"Never Had a Lot to Lose" by Cheap Trick

Song#:  3805

Date:  02/18/1989

Debut:  92

Peak:  75

Weeks:  6

Genre:  Power Pop

Pop Bits:  Nearly a decade after scoring their first Pop Top 10 hit, the #7 "I Want You to Want Me," Cheap Trick finally found their way back into the upper reaches of the charts with their album Lap of Luxury. It would be a #16 platinum seller thanks to a pair of Top 10 hits including the #1 "The Flame." A third single, "Ghost Town," would get near the Top 30, so the label went ahead and pushed out this fourth single. It did little for the band or the album spending only a few weeks in the bottom quarter of the Pop chart. It was also a minor entry at Rock getting to #45.

ReduxReview:  This was a pretty good power pop tune that was written by band members Robin Zander and Tom Petersson, but it really wasn't a viable single candidate. However, I'm not sure any other of the remaining tracks on the album would have done any better. I'm guessing the label wanted to try and eke out another hit to sell a few more albums, but they really should have just called it three and done.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  With Lap of Luxury reviving the band's career, it afforded them a bit more leeway to do what they wanted for their follow up, 1990's Busted. Members would co-write all but two tracks on the album, which was a change from the outside writer contributions all over Lap of Luxury. Unfortunately, it didn't quite pay off. The LP's first single, "Can't Stop Fallin' in Love," did fairly well reaching #12 Pop/#4 Rock, but a second single topped out at #50 Pop. Then further singles failed to make the Pop chart. The results left the album stopping at #48 and missing the gold sales mark. Their long-time label Epic was not impressed with the outcome and that left the band off of their roster. Cheap Trick signed on with Warner Bros. for 1994's Woke Up with a Monster, but it could only manage a #123 showing and once again the band was without a label. They would go the indie route after that and release several albums over the years. Their best showing during that time came in 2016 when Bang, Zoom, Crazy...Hello reached #31. That boost was most likely due to the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that year.

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