Chicago (band)

Chicago is a rock band that was formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. Well known for being one of the first (and, indeed, one of the few) rock bands to make extensive use of horns and for producing a number of hit ballads, Chicago had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Chicago's heyday

The band's first album, the eponymously titled The Chicago Transit Authority, was an audacious debut: a sprawling double album (unheard of for a rookie band) that included jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental, feedback-laden guitar abstraction. The album began to receive heavy airplay on the fledgling FM radio band; it included a number of pop-rock gems ? "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 and 68" ? which would later be edited to a radio-friendly length, released as singles, and eventually become rock radio staples.

Related Topics:
The Chicago Transit Authority - FM radio

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The band's popularity exploded with the release of their second album, another double-LP set, which included several top-40 hits. This second album, titled Chicago, was the group's breakthrough album. The centerpiece track was a 15-minute suite composed by James Pankow called "Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon" (the structure of this suite was inspired by Pankow's love for classical music). The suite yielded two top ten hits, the crescendo-filled "Make Me Smile" and prom-ready ballad "Colour My World", both sung soulfully by Terry Kath. Among the other tracks on the album: Robert Lamm's dynamic but cryptic "25 Or 6 To 4" (sung by Peter Cetera), and the lengthy "It Better End Soon". With that, the pattern had been set: the band, ever prolific, recorded and released music at a rate of more than two LP discs per year (always titled with the band name and a Roman numeral) from their third album in 1971 through the 1970s.

Related Topics:
Chicago - Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon - Crescendo - Prom - Roman numeral - 1970s

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Some fans say a low point of the group's early career came when they released a quadruple-album live set, Chicago at Carnegie Hall (consisting of music from their first three albums). The performances and sound quality were judged sub-par; in fact, one group member went on record to say that "the horn section sounded like kazoos". The packaging of the album also contained some rather strident political messaging about how "We can change The System." The group bounced back from this misstep in 1972 with their first single-disc release, Chicago V, a diverse set that reached number one on both the Billboard pop and jazz albums charts and yielded the Robert Lamm-composed-and-sung radio hit and perennial fan favorite "Saturday In the Park", which mixed

Related Topics:
Chicago at Carnegie Hall - Chicago V

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everyday life and political yearning in a more subtle way.

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In 1973 the group's manager, Guercio, produced and directed Electra Glide in Blue, a movie about an Arizona motorcycle policeman. The movie starred Robert Blake, and featured Cetera, Kath, Loughnane, and Parazaider in supporting roles. The group also appeared prominently on the movie's soundtrack.

Related Topics:
Electra Glide in Blue - Robert Blake - Soundtrack

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Other successful albums and singles followed in each of the succeeding years. 1973's Chicago VI also topped the charts buoyed by hits "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" and "Just You and Me". Chicago VII, the band's double-disc 1974 release, featured the Cetera-composed "Wishing You Were Here" (sung by Terry Kath, with background vocals by The Beach Boys). The next year's release, Chicago VIII featured the political allegory "Harry Truman" and the nostalgic Pankow-composed "Old Days". That summer saw a very successful joint tour across America with the Beach Boys, with each act performing some of the other's material. But for all their effort, none of their singles went to number one until the group's tenth album (Chicago X) in 1976, when Cetera's slow, exquisite ballad "If You Leave Me Now" went to the top of the charts. Incidentally, that was the song which won Chicago their only Grammy award, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group in 1977.

Related Topics:
Chicago VI - Chicago VII - The Beach Boys - Chicago VIII - Chicago X - If You Leave Me Now - Grammy award - Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group

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