8/21/08: Cheap Trick Heaven Tonight (1978)This was originally going to be an entry that we'd farm out to ourselves. That link isn’t working out, though, so here’s the full thing—with conservative content starting at the sixth paragraph:“Cheap Trick,” says my four-year-old son, “is rock and roll.” Well, that’s what I’m told he said. I was out wasting my life at a
Hellboy II screening. My wife was actually there for the big moment. I saw Judah take his first step, and that was okay. I really wish I’d heard him say that line about Cheap Trick, though.
Anyway, it wasn’t a surprising statement. Cheap Trick is my son’s favorite band. My kid’s been playing
Heaven Tonight at least twice a day since 2005. Judah recently discovered that we can choose our own music that plays on the car stereo, so now I’ve been listening to it at least three times a day for the past few months. I can personally attest that
Heaven Tonight is one of the best albums of all time. I’m still not sick of the songs.
Part of that is probably the fun of hearing a little kid shouting “Suicide!” along with Robin Zander at the end of “Auf Wiedersehen.” It’s also good to know that we didn’t push Cheap Trick on the kid. He could’ve gotten obsessed with other CDs in the stereo. There was Shelby Lynne, Parliament, and his choice of a Bollywood or blaxploitation compilation. It probably helped that Heaven Tonight kicks off with “Surrender” and its timeless lyrics about Mommy and Daddy being alright. That probably spoke to the kid.
There’s more to Cheap Trick than “Surrender,” of course. It’s still part of the vintage Cheap Trick years that keep the band touring each summer. The band had to survive a dull 1977 debut before hitting the sophomore heights with the same year’s
In Color. The greatness of
Heaven Tonight was originally neglected, since the breakthrough of 1979’s
At Budokan was released just a few months later.
Heaven Tonight still stands as the culmination of the band’s bid at becoming the Sparks of America—back when Sparks was an American act coming off massive success in the UK with glam played as hard rock by a half-cute/half-nerd act. Cheap Trick would maintain their standards after the success of the live version of “I Want You to Want Me,” although the follow-ups of
Dream Police and
All Shook Up don’t get enough attention. The band still beats out early Elvis Costello in quality of multiple albums in less than four years.
Heaven Tonight is also good parenting. The album captures Cheap Trick at their most reasonable and right-minded. It’s a good step towards raising my Young American for Freedom. As noted, “Surrender” is a generation-gap spanning classic, including Mom as a military veteran and both parents rocking out to the befuddled narrator’s KISS albums. That’s also timeless advice about avoiding venereal diseases. “On Top of the World”—like “Stiff Competition”—is a fine tribute to healthy sex, a strong work ethic, and combinations of the two. “California Man” is a cover of The Move that’s setting Judah up to appreciate the greatness of Roy Wood—and it’s good to see Judah not getting attached to representing the East Coast, yo.
“High Roller” celebrates fine capitalist tendencies. Cheap Trick was a true post-hippie band, and the song’s narrator is perfectly happy to use material charms to win over the object of his desire. “Auf Wiedersehen” is a cheerful goodbye to suicidal types, and you can never be too young to appreciate that attitude.
Admittedly, it’s a little weird to hear my kid getting all nostalgic with “Takin’ Me Back.” “On The Radio” is even more of a throwback, but at least my kid will know that disc jockeys once played an important part in our culture. Judah will also know who The Real Don Steele is even before he gets around to watching the late L.A. disc jockey in
Death Race 2000 and
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
I’m not sure what to make of my kid’s fondness for singing along to the orchestral plaintiveness of the title track. At least he’s enjoying a fine anti-drug song—and it sounds like there’s some kind of Italian
Exorcist knock-off going on in the back of my car when Judah keeps intoning, “You can never come down, you can never come down.” Then the album closes with the classic pairing of “How Are You?” and “Oh Claire.” That’s teaching him good manners in two languages, since the only lyric to the final song is Japanese for “Good afternoon.”
Judah hasn’t seen Cheap Trick in concert yet. It’s good to know that he’ll be able to enjoy the original line-up. And don’t feel too bad about me missing out on Judah expressing that opinion about his favorite band. I got to hear him spell out “R-A-M-B-O” last week. Then he came up to me yesterday and said, “I need more guns.” Man, parenthood is beautiful.
A quick addendum: It was a relief when Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen showed up with Michael Moore in The Big One
. Not to get all gossipy, but certain members of the band have personal beliefs that definitely aren’t endorsed by this site. Democrats are welcome to claim the act now.
Make it your own: Hard to guess what the record company’s thinking (as usual), but the best available reissue of
Heaven Tonight is out of print. Get the CD while it’s
reasonably cheap. It includes two nice bonus tracks of early recordings—and, yes, Judah can also sing along with the alternative closing to “Surrender.”
