Chicago rocks on

• America plays 'Horse' with no shame

Stories by Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Chicago — from left, front row, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Walt Parazaider, Robert Lamm and Tris Imboden; middle, Jason Scheff and Bill Champlin; back, Keith Howland — brings its hits to tomorrow's concert at the Blaisdell Arena. Chicago and America 8 p.m. Saturday Blaisdell Arena $49, $59 (877) 750-4400 Also: America performs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater; gates open at 5:30 p.m. $25, $35 and $45. (808) 242-7469. Chicago Founded: 1967 in Chicago, Ill. Members: Robert Lamm (piano, keyboards, percussion, vocals), Jason Scheff (bass, vocals), Bill Champlin (piano, keyboards, guitar), Keith Howland (guitar), Lee Loughnane (horns, guitar, percussion), James Pankow (horns), Walt Parazaider (horns, woodwinds), Tris Imboden (drums, percussion) Famously departed members: Terry Kath (guitar, vocals) died 1978; Peter Cetera (bass, vocals) 1985; Danny Seraphine (drums) 1990. Grammy Awards: Best Song By A Pop Duo/Group, 1976: "If You Leave Me Now" Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles: "If You Leave Me Now" (1976); "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" (1982); "Look Away" (1988) Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 singles: 35 Billboard Top 200 No. 1 albums: "V" (1972); "VI" (1973); "VII" (1974); "VIII" (1975), "IX: Greatest Hits" (1975) Billboard Top 200 charted albums: 28 Essential Chicago: "Chicago II" (Rhino, 1970), "The Very Best of Chicago: Only The Beginning" (Rhino, 2002)

Who'da thunk that tomorrow evening's Chicago and America co-headlining bill at Blaisdell Arena would be the hottest concert ticket in town this week?

Certainly not anyone scrambling today to snap up the scant few seats still available for the show.

I caught up with founding members to chat up both bands' history, enduring charms and musical crimes.

I didn't get near as many down and dirty road stories as I wanted. But Oz never did give nothing to the tin man that he didn't, didn't already have.

Can you dig it? Yes I can.

As the writer of some of Chicago's lyrically ambitious and topical early work, founding keyboardist/vocalist Robert Lamm has never been a big fan of the ballads that, for some fans, now define the band's musical oeuvre.

"I've written my share, but it's not something I find challenging," Lamm said of the ballads. "They're not challenging for me to listen to, and they're not challenging for me to compose."

Lamm is able to acknowledge why a "perfect little gem of a ballad" like "If You Leave Me Now" — Chicago's first-ever Billboard No. 1 single — was such a big hit in the summer of 1976.

"But once the entire world and radio and the record company thinks that (ballads are) the essence of the band, trying to shake it becomes a lifelong challenge. And it almost can't be shaken," he said. And so Lamm chose a long time ago not to mess with what works.

Which means that in addition to Lamm-penned Chicago classics such as "25 Or 6 To 4," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Saturday In The Park" sure to be filling the Blaisdell Arena tomorrow night, you'll also hear such gooey-center favorites as "Hard Habit To Break," "Look Away" and "Hard To Say I'm Sorry."

"There are, let's say, a dozen or a dozen-and-a-half songs that we have to do ... because that's why the audience comes to see our concert," said Lamm. "That's why they love Chicago. So we have to give that respect and play the songs."

Chicago was formed 37 years ago as an experiment in combining rock with each of its members' distinct musical loves. Elements of jazz, R&B and classical music — primarily punctuated by an amazingly versatile horn section — were an integral part of the band's early sound, as were imaginative experiments in expanding the limits of pop songwriting and arrangement.

An example of the band's remarkable eclecticism remains trombonist James Pankow's and Lamm's classically inspired nine-song suite "Ballet For a Girl In Buchannon," from 1970's "Chicago II," featuring the upbeat "Make Me Smile," the propulsive "25 Or 6 To 4," and the gorgeous ballad "Colour My World," the latter soulfully sung by guitarist/vocalist Terry Kath.

A stream of hits sustained the band's appeal until Kath's accidental death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound led to a late 1970s commercial downturn. Under the heavy hand of pop über-producer David Foster, however, Chicago won a new generation of fans in the 1980s with the ballad-heavy albums "16," "17," "18" and "19."

Chicago's pop singles success largely dried up in the early 1990s, but the band remains a surprisingly durable concert draw. Chicago still performs upward of 150 shows a year, and will embark on a co-headlining tour with Earth Wind & Fire in June that will keep them on the road for the rest of the year.

Lamm, for one, still marvels at Chicago's ability to fill arenas after almost four decades together.

"It's extremely satisfying. We work very hard at trying to deliver night after night," he said. "On the one hand, it's surprising. On the other hand, I guess it shouldn't be, because there are people who love the music."

And how about faking the love for those ballads?

"I'm actually proud of the success we've had with that genre of music. We perform it very, very well," said Lamm. "Every night, I just try to make it a little bit of a zen exercise to try to play these things as if I've never played them before and try to make them as perfect as they can be.

"That's the challenge. That's the motivation."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.

America plays 'Horse' with no shame

America — Dewey Bunnell, left, and Gerry Beckley — still draws steady crowds more than three decades after its signature hit, "A Horse With No Name," topped the Billboard charts. America Founded: 1967 in London, England Members: Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley (both on vocals, guitar) Famously departed member: Dan Peek (vocals, guitar) 1977 Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, 1972 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles: "A Horse With No Name" (1972), "Sister Golden Hair" (1975) Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 singles: 11 Billboard Top 200 No. 1 albums: "America" (1972) Billboard Top 200 charted albums: 15 Essential America: "The Complete Greatest Hits" (Rhino, 2001)

Dan Peek leaned toward country. Gerry Beckley had a thing for ballads. And Dewey Bunnell?

Well, Bunnell wrote many of the songs that, arguably, remain the most instantly recognizable as signature America. Compositions he described as "outdoor songs ... that were a little more allegorical or ... confusing."

Cue: "A Horse With No Name."

That's because while still a favorite of America fans and classic-rock radio DJs worldwide, the 1972 Billboard No. 1 hit with its peyote-dream lyrics ("The ocean is a desert with its life underground and a perfect disguise above") and la-la-la chorus has been widely whacked by many music critics as one of the worst written songs ever recorded. Bunnell, to his credit, keeps an admirable sense of humor about his composition.

"I've just always enjoyed throwing together words," explained Bunnell, chuckling. "Sometimes they don't mean anything. Sometimes they do mean something. Sometimes one line applies, and another one doesn't."

Bunnell wasn't eager to jump on music snobs who just didn't get it.

"I've always enjoyed quirky songs and quirky writers. Warren Zevon always had a knack with words. Tom Waits writes some pretty interesting things. That's just the style that I like."

I didn't want to be the one for to give Bunnell no pain, but I had to ask him what the heck "Horse" was really about.

"It was inspired by a fond memory of being in the Southwestern U.S. — Arizona, New Mexico," said Bunnell. "I never really lived in the desert ... but I was always really inspired by that great expanse of the desert. The quiet and foreign-looking landscape. The plantlