Clock Strikes Ten

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"Clock Strikes Ten"
Clock Strikes Ten cover.jpg
Single by Cheap Trick
from the album In Color
B-side "So Good to See You"
Released1977
RecordedKendun Recorders
Los Angeles, 1977
Genre Rock
Length2:59
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Rick Nielsen
Producer(s) Tom Werman

"Clock Strikes Ten" is a song released in 1977 by Cheap Trick on their second album, In Color . [1] It was written by Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen. [1] It was released as a single in Japan, where it was a major hit and reached No. 1 on at least one singles chart. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Its success, as well as the success of two follow up singles, "I Want You to Want Me" and "Surrender", paved the way for Cheap Trick's famous concerts at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo in April 1978 that were recorded for the group's most popular album - Cheap Trick at Budokan . [8]

Contents

Lyrics and music

"Clock Strikes Ten" is a fast-paced song that begins with guitar notes struck to sound like Big Ben's chimes [9] [10] (full hour). Robert Lawson described it as "a take on a fun mid-60's rock'n'roll number," praising the "angry authority" with which lead singer Robin Zander sang it. [7] The song has similarities to the 1950s song "Rock Around the Clock". [9] Bruce Meyer of UPI called "Clock Strikes Ten" a "nearly perfect rock construction, using established forms without a hint of cliche." [11] Nielsen has described the theme of the song as "Simple fun and games. People are going out on a Saturday night, going completely nuts, people that live for the weekend, and who doesn't?" [9] Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone said that the song "can only be compared to Little Richard playing 'Rip It Up,' easily his silliest song, on guitar." [10] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times described it as "frenzied," calling it one of the highlights of In Color. [12]

Other versions

"Clock Strikes Ten" was often played as an encore in live shows, and it was the final song played in the encore of the Budokan concerts. [13] The live version was released as the final song on the Cheap Trick at Budokan album. [14] The live version was also released as the B-side of the live version single of "I Want You to Want Me" that was a top 10 hit in 1979. [15] In 1978, Cheap Trick played "Clock Strikes Ten" and "I Want You to Want Me" on the BBC2 television program The Old Grey Whistle Test . [16] "Clock Strikes Ten" has since been released on several other compilation and live albums, including The Greatest Hits , Sex, America, Cheap Trick , The Essential Cheap Trick and Live in Australia.

In 1997, Cheap Trick and Nirvana producer Steve Albini recorded a version of "Clock Strikes Ten" that was never officially released, but which Tom Beaujour of Rolling Stone described as "impossibly heavy." [6] Beaujour proclaimed that in Albini's version one can hear why Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain once stated that ""We sound just like Cheap Trick, only the guitars are louder." [6] It has also been covered by The Electric Ferrets on their album Ferretzilla. [17]

Famous Monsters covered the song on their album "Into the Night!!!"

Related Research Articles

<i>Cheap Trick at Budokan</i> 1978 live album by Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick at Budokan is a live album released by Cheap Trick in 1978 and their best-selling recording. After several years of constant touring but only middling exposure for the band, At Budokan steadily grew off radio play and word-of-mouth to become a high-selling success, kickstarting the band's popularity and becoming acclaimed as one of the greatest live rock albums of all time and a classic of the power pop genre.

I Want You to Want Me 1977 single by Cheap Trick

"I Want You to Want Me" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick. It is originally from their second album In Color, released in September 1977. It was the first single released from that album, but it did not chart in the United States. Nineteen months later, a live version from the band's successful Cheap Trick at Budokan album was released as a single and became one of their biggest hits, peaking at number seven in the US, number two in Canada, and number one in Japan. It has since become Cheap Trick's signature song.

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Auf Wiedersehen (song) 1978 single by Cheap Trick

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"He's a Whore" is a song written by Rick Nielsen that was first released on Cheap Trick's 1977 debut album Cheap Trick. It has also appeared on a number of Cheap Trick compilation albums, including The Essential Cheap Trick. It has also been covered by many artists including Big Black, Neon and Vince Neil. Like many of Cheap Trick's songs, it was played in early midwest concerts starting in 1975.

"High Roller" is a song written by Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, and Tom Petersson that was first released on Cheap Trick's 1978 album Heaven Tonight. It later appeared on a number of Cheap Trick live and compilation albums, and was covered by Scrawl on their 1991 album Bloodsucker.

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Way of the World (Cheap Trick song) 1980 single by Cheap Trick

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Southern Girls 1977 single by Cheap Trick

"Southern Girls" is a song written by Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson that was first released by Cheap Trick on their 1977 album In Color, produced by Tom Werman. It was also released as a single. It has been covered by a number of artists, including Bangs, Everclear and Gilby Clarke.

Stiff Competition 1978 single by Cheap Trick

"Stiff Competition" is a song written by Rick Nielsen that first appeared on Cheap Trick's 1978 album Heaven Tonight. It is famous for the sexual double entendres in the lyrics, and subsequently appeared on live and compilation albums. In the UK, "Stiff Competition" was the B-side to Cheap Trick's second single from Heaven Tonight, "California Man."

References

  1. 1 2 "In Color". allmusic . Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  2. ↑ Hayes, M.; Sharp, K. (1998). Reputation is a Fragile Thing. pp. 48, 61. ISBN   978-0-9662081-0-8.
  3. ↑ McLane, D. (June 14, 1979). "Cheap Trick Finds Heaven". Rolling Stone. p. 50.
  4. ↑ Wright, J. "Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick". Classic Rock Revisited. Archived from the original on 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  5. ↑ "300 Hits in Japan 1965-1984, Vol. 10". Billboard . Archived from the original on June 23, 2013. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  6. 1 2 3 Beaujour, T. (April 4, 2016). "10 Insanely Great Cheap Trick Songs Only Hardcore Fans Know". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  7. 1 2 Lawson, Robert (2017). Still Competition: The Listener's Guide to Cheap Trick. FriesenPress. pp. 24, 26. ISBN   9781525512278.
  8. ↑ "BUDOKAN!(30th Anniversary DVD+3CDs) insert booklet".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. 1 2 3 Hayes, M.; Sharp, K. (1998). Reputation is a Fragile Thing. p. 46. ISBN   978-0-9662081-0-8.
  10. 1 2 Marsh, D. (September 22, 1977). "In Color by Cheap Trick". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2011-09-02.
  11. ↑ Meyer, B. (September 14, 1977). "Cheap Trick: A Great New Band". Beaver County Times . p. 15. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  12. ↑ Hilburn, R. (October 2, 1977). "Pop Music". Los Angeles Times .
  13. ↑ Hayes, M.; Sharp, K. (1998). Reputation is a Fragile Thing. pp. 46, 61. ISBN   978-0-9662081-0-8.
  14. ↑ "Cheap Trick at Budokan". allmusic . Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  15. ↑ "Cheap Trick Billboard singles". allmusic . Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  16. ↑ Hayes, M.; Sharp, K. (1998). Reputation is a Fragile Thing. p. 57. ISBN   978-0-9662081-0-8.
  17. ↑ "Clock Strikes Ten covers". allmusic . Retrieved 2010-12-18.[ permanent dead link ]
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