Why Isn't Cheap Trick In the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? Farewell Show Friday April 8th - Ace of Cups

On Friday April 8th, Cheap Trick is being inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame at 9 pm EST in New York City. Earlier that same evening, the band, Why Isn't Cheap Trick In the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? will be playing their final show at Ace of Cups in Columbus, Ohio. Doors 5 pm with WICHITRNRHOF? onstage at 7. Admission - as always - is FREE. And - as per tradition - Teenage Fanclub Fanclub will open the show. 

Why Isn't Cheap Trick In the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? was founded many years ago with a simple purpose: to find an answer to the question, Why Isn't Cheap Trick In the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? Their yearly protest shows of Cheap Trick covers generated big press and even bigger bar tabs whenever they played. However, they always vowed to disband once Cheap Trick were rightfully given their spot alongside the other great rock bands of all time (and Billy Joel). That day has come. (click here for a recap of the press)

Or click here to check out Episode #27 of the fabulous podcast Cheap Talk with Trick featuring Colin as a guest talking about the Rock Hall.

So true to their word, this will be their last show. Bassist and Four String Brew owner Dan Cochran added, "I'm extremely happy for Cheap Trick, though I have to admit, I just got Tom's 12-string bass sound down last year so I'm kind of disappointed that the band is breaking up. Though Colin was planning to perform a complete version of The Doctor in 2017, so I guess that is off the table. Thank God." 

"We might still show up and play some Cheap Trick songs once in awhile under a different name, but Why Isn't Cheap Trick In the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? is finished." said guitarist Rick Kinsinger.

"I agree with Rick," said vocalist Colin Gawel, "our work is done. Justice has been served. And besides, with a new Trick record coming out, I'm going to need the extra time amending my complete Cheap Trick song rankings."

Drummer Herb Schupp added, "Maybe for our final show I can finally convince the guys to play "Who D' King."?

Below: Live at Ace Of Cups, 2015 - Surrender. Below that, 2014- Marci Mays on vocals. Below that, 2013 at Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH, Induction Ceremony day.

Why Isn't Cheap Trick In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame playing Surrender at Ace of Cups. 4/17/2015. Columbus, Ohio.

Colin Gawel & the Lonely Bones yearly (till they get in) Tribute to Cheap Trick, WIth Marcy Mays on Guest Lead Vocals

Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? is a band started by Colin Gawel (Watershed) that plays once a year to protest Cheap Trick not being in the rock hall of fame. other members: Herb Schupp, Rick Kinsinger, Dan Cochran.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominations, Class of 2016 - by Ricki C.

(Pencilstorm disclaimer/editor’s note:  It’s not exactly a state secret that Ricki C. is not a big fan of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in general or of Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner in particular.  As such, the following blog is not intended for the easily-offended or the politically-correct.) 

 

 “Ted Feigan’s idea of a producer was a guy who’d come to his house, have impeccable table manners, sit there and be respected by all his friends from the 50’s, and be loved by the brass at Columbia, so that if the act failed, it would be on such a high level it wouldn’t make any difference because all the players on the team were stars.”  - Kim Fowley, in 1974, on Columbia Records’ choice for a producer for The Hollywood Stars, Fowley’s then-current hustle, immediately prior to The Runaways, his next hustle after that.  
    
I’m always reminded of the Kim Fowley quote above whenever the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations are announced every year.  Now Fowley may have been a lot of things – scumbag/miscreant/lech, among others – but he was also one of the five most astute observers of the machinations of the rock & roll industry I have ever read.  I also firmly believe that if you substitute Rolling Stone publisher/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bigshot Jann Wenner for the above-named Columbia A&R man Ted Feigan you pretty much get the same picture.  Jann Wenner has always been a starfucker of major proportions.  (A joke that made the rounds of my reprobate 1970’s rocker friends: Q.) “Would Jann Wenner suck Mick Jagger’s dick if it would get him a dinner invitation to Mick & Bianca’s New York apartment?”  A.) “Yes, if it wouldn’t muss Jann’s shirt.”)  I firmly believe that if Wenner could have gotten away with not inducting anybody into the Hall of Fame after he got below the A-list likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Billy Joel, he absolutely would have stopped the nomination process, but now he’s stuck: SOMEBODY’S gotta pay the AEP bill to keep the lights on in Cleveland, and those induction ceremony concerts bring in beaucoup bucks, Jack.  

But I digress, on with my rundown (literally & figuratively) of this year’s nominees:

CHEAP TRICK – Okay, longtime readers of Pencilstorm are obviously aware of our affection and our support for Cheap Trick, so I’m gonna leave that topic to Colin (founder & lead singer of a band named Why Isn’t Cheap Trick In The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, for Chrissakes) for a separate blog entry.  My two cents?  Induct these Rockford, Illinois rockers, NOW, if not sooner.   

