Riding the wave of 70’s live albums, At Budokan is the album that broke Cheap Trick to stardom in the US and became their best-selling album moving more than 3 million copies.1
Originally intended only for the Japanese market, At Budokan became a grassroots hit by selling 75,000 import copies in the US, making it the best selling import album at the time.2
I remember the excitement of hearing “I Want You to Want Me” for the first time. And that excitement remains listening today as well as the infections “Surrender”, an all-time power pop single in my view.
This album remains an exciting example of live music from that era and it never gets old.
My Rating:
“Possibly the best hard rock band in the USA.”3
“Any band that's ever tried to weld a Beatlesque melody to a power chord owes a debt to Cheap Trick's classic live album.”4
“At Budokan, is not just one of rock's greatest live albums, but also one of its most triumphant underdog tales, an exemplar of pre-internet viral phenomena…transform(ing) these bar-circuit workhorses into multi-platinum superstars.”5
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Jim Harrington wrote:
“…Cheap Trick provided a textbook in power-pop, one that continues to influence noise-pop bands today.”6
Charts
• Peak on Billboard album chart: #47
• Singles on Billboard charts: “I Want You to Want Me” #7; “Ain’t That A Shame” #358
• RIAA certification: 3x Platinum | November 24, 1986; Certified Units: 3 Million; Platinum | May 22, 1979; Gold | March 13, 19799
Released in the US in February of 1979. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: Do Ya Think I’m Sexy by Rod Stewart10
• Number one album: Briefcase Full of Blues (Soundtrack) by Blues Brothers11
• Number one movie: Superman by Richard Donner12
• Most watched TV program: Mork & Mindy13
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Chesapeake by James A. Michener14
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford15
Other albums released that month
• Inflammable Material by Stiff Little Fingers
• Spirits Having Flown by Bee Gees
• Frenzy by Split Enz
• George Harrison by George Harrison
• Live (X Cert) by The Stranglers
• Scared to Dance by The Skids
• The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle by Sex Pistols
• Rickie Lee Jones by Rickie Lee Jones
• Feets, Don't Fail Me Now by Herbie Hancock
• Breakfast at Sweethearts by Cold Chisel
• Don't Throw Stones by The Sports
• Enlightened Rogues by The Allman Brothers Band
• The Feeding of the 5000 by Crass
• Force Majeure by Tangerine Dream
• Hard Times for Lovers by Judy Collins
• Under Heaven Over Hell by Streetheart16
Sport
• Jan 1 45th Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma beats #6 Nebraska, 31-24
• Jan 1 45th Sugar Bowl: #2 Alabama beats #1 Penn State, 14-7
• Jan 1 65th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #5 Michigan, 17-10
• Jan 1 John Y. Brown attends his first game as owner of the Boston Celtics NBA franchise after trading the Buffalo Braves to previous Celtics owner, Irving H. Levin
• Jan 2 Australian Open Women's Tennis: unseeded Australian Christine O'Neil wins her first and only Grand Slam event; beats American Betsy Nagelsen 6-3, 7-6
• Jan 3 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Guillermo Vilas of Argentina wins 3rd Grand Slam title; beats Australian John Marks 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
• Jan 7 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Houston Oilers, 34-5
• Jan 7 NFC Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum Dallas Cowboys beat Los Angeles Rams, 28-0
• Jan 9 Bobby Orr's #4 jersey is retired by the Boston Bruins
• Jan 14 Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benitez beats WBC welterweight champion Carlos Palomino of Mexico in a 15-round split decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico; becomes two-division champion at the age of 20
• Jan 21 Super Bowl XIII, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 35-31; MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
• Jan 23 Willie Mays elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
• Jan 27 Islanders ends 23 undefeated games at home streak (15-0-8)
• Feb 1 English international forward Trevor Francis becomes Britain’s first £1 million soccer player when he transfers from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest.
• Feb 3 Minnesota Twins trade Rod Carew to California for 4 players
• Feb 18 21st Daytona 500: Richard Petty wins after race leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison collide with each other on final lap; first 500 mile race broadcast from start to finish.
