American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond

They’ve sold more than 20 million albums, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they’re one of Homer Simpson’s favorite bands--but even today, fifty years after they first formed, Cheap Trick remains to many a club band with a cult following. They certainly started out that way, with a carnival-like stage show featuring four perfectly mismatched characters: guitarist Rick Nielsen, in bowtie, sweater, and baseball cap, stood next to blonde dreamboat Robin Zander, while the mysterious, chestnut-haired bassist Tom Peterson held down the bottom end with drummer Bun E. Carlos, never seen without his cigarette or tie.

American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond tells the unlikely story of the band’s path to greatness, from their origins in Rockford, Illinois to their massively successful live album At Budokan to the many, many ups and downs that followed. This is a rollicking tale of artistic genius, rock excess, hilarious misbehavior, chance encounters with music’s biggest names, and international stardom that brought new meaning to the phrase ＂big in Japan.＂ Drawing on exhaustive research and interviews, American Standard gives an intimate look at a truly original band--whether you consider them rock icons or criminally underrated,

Ross Warner has been writing about the three pillars of popular culture (television, music and film) since high school; his work has appeared in such magazines as American Heritage, Cinema Retro, Hittin’ The Note, Heeb, and Glide. His obsession with the Chargers landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. His work on his other major obsession, the Grateful Dead, has been similarly featured in both books and magazines. Drunk on Sunday, his first book, was published in 2020.