Tom Petersson: Cheap Trick's Bass Legacy, Music History Stories and Life on the Road

Summary

Podcast Summary: Tom Petersson: Cheap Trick's Bass Legacy, Music History Stories and Life on the Road

Podcast: Takin' a Walk
Host: Buzz Knight (iHeartPodcasts)
Guest: Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick bassist, co-founder)
Date: November 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the legacy and ongoing story of Cheap Trick with legendary bassist Tom Petersson. The conversation explores Tom's innovative approach to bass playing, the band's journey from Rockford to global fame, reflections on their musical process, the changing industry landscape, and insights behind Cheap Trick's new album All Washed Up. The tone is irreverent, down-to-earth, and laced with Tom's trademark humor and candor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Days in Rockford and Band Origins

• Rockford Roots: Tom describes the formation of Cheap Trick out of the local Rockford, IL music scene, with all but Robin Zander attending the same high school.
  • "We knew about each other because we were all in bands ... but we didn't really know each other. I really just started hanging out with Rick after I got out of high school." (Tom, 05:28)
• Persistence Before Success: Tom recalls years of relentless gigging with little money or mainstream exposure.
  • "We're a friggin bar band. And we played thousands of gigs, five, four, five sets a night, six nights a week ... no money, no nothing. But we kept going." (Tom, 10:11)

2. Innovations in Bass Playing

• 12-String Bass: Tom pioneered the use of 12-string bass in rock, seeking a fuller, more "orchestrated" sound to fill out the band's lineup.
  • "It was just to make the sound ... more really orchestrated without adding extra people in. We didn’t have a keyboard player ... so it'd be great if it would just fill up the sound when the guitar player's soloing." (Tom, 06:34)
• Studio vs. Live Philosophy: Tom explains the different gear and approaches for live vs. studio settings.
  • "Live, I only use the 12-string ... In the studio, I use whatever works for the song ... You don’t need to take up all the space on a record." (Tom, 11:59)

3. Breakthrough Abroad: Japan Before the U.S.

• Early Overseas Fame: Cheap Trick's first major following erupted in Japan, particularly after their second album, In Color, aided by touring with Kiss.
  • "In Color struck a chord with the Japanese and we had a bunch of hit singles off that second album, which we had no success [with] anywhere else. None." (Tom, 07:33)
• Budokan Recording and Accidental Hits:
  • "We didn’t even have 'I Want You To Want Me' in the set list in Japan. The promoter freaked, so we played it ... That turned out to be our biggest hit. What do we know?" (Tom, 09:39)

4. Keeping Performances Fresh

• "It's not that it's fresh every time. As long as it seems like it's fresh, that's what counts." (Tom, 09:57)

5. Musical Influences and Heroes

• Tom started as a rhythm guitar player, referencing The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, The Who and others as early influences.
• On bass influences:
  • "Jack Casady with the Airplane ... Ronnie Wood was one of my all-time favorites with the Jeff Beck Group ... His bass playing is terrific. It's taken from a guitar player's point of view, which is where I came from." (Tom, 13:24)

6. Life on the Road & Live Venues

• Favorite Venues: Tom prefers theaters for their power and intimacy, expressing dislike for large outdoor arenas.
  • "The worst venues are outdoor, the big arenas ... The power you get in a club or theater is no comparison." (Tom, 12:52)
• Worcester & Boston Anecdotes: Humorous exchange about the challenge of getting to Worcester and the city's underdog spirit.

7. Songwriting & Studio Process for New Album (All Washed Up)

• Recording mostly in Nashville with some vocals in LA.
• "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." (Tom, 17:18)
• Song Collaboration:
  • "'12 Gates' was a track I had come up with, but I didn't have any vocal idea ... Robin immediately just jumped on like, 'Oh, I love that, got some great ideas.'" (Tom, 17:54)

8. Navigating the Modern Industry

• Tom is blithely unconcerned with streaming or marketing trends.
  • "Anything that we've actually planned never worked out so just let the chips fall where they may." (Tom, 23:33)
• Regional Success in the U.S.: First broke out in Buffalo, NY and Los Angeles, not their Midwest home base.