CHICAGO – Jeeez, these guys are Hackmeisters of the Highest Order, and we should be spending our time making sure they gets floated out on the Japanese current rather than being nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  ANY band containing ANY member (this means YOU, Peter Cetera) that participates in a Columbus Symphony Picnic With the Pops Concert should NOT be considered for the R&RHoF. 

DEEP PURPLE – Deep Purple, really?  If we’re gonna start nominating middling late 60’s-early 70’s English hard-rock bands, where are the nominations for the likes of Savoy Brown, Wishbone Ash or Blodwyn Pig?  For that matter, where are the nominations for middling AMERICAN late 60’s/early ‘70’s bands like Steppenwolf, Spirit or Blood, Sweat & Tears?  (I guess this is as good a time as any to insert my yearly “Why Aren’t Mott The Hoople In The Rock & Roll of Fame?” query into the proceedings.  Hoople leader Ian Hunter DID write “Cleveland Rocks” in the course of his solo career, ladies & gentlemen.)   

YES – Okay, I’ll kinda give you Yes.  When I first met my good friend & decade-of-the-2000’s-employer Hamell On Trial and we started discussing our Rock & Roll History on long, middle-of-the-night car rides around the U.S.A., we concurred that we both loved the Fragile-era Yes for about 20 minutes in 1972, because they were just SO FUCKING DAZZLINGLY GOOD at their instruments.  Then they went completely off-the-rails with that Tales Of Topographic Oceans crap and we realized that not only was there no heart beneath those heads, there was no genitalia either, at which point I made a hard left turn over to Aerosmith.  (And it’s not necessarily Yes’ fault that they spawned the likes of Styx, Kansas, Journey, Foreigner, Marillion, et. al., but they do bear SOME responsibility)

JANET JACKSON, CHIC, NWA, The J.B.’S, THE SPINNERS, CHAKA KHAN – Before accusations of racism are aimed my way, let me say this, there are many, many African-American performers who belong in the Rock & Hall of fame: Chuck Berry (without whom rock & roll would not even EXIST, and who was subsequently jailed for his troubles), Jimi Hendrix, The Chambers Brothers, Arthur Lee & John Echols of 1960’s L.A. mainstays Love (who were a HUGE influence on Jim Morrison and his buddies The Doors), Living Color, etc.  That being said, all of the nominees detailed above belong in a R&B Hall of Fame, which should probably be established in Memphis, where – let’s face facts – The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame SHOULD HAVE BEEN located.  Come on, Alan Freed had a radio show nobody really listened to or cared about in Cleveland and our North Coast brethren get the Hall of Fame?  Get serious.  That’s not a musical or artistic decision, that’s just politics-as-usual and tax breaks for the already-wealthy.

(Actually, while I'm thinkin' about it, since Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band got inducted on their own in 2014, maybe James Brown's fine, fine, super-fine backing band, the always crack, right-on-the-money J.B.'s should be inducted in their own right this year.  That's another group of musicians that made an already great frontman into a genius of the live stage.)  (And that guy who brought all the capes out to drape over James' shoulders and guide him wearily off the stage at the denoument of "Please, Please, Please" should be the first ROADIE inducted into the Hall of Fame.)     

NINE INCH NAILS – Wait, Trent Reznor wants to fuck me like an animal?  I want him fucked out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

STEVE MILLER – see above, Chicago, Hackmeisters of the Highest Order.  How did Steve Miller, the Eagles and Elton John become the anointed Holy Trinity of Classic Rock and Oldies radio?  Absolutely my favorite radio listening experience in Columbus is 9 am-noon Sundays on 93.3, when they replay old Casey Kasem Top 40 Countdown shows from the 70’s in their entirety.  I love those shows for a number of reasons: 1) Because there are songs down there between 30 & 40 in the countdown that you have either NOT HEARD since the 1970’s, or HAVE NEVER HEARD AT ALL.  2) Casey’s truly fucking CLUELESS on-air banter and (largely) bullshit showbiz stories.  (Plus I ace every one of his trivia contests.)  3) If for nothing else, the Kasem show provides PERSPECTIVE for what were hits and what weren’t.  Example: “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ yet” by Bachman Turner Overdrive (or Bachman Turner Overweight, as my 70’s West Side compadres pegged them) PEAKED at number 26 or so.  If all you had to go on was Classic Rock Radio, you would have to assume that tune was Number One for like nine weeks in a row.

LOS LOBOS – Actually I kinda love Los Lobos, so have at it, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, induct Hidalgo and Rosas & friends sooner than later.

