Takin' a Walk with Buzz Knight: Tom Petersson's Inspiring Stories Behind Cheap Trick's Iconic Music Legacy-Live and Legendary Encore

Summary

Takin’ a Walk with Buzz Knight: Tom Petersson’s Inspiring Stories Behind Cheap Trick’s Iconic Music Legacy – Live and Legendary Encore

Podcast: Takin’ A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Host: Buzz Knight
Guest: Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick)
Release Date: April 14, 2026
Theme: The enduring, restless musical journey of Cheap Trick, bassist Tom Petersson’s creative innovations, the band’s global impact, and the timeless realities of rock and roll life.

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Takin’ A Walk" revisits a candid, insightful conversation between host Buzz Knight and Tom Petersson, the trailblazing bassist and co-founder of Cheap Trick. Celebrating Cheap Trick’s legendary status and persistence, the interview explores the band’s early years in Rockford, their unexpected global breakthrough, the creative electricity behind their music, and their continuing evolution on the road and in the studio. Petersson also opens up about his musical inspirations, the realities of the music industry across decades, and the deeply personal connections forged between artist and audience over a lifetime.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin Stories and the Rockford, Illinois Scene

• Early Days and High School Roots:

  • Petersson reflects on the band members all coming from Rockford, IL, and attending the same high school, though not all were friends at first.

  “We grew up there. Everybody in the band and Rick and Bunny and myself happened to go to the same high school. … Robin was in a different high school in a different part of town. So we knew about each other, but we didn’t really know each other.” (05:24)

• Formation of Cheap Trick:

  • The lineup fully came together in 1974 after earlier musical projects fizzled.

  “We had a couple other bands going … nothing was working out. And finally we got together with Bunny and with Robin and we thought, okay, now we have something. And we just, that was 74. And we just kept going, tried to get lucky.” (05:56)

2. Innovating as a Bassist & The 12-String Sound

• Redefining Bass in Rock:
  • Petersson discusses inventively filling sonic space with his iconic 12-string bass, drawing from orchestral ambitions and classic four-piece setups.

  “It was just to make the sound … more orchestrated without adding extra people in. … All that kind of stuff. It always, to me, sounded weird. … I always thought, boy, it’d be great if it just filled up the sound when the guitar player is soloing.” (06:30)

3. Finding Fame—Abroad Before Home

• Japan as a Springboard:

  • Initial albums weren't successful; touring with Kiss in 1977 exposed them to Japanese media who “were kind of stuck with us.” Japan became the first place to truly embrace Cheap Trick.

  “The second album, In Color, struck a chord with the Japanese and we had a bunch of hit singles … We went to Japan and did those songs and it was, it was pandemonium. … The Buddha Khan show—part of it anyway.” (07:29)

  • On not even planning to play their eventually biggest hit live:

  “We did not even have ‘I Want You to Want Me’ in the set list. … That turned out to be our biggest hit. What do we know? Don’t leave it to us is what we know.” (08:37)

4. Keeping the Flame Alive

• Maintaining Freshness Playing Hits:

  “It’s not that it’s fresh every time, it just… as long as it seems like it’s fresh. That’s what counts, you know.” (09:51)

• Live Energy versus Studio Precision:

  “Live, I only use the 12-string. In the studio, I use whatever works for the songs. … Live, all subtlety is gone.” (11:55)

• On the Best Venues:

  "Best venues, usually they're your theaters or something like that. Indoors. ... The power you get in a club or a theater is no comparison.” (12:48)

5. Musical Inspirations and Heroes

• Bass Heroes & Approach:

  • Originally a rhythm guitarist, Petersson was more inspired by guitar-centric music.

  “All the Rolling Stones stuff… I wasn’t really influenced directly by the bass player. I just liked their style.” (13:24)

  • Praises less-celebrated players:

  “Ronnie Wood was one of my all-time favorites with the Jeff Beck group. … His bass playing is terrific. … It’s the kind of thing that's taken from a guitar player's point of view, which is where I came from. … Just what feels right, just do it.” (14:20)

6. The Creative Process & New Music

• Writing “12 Gates” and Collaborative Creativity:

  "I had come up with [the track], but I didn’t have any vocal idea… Robin immediately just jumped on like, ‘Oh, I love that. I’ve got some great ideas.’ … Usually the person that's responsible for the original idea has no idea how good or bad it is. That's for the rest of us to decide.” (17:50)

• On the Sound of New Cheap Trick Music:

  “The new Cheap Trick music is unbeatable. If you like riffs, don’t quit—it’s your lucky day. If you don’t, too bad.” (15:05)

7. Navigating Industry Change & Digital Reality

• On Music Industry Evolution:

  • Social media, streaming, and changes in radio mean less control and less predictability.