9. Playlist Surprises & Musical Discoveries

• Tom likes discovering new music via Instagram and NPR, dislikes mainstream radio repetition.
  • "I like stuff that’s got a good sense of humor ... I don’t listen to regular radio ... the joke is if it’s not played on NPR, I don’t hear it." (Tom, 26:07)

10. Cultural Moments and the Beatles’ Influence

• Recalls the seismic cultural impact of seeing The Beatles on TV and how it reshaped American youth.
  • "It’s hard to even describe it. The whole society changed ... it was this battle against kind of the establishment." (Tom, 30:35)

11. Live Shows: Then & Now

• Describes the evolution to multi-generational audiences and a sense of family at shows.
  • "It seems like a bit of a family reunion ... Now it's to the point where we've got people bringing their kids ... the young people are singing along with deep cuts now." (Tom, 32:31)

12. Cheap Trick’s 'Hit' Legacy

• Only a few major hits: "The Flame," "I Want You to Want Me", "Don't Be Cruel", "Ain't That a Shame"—most of their set and catalog are beloved "deep cuts."
  • "People think, oh, 'Dream Police' ... Surrender ... those were deeper tracks ... They're all deep cuts." (Tom, 34:00)

13. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Thoughts

• Tom is modest about the Hall and skeptical of its criteria.
  • "Why should we be in there instead of somebody else? I have no idea ... We didn’t think about it ... But it’s the kind of thing where ... we got in. It didn't really hit us until we actually got there." (Tom, 35:56)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Risk and Luck: "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." (Tom, 10:11)
• On Live Performance Philosophy: "All subtlety is gone [live]. We're not out there making the record sound exactly like the records ... What matters is the recorded version." (Tom, 11:59)
• On Songwriting Doubt: "Usually the person that's idea it is is not sure ... You're too close to it ... That's for the rest of us to decide." (Tom, 17:54)
• On the Music Industry: "To me, most music already was AI. It all sounds like elevator music to me anyway, so what's the damn difference?" (Tom, 37:01)
• On All Washed Up: "The new Cheap Trick music is unbeatable." (Tom, 15:08)
• On Friend & Family Support: "Friends and family liking your stuff is way more important than them hating it and you're embarrassed. ... We just know what we might want to hear." (Tom, 37:01)
• On Being in Boston: "We're always in Boston, for God's sake ... every time I'm there I'm sending him a picture of the expressway ... Like hey, I'm back in Boston." (Tom, 38:34)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Event | |-----------|-------------| | 05:28 | Cheap Trick's early days and Rockford origins | | 06:34 | Tom discusses the motivation behind the 12-string bass | | 07:33 | Breakthrough in Japan, the Budokan story, and "I Want You to Want Me" | | 10:11 | On their bar band work ethic and early struggles | | 11:59 | Live vs. studio approach; 12-string vs. 4-string bass | | 12:52 | Best and worst venues for live music | | 17:18 | Cheap Trick's songwriting and recording process | | 23:33 | Navigating changes in the music industry | | 26:07 | Tom’s current music tastes and how he finds new artists | | 30:35 | Tom recounts the impact of seeing The Beatles on TV | | 32:31 | How Cheap Trick's audiences have evolved over time | | 35:56 | Thoughts on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |

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Tone & Final Thoughts

Tom Petersson is dryly funny, self-effacing, and full of perspective earned from decades on the road and in the studio. He offers insight into band chemistry, the randomness of success, and the joy of musical discovery, always with an undercurrent of “just do what you love, the rest will sort itself out.”

This episode is essential listening for Cheap Trick fans, musicians, and anyone who appreciates the grit, luck, and accidental brilliance behind rock and roll longevity.

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Transcript

[Tom Peterson]

Taking a Walk. 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]

This is Buzz Knight and welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast. Appreciate you checking us out now. You know that feeling when a bass line hits you so hard that it rattles your chest? The low end rumble that makes you turn up the volume instead of turning it down from for 50 years, one guy has been doing that with 12 strings instead of four. Tom Peterson doesn't just play bass for Cheap Trick. He basically reinvented what a bass guitar could sound like in a rock band. From playing bars in Rockford, Illinois to selling out Budokan from MTV to the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, Tom has seen it all. And the band Cheap Trick is the soundtrack to our life. It's here's the thing. Cheap Trick still making new music. The album called All Washed Up. A tour certainly to support it. The single the Rift that Won't Quit Tom Peterson, next on the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Buzz Knight]

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, Tom, 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 don't know.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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

[Tom Peterson]

All right, the vise is broken.

