places in the world, Rockford, Illinois. The members of the band still visit their home area on a regular basis and occasionally still play for free at a local festival.

The band was mostly ignored by the mainstream until the release of their "At Budokan" album's release in 1979. However, the man behind the band Rick Neilsen started playing in 1961 at the age of 15, and was in several bands throughout the sixties (Fuse, Sick Man of Europe) before he returned to Rockford after a failed European tour and regrouped.

Nielsen enlisted bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos and Randy "Xeno" Hogan, all also of Rockford, in 1972 and created Cheap Trick. Hogan left the band in 1974, and Neilsen sought out Loves Park native Robin Zander to take over a the mike.

The band hit the road - and still hits the road. At one point in their career, they were doing 250 performances a year, showcasing their edgy, pop-laced anthems around the country as the warm up band for groups like Kiss, The Kinks, Santana, and and Boston.

Then in 1978, they were invited by a promoter to play in Japan, where they were greeted with a vastly greater enthusiasm than they had heretofore received in the US. During their two year stint, they recorded their show at the legendary Budokan, which was a massive seller in Japan - but only made it to the US (at first) as a bootleg.

Fortunately for music lovers in America, songs "I Want You To Want Me" and "Surrender" caught the ear of radio DJs, and Epic records quickly snapped it up. "At Budokan" ranks at #430 on Billboard's "500 Best Albums of All Time."

Album sales for the band are in the 20 million mark, and the band continues to tour the country, but at a slower pace than once was their trademark. They still do shows in parks, as well as packing stadiums. And Rick Neilsen is still doing his crazy antics on stage while being recognized as one of the great guitarists of the era.

So, Illinoisans, next April 1^st, crank up the tunes, and drive by the capitol dome screaming out "Dream Police." Maybe they will listen inside.