5 things Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos thinks you should know

When people think of Cheap Trick, they usually think of the classic lineup of guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos, and the live album At Budokan (1978), which launched the band into the mainstream. 

For his entire music career, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos has been building an archive, defining the band's historical record (collecting everything from live recordings to press articles and reviews). With this in mind, Goldmine asked Carlos about his favorite Cheap Trick experiences and more.

The genesis of the Cheap Trick archive

Bun E. Carlos: Whenever there was a review I would grab a copy. If there is only one copy of something I would grab it. I have recordings ... we would record the shows every night. At the start of a tour I would buy a bucket of DAT tapes or CDs and listen to the shows and see what’s working and what’s not working, so I have all that.

His pick for most underrated Cheap Trick album

BEC: I would think Next Position Please. That one is definitely underrated. Todd Rundgren produced it and he did a great job. The thing still sounds great where the mix is concerned. There is some stuff on there like the Rockman on the guitars that puts it about at 1983 and some piddly things like that. There are a couple of songs where we are reaching like we were trying to do a rock opera, or something like that, but nine out of 10 tracks just sound great and I still enjoy listening to it. There are a couple of records surrounding it that are quite the opposite. I don’t like listening to those as much.

If Cheap Trick knew they were huge in Japan prior to At Budokan

BEC: We didn’t know it. In the fall of 1977 the Japanese press came to Detroit to shoot The Runaways. Cheap Trick and Tom Petty were opening for them. There was a lady at CBS International who was the intentional press agent. She was there and she told them to check us out. They loved our image, our sound and our songs.

When we were flying to Japan we were told there may be some fans there to meet us. We were taxiing up to the gate and we were like, “Why are all these people here?” You don’t think they are there for you ... That was fun. It was fun and it was funny.

As an avid music fan all his life

BEC: I grew up listening to great bands and going to see great bands. I used to go see every band that came around. I would write all of the songs down and I would sneak in with the roadies if I could. I snuck in with The Who’s roadies. I was like 16 or 17 at the time. When I was 14 I snuck into The Yardbirds dressing room and I interviewed them. I met Jeff Beck and Jim McCarty. Before guys are professional musicians they are teenage music nutcases. That’s how it turns out.

Back in the day I saw The Yardbirds. I went and saw The Beatles and The Dave Clark Five. I saw Hendrix, Cream and The Who. I saw Hendrix four times in one year and Cream three times in one year. I was in a high school band and I would save my money and spend it on concert tickets. Those were fun times. I would have to take the bus into Chicago.

I remember the first time I saw Hendrix. He was at the Civic Opera House. I got there and I had tickets to the second show, but I got there in time so I bought tickets to the first show. I was just gobsmacked. After the second show I was on the bus on my way home and I thought, “No one is going to believe this tomorrow at school. How am I going to explain to them how cool this was?” It was a great time to see bands.

A guy just gave me a [Cheap Trick] tape from 1974 and we sound like The Who during Live at Leeds with Robin singing Cheap Trick songs. The Who was a major league influence on us. We used to do “Substitute” and “Shakin’ All Over” when we did cover tunes. The Beatles were a massive influence on us way before The Who. It’s probably a coin toss.

If there's anything Bun E. Carlos wishes he could do over

BEC: I have not really looked at the stuff in that way. I don’t go, “How could I improve this stuff?” because it is done. If I listen back these days, I may have a thought like, “If I was doing this now maybe I would have done that part a little different.” I don’t even do that a whole lot. I am pretty happy with it as it turns out.

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