Today’s Guest: Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist for Cheap Trick.
In a telephone interview before Cheap Trick’s December 4, 1983 concert at the Tampa Jai-Alai, google-eyed lead guitarist Rick Nielsen talked to me about the effect of the band’s grueling schedule on lead singer Robin Zander.
“We’ve been playing almost every night. That’s a different city every day, too,” he said. “During the day, if you’re a singer, it’s best not to talk. We go to hotels, and he goes right to his room, turns ion the shower and gets moisture in the room.
RICK NIELSEN interview excerpt: “I’m stuck with my good looks.”
Zander seemed quite protective of his throat Sunday night, letting Nielsen handle all the patter between songs and taking several breaks for liquids. His occasional stage absence was more than well-covered by Nielsen’s monkeying around.
As usual, Nielsen was the show. He was clad in a black sleeveless Cheap Trick T-shirt with the band’s name printed in white twice on the front and the number 83 on the back and wore a black baseball cap over his crewcut hairstyle.
“I’m stuck with my good looks,” Nielsen said.
Asked if he would cast the same appearance if he were in some other line of work, he answered that he would, “except I would probably have wing-tip shoes. You see me offstage, I’m the same way; ready to party and have a good time.”
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(This interview was part of a concert review by Bob Andelman written for the St. Petersburg Times and published on December 6, 1983.)
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