Cheap Trick – Found All the Parts (1980) Review | You Can’t Put New Wine in Old Wineskins, But You Can Put Old Songs on Nu Disks
Kronomyth 5.5: Meet the Cheaples.
In 1980, Epic toyed with the idea of the 10-inch record, here dubbed the “Nu Disk” by some marketing hack who’s probably already serving their infernal sentence in hell, strapped to a turntable and endlessly gored by a diamond needle. Gary Glitter (queued up next on that turntable, no doubt), The Clash and Nina Hagen all got the 10-inch treatment by Epic, as did Cheap Trick on this extended play selection of leftovers, Found All the Parts. Epic selected one track from each of the last four years: Such a Good Girl (1976), Take Me I’m Yours (1977), Day Tripper (recorded live in 1978) and Can’t Hold On (from the 1979 tour). “Such a Good Girl” is worth hearing, as it comes closest to capturing the band’s early power pop magic. “Take Me I’m Yours” sounds like Roy Orbison meets Sparks, which is less interesting than you’d think. The live version of “Day Tripper” is the least interesting song on here, so naturally Epic picked it for the single. “Can’t Hold On” is the only time I can recall hearing Cheap Trick try blues-rock; would’ve been a great opportunity for Rick Nielsen to let loose on the guitar, but nope. As leftover EPs go, this is no better or worse than AC/DC’s ’74 Jailbreak, although it’s obviously not a rich field of discovery.
The Product
A1. Day Tripper (live) (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) (3:17)
A2. Can’t Hold On (live) (Rick Nielsen) (5:56)
B1. Such a Good Girl (Rick Nielsen) (3:00)
B2. Take Me I’m Yours (Rick Nielsen/Robin Zander) (4:31)
The Players
Bun E. Carlos (drums), Rick Nielsen (guitars, vocals, piano), Tom Petersson (basses, vocals), Robin Zander (vocals, guitar). Produced by Cheap Trick; recorded by Jack Douglas.
The Plastic
Released on 10-inch EP on June 2, 1980 in the US (Epic, 4E 36453) and Japan (Epic, 16-3P-210). Reached #39 on the US charts.
- Re-issued on EP and cassette EP in 1983 in the US (Epic, PE/PET 38541).