  “We don’t think about it. Anything that we’ve actually planned never worked out. So just let the chips fall where they may.” (23:14)

  • Early radio and breaking out regionally:

  “We became successful… in Buffalo, New York. … Everywhere else [small crowds], except Buffalo — we were selling out this theater downtown. … Then, same in Los Angeles… But in the general area we are from, there was nothing there.” (23:46)

  • On the role of old-school DJs:

  “DJs had an actual, you know, say—they could play what they wanted, they didn’t have to go ask anybody. And it was… the freedom of that. … It was way different.” (27:35) “Now…it’s the opposite. There’s so much [music] that you can’t keep track of it.” (28:52)

8. The Enduring Power of Live Performance

• Playing Live Today:
  • The audience is an extended family, from hardcore fans to young newcomers singing along to deep cuts.

  “At pretty much any show that we do, no matter where it is, we will actually know people in the audience. … Now it's to the point where people are bringing their kids… the young people are singing along with deep cuts now. That's weird.” (32:11)

9. Fame, Hits, and the Hall of Fame

• Biggest Hits vs. Deep Cuts:

  “Our biggest hit single was The Flame, which we didn’t write… Our second biggest hit was I Want You to Want Me… none of the other songs were hits, not big hits like that. … All of our 21 records, except for [those], they're all deep cuts.” (33:40)

• On the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:

  • The band didn’t aspire to the Hall because it didn’t exist when they started.

  “Who’s judging this? … Why should we be in there instead of somebody else? I have no idea. … We weren't thinking about it … then boom, we got in. … Look at all these people. … But what the hell? We'll take it.” (35:36)

10. The Beatles’ Influence

• Cultural Impact:

  “The whole society changed. … There we are, all these kids, baby boomers, … [our parents] were not fans of the Beatles and the Stones and the Who, not even close. … It was this battle against kind of the establishment.” (30:15)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Touring and the Road:

  “It’s always a long way to Worcester. Always. There’s no great way to get there. It’s impossible to get there from here.” (15:41)

• On Creative Confidence:

  “The way we do it, if we do it, it’s going to be great. How about that?” (17:14)

• On AI and Music Tastes:

  “Now you’ve got AI that can do everything, right? But to me, most music already was AI. It all sounds like elevator music to me anyway, so what’s the damn difference?” (37:36)

• On Legacy and Connection:

  “Having your friends and family like your stuff is way more important than them hating it and you’re embarrassed… We don’t know what the hell people want to hear. We just know what we might want to hear.” (36:41)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Early Days in Rockford, IL: 05:06 – 06:18
• The 12-String Bass & Innovations: 06:18 – 07:10
• Japan Breakthrough & Live at Budokan: 07:10 – 09:35
• Keeping Old Songs Fresh: 09:44 – 10:04
• Fast Five Q&A & Musical Heroes: 11:23 – 15:05
• Recording Process and New Album: 16:42 – 18:48
• Navigating Music Industry Changes: 22:53 – 28:52
• Live Show Reflections & Fan Community: 31:58 – 33:25
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Perspective: 35:15 – 36:34
• AI & The Future of Music: 36:41 – 37:54
• Closing & Personal Connection: 38:02 – 38:53

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Conclusion

This chat with Tom Petersson offers a funny, honest, and sometimes irreverent look at what it really means to be a “lifer” in rock and roll. Cheap Trick’s story, as seen through Tom’s eyes, is one of perseverance, musical risk-taking, happy accidents, and believing that the real connection is always about the music, the band, and the audience — not charts, not trends. Whether discussing their legendary live shows, the capriciousness of industry success, or his own musical instincts, Tom’s storytelling is a reminder of why Cheap Trick endured: “If you love what you do and you do it with everything you’ve got, the crowd will always be there waiting for you.” (from Buzz Knight’s intro, 00:01)

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Buzz Knight]

Taking a Walk I'm Buzz Knight and welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast. Now, few bands in rock and roll history have logged more miles, more stages, or more unforgettable nights than Cheap Trick. And standing at the low end of it all, with that iconic 12 string bass and a grin that says he's still having the time of his life, is Tom Peterson. This April, as our Live and Legendary series celebrates the artist hitting the road this spring and summer with, we're bringing back my conversation with one of rock's great road warriors. Tom sat down with us about the Cheap Trick journey. From the scrappy club days to live at Budokan, from the arena peaks to the relentless touring machine the band never stopped being because that's the thing about Cheap Trick. They never really left the road. It's where they live. Tom Peterson is a Rock and Roll hall of Famer, a base visionary, and proof positive. They if you love what you do and you do it with everything you've got, the crowd will always be there waiting for you. So crank this one up. Coming up next on our live and legendary Taking a Walk Tom Peterson from Cheap Trek.

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[Interviewer]

Taking a walk Tom Peterson welcome to Taking a Walk. It's such an honor to have you on. We're going to talk about new music, the rift that won't Quit and All Washed up and the tour and you guys are busy as always. But before we get into the the festivities tomorrow, I ask the opening question of everybody so I'm not going to let you escape the opening question. If you could take a walk with someone, who would you take a walk with?

[Tom Peterson]

Take a walk with? I I don't know.

[Interviewer]

Could be anybody under the sun, living or dead.

[Tom Peterson]

Good Lord. Can I have a while to think about this? Yeah, I have to answer it right at first.

[Interviewer]

In fact you know what? Apologies. Didn't mean to throw it off. It's just the opening icebreaker.

[Tom Peterson]

All right, the ice is broken.

[Interviewer]

I'll come back. I'll come back to it.

[Tom Peterson]

So anyway, and I'll be thinking the whole time, all I can think of is like, who would I want to take a walk with? Who would I want to.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, there's no right or wrong answer. But can you take me back to Rockford, Illinois in the early 70s and tell me, paint a picture for Rockford. I was in Rockford many years ago, but what do you remember about that moment when Cheap Trick came together?

[Tom Peterson]

Well, we. I left Rockford in 1971, so it wasn't the 70s, really. You know, we grew up there. Everybody in the band and Rick and Bunny and myself happened to go to the same high school. We weren't friends at that point. We knew about each other because we were all in bands and Robin was in a different high school in a different part of town. So we knew about each other, but we didn't really know each other. I really just started hanging out with Rick after I got out of high school. And he and I started hanging around together when we went to England together in 68 and before cheap Trick, we had a couple other bands going and, you know, nothing was working out. And finally we got together with Bunny and with Robin and we thought, okay, now we have something. And we just. That was 74. And we just kept going, tried to get lucky.

[Interviewer]

Now, you had that 12 string bass early on. What made you want to push the boundaries of what a bass player and really redefine what a bass player could do in a rock band?

[Tom Peterson]

Well, it was just to make the sound. To make it sound more really orchestrated without adding extra people in. We didn't have a keyboard player, didn't have another guitar player. Robin plays guitar in about half of the songs, you know, but it's basically a setup, like the who, you know, it's a four piece with a lead singer, you know, Zeppelin or whatever, the who, all that kind of stuff. It always, to me sounded weird. When you hear a band live and there's like. It's just. Then it's just bass and guitar. Hendrix, you know, like, how great was he? But I always thought, boy, it'd be great if it was. It just fill up the sound when there's, you know, the guitar player is soloing.

[Interviewer]

Now, those first few albums, they didn't really explode in the US right away, but Japan, yes, but Japan embraced Cheap Trick immediately. What was it like experiencing that level of fame overseas before America really caught the magic. A cheap trick.

[Tom Peterson]

Well, it wasn't immediately we had our first album came out and that was not a success in Japan or anywhere else. The second album, In Color came out when we were on tour with Kiss. At that time they were doing the Love Gun tour and they were huge worldwide. And because of that, they were very huge in Japan as well. So the Japanese press followed them everywhere. So everywhere we went there was Japanese press and, you know, they were kind of stuck with us and oh, here's these goofballs. What's, what's, what's this? So that second album, In Color struck a chord with the Japanese and we had a bunch of hit singles off of that second album, which we had no success anywhere else. None. And so we went to Japan and did those songs and it was, it was pandemonium. It was really crazy. And they decided to, the record label said, you know, we're going to film this and we're going to make a TV show, an hour long show, which they did. And it's, you know, it's, it's pretty interesting because it's the Buddha Khan show. Part of it anyway. An hour with commercials, you know, toothpaste commercials and all that stuff. It's pretty funny. But after that they said, you know, maybe we should release this as a, an album. Do you mind? Like, no. And I remember our manager going, yeah, there are departments going to do the COVID We don't have to do anything. It's like, okay, fine. And we were like, the COVID kind of sucks. This isn't that great. And a manager said, don't worry about it. No one's ever going to hear about this record. Okay, that's wild. So much for the master plan, right? Yeah. So we, in fact, when we got to Japan, we did not even have I want you to want me in the set list. And the promoter goes, hey, where's I want you to want me? Like, oh, we don't even do it. What? He's freaked. So. Oh, well, we played it a million times in bars, so yeah, we can do that easily. That turned out to be our biggest hit. What do we know? Don't leave it to us is what we know.

[Interviewer]

Now, as far as I want you

[Tom Peterson]

to want me, I mean, that was even around for our first album. It didn't even make that record. That's incredible.

[Interviewer]

And now when you think about it, playing it thousands of times, how does it feel? You know, keeping it fresh every time

[Tom Peterson]

you play it it's not that it's fresh every time, it just. As long as it seems like it's fresh. That's what counts, you know.

