Popsided (John M Borack)

"Authored by long-time Cheap Trick fans Mike Hayes and Ken Sharp, the well-written and informative 'Reputation Is A Fragile Thing' is an up-close look at Rockford, Illinois' favorite sons, from their confusing pre-fame years (when the pre-Robin Zander combo adopted a zillion crazy stage names such as Ozzie and Harriet, the Bun Birds and T-Rick) and their salad days as late '70s pop stars supreme, to their 1980s free-fall from grace ('The Doctor'...yeccchhh!) and their slow climb back to respectability. Using quotes gathered from a wide variety of archival sources but containing no new interviews with Messrs Zander, Nielsen, Carlos, and Petersson (sic), 'Reputation...' is 225 pages of Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Cheap Trick, including album-by-album analysis, tour info, year-by-year set lists, an extensive discography, and many never-before-published photos (the ones snapped by Anastasia Pantsios are especially fine).

Hayes and Sharp are not afraid to be truthful about the band's lean years and some of their ever leaner tunes ('The song is spoiled by a quagmire of special effects and uneven, cluttered production', they say about 'Rearview Mirror Romance' from 'The Doctor'). The non-fawning tone suits the book well, as does the authors' obvious knowledge of Cheap Trick and their history, particularly in the area of unreleased tunes; I, for one, was unfamiliar with such titles as 'I Dig Go Go Girls' and 'Bite It'. The previously under-documented history of pre-Trick combos such as Fuse, Sick Man Of Europe and The Paegans is remedied here, and the bits about Carlos and Nielsen's recording sessions with John Lennon makes for some good reading.

While this may not be the all encompassing Cheap Trick biography some have been clamoring for, it's certainly pretty damned close; the lack of recent access to the band is all that prevents it from being absolutely definitive (for example, it'd be interesting to hear what the guys think of 'The Flame' or 'I Want You To Want Me' today, with a little historical perspective thrown in.) As far as gripes, I have only two; first, every paragraph of the book is not indented, making things a tad confusing at times; second, I could find no explanation in the book as to why a young Brad Carlson would suddenly up and change his name to Bun E.Carlos. Sure, it's taking quibbling to an extreme, but the care and attention to detail that obviously went into the book - which has been in the works for over a decade - far overshadow any minor problems."

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