Jim Peterik / Cheap Trick
latto
today which talks about Jim and his concert this upcoming Saturday which
previews his new material, one song which is a collaboration with Cheap
Trick. Of note in the article is that it looks like some members of the
band did back him up on the track, and, that the concert will be webcast
at www.liveonthenet.com. It also lists various guest artists that will
attend but there is no mention of CT. If Rick and Bun are in town next
weekend, Rockford to St. Charles is an easy commute! I will be going on
Saturday and will post if there is any additional CT info.
- Craig Latto
QUIET GIANT
TOP-ACHIEVING BUT LITTLE KNOWN
PETERIK OUT TO SHOW HE'S A SURVIVOR
By Dan Kening
Tribune Staff Writer
January 9, 2000
Jim Peterik may be the most successful Chicago rock
musician and songwriter you've never heard of. But you
almost certainly know his music.
He was the "friendly stranger in the black sedan" on
"Vehicle," the 1970 hit for his group the Ides of March.
He co-wrote the Grammy-winning "Eye of the Tiger,"
the theme song from Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky III"
and a hit for Peterik's later group Survivor, as was
"Burning Heart" from "Rocky IV."
All told, Peterik has written or co-written 10 Top 10
hits, including three that reached No. 1, and has worked
with such artists as Brian Wilson, Cheap Trick, 38
Special and the Doobie Brothers.
So why isn't he as well known in his hometown as, say,
the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, R&B singer R.
Kelly or Styx's Dennis DeYoung?
"That's part and parcel of being someone who doesn't
go out of his way to seek publicity for himself," says
DeYoung, who has known Peterik since their struggling
days in the '60s. "He's not interested in the trappings of
rock stardom and the kinds of things that get you
noticed by the press."
With his current project, though, the Berwyn native is
taking a decided step into the spotlight. On Saturday,
Peterik will be performing at the Norris Theatre in St.
Charles with many of the artists featured on his album
"Jim Peterik and World Stage," slated for release next
month. Joining Peterik will be Kevin Cronin from REO
Speedwagon, Don Barnes from 38 Special, Henry Paul
from Blackhawk, local rocker Cathy Richardson (who
recently starred in "Love, Janis") and Kelly Keagy from
Night Ranger.
The concert will be hosted by WCKG-FM's Steve
Dahl; recorded, taped for a possible PBS TV special
and webcast live on www.liveonthenet.com.
Looking every inch the rock star in his black leather
pants and yellow-tinted glasses, Peterik, 49, greets a
visitor at the spacious southwest suburban home he
shares with his wife of 27 years, Karen, and their son,
Colin. The house includes a state-of-the-art recording
studio and is filled with his collection of more than 120
vintage guitars. The unspoken message seems to be that
-- household name or not -- rock 'n' roll has been very
good to Jim Peterik.
Peterik says the idea for "World Stage" began after he
left Survivor in 1996 and reformed the Ides of March
with the original members.
"Even though I was working with the Ides, I wanted to
keep working with some of the friends I had been
working with for the last 20 years, especially those who
happen to be lead singers," he says. "For various
reasons, I didn't get to sing much in Survivor, so this
was
a chance to call up some of my good friends and sing
duets with them."
The album, which was recorded over a period of two
years at his home studio, will be released on Peterik's
newly formed World Stage International label. Other
musical guests include DeYoung, Cheap Trick, Lynyrd
Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant and bluesman Buddy Guy,
who duets with Peterik on a funky remake of "Vehicle"
featuring the Ides of March horn section.
"This was such a fun album to make, and hopefully that
comes across in the music," he says. "If it sells 50,
50,000 or 500,000 copies, that's great. To me it's
already a success because I did what I set out to do."
Although most of the songs on the album are new, it also
includes a remake of "Eye of the Tiger" with Kevin Max
of the Christian rock group DC Talk. Peterik admits the
song, which he wrote with his Survivor writing partner
Frankie Sullivan, is his benchmark.
"I don't think I'll ever write a song that meant so much
to
so many people," he says of the 1982 hit. "But that
doesn't mean I won't keep trying. It's a song that took us
about an hour to write. That was the story of Frankie
and me scrapping to make it with this band from
Chicago against all odds and finally breaking through.
We had both lived that song, which is maybe why it was
so easy to write."
More recently, Peterik worked with Beach Boys legend
Brian Wilson on his 1998 "comeback" album,
"Imagination." He co-wrote the title song as well as
"Dream Angel," and was part of Wilson's band for the
taping of a VH-1/PBS special and several concert
dates. He has also been commuting regularly to
Nashville, where he has been collaborating with such top
country songwriters as Skip Ewing, Craig Wiseman and
Bob DiPiero.
Peterik is something of a mentor for new local talent. He
co-produced Richardson's first album, and his newest
discovery, 17-year-old St. Charles singer-songwriter
Leslie Hunt, will be opening the Saturday concert.
"Jim is great to work with because he's always in
creative mode," says Richardson, who first met Peterik
as a teen, when Peterik used to fill up at her father's
gas
station. "We'll be driving down the road and he'll
suddenly pull out his tape recorder and sing something
into it, and I'll think, `Is this guy for real?' He just
never
stops writing songs."
Many of Peterik's contemporaries seem content to sit at
home and count their royalty checks rather than work as
hard as he does. So what continues to drive him to write
the next "Eye of the Tiger" or "Vehicle"?
"It's not the money or the fame," he says. "I know this
sounds corny, but we're all put here for a purpose. And
if you're not doing what you're put here to do to the best
of your ability, you're slacking. I was given a gift for
music. I've never read a note of music in my life, but
I'll
be asleep and hear new songs. You can either squander
that gift or try to make the most of it. And I'm still
trying
to make the most of that gift."
Bunezuela
Monster cd... great tune. Surprised it never hit.
Peterik sighting... I forget... early 80's? On the day Eye of the Tiger hit
#1 on the charts, I happened to be walking through JC Penney at Lakehurst
Mall and there was Jim Peterik. Nobody noticed him... he's not that
notice-able. Now there's an inspiration to song writers everywhere: the
day your song from a Sly Stone movie hits number one, celebrate with a spree
at JC Penney in Waukegan, IL. (As we say, Jacques San Pen-nay!)
--
Woke Up With A Newsgroup
Flog
"Bunezuela" <bune...@pete.comita> wrote in message
news:T78e4.1927$oW3....@newsin1.ispchannel.com...
> Peterik also helped co-write You're All I Wanna Do from the Woke Up With A
> Monster cd... great tune.
>
>
You could say that about two dozen other cheap trick songs.
--
Randy
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Cheap Trick - Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame - Class of 2000+2!
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