[Interviewer]

Amen.

[Tom Peterson]

Looks like we're having a good time. That's what counts.

[Interviewer]

Now, who were your bass heroes growing up?

[Tom Peterson]

Well, I started out as a guitar player, rhythm guitar player, you know, and we were just, you know, doing Beatles songs and the Stones and all that in, you know, high school events and, you know, we were teenagers, so everybody was doing the same thing. The Stones, the Kinks, the Beatles, the who, you know, who worked, that kind of stuff. And I can't remember what I was, I, I lost my train. Oh, how do we keep it fresh? But, but doing what I just did, we're just kind of daydreaming, you know, they're like, oh, hey, whoa, where am I? You know. But our whole, you know, we're alive, we're, we're a friggin bar band. And we played thousands of gigs. Five, four, five sets a night, six nights a week, that kind of thing. Driving around and completely destitute. No money, no nothing. But we kept going. It doesn't seem like a good idea, but it worked out for us. I wouldn't advise anyone else to try it.

[Interviewer]

But

[Tom Peterson]

it's like if you've ever seen behind the Music or one of those type of shows. Did you ever seen one of the happy ending?

[Interviewer]

No, definitely not.

[Tom Peterson]

Yeah, really. So there you are. Maybe another type of washed out all of us.

[Interviewer]

I'm going to hit you with five fast questions here. Okay?

[Tom Peterson]

Who I want to take a walk with. Okay, Norma Jean, who would you like? Norma Jean? Norma Jean, she's the artichoke queen. She was the artichoke queen before she became Marilyn. And I only know that because we just played in Monterey and we were going through this little town and they go, oh, this is the artichoke capital of Norma Jean. Oh, okay, so I'll pick Norma.

[Interviewer]

Perfect. I love it. Okay, 12 string bass or four string,

[Tom Peterson]

depends on what situation. Live, I Only use the 12 string in the studio. I use whatever works for the songs. And it's usually not the 12 string because you're in the studio. So you can overdub if you want. You want it to sound like a cello or a grand piano. Well, you get one of those things and then batten up the sound. You don't need to take up all the space on a record. It's, oh, it's completely different live, all subtlety is gone. It doesn't, you know, you Know, we're not out there making the records sound exactly like the. The records. We don't. We never cared about that. Like, oh, we better not do that song because you can't do it live. So what. What matters is the recorded version. That's what people are going to hear. So doing it live, that's just a different thing.

[Interviewer]

Best city to play, to play live in. And why best city.

[Tom Peterson]

There is no best city. It's this. Best venues, usually they're your theaters or something like that. Indoors. I mean, the worst venues are outdoor. The big arenas and all that stuff. That's, you know, it's just completely different. The power you get in a club or a theater is no comparison.

[Interviewer]

A piece of gear you can't live without.

[Tom Peterson]

Well, a bass guitar. Perfect. Well, I couldn't live without that too. A piece of gear.

[Interviewer]

Is there a bass player you'd like to jam with?

[Tom Peterson]

They're all dead. No. Wow. Bass player to jam with. No, thanks. Yeah, somebody that's not. Yeah, somebody that's not very good. That would be good. That would be good. Do I want to jam with John entwistle or Paul McCartney? I did, you know, even if I wanted to, it's not in the cards. Well, I can't do it with Entwistle, but he was one of my big heroes. Even though at that point I was not playing bass, I was a rhythm guitar player. Same with Paul. So all that stuff I did as a teenager was rhythm guitar stuff. So all the Rolling Stones stuff. So I wasn't really influenced directly by the bass player. I just liked their style. So. And then there were all sorts of different ones that, you know, eventually I. I liked Jack Cassidy with the Airplane. I thought he was great. I thought, you know, it's just all different people. Ronnie Wood was one of my all time favorites with the Jeff Beck group. Now he doesn't get any credit. Well, for me he does, but doesn't get much credit for that. That work he did with Jeff and with Rod's solo stuff. His bass playing is terrific. And it, it's. It's the kind of thing. It's the bass playing that's kind of taken from a guitar player's point of view, which is where I came from. It's not typical. Oh, I sat around listening to this and, you know, I got to hook up with the kick drum and I got to do. There's none of that. Just what feels right, just do it. So it's a combination of a rhythm thing and an orchestra thing and the bass, you know, just. It's just a. It's basically an orchestrated sound.

[Interviewer]

Finish this sentence. The new Cheap Trick music is.

[Tom Peterson]

The new Cheap Trick music is unbeatable.

[Interviewer]

Amen. Yes.

[Tom Peterson]

If you like riffs, don't quit. It's your lucky day.

[Interviewer]

Yes.

[Tom Peterson]

If you don't, too bad.

[Interviewer]

I'm gonna single out another song here since I live outside of Boston down the road, Tom, from this place called Worcester, so.