THE CARS – The Cars first two albums are probably two of my favorite records of the late-70’s and I loved those guys beyond comprehension in 1978 when they first burst on the scene out of Boston: I loved the tunes, I loved their attitude, I loved their dress sense (fuck yeah, I was a skinny-tie boy back in the day), I loved their Whole Deal.  So yeah, induct away.  (By the early 1980’s, things were not going nearly so well with me and my New Wave Beantown Boyz: check out Fighting With Ric Ocasek in my old blog.)

THE SMITHS – Take everything I just said about The Cars and reverse it: I didn’t like The Smiths tunes, I didn’t like their attitude, I didn’t like their dress sense, I kinda didn’t like their Whole Deal.  They were whiny, gloomy, dreary and generally English in all the wrong ways.  (In that respect, The Smiths were the anti-Kinks.)  And come on, The Smiths get nominated to the Rock & Hall of Fame BEFORE Detroit’s favorite sons, The MC5?  That’s just misdirected rock & roll Anglophilia of the Worst Kind.  The hell with Morrissey & Marr, gimme Tyner & Smith any day of any week.  – Ricki C. / 10/10/2015.

 

Hall & Oates Before Journey In The Rock Hall? Really? By Wal Ozello

Okay… it’s time for me to come up for air while editing my second book and address something that’s been bothering me for the past several months.

How the heck are Hall and Oates getting inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame before Journey?

Seriously.

Now I’m sure if Colin was here he’d be arguing that Cheap Trick should be getting in and I’m sure Ricki C. threw up in his mouth a little bit when I mentioned Journey.

But here’s the thing:

Journey falls into the category of “Aren’t they in the Hall of Fame already?” and Hall and Oates falls into the category of “Have they run out of A-list artists so they’re inducting them now?”

We all thought the Rock Hall was coming to their senses last year when they inducted Rush. But inducting Hall & Oates before Journey is evidence that still have their heads up their own ass.

Let me build my case:

Don’t Stop Believin’ is the most downloaded song on iTunes ever. Not last week. Not last month. Not last year.We’re talking the most downloaded song in the history of iTunes.Think about that for a moment.It’s been downloaded more than Stairway To Heaven, I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, Imagine, Hey Jude, Shook Me All Night Long, Beat It, You Really Got Me, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Where The Streets Have No Name, and every other song written – including She’s Gone (which a Hall & Oates’ song).

Anyway You Want It is a turn up the radio song.You know those songs: Tom Sawyer, Born To Run, American Idiot, Push It, Whipping Post, Fight For Your Right To Party, Jack & Diane, and that one song by C&C Music Factory that no one knows the name to but if you heard it you'd recognize it.  These are songs that when they come on your car radio you instantly crank up the volume and start banging on your dashboard to the beat.  Rich Girl  and Kiss Is On My List  are change the channel tunes (those are Hall & Oates songs).

By now you may be preparing the argument that Hall & Oates have talent and that’s what got them into the Rock Hall. Journey has them beat on talent tenfold.

Name one person in modern music that has a better voice than Steve Perry. Okay… for those of you that had the brilliance to respond with Freddie Mercury here’s what Queen guitarist Brian May said, "Perry is a truly luminous singer, in my opinion—a voice in a million." Steve Perry’s nickname is “The Voice.” And if you’re arguing that Daryl Hall has a more bluesy voice than Perry, listen to this video comparison of Steve and Sam Cooke:


But here’s the thing… Steve’s not the only talent in the band. Check out this guitar solo from Neal Schon.

 

And Jonathan Cain is an amazing keyboardist. Folks, that’s the guy that wrote Faithfully, Don’t Stop Believin’, Who’s Cryin’ Now, and Separate Ways. For a better keyboard player you’d have to probably chose Gregg Rolie – the original Journey keyboard player. Both these guys have more talent in their pinky knuckle than Daryl Hall does in his whole hand when it comes to playing keyboards. Listen to this whole solo – it’s got rock, classical, and blues all mixed in:

 

Journey has had many extremely talented members weave in and out of their ranks over the years – a total of 13 people. Heck, they were founded by the members of Santana!

Now here’s the thing that I think is the capper: Journey’s music is a soundtrack to our lives. Don’t Stop Believin’ is the most amazing pick me up song. Several national baseball teams have used it as their anthem! Could you imagine Maneater as a baseball song (that’s a Hall & Oates song). More people have danced to Faithfully at their wedding than Sarah Smile (that’s a Hall & Oates song). More people have used Who’s Cryin’ Now or Send Her My Love to get over a bad breakup than any of those Hall & Oates songs. And think about all those people who got laid because of Any Way You Want It or Stone in Love.

