Cheap Trick To Open New Music Venue On Old 'Record Row'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The classic 1970s band Cheap Trick has a new project in the works in Chicago.
As WBBM Newsradio's Felicia Middlebrooks reports, the Chicago-Sun Times says the band, which was formed in Rockford in 1973, is announcing plans for a new museum and music venue on the South Michigan Avenue district once known as Record Row.
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The Sun-Times reports the venue, called Cheap Trick Chicago, will include a restaurant, a performance space, a space for rooftop and outdoor events, and a radio station, as well as what band member David Frey calls a "unique musical instrument museum."
This past July, a stage collapsed while the band was playing a concert in Ottawa, Canada, amidst high winds and a funnel cloud. Frey tells the newspaper Cheap Trick will not play on temporary stages anymore, and this is a good time for a permanent venue.
The musical instruments on display will include guitars from Rick Nielsen's vast collection, and drums belonging to Bun E. Carlos, which include parade drums from the 19th century, Frey told the newspaper.
Cheap Trick has not determined what will be done with the radio station – it may just be online, or it may be a satellite station, Frey told the Sun-Times.
It will be located in an old Buick dealership at 2245 S. Michigan Ave., the Sun-Times reports.
Landmark America, which has completed several other entertainment developments, is working on the development, the newspaper reports.
The announcement follows official city plans to transform a three-block stretch of Michigan Avenue between Cermak Road and the Stevenson Expressway into a new "Music Row," as urged by Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd). The designation means no new residential developments can be built on the strip.
Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) said the designation is needed on the Near South Side as a bridge between the South Loop, Bronzeville, Chinatown and McCormick Place, the Sun-Times reported in an earlier article. He hopes that over the next decade, nightclubs, restaurants and hotels will be drawn to the area, the newspaper reported.
The area was once known as Motor Row, because of the stretch of auto showrooms constructed on the strip in the early 20th century. The showrooms were designed by famed architects, including Holabird and Roche, Albert Kahn, and Philip Maher, the City of Chicago points out.
At one time, more than 116 makes of cars were sold on Motor Row, from familiar brands such as Buick, Cadillac and Fiat to long-gone makes such as Hudson, Locomobile and Pierce-Arrow, the city says. The Chicago Defender, the storied African-American daily newspaper, was also once headquartered on Motor Row.
Today, only one showroom, Joyce Ford at 2401 S. Michigan Ave., remains on Motor Row. Most of the others have been converted into lofts or other uses.
But the city's musical heritage is also strongly associated with the area, hence the onetime Record Row name. The old Chess Studios building is located just to the north of what would be designated Music Row, at 2120 S. Michigan Ave.
Chess Records operated from the building from 1956 to 1965, and legendary Chicago blues artists Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Willie Dixon were among those who recorded there. Chuck Berry also helped create rock and roll music at Chess Studios, and the Rolling Stones immortalized the studio's address with their instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue," recorded at the studio.
Located slightly farther north at 1449 S. Michigan Ave. is the now-vacant building that once housed Vee-Jay and Brunswick Records.
Cheap Trick is composed of Nielsen, Carlos, lead vocalist Robin Zaner, and bassist Tom Petersson.
The group is best known for 1970s power-pop hits such as "Surrender" and "I Want You to Want Me," but also wrote and performed the theme song to "The Colbert Report," and performed the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album in its entirety with an orchestra in an acclaimed Las Vegas show in 2009.
Nielsen is also the owner of the Piece Brewery and Pizzeria, at 1927 W. North Ave. in the Wicker Park neighborhood, which also has a location in Rockford.
