Chicago
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| As anyone who knew me as a kid I LOVE this band! There is no band or musical artist that thrilled and seduced me as much as a youngster than Chicago. My first exposure to Chicago was when my father bought a brand new '73 Osmobile Toronado which came with a complimentary 8-track tape. One of the songs on the tape (it was a mix of several artists) was "Make Me Smile," arguably there most notable early hit. I was mesmerized from my first listen. Already a big fan of a variety of music at the ripe old age of 8 years old, I had never heard anything like "Make Me Smile." Great rockin' guitar, bluesy vocals, and several sections of soaring horns made for a really unique sound! I've been a Chicago fan ever since. Over the next 8 years or so I purchased every Chicago album (13 total by then), covered my bedroom walls with Chicago posters, and memorized most every chorus, verse, and riff Chicago had ever recorded. I also had to deal with the surreal experience of being notified of the death of Chicago's guitarist and heart/soul Terry Kath in 1977. Terry's death changed Chicago and it's sound forever, and truth be told, I've never been able to fully accept just how tragic his untimely death was. Besides the beautiful blending of rock and jazz via it's energetic horn section, there is nothing that Chicago did better than produce grinding, bluesy, soulful ROCK music when Terry's guitar and vocals were being featured. For those who think of Chicago as the soft-rock/romantic ballad band, it's important for me to insist that "MY" Chicago (prior to Terry's death), despite it's similar personnel lineup, has very little in terms of sound with the sappy love-song Chicago so many associate with the vocals of Peter Cetera and there hits from the early '80s. By the time Chicago had entered the love ballad era of their career I had already been a hard core fan for several years, so despite not being thrilled at the direction they were taking post-Kath I continued to buy their albums and hope for an eventual return to a grittier rock and horn based form. Unfortunately, that was never to be realized. Instead, Peter Cetera ended up permanently leaving the band in the mid-80's in order to pursue a solo career that the sappy, love song machine he had created had now made possible. Danny Seraphine, Chicago's life-long drummer also quite the band during this time. Although Chicago still was now left with 4 or it's original 7 members, the band was now merely a faint shadow of it's former self. Just a couple of years before Chicago's ultimate decent into superficial pop I was able to see my childhood musical idols in concert. It was the summer of 1983. Chicago played what was then called 'Symphony Hall' (now 'Abravanel Hall') and I was able to secure a center seat on the second row. I took my then girlfriend Alison Tucker with me and had an almost surreal experience while watching these guys who I had listened to so intensely for so many years play an entire concert mere feet in front of me. What a thrill! But the concert itself was not the only highlight that night. Even more thrilling was finding a way to meet the band after the show. Once the show was over I was determined to at least give myself a chance of meeting (or seeing up close) some of the band members as they left the venue. Alison and I waited near the backstage doors and driveways well after the show had ended. I suspected that may chance of actually seeing any of the guys was terribly small. I also figured that even if I did sneak a peak of the band members leaving the building it would be brief and from a distance. You can only imagine then my astonishment when the band members emerged from one of the back doors, carrying their own garment bags and small suitcases and approached a couple of modest looking rental cars right next to where we were standing! No one else was around and I felt I had been struck partially dumb and mute. Because of this state of mind (and the fact that it happened almost 30 years ago!) I can't really say exactly what was said, but the guys were surprisingly relaxed and casual with us. We spoke for several minutes as they gathered up their things and loaded their cars. There were a couple of guys who weren't with them in the parking lot, including James Pankow and Lee Loughnane. But the guys we met were super cool and relaxed. They seemed happy doing their thing, something they had been very successful at doing for a long time by then. It was all quite a thrill for me and Alison at the time. This was just before they were to break big AGAIN with the following year's release "Chicago XXXVI," the album that would set their ballad, love song laden, Pete Cetera driven "'80s" sound. Yeeeachhh! I lost interest in Chicago's output quickly at this point, but always holding a special place in my heart for them and the influence they had on me during the '70s. |