Kurt Johnson / Tahoe Onstage
Cheap Trick, which played Dec. 19 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, and David Coverdale, an Incline Village resident who used to play in Deep Purple, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, it was announced Dec. 17.
Coverdale will enter the Hall of Fame on April 8 as a member of the influential heavy metal band Deep Purple. He is at least the third Incline Village resident to be so honored, joining Mike Love of the Beach Boys (inducted in 1988) and Booker T. Jones of Booker T. and the M.G.’s (1992).
Cheap Trick broke other news on its website immediately after the 2016 Hall of Fame inductees were announced: It has inked a new recording deal with Taylor Swift’s Big Machine Records label and next year will release its 17th studio album, “Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello,” which will be produced by Julian Raymond.
A quintessential power-pop rock band, Cheap Trick had a number of giant hit songs in the 1970s, including “Surrender,” “I Want You To Want Me” and “Dream Police.” The band is Robin Zander (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar), Tom Petersson (bass guitar), and Daxx Nielsen (drums). Drummer Bun E. Carlos no longer tours.
Nielsen, a consummate showman, plays a five-neck guitar designed by Paul Hamer.
Greg Golden, whose band plays Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, said Nielsen bought a truckload of gear from his Reno store, Bizarre Guitar.
“Back in the ’80s before Lawlor Event Center, he was playing at the Convention Center,” Golden said. “He bought rare amps and a Rickenbacker guitar with a light show on it – that’s the only one of those I’ve owned, and he bought various Fender amps and Les Paul guitars.”
Cheap Trick’s last appearance in the area was Nov. 21, 2014, in Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, where the band will appear again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the venerable South Shore Room. Purchase general admission tickets here: LINK
Deep Purple was formed in England in 1968 and featured guitarist Richie Blackmore.
“Richie Blackmore’s famous for playing Stratocasters and he uses Marshall amps,” Golden said. “The sound he got on (the 1972 album) ‘Machine Head’ was legendary. Not only is it clean and bright, it’s a tone I have tried to emulate. … With the ton of bands that I’ve played with, it was the vibe we’ve always tried to shoot for.”
Coverdale joined Deep Purple in 1973, replacing lead singer Ian Gillan, who later rejoined the band. Coverdale later started the band Whitesnake. He’s lived at Lake Tahoe more than two decades.
Cheap Trick and Deep Purple will be inducted at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 8 along with Chicago, Steve Miller and N.W.A., a rap group that includes Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.
Among the nominees who did not receive the votes needed to enter the hall are the Cars, Yes, the Spinners, Los Lobos, the J.B.’s, Chic, Nine Inch Nails, the Smiths, Janet Jackson and Chaka Khan.