[Tom Peterson]

Oh, yeah, that's how you pronounce that. Yes.

[Interviewer]

A long way to Worcester. Tell me about that.

[Tom Peterson]

It's always a long way to Worcester. Always. There's no great way to get there. It's impossible to get there from here. I'm in San Francisco right now, so I don't want to know about going to Worcester. That's way too. That's a long drive from here.

[Interviewer]

Always has been. Yeah.

[Tom Peterson]

Especially in the back of a 60s Bonneville pulling a U Haul trailer. That's a long drive.

[Interviewer]

It's a long drive, yeah. But a terrific rock and roll city. I mean, you know, they love their rock and roll.

[Tom Peterson]

Worcester or Boston is in general.

[Interviewer]

I say Boston in general, but Worcester always had that little, you know, we're the underdog.

[Tom Peterson]

Is there like, Philadelphia a little bit like that, yeah.

[Interviewer]

In fact, as far as Worcester versus Boston, for sure. Yeah.

[Tom Peterson]

Yeah. That's what I mean. Right. I don't know anything about it. We show up, we do the show, and then we leave. I've never stayed in Worcester, but now I'm going to have to.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, well, at least maybe I have

[Tom Peterson]

to learn how to pounce it and spell it.

[Interviewer]

Yes, exactly. Tell me about the process of putting the new music together. It was recorded in a couple of different places, wasn't it?

[Tom Peterson]

Mainly in Nashville. All the tracks and stuff we do. We do those live and go from there. And some of the vocals, excuse me, were done in Los Angeles.

[Interviewer]

And. And what? So was there anything in this process that was a little different for you guys, or is this is pretty much the way you guys always put great music together?

[Tom Peterson]

This is pretty much how great music is put together. Yes. The way we do it, if we do it, it's going to be great. How about that?

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Amen.

[Tom Peterson]

Whether anybody agrees with that, that's a different story.

[Interviewer]

But I love 12 gates. It's. It's outstanding. And it's obviously got influence from a band that's very close to you guys, namely the Beatles, obviously. But tell me about that song. And. And, you know, how that came together, because it sounds awesome. Like the whole album.

[Tom Peterson]

Well, that was just one of those things we, we put together song ideas and then play them for each other. So hey, I got this. What have you got? That that was a track that I had come up with, but I didn't have any vocal idea. I didn't have any vocal parts or anything. And Robin immediately just jumped on like, oh, I love that. I've got some great ideas for that. So that's just how that fell together. But that's kind of like all of the songs, you know, somebody's got an idea and I go, hey, that's. What's that? And usually the person that's idea it is is not sure. It's is this any good? It's you're too close to it, you know, like, hey, if somebody else goes, hey, wow, what's that like? Oh, I don't know, that was just some weird riff. Oh no, no, that's great. Okay, go with that. Usually the person that's responsible for the original idea has no idea how good or bad it is. This is for the rest of us to decide. Like, ah, no, no, that's a bad idea. We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast.

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[Anna Sinfield]

There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.

[Tom Peterson]

You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.

[Anna Sinfield]

And rule two, never mess with her friends either.

[Tom Peterson]

We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.

[Anna Sinfield]

I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the Girlfriends.

[Tom Peterson]

Oh, my God. This is the same man.

[Anna Sinfield]

A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.

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[Tom Peterson]

I thought, how could this happen to me?

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The cops didn't seem to care, so they take matters into their own hands.

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[Podcast Host (Eating While Broke)]

I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.

[Podcast Promoter (Eating While Broke)]

It's Financial literacy Month, and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month, hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.

[Podcast Host (Eating While Broke)]

If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what, today? Now, Obviously, it's like 100% they believe, leave everything. But at first it was just like, you gotta go get a real job. There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.

[Podcast Promoter (Eating While Broke)]

Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Bob Pittman]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic. Stories from the frontiers of marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance, and everywhere in between this season of Math and Magic, I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario, financier and public health advocate Mike Milken, Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick.

[Tom Peterson]

If you're unable to take meaningful creative risk and Therefore run the risk of making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't play in this business.

[Bob Pittman]

Sesame Street CEO Sherry Weston and our own Chief Business Officer, Lisa Coffey.

[Tom Peterson]

Making consumers see the value of the human voice and to have that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it

[Cologuard Advertiser]

rise to the top.

[Bob Pittman]

Listen to Math and magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Tom Peterson]

Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Interviewer]

You know, the music industry has changed completely since you guys started out. You know, streaming and social media and everything. How do you navigate that change? Do you even think about that change? Or is it just full steam ahead? Cheap Trick, we're here, man.

[Tom Peterson]

We don't think about it. Anything that we've actually planned never worked out. So just let the chips fall where they may.