• Feb 21 2 Iowa girls HS basketball teams play 4 scoreless quarters game was won 4-2 in 4th overtime period
• Feb 22 Billy Martin named manager of Oakland A's17
Notable Births
• Feb 1 Jason Isbell, American singer-songwriter (Drive-By Truckers), born in Green Hill, Alabama
• Feb 3 US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
• Feb 3 US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
• Feb 4 Andrei Arlovski, Russian mixed martial artist
• Feb 7 Cerina Vincent, American actress (Stuck In The Middle), and author (Hot Chick books), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Feb 9 Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), born in Beijing, China
• Feb 11 Brandy Norwood, American R&B singer-songwriter ("The Boy Is Mine"; "Have You Ever") and stage and film actress ("Moesha"), born in McComb, Mississippi
• Feb 13 Mena Suvari, American actress (“American Beauty”, “American Pie”, born in Newport, Rhode Island
• Feb 17 Bear McCreary, American composer for film, television (Outlander; The Walking Dead: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and video games, born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Feb 21 Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress (Sarah Reeves-Party of Five), born in Waco, Texas
• Feb 21 Jordan Peele, American actor, comedian and director (Fargo, Get Out), born in New York City
• Feb 22 Tom Higgenson, American singer-songwriter (Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah"), born in Villa Park, Illinois
• Feb 26 Corinne Bailey Rae, EnglishGrammy Award-winning R&B and neo-soul singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ("Put Your Records On"), born in Leeds, England18
Historical Events
• Feb 1 American publishing heiress Patty Hearst is released from prison for bank robbery
• Feb 1 Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
• Feb 6 Pakistan Supreme Court affirms the Lahore High Court's death sentence against former Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
• Feb 9 Walter Hill's drama film "The Warriors" is released in the United States, sparking gang violence at many theaters and a halt to the film's marketing campaign
• Feb 11 43 million watch "Elvis!" on ABC
• Feb 13 Formation of Guardian Angels crime fighters in New York City
• Feb 13 Washington State's Hood Canal Bridge breaks up in windstorm
• Feb 14 In Kabul, Muslims kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police
• Feb 15 21st Grammy Awards: Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are"; A Taste of Honey win
• Feb 17 China invades Vietnam, marking the start of the Sino-Vietnamese War
• Feb 18 Mini-series "Roots: Next Generations" premieres on ABC TV
• Feb 18 Snow falls in Sahara Desert
• Feb 22 St Lucia gains independence from Britain
• Feb 23 Frank Peterson Jr named 1st black general in Marine Corps
• Feb 26 Last total eclipse of Sun in 20th century for continental US19
Notable Deaths
• Feb 2 Sid Vicious, English musician and bassist (Sex Pistols), dies of a heroin overdose at 21
• Feb 7 Herbert "Peanuts" Holland, American swing jazz trumpeter, dies at 68
• Feb 7 Josef Mengele 'the Angel of Death', German Nazi officer and concentration camp doctor, drowns of the coast of Brazil at 67
• Feb 7 Warren Giles, American Baseball HOF executive (President National League 1951-69; GM Cincinnati Reds 1937–51), dies at 82
• Feb 9 Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-British engineer and physicist (invented holography, Nobel Prize 1971), dies at 79
• Feb 12 Jean Renoir, French film director (Madame Bovary, Nana, Grand Illusion) and actor (Rules of the Game), dies at 84
• Feb 17 Bill Gargan, American actor (The Bells of St. Mary's; You Only Live Once), dies from a heart attack at 73
• Feb 21 Ray Whitley, American country and western singer-songwriter ("Back in the Saddle Again") and actor (Tim Holt films), dies at 77
• Feb 28 Mr Ed, talking horse, dies20
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime version: 115. Live At Budokan by Cheap Trick
This playlist is so delicious I made another tasty one: 115. v2.0 Bonus
Full playlist of videos: You're Welcome 115: Live At Budokan by Cheap Trick
Harrington, Jim; 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, ed by Robert Dimery; p. 440.
Ibid.
Harrington.
Ibid.
Definitely one of my favorites. Budokan was their best selling album for good reason. They are one of, if not the best bands live in any era. At least of the bands I've seen live. And I've seen them numerous times. All I have to say is "Fuckin' Rick Nielsen!"