Garage Sale Vinyl: Cheap Trick

One On One / Epic Records / April 1982

by Christopher Long

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the course of my decades-long global travels, it’s that when visiting a particularly touristy locale, you’ve GOTTA venture BEYOND the T-shirt shacks, souvenir shops, and corporate-style eateries in order to TRULY experience the destination. You’ve gotta drive out a few miles and mix it up with the locals in order to appreciate a town or city’s history, culture, and its GOOD shopping district.

Not too long ago, the GF and I made a pilgrimage from Palm Bay, Florida, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — it’s a long story. The leaves were turning gold and the air was getting crisp. One morning, following a satisfying Twilight Zone-type experience over at the Plantation Pancake House, we took in an early round of mini golf, then we went for a walk on the beach, then we realized it was only noon. Our next mission was to map out how on earth we were gonna fill eight empty hours — in Myrtle Beach. So, we followed traffic into town. Among the groovy thrift stores and cool restaurants, we discovered an authentic, old-school-style indie record shop. The name of the place escapes me now, but the joint was straight legit.

As all veteran professional vinyl sportsmen know, when exploring a new hunting ground, you gotta scout the grounds thoroughly — and I do mean thoroughly. That position was validated at this Myrtle Beach shop. After perusing every bin, I was feeling somewhat disappointed by what I had (and had not) found. “If you got time, check out the back room,” the friendly clerk announced from his perch behind the front counter. The “back” room? I’d caught a glimpse of an area behind a partially opened curtain, but I had assumed it was merely an “Employees Only” hub. “Yeah,” he continued. “Everything back there is $2 each.”

I soon learned that the curtain was sorta like the Pearly Gates, and behind it was the used-record-store version of the Promised Land. For weeks, I’d been searching unsuccessfully for an adequate pre-owned LP copy of the first Karla Bonoff album. In the “back room,” I found EIGHT of ‘em. Be sure, these were “scratch and dent”-type records, but with shiny new plastic outer sleeves and a lil’ bit of elbow grease to clean ‘em up, most of the records that caught my eye would be well worth the $2 asking price. Among those eye-catching titles was a copy of One On One, the 1982 release from Cheap Trick.

Overseen by legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, the Cars, Alice Cooper), One On One was Cheap Trick’s sixth studio set and it reflected more of the meat and potatoes punk gusto of their self-titled 1977 debut than the glossiness of their more elaborate George Martin-produced efforts. But, while the record felt fun, owning a slew of brash, yet catchy tunes, it also felt somewhat mechanical — like a barroom brawl, if the bar actually was a candy store, and the bartender was a robot.

Despite its numerous high-energy toe-tappers, including “Time Is Runnin’,” “Saturday at Midnight” and the title track, One On One is known primarily for birthing two of the band’s best-loved staples: the irresistible power ballad, “If You Want My Love” and the infectious, quirky rocker, “She’s Tight.”

It was a turbo-charged year, 1982. Many of rock’s “dinosaurs” were fizzling out while MTV was rolling in, but for rock fans who wanted to move forward, One On One was the “right” record at the “right” time. It’s not Dream Police, but thank goodness, it’s not Special One either.

(4/5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One On One Track List

SIDE ONE

1. I Want You (Rick Nielsen) – 3:02

1. One On One (Rick Nielsen) – 3:05

1. If You Want My Love (Rick Nielsen) – 3:36

1. Oo La La La (Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander) – 3:14

1. Lookin’ Out for Number One (Rick Nielsen) – 3:44

SIDE TWO

1. She’s Tight (Rick Nielsen) – 2:58

1. Time Is Runnin’ (Rick Nielsen) – 2:19

1. Saturday at Midnight (Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander) – 2:58

1. Love’s Got a Hold on Me (Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos) – 2:35

1. I Want Be Man (Rick Nielsen) – 3:19

1. Four Letter Word (Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander) – 3:37

Cheap Trick