Hey, it's Kevin back with another episode of the video blog and kind of a weird episode
today so please indulge me, bear with me or if you want ignore and move on and we'll
be back with maybe something more interesting for you tomorrow but the other day my buddy
Matt in Cleveland who goes by addicted to vinyl on Twitter also has the website addicted
to vinyl dot com a great music oriented of course vinyl oriented website put up a little
Twitter post on Twitter that said how can you leave the flame off a cheap trick compilation
of course the flame was cheap tricks number one hit single in fact I believe there I think
it was their only number one hit single from 1988 me being the smart ass that I am quickly
replied back maybe it's a compilation of good cheap trick songs well that kind of threw
down the gauntlet and then what we're kind of calling here a flame war well you can watch
my tweets on Twitter I'm username Kevin Mason you can't necessarily watch Matt's unless
you're subscribed to it you have to ask him to be his friend but we went back and forth
in a good little spirited way and he said I'm looking forward to your video rebuttal
if you will and then I'll do a post as well on my blog so that's kind of what we're going
to do today kind of a point counterpoint on the merits of the cheap trick song the flame
if you've known me if you've read any or you've seen a couple of blogs previously you'll
know that that cheap trick is probably one of the most influential bands in my life Illinois
natives much like I am I was first introduced to them on a senior high probably a sophomore
year it was sophomore year senior high bus trip to st. Louis when a guy by the name of
Doug Potts bought the first cheap trick out hadn't heard of him before he had an older
brother was into him and he picked it up shortly thereafter I became a fan of course
most of America became fans in nineteen seventy nine when cheap trick released that big huge
live boot a con album and that was that in the dream police album were kind of the the
peaks of cheap tricks career nineteen seventy nine nineteen eighty in fact before the flame
the only top ten single on the pop charts that you could ever had was the famed I want you
to want me for boot a con which went to number seven well I'll be honest with you I'm not
a big fan of the flame I never have been and I know a lot of true he's true in quotes
cheap trick fans fans who've been there for a long time were never fans of the song and
the band had some gripes about it too in nineteen eighty eight their their record label epic
records was basically saying look you haven't had much success lately Tom Peterson left
the band the bass player in nineteen eighty one he left for six years and during that
six-year period cheap trick released some of their most uninspired music not necessarily
because Tom wasn't there or maybe it was but I was like one-on-one next position please
standing on the edge of the doctor did not do well in the charts didn't do well in the
record stores and epic was basically telling cheap trick you better get some outside writers
in write some hit songs or else you're off the label so begrudgingly cheap trick did
that and then proceeded to produce their two biggest chart songs of their career the flame
going to number one and followed up with the old Elvis classic don't be cruel which came
in at number four well that reinvigorated cheap tricks career and their concert sales
and all those kind of things and well I guess maybe even garden them some new fans that's
what Matt was arguing about Matt was saying it saved their career the flame put him back
in the spotlight and it secured their legacy you know what I have no arguments that bottom
line is this you're a fan of cheap trick you're probably not a fan or if you're a true fan
of cheap trick you're not a fan of the flame usually women between the ages of 35 and 45
are fans of the flame that was their first real introduction to the band a nice pretty
little top 40 ballad I don't turn it off when it comes on the radio but it's usually
something I do skip through on my cheap trick albums you know bands like Nirvana and Green
Day Smashing Pumpkins have all been inspired by cheap trick as have many other bands and
cheap tricks still going at it today they're out on tour this summer with Def Leppard
and poison yeah I know Def Leppard is going to be the headline act but I'm not even going
to argue that bottom line is this true cheap trick fans aren't fans of the flame how do
you leave it off a compilation like I said before but putting only the good songs on
there Matt I look forward to your reply and thank you for your indulgence I guess you
could say this is a flame more isn't it another video blog coming up pretty soon I promise
talk to you later you can always follow me on Twitter Kevin Mason all one word check
out Matt's website addicted to vinyl dot com as well as his tweets you gotta ask him to
be a follower and he'll let you because he's got a pretty good following and he's addicted
to vinyl on Twitter see you later