Just look at Journey’s discography and you’ll see dozens of songs that last a lifetime. I bet the average person can’t even name five Hall & Oates songs that bring back a vivid memory of their high school years.

One last point. Some people may make the argument that Journey is corporate rock and doesn’t belong in the Rock Hall because they are too commercial. If that’s the case, what are they doing letting in KISS?

To all the members of Journey who got snubbed again this year and their fans, take listen to this song and hope for next year:

Wal Ozello is the author of Assignment 1989: The Time Travel Wars and is the lead singer of the Columbus hairband Armada. He's a resident of Upper Arlington, Ohio and a frequent customer at Colin's Coffee.

Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Is Now a Band in Addition to a Damn Good Question

Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? is a band hellbent on finding the answer to the following question: Why isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? As such, the band will be performing a free show of all Cheap Trick covers at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland on Thursday, April 18.

​The date is significant because the actual induction ceremonies for the Rock Hall are taking place, in Los Angeles, that same night, and once again, Cheap Trick is not among the inductees. And as for the location, well, duh, Cleveland is where the Rock Hall is located. Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? will also be performing a free show the next night at KOBO in Columbus just for the hell of it.

Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? is the brainchild of Colin Gawel, co-founder of the band Watershed. Gawel and Joe Oestreich decided to form a band after attending a Cheap Trick concert when they were in middle school. The two were so determined to follow their heroes' path, Watershed eventually ended up getting signed — and dropped — by Epic Records, Cheap Trick's recording label for many years. Oestreich tells the tale in the 2012 memoir Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock n Roll. The book was featured on National Public Radio and reached No. 1 on Amazon music biography list.​ 

While Gawel doesn't have the discipline to write a book, he did once rank EVERY SINGLE Cheap Trick song, complete with links, essays and personal stories. (Better call off work because it takes about five hours to read properly.)

Gawel said he decided to form Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? after getting sick of watching the band get snubbed year after year. "If Cheap Trick were from New York City instead of Rockford, Ill., they would have been in the Rock Hall years ago*," he said. "Show me someone who doesn't appreciate what Cheap Trick has meant to rock and roll and I will show you a dipshit."

Gawel added: "To draw attention to this injustice, we plan on performing every year on the night of the induction ceremony until Cheap Trick gets the call. For everybody's sake, let's hope this is our first and last show. I mean, Cheap Trick makes it look easy; surely we will prove otherwise."

Gawel said he is a big fan of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "My son and I go every summer and always have a great time," he said. "This event isn't for the haters bitching about how their favorite band has been snubbed, too. Start your own band If you want to. This show is about taking a place I already enjoy and improving it with the addition of Cheap Trick."​

Gawel will be joined on stage by his backing band The Lonely Bones, featuring Four String brewmaster Dan Cochran on bass, Rick Kinsinger on guitar and former Watershed member Herb Schupp on the drums.

A limited number of Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? T-shirts are available to spread the word and help cover the cost of van rental, gas, and beer for the band. Click here to purchase. Shirts will NOT be available at the show. Any extra proceeds will be plowed back into free stickers and/or buttons, which will be available.

Click here for Facebook event page and help us spread the word

Colin Gawel sings and plays guitar with Watershed along with his solo band The Lonely Bones. Once a year he performs with his side band, Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame? in Cleveland. He owns a small coffee shop in Columbus, Ohio, where he manages the website Pencilstorm. He is married and has a 9-year-old son who has seen Cheap Trick three times and met Rick once. www.colingawel.com

​* It occurred to me one evening while watching the Silver concert DVD that if a band from New York tried a show like that in Central Park, it would be covered live on all media outlets and probably have its own pullout section in USA Today.

Try to imagine a band from New York that had sold 20 million records over 30 years; been produced by George Martin, Todd Rundgren, Jack Douglas, Roy Thomas Baker and Steve Albini (OK, were recorded by Steve Abini); were John Lennon's favorite American band; had persevered through tough times and continued playing gigs all over the world because that's what rock n roll bands do; rallied to put out an amazing CD in 2009, The Latest; were beloved by Conan O' Brien, The Onion, David Letterman, The Simpsons, Steve Colbert and other pop-cultural icons; were the featured band at 2010 SXSW; performed on Austin City Limits and World Café; were invited by the Los Angeles Philharmonic to recreate Sgt. Pepper's at the Hollywood Bowl; influenced bands such as Green Day (Billie Joe left a note on Rick's door the first time Green Day played Chicago that said "We are going to be a good as your band one day") and Nirvana ("I think of Nirvana as being like Cheap Trick," Kurt Cobain once said). If a band from New York City accomplished even half of this, they would have been inducted into the Rock Hall on the first ballot. — Colin

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