Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXCVI--Cheap Trick: If You Want My Love

 Could it be? Yes, it is--on time again....

For anybody who wasn't of a certain age (or even born) when MTV began in 1981, it's hard to imagine that unlike its current form (all reality shows all the time), it was once like a pretty damn good radio station.  It was music 24/7, and they really had a pretty nice mix of musical genres (for the most part--it was mostly geared to white folks).  All of which is to say that my introduction to this week's tune (even though I was running a music store and could have played the album in store) came from watching its video on MTV.  Couldn't have begun to tell you anything about the video before I did my half-assed research this week, but the song itself I could never forget....

I wrote about Cheap Trick more than 350 Friday nights ago (Vol. CXXXVI), and other than them releasing three studio albums (one of which was a Christmas record--probably the ultimate proof of an artist's longevity anymore) and the fact that they're still touring regularly, there's nothing else of note to add.  So, I'm going to let that original bio paragraph stand.

Fun Fact:  In 2007, the Illinois State Senate passed a resolution that every April 1st henceforward would be Cheap Trick Day in Illinois.  Didn't get the school kids a day off, but it's still pretty cool if you ask me.

"If You Want My Love" was the first single from their 1982 LP, the rather singularly named, One on One.  The song peaked at #45 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album hit #39 on the Billboard 200.

Bassist Tom Petersson (who, incidentally, had left Cheap Trick to try his hand at a solo career and thus did not play on it) has called "If You Want My Love" "the best Beatle song we ever recorded."  There is a kernel of truth to it--the song is most definitely Beatlesque, and many have noted its similarity to parts of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."  That being said, after several listens this past week the song brought back smile after smile--I'm not sure Robin Zander has ever had a more passionate or heartfelt vocal, and in addition to writing a simple yet incredibly tight song, Rick Nielsen adds a wailing guitar, which echoes Zander's vocals seamlessly.  In the end, if you're going to emulate another band might as well make it the best.  This week's tune is an incredible piece of power pop, and while I'm usually ambivalent about how high up the charts a song goes (a good song is a good song regardless of sales) it absolutely stuns me that this one wasn't a top ten single at the very least.  Sheer brilliance.

Lyric Sheet:  "'Cause lonely is only a place/You don't know what it's like/You can't fight it/It's a hole in my heart, in my heart..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee