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Who are Cheap Chick?
Cheap Chick are an indie-rock supergroup born in Los Angeles - the sun-baked Mecca of rock and roll excess.
Cheap Chick are an estrogen-loaded homage to the golden age of Stadium Rock.
Cheap Chick are four foxy women slavishly devoted to 70s-era Cheap Trick.
Cheap Chick bring the sizzling excitement and pure power pop pleasure of Cheap Trick’s 1970s catalog and give it a gender-bending twist.
There is something intriguing about Cheap Chick that places them on the map somewhere far outside the confines of the cover band ghetto. You could file them under the usual classifications - Cheap Trick fans, all-girl group, tribute act. However, you’ll find those simple generalizations don’t factor in the ingredients that make this foursome the tastiest confection playing the concert circuit today.
What makes Cheap Chick such a delectable treat? Well, for starters, try their pedigree. These four women come from fairly successful careers in four completely different genres on the LA music scene. Pam Cheatersson’s (Pamita Neptuna/Pamela Moore) other life before Cheap Chick was consumed with singing and slinging bass for surf and garage vixens, the Neptunas, Chick Nielsen (Robin Beacham) played scorching leads for XOX, Velvet Hammer and the Majenta Jets before laying down the Rick Nielsen licks, Bunni Carlos (Judy Cocuzza) was the big beat basher behind the drum kit for rock viragos, Betty Blowtorch and Robbin’ Zander (Kristi Callan) was the underground pop chanteuse and guitarist behind Wednesday Week.
However varied their backgrounds, there is a force in addition to friendship that unifies the band and that is their love for Cheap Trick. In fact, love doesn’t even begin to describe the influence that the originals have had on these four. Pam started her longtime adoration of the band with pre-teen mooning over Robin and Tom after "In Color" came out. Judy saved her allowance for months to buy a black satin Cheap Trick jacket to wear at her first Cheap Trick concert as a 14-year-old. Robin learned to play guitar as a youngster by playing along to the "(Live) at Budokan" LP and a young Kristi, on the other hand, didn’t just idolize Robin Zander, she wanted to be Robin Zander.
Like the band they imitate, these musicians have a sense of humor. They realize the inherent irony of being a tribute band, and revel in their never-ending quest for tribute band realism. Not only do they dress and act the parts they play and bring an entourage of groupies and hangers-on along with them to every show, they have a faux tribute "manager," Jim Addthemoney, who pays "tribute" to Cheap Trick’s parsimonious former manager, Ken Adamany. They play a loop of a stadium full of screaming fans between songs and have even held real-life press conferences to announce their signing to indie label, Teenacide Records.
Regardless of the trappings of tribute band stardom, it’s Cheap Trick's music that matters. They take the best of the band’s 1970s-era catalog and pump up the estrogen factor, turn-up the sex-appeal and peak out the VU meter. They’ve got the chops as well as the attitude that all tribute bands should have; they nail the songs with force and serve it up with a healthy dose of a true love of power pop and the band that has played a part in their musical formation.
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