[Interviewer]

I have a feeling when I think back at the way everything came together, the success first abroad and then obviously the success that came with the U.S. didn't it kind of first because of your, you know, Midwest roots, didn't it first start in the Midwest and kind of sprout to the respective coasts? Wasn't that your core first in the

[Tom Peterson]

U.S. no, the first place that we were really popular because in those days it just depended on what area you were in. Different parts of the country, they'd all have local radio stations and the disc jockeys, believe this or not, would actually choose what songs they played and just, you know. So we became successful for some reason, out of the blue in Buffalo, New York. Okay, so we're playing for four people in Shakey's Pizza parlors every everywhere else except in Buffalo. And we were selling out this theater downtown. Like, wow, this is. Wow, what happened here? And then the same thing kind of happened to us in Los Angeles. We, Rodney Bingenheimer, he was, he's the mayor of Hollywood, he took a liking to us and took us under his wing at that time and just showed us around and was put us on, you know, KROC and all this stuff. So we had success in Los Angeles, in the general area that we are from, there was nothing there. We weren't getting radio play. We weren't getting support. It's like, you know, so now that's all forgotten. Like, oh, really? Yeah. Hey, great. We didn't break out of there. We started there and we became a local bar draw. So we were successful in that world. But beyond that, once a record came out, it wasn't like, oh, all the stations in Chicago and Rockford and Madison and Milwaukee, they all started playing us. No, none of them did. Thanks. Thanks for nothing. It's just. It's the luck of the damn draw. Then when you get lucky in Japan. Who knew, you know, we had no idea. We still don't.

[Interviewer]

Are there some bands today, some newer bands that you guys listen to, that you listen to?

[Tom Peterson]

Yes, but I can't think of any at the top of my head. But, yeah, I listen to all sorts of stuff.

[Interviewer]

Is there anything on your playlist that we'd be surprised at?

[Tom Peterson]

Probably, you mean like Viagra Boys or something like that? You know, those guys pretty. Are they not the. You know, I. I like stuff that's got a good sense of humor. And I don't really. I don't listen to regular radio as far as songs. Like, it drives me crazy. I hate everything that's, you know, most things. And I don't want to hear as much as I'd love Led Zeppelin or whatever act it might be. Do I need to hear Stairway to Heaven all the time? No, let's play some damn deep tracks. Do I need to hear All Right now by Free? No, I like Mr. Big or something. Whatever it is, it's all pop radio. I don't listen to it. Kind of the joke is, if it's not played on npr, I don't hear it. But I get a lot of ideas from people on Instagram. They'll have, like, songs in the background of their posts. And it's like, hey, wow, what's that? That's a cool one. Oh, that's L7. Oh, what's that? That's cool. You know, it's just all different stuff. I like to hear things that I have never heard before. But the hard part with that is I also like to know who it is so I can look them up, you know, or something that's so bad that I have to look it up. Pull over. Who's this? I gotta wait till they say who this is. This is the biggest bunch of. I've ever heard. And then it's. Then it's the top act in the U.S. suddenly, like, okay, I'm not gonna name any names. If I was in Oasis, I could start naming names, but I'm not going to. You know, it's. Anybody has any success at all, it's like, more power to them, you know, this is. Far be it from me to question anybody. It's just a damn crap shoot anyway, so.

[Interviewer]

But you said it earlier about the state of the DJs. Back when, you know, Cheap Trick broke out, the DJs had an actual, you know, say they could play what they wanted, they didn't have to go ask anybody. And it was, it was the freedom of that. And they knew their audience, you know, they were what they were passionate about, they played and it was, it was way different. I totally agree with you in that regard, you know.

[Tom Peterson]

Yeah, it was way different. And, and there were college reps and college radio and you know, you didn't just get every radio station. You had the. You know, there were all these underground like pirate radio connotations out of Little Rock, Arkansas, ball of all friggin things. And you could only really get it at night because if it was cloudy because of the. The radio waves, I don't know, you know. So it was different everywhere. Nobody knew what was going on anywhere else except in their own neck of the woods, you know, they didn't know anything. You know, how are people dressing? What are they doing, what are they listening to? It was all. You had to just go there and try to find out. In those days there was no information basically about anything. You had to really search for it. Now it's the opposite. There's so much that you can't keep track of it.

[Buzz Knight]

It's so.

[Interviewer]

It's overwhelming ultimately. First time I ever played you on the radio, it was actually. It was a college radio station. It was the station that was owned by the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. It was called wvud and it was like a. It was a commercial college station. But we still played whatever we wanted. And it was.

