On this day in music history: February 2, 1979 - “Cheap Trick At Budokan”, the fourth album by Cheap Trick is released. Produced by Cheap Trick, it is record at the Nippon Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Japan on April 28 and 30, 1978. Though critical favorites from the start, Cheap Trick experience only meager album sales in the US. However, at the same time they develop an enthusiastic following in Japan. They’re instantly attracted to the quartet’s unique blend of hard rock and power pop. Led by charismatic lead vocalist Robin Zander and guitarist Rick Nielsen, with bassist Tom Peterssen and drummer Bun E. Carlos, laying down a solid foundation. In April of 1978, Cheap Trick are booked to tour the country in support of their third album. When they arrive, the band are received rapturously by the Japanese. When they land at the airport, the band are greeted by more than 5,000 fans, reacting to them with a “Beatlemania” like frenzy. While on the tour, they record their shows at the Nippon Budokan Arena. The concerts are not only recorded for a live album for the Japanese market, they’re also filmed for TV broadcast in that country. The performances perfectly capture the band’s electric stage presence and energy. Issued in Japan initially in October of that year, “Cheap Trick At Budokan” becomes another smash overseas, though their American label Epic Records do not release it commercially. Instead, they test the waters with a promotional only LP titled “From Tokyo To You”. Epic is caught off guard by the response, when it begins receiving heavy requests and airplay. The demand prompts some American record stores to sell the import LP, moving over 30,000 copies in short order. CBS Records then quickly sets a US release. Led by the single “I Want You To Want Me” (#7 Pop), “Budokan” becomes an instant sensation stateside, turning Gold in only six weeks, then Platinum two months after that. It spins off a second single with a cover of the Fats Domino classic “Ain’t That A Shame” (#35 Pop). It spins off a sequel album in 1994 titled “Budokan II”, featuring previously unreleased tracks from the original concerts, and the follow up tour in 1979. Regarded as one of the great live albums of all time, the album is remastered and reissued in 1998 in expanded form as “Cheap Trick at Budokan: The Complete Concert”. For its thirtieth anniversary, the original album is remastered and released as the two CD + DVD set in 2008. It includes the full sets from both 1978 concerts, a poster, and a DVD with the full televised concert. Out of print on vinyl for years, it is most recently remastered and reissued in 2010 by Music On Vinyl. It is also reissued part of the limited edition vinyl box set “Cheap Trick – The Classic Albums 1977 - 1979”, on Black Friday Record Store Day in November of 2013. “Cheap Trick At Budokan” peaks at number four on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 3x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
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