This Band Has No Past - by Brian J Kramp (Paperback)

About the Book

Based on extensive original interviews, the detailed story of the beloved American rockers' formative years in the Midwest, and how those rural roads carried Cheap Trick to multiplatinum success.

Book Synopsis

"This band has no past" was the first line of the farcical biography printed on the inner sleeve of Cheap Trick's first album, but the band, of course, did have a past--a past that straddles two very different decades: from the tumult of the sixties to the anticlimax of the seventies, from the British Invasion to the record industry renaissance, with the band's debut album arriving in 1977, the year vinyl sales peaked.

This Band Has No Past tells the story of a bar band from the Midwest--the best and weirdest bar band in the Midwest--and how these four baby boomers, having been lucky enough to avoid the Vietnam draft, doggedly pursued a most unlikely career in rock'n'roll and made it on their own terms. It traces every gnarly limb of the family tree of bands that culminated in Cheap Trick, then details how this unlikely foursome paid their dues--with interest--night after night, slogging it out everywhere from high schools to bars to bowling alleys to fans' back yards, before signing to Epic Records and releasing two brilliant albums six months apart.

Drawing on more than eighty original interviews, This Band Has No Past is packed full of new insights and information that fans of the band will devour. How was the Cheap Trick logo created? How did the checkerboard pattern come to be associated with the band? When did Rick Nielsen start wearing a ballcap 24/7? Who caught their mom and dad rolling on the couch? Read on and find out.

Review Quotes

"Brian Kramp dug deep for the details. After reading his book, my black-and-white memories are now in color. Great work Brian!" - Bun E. Carlos

"Brian Kramp's amazing, forensic investigation into the band's prehistory and early days does for Cheap Trick what Mark Lewisohn did for The Beatles: unravel myths, pin down elusive details, reveal surprising facts, identify relevant characters, and put it all in historical context. I thought I knew the story, but I learned a lot." - Ira Robbins

"Brian has meticulously researched the band's history and reveals fascinating things that even the most ardent Trick fan couldn't know without this colorful and fact-filled chronicle. It's a definitive history of a unique and brilliant group - the most talented, clever, and entertaining band I experienced in my thirty years as an A&R man and producer." - Tom Werman

"Kramp skilfully constructs a gripping linear narrative that reads like a documentary, unearthing a wealth of local, national and international press quotes, review fragments, rare photos, set lists (from bar band days through the first three album/tour cycles), and weird fan mail, shading a vivid backdrop of postwar American history and culture ... Kramp's infectious love of the band is balanced with myth-busting objectivity." - Record Collector

"Kramp digs into their early days with forensic doggedness ... packed with such detail ... overflows with nuggets." - Classic Rock

"Brian J. Kramp's extensive tome on the history of America's most farcical and famous bar band provides the ultimate exposé for those whose fascination with Cheap Trick verges on cult-like devotion. Kramp leaves no stone unturned in his sleuth-like diligence as it applies to tracking the band's origins around the rapid rise of both their personalities and prominence." - Goldmine

"So much information is in this book it will blow your mind. One of the best books about a band I've ever read." - Jim Thatcher, Know Good Music podcast

"Extremely readable oral history ... I couldn't put it down." - Bobby Tanzilo, OnMilwaukee

"Heavily detailed and expertly researched." - Houston Press

"The best researched book in rock history." - Michael Shelley, WFMU

"A very interesting in depth read of the band." - Joe Sundberg, The Grim Reapers/Fuse

"This book is unbelievable." - Ronnie Barnett, The Muffs

"The bottom line on This Band Has No Past is that it's an impressively detailed book that will thrill anyone interested in the formation and earliest years of Cheap Trick." - Psychedelic Baby

"Kramp also covers a lot of the more trivial stuff fans will want to know. What's the true first side of the Cheap Trick LP? What's the origin of that smeary, type-set Cheap Trick logo? Whose parents, exactly, are screwing on the sofa in 'Surrender'?" - Psychobabble

About the Author

Brian J. Kramp grew up in Waukesha and attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison--two cities that played very prominent roles in the history of Cheap Trick. A keen rock fan, Brian has been collecting records for more than thirty years and is the co-host, alongside Ken Mills, of Cheap Talk, a podcast devoted to Cheap Trick, and host of Rock and/or Roll, part of the Pantheon Network.