[Tom Peterson]

Yeah, you're putting out. And in those days too, the stuff that was on the rail was more up with people and Pat Boone or whatever, you know who you just this kind of middle of the road Mamby Pamby stuff. And then we're listening to the Yardbirds and the Kinks and the Beatles and the who and the Stones and all this. That stuff was completely underground. Those were not hit the Beatles. That's the. They're in a different category. They're just. You can't even compare what happened, what they did or what you know, anything about them. They're in a different world. But everybody else from the Stones on down, that was all underground. That was stuff. Led Zeppelin say that was. To me, Led Zeppelin is one of the newer groups that tells how far back that goes. You know, they weren't until a bit later. But even that stuff wasn't played on the normal radio. Those weren't hits.

[Interviewer]

Tell me about your Ed Sullivan moment. Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, describe that moment for me.

[Tom Peterson]

Well, it was the second time I'd seen them because I saw them first a few months earlier on Jack, the Jack Parr Show. He's about shag part that would have been 63. And he goes, I went to England and there's this group and they're throwing jelly babies and it's like, this is nuts. And they've got hair like girls and it sends pandemonium. Like, what the hell is this? Wow. This is.

[Zepbound Advertiser]

Wow.

[Tom Peterson]

That was really. These guys are cool. All right, what's that? So then, you know, that was that. And then, then they showed up in America. It's all of them and you know, everything changed. It's hard to even describe it. It's. The whole society changed. It just everything, the whole culture was turned on its head at that moment. And there we are, all these kids, baby boomers, you know, with The World War II parents, you know, there, there we are. You know, they didn't like any of this kind of stuff. They were not fans of the Beatles and the Stones and the who, not even close. So it was this battle against kind of the establishment. But it wasn't even like why we're not competing with these, we just like this stuff. But it was not popular. You didn't see those groups winning Grammys or anything like that.

[Interviewer]

It was viewed as subversive. Right?

[Tom Peterson]

Yeah. Yes. And then eventually it didn't help when Charles Manson came around. But all of a sudden you were not only, you know, offensive to people, you were also murderers. So there you go. Thanks.

[Interviewer]

So Cheap Chick is going to be out with a non top, non stop tour schedule.

[Tom Peterson]

Might as well be non stop. Yes.

[Interviewer]

Pretty, pretty close. You're going to be out a long time at a lot of places. Seeing people. Tell me, tell me playing live to this day still means to, to you and the band.

[Tom Peterson]

Well, it's different because now we've done it so long and we have a lot of the hardcore fans and at pretty much any show that we do, no matter where it is, we will actually know people in the audience. And it seems like a, a bit of a family reunion. It's great. Like, oh, look at, there's so and so out there. Then we're in Tokyo, what the hell, you know, it becomes like a big family in a way. Even though you don't know necessarily the people's names. We do know a lot of them. But now it's to the point where we've got people bringing their kids and they're, you know, the Young people are. Are singing along with deep cuts now. That's weird. It's one thing to sing along with I want you to want me, your obvious songs that people probably heard, but once they start going along with tracks that, you know, that no normal person listen to. So I don't know, you know, it's. It's like a. It's like a big family. We don't want to be. Go out there and sound like. But, you know, it is what it is. So if we do like Rick says, our mistakes are better than anyone else's or something like that, I don't know what he says. I can't listen to him. It's all right.

[Interviewer]

Is. Is there one song that surprises you that has emerged as a deep track that you see people responding to? You know, that you're like, holy mackerel. That one they. They love. I mean, is there one. Is there one that comes to mind?

[Tom Peterson]

Well, the thing is, our biggest hit single was the Flame, which we didn't write. That was a power ballad, and it really wasn't. Wasn't something we were dueling, even though, you know. And our second biggest hit was I want you to want me, which is ours. But all. None of the other songs were hits, not big hits like that. So people think, oh, dream, Please, it was a hit. Surrender. No, those were deeper tracks. So almost all of our 21 records, except for I want you to want them, they're all deep cuts. I don't care what it is. Dream Police, that was not a hit. California man, that was not a hit. I want you to want me. Yes. The Flame, yes. What else was a hit? Don't be cruel. We were the only act to cover an Elvis song to get into the top five besides himself. And I thought, that can't be true. And it is, I think. But that was a minor hit. Ain't that a shame? Was kind of a. A hit for us too. But in general, they're all deep tracks. It's kind of like Communication Breakdown or whatever. Led Zeppelin songs, you know, those were not hits. I don't think Stairway Heaven was a hit either. Right. I don't think it was. We've certainly all heard it enough, you know. Is Smoke on the Water. Is that a. Was that a hit? I don't know. Maybe. But we've heard it enough, you know. Oh, that was a big hit. Dream Fleet, that was a big hit. No, it was not a big hit. No, it wasn't.

[Interviewer]

So the band was. Was obviously inducted, as it should have been some Time ago, in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, as we're recording this, the Rock and Roll hall of Fame ceremonies just occurred. As a band that's in the Rock hall, is there a band that annoys you to no end, that should be in, that isn't in?