[Buzz Knight]

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

[Tom Peterson]

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

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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. We 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 players soloing.

[Buzz Knight]

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 kids 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. Our manager said, don't worry about it. No one's ever gonna hear about this record. Okay, that's wild. So much for the master plan, right? 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 do it. 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

That's incredible. And now when you think about it, playing it thousands of times, how does it feel, you know, keeping it fresh every time you play it?

[Tom Peterson]

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?

[Buzz Knight]

Amen.

[Tom Peterson]

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

[Buzz Knight]

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, at 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 work, 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 of 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. But 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?

[Buzz Knight]

No, definitely not.

[Tom Peterson]

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

[Buzz Knight]

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 show capital of Norma Jean. Oh, okay, so I'll pick Norma. Perfect.

[Buzz Knight]

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 record 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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. It's basically an orchestrated sound.

[Buzz Knight]

Finish this sentence. The new Cheap Trick music is.

[Tom Peterson]

The new Cheap Trick music is unbeatable.

[Buzz Knight]

Amen. Yes.

[Tom Peterson]

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

[Buzz Knight]

Yes.

[Tom Peterson]

If you don't, too bad.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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 fest a long drive from here. Always has been. Yeah. Especially in the back of a 60s Bonneville pulling a U Haul trailer. That's a long drive. It's a long drive, yeah.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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

[Tom Peterson]

The underdog, sort of like Philadelphia.

[Buzz Knight]

A little bit of like that. Yeah. 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.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah, well, at least maybe I'm going.

[Tom Peterson]

To have to learn how to pounce it and spell it.

[Buzz Knight]

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 and.

[Buzz Knight]

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. Amen.

[Tom Peterson]

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

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

This episode of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. Travel is one of the most precious things in my life and the memories of each of the experiences live on forever. Chase Sapphire Reserve allows me to travel with ease with a $300 travel credit and access to a curated collection of hotels through the edit. So no matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover more with Chase sapphire [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

[Tom Peterson]

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[Tom Peterson]

Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Buzz Knight]

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, that change? Do you even think about that change? Or is it just full steam ahead? Cheap trick. We're here, man.

[Tom Peterson]

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

[Buzz Knight]

I have a feeling when I think back at the way everything came together, you know, 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. Your core first in the U.S. no.

[Tom Peterson]

The first place that we were really popular because in those days it. 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 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. 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 we get lucky in Japan. Who knew? You know, we had no idea. We still don't.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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

[Tom Peterson]

Probably. You mean like Viagra Boys or something like that? Those guys pretty hard. Not, you know, I like stuff that's got a good sense of humor. 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 US 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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 kind of stations out of Little Rock, Arkansas, 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. 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, it was more up with people and Pat Boone or whatever. You know, you just. This kind of middle of the road, namby 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 you Led Zeppelin say then. That was. To me, Led Zeppelin is one of the newer groups that tells how far back that goes. They weren't until a bit later. But even that stuff wasn't played on the normal radio. Those weren't hits.

[Buzz Knight]

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 Par Show. He used to watch Jack Par. Now, 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're. They've got hair like girls. And it sense the pandemonium. Like, what the hell is this? Wow. This is. Wow, 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 a fat 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

Pretty, pretty close. You're going to be out a long time at a lot of places seeing people. Tell me, tell me what 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 in 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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 doing, 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. I was like, yeah, Surrender. No, those were deeper tracks. So almost all of our 21 records, except where 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. 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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 aspire 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 Football or, 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.

[Buzz Knight]

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. But people are gonna love it. Like, yeah, okay. Yeah. I always like that. Oh, they're. 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. Well, that sold 10 million copies. Yeah, but it's. 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, you know, if you like it, there you are, you know.

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

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, it's 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 was a good friend and he lived in Nashville. It's where I met him. And he, 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?

[Buzz Knight]

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.

[Buzz Knight]

Thanks. Bye.

[Tom Peterson]

I'm off to Amoeba. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast and wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buzz Knight]

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[Tom Peterson]

Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends.

[Buzz Knight]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Tom Peterson]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit chant. Echo drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah. It calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there.

[Buzz Knight]

Mmm.

[Tom Peterson]

Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. You know what a girl's best friend is? Not diamonds. Her lawyers. From executive producer Ryan Murphy comes a fiery new legal drama.

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Tom Peterson]

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[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

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