As the 1970s drew to a close, the world became well aware of the live concert power of Cheap Trick. The Rockford, Illinois quartet broke through in a big way thanks to their seminal At Budokan, recorded in Japan in 1978 and belatedly released stateside a year later, yielding a Top 10 hit in "I Want You to Want Me." The audience response on the record was undeniable - and still is in many ways - but there were lucky concertgoers who already knew thanks to some seminal American club gigs. As the holiday box set season heats up, Real Gone Music will shine a light on this delightful pre-history with a 4CD set compiling a quartet of complete, uncut shows recorded at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles in the summer of 1977.

Live At The Whisky 1977, limited to just 2,000 copies worldwide, lifts the curtain on singer Robin Zander, guitarist/songwriter Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos as they spontaneously booked some nights at the historic Sunset Strip nightclub. The energy and output emanating from the band was staggering: in the winter of that year, they released their self-titled debut and toured aggressively in support of it; as they took the Whisky stage, they were deep into the sessions for follow-up In Color, which would be released that September. KROQ-FM DJ Rodney Bingenheimer served as their master of ceremonies, and the Record Plant's Mobile One truck rolled tape on the songs, heard by a few hundred lucky folks in early and late shows on June 3 and 4. By year's end they were opening for KISS and amassing a feverish following in the East, which would bear fruit a year later.

"The Whisky shows capture a hungry band," Carlos later recalled of the sets. "It's right before we went on tour with KISS and became much more famous than we were at this point. It was two nights where we did all our cool stuff from our first couple of records and it's chock-full of goodies." This box marks the first time all four shows have been released in their entirety; a few tracks were released on a box set in 1996, and an album's worth was assembled by Legacy Recordings for a Record Store Day exclusive in 2020. In addition to the complete shows, power pop guru Ken Sharp will also contribute new liner notes featuring quotes and insight from Zander, Nielsen and Carlos.

For Cheap Trick and power pop fans, this is sure to be a hot ticket, so speak now or forever hold your peace when it comes to getting a copy for yourself! You can pre-order it at the links below; it's set to ship on or about December 9.

Live At The Whisky 1977 (Real Gone Music, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Store)

Disc 1: Early Show 6/3/1977

1. Rodney Bingenheimer Intro
2. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace *
3. Elo Kiddies *
4. Set Break 1
5. High Roller *
6. Southern Girls
7. Cry, Cry
8. Big Eyes
9. Can't Hold On *
10. Oh Boy
11. You're All Talk
12. Set Break 2
13. He's a Whore
14. The Ballad of T.V. Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy)
15. Down on the Bay **
16. Goodnight

Disc 2: Late Show 6/3/1977

1. Hello There *
2. Come On Come On *
3. Set Break 1
4. Oh Candy
5. Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School *
6. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
7. Elo Kiddies
8. Loser *
9. Taxman, Mr Thief
10. Clock Strikes Ten *
11. Set Break 2
12. Big Eyes
13. He's a Whore *
14. You're All Talk
15. Auf Wiedersehen

Disc 3: Early Show 6/4/1977

1. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
2. Elo Kiddies
3. Set Break 1
4. Hot Love *
5. Southern Girls *
6. Cry Cry *
7. Big Eyes *
8. Set Break 2
9. Ain't That a Shame *
10. Oh Caroline *
11. Oh Boy *
12. You're All Talk *
13. Set Break 3
14. He's a Whore
15. The Ballad of T.V. Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy) **
16. Down on the Bay
17. Goodnight

DIsc 4: Late Show 6/4/1977

1. Hello There
2. Come On Come On
3. Set Break 1
4. Oh Candy *
5. Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School
6. Please, Mrs. Henry **
7. Set Break 2
8. Violins **
9. Taxman, Mr Thief *
10. Clock Strikes Ten
11. Set Break 3
12. Big Eyes
13. He's a Whore
14. You're All Talk **
15. Auf Wiedersehen *
16. Encore Break
17. Goodnight *

All tracks previously unreleased except:

* released on Out to Get You! (Live 1977) - Epic/Legacy 19439 73055-1, 2020
** released on Sex, America, Cheap Trick - Epic/Legacy E4K 64938, 1996