[Tom Peterson]

I'm not surprised that a lot of the acts that I like are not here. You know, I don't even know what the parameters are, how you get in or what. You know, there wasn't the hall of Fame when we started, so it wasn't something we like. Oh, I aspired to get to the hall of Fame. No, you know, there wasn't one to start with. And it's always like, well, who's judging this? It's not like stats and baseball or footballers. You know, it's. Why should we be in there instead of somebody else? I have no idea. But it's the kind of thing where we didn't think about it and didn't really. We weren't thinking about it, and it's like, whoa, we got what? Oh, we're on the list to. You know, we voted on. Like, wow, how do we get on the list? And then, boom, we got in. It was. It didn't really hit us until we actually got there and we're at the venue and it was like, wow, look at all these people. You know, what are. How do we fit in here? Like, Jesus. Jerry B. Lewis bats Domino. You know, the Stones. Like, but what the hell? We'll take it.

[Interviewer]

It's wonderful. Tom Peterson, congrats on the new music. All washed up.

[Tom Peterson]

See, that's. That makes me happy. That's. That's why we do it. It's for you and for. It's like friends and family. If you can't play it for your friends and family, like, yeah, I know this is shit, but people are gonna love it. Like, yeah, okay. Yeah, I always like that. Oh, they're getting bad press, but they're laughing all the way to the bank. The people that I know that got bad press were not laughing. All they were going to the bank. Yes, but having your friends and family like, your stuff is way more important than them hating it. And you're embarrassed. Like, oh, geez. Yeah, but that sold 10 million copies. Yeah, but it's the brother that's bad. We don't look at it that way. We don't know what the hell people want to hear. We just know what we might want to hear and what we. Hey, that was where that come from. How did you come up with that. That's a good one. You. It's exciting being in the studio and coming up with this stuff out of whole cloth. Now you've got AI that can do everything right. But to me, most music already was AI. It all sounds like elevator music to me anyway, so what's the damn difference? There's no accounting for taste. Who cares if it's. If you like it, there you are.

[Interviewer]

Oh, man, you can't help. I love it. I love Cheap Trick. I. I'm so thrilled to be able to talk to you.

[Tom Peterson]

That is really honest. That that means. That that means everything, honestly.

[Interviewer]

Oh, I'm so. I'm so thrilled. And next time you're in Worcester or in Boston, we'll see you there.

[Tom Peterson]

We're always in Boston, for God's sake. And I've got good friends or. So every time I get, like, here in Boston again, I always. My friend Jamie Rubin and Reeves, Gabriel, he, he. They're there from. So every time I'm there, I'm sending him a picture of the expressway or whatever, like, hey, I'm back in Boston, you know. And Reeves, he's doing well. He's a good friend. And he lived in Nashville. It's where I met him.

[Anna Sinfield]

And he.

[Tom Peterson]

He got that gig with the Cure. Like, oh, my God, what a great gig and what a great player, you know? Anyway, yeah, enough about Reed, right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Thanks, man, for being on the podcast. Thanks for being on Taking a Walk, Tom Peterson. See you around, man.

[Tom Peterson]

See you.

[Interviewer]

Thanks.

[Tom Peterson]

Bye. I'm off to Amoeba.

[Interviewer]

All right,

[Buzz Knight]

I'm Buzz Knight and thanks for listening to the Taking a Walk podcast. Now please check out our companion podcasts, produced by Buzz Night Media Productions with your host, Lynn Hoffman.

[Interviewer]

Music Save Me.

[Buzz Knight]

Showcasing the healing power of music and comedy. Saved Me. Shining a light on how laughter is the best medicine. All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and are part of the I Heart Podcast Network.

[Zepbound Advertiser]

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[Anna Sinfield]

When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands.

[Podcast Advertiser]

I vowed I will be his last target.

[Cologuard Advertiser]

He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves.

[Tom Peterson]

We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.

[Anna Sinfield]

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the iHeartRadio Apple Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Charlemagne Tha God]

Peace to the planet Charlemagne. Tha God here. And listen. We are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard. Yeah, and the full lineup is nuts. We got the Grits and Eggs podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice cup cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague in the Game Gang. Don't Call Me White Girl Mona will be there. Keep it positive, Sweetie with Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, Drink Champs will be in the building. Okay? Plus, you know we're gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect Marketplace to pitch your podcast and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival. Tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours@black effect.com podcast festival festival. Don't play yourself. Okay, Pull up.

[Earnest]

Earnest. What's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast earn your Leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money investing and entrepreneurship, from stocks and real estate to credit, business and generational wealth. Our goal is simple. Make financial literacy accessible for everyone. Because when you understand the system, you can start to build within it. Open your free iHeartRadio app search, earn your leisure and listen now.