1979 was the year of Cheap Trick. By that I mean that they were seemingly everywhere and it appeared the future was limitless. Or, to quote from their fourth song from the Winnebago County Fairgrounds on that Independence Day, they were on top of the world and couldn't get any higher. Of course, they now know as the band from Budokan, which was released in February. Their live set was essentially anchored (or hamstrung by, according to them) by the live album they never wanted to release in the first place. They had been on the cover of Rolling Stone in June, coinciding with three sold out shows at the International Amphitheater as part of the "Disco Sucks" WLUP shows. I'll post a separate installment in a few weeks about all this to commemorate the forty-five anniversary of "Disco Demolition Night" at Comiskey Park.
Besides color photos, including some I couldn't get for the book, one of the great things about this space is the inclusion of archival stuff, in print, audio, and visual form. Fortunately, the official Cheap Trick account has both the beginning of the band's headlining set and some of the local news footage covering the event. Needless to say, there was a lot of concern whether the venue could handle the amount of people showing up to celebrate the 4th.
While Cheap Trick was headlining that day, the bill also included AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, and the Babys.
I've written a little about the budding friendship between Cheap Trick and AC/DC, but their bond was real and lasting. Sadly, Bon Scott passed away in 1980. However, Cheap Trick never stopped raving about AC/DC and always include them in the four bands ahead of them in Rick's oft-used comment that they are everyone's fifth favorite band with the Beatles, Stones, and Who also being in that group.
Susan Masino, who was there that day in 1979, has some great stories which I included in my book. Tom Petersson was in the least secure situation to endure the exposure and compromises that came with the band's "sudden fame." He's talked a little about the dangers of drinking too much, including right before the Hall of Fame induction. As Susan has recalled in a few of her excellent books on the Bon-era AC/DC, Tom tried to keep up with Scott that day to no avail. Cheap Trick's policy on indulgence was to do it after the show. To his credit, you'd never know watching the clip of the opening part of the show how much he'd probably imbibed. Looking at the photo below of AC/DC, it doesn't seem to have affected their performance either.
Susan spent a good part of her day at the hospital since an M-80 got thrown onto the stage and landed right under Phil Rudd's drum riser. An unsuspecting Barry Taylor, then a AC/DC roadie, got hurt. She gives her full account in my book.
This was also the show after which Rick Nielsen had AC/DC back to his house afterwards. He showed them one he was restoring and it ultimately burned down. As Rick said, once Bon Scott died, he didn't care about the house. This was also when Nielsen turned Scott onto Mexican food. He often tells the story about him having scotch and tacos.
Looking at the crowd shot that day, the Rockford Register Star's question, posed by Beth Austin, was well warranted. The cartoon version of what the crowd looked like was a lot more civil than the eventually reality. Incidentally, my book is already in the printing stages and I realize that the "Sin City" and "School Days" encore, featuring both bands is in dispute. My wording in the book is unclear and even though there are some accounts that July 10 was the date of that pairing. Then again, Setlist.fm doesn't mention the "Johnny B. Goode" that Bun E. Carlos included in the original Bun E's Bootleg series. I'd trust Bun and the date of that show was July 7 in Sioux City
Anyway, I apologize in advance for the vague and possibly inaccurate wording regarding the date of the of the one team up between the two bands. I got it from Susan's excellent memoir, Rock n' Roll Fantasy. I bought a copy and you should as well.
This was what I was trying to say in my book. Susan points out that Cheap Trick (who she knew equally well as she was working for Ken Adamany in 1979) was the only band ever asked to do an encore with with AC/DC. I apologize if if I fucked it up and I'll add it to the list of things that need to be fixed if they ever do a second printing.
Ultimately, the show had a very un-Altamonty legacy which is pretty impressive, given the turnout. Steve Dahl's "Teenage Radiation" was also on the bill.
In 1985, Rick recalled that John Waite, of later "Missing You" fame, stayed at his house as well after that show.
Molly Hatchet was also Epic at that point and produced by Tom Werman. Cans, bottles, booze, and coolers were outlawed that day. I would assume fireworks were tougher to prohibit. Incidentally, Barry Taylor did regain his hearing. He eventually left music to become a preacher, though is no longer practicing. Anyway, I'll be back in a few weeks to talk about Cheap Trick, KISS, and Disco Demolition Night.
RLW
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