Chicago (The Rock Band)

You can read Seraphine's take on it in his autobiography "Street Player: My Chicago Story". Prevailing tale is direction band went in the '80s (once Bill Champlin joined) and producer/record label demanded moving into the "power ballad" mode of pop music then... good live drummer rendered redundant.

Big fan of that band (at least in its first few incarnations). Will agree-- the more I listen to the early stuff, the more I appreciate the drumming. That whole original band was talented. Tough to compensate for losses of Kath and Cetera, though.

The band changed forever when Terry Kath died, and not in a good way.

This is my opinion only, but Peter Cetera is more of a complimentary singer, prone to sappy saccharine lyrics.

The double Chicago Transit Authority album is considered classic, but in my opinion is still vastly underrated.

amfsds wrote:

This is my opinion only, but Peter Cetera is more of a complimentary singer, prone to sappy saccharine lyrics.

An opinion shared by many others. To add to my opinion, Cetera's tenor was another lead vocal and he was, to many, the face of a largely faceless band. Once he left, the group had no distinctive-sounding lead vocalist. Not to mention his musical contributions with his bass playing....

(And this is from someone who's favorite member is Robert Lamm!)

Music Therapist wrote:

Also, I remember how coldly many band members talked about Terry Kath after he accidentally shot himself in 1978.

Wasn't he playing Russian Roulette? That's hardly accidental.

I often view Chicago as a personification of life. As like a teenaged individual they were young, energetic, and seeking to change the world. Tragedy strikes and a reflection on life fosters a more mellow person. Then there is a divorce of sorts and the family unit changes. Life continues on, but at a mundane same-old stuff everyday middle aged pace. In the end another reflection occurs but this time it is just remembrances what once was.

Jutee wrote:

Wasn't he playing Russian Roulette? That's hardly accidental.

This is the story which came out in 1978. It has never changed: It was at a party. Terry Kath pulled the clip out of a gun he was playing with and showed those around him it was empty. He put the clip back in, put it to his head, said, "It's not loaded, see?" and pulled the trigger.

Somehow there was one bullet in there. It was a party, and there was a lot of alcohol and drugs involved. It was in front of band mates, wives, and children. It was awful.

It was ruled accidental.

Thank you Really Knows. I also appreciated your comment that Cetera was "the face of a largely faceless band." Yes, exactly.

Yep, he sang the shameless ballads and went for the money (I would have too). Too bad Chicago didn't let him stay.

Not sure who was playing it on the record, but when I saw Chicago in the early 80's, Cetera played the 12-string guitar lead on If You Leave Me Now. Flawless.

Then he got hit in the head with a thrown beer can from the crowd, and he flew into a tirade of cuss words toward the thrower. Then he slipped back into the song with the band, "ooooh ooohhh baby, no, if you please don't go . . ."

Good show. Saw them on, I think it was the 4th of July (yes, they sang Saturday in the Park), Pine Knob Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

amfsds wrote:

The band changed forever when Terry Kath died, and not in a good way.

This is my opinion only, but Peter Cetera is more of a complimentary singer, prone to sappy saccharine lyrics.

The double Chicago Transit Authority album is considered classic, but in my opinion is still vastly underrated.

I thought Chicago fantastic through Chicago V and then a bit more sporadic but still solid until Terry Kath's death.

David Foster is the one who really sent them down the power ballad road.

Holy Crap! What year in the early eighties?!? I saw them at Pine Knob, too!

I'm not sure which year it was when Peter Cetera got hit with the beer can, maybe 1981 or 82?

I also could not stand David Foster. David Foster takes every act and makes it about David Foster. He's got talent, as a producer and as a player and composer, but his ego is gigantic and ruins most of the stuff he does, at least for me.

I like the old Chicago, and my wife prefers the Chicago from the mid-1980's on.

Drums was my first instrument, and once upon a time I knew every note of every song that Danny Seraphine played. He was a big influence on me, especially the song "Jenny" (Chicago 5 album?).

I still do not understand why he would be dismissed. What was the advantage of that to the rest of the band?

Seraphine was a very good drummer, but after Kath died, he kind of just didn't matter anymore. With Kath went the whole rock-n'-roll side of Chicago which was replaced with the sappy stuff in the late 70s/early 80s. Their sappy stuff isn't all bad, but it doesn't compare to what they did when the seven of them were together.

I've seen Chicago twice, both times within the past year. I appreciate them live now because I'm only 20, but I know their shows back from their beginnings through the mid 70s had to be on another level. My favorite song of theirs is Feelin' Stronger Every day, and I die a little inside when I hear them perform (what's left of) it with the current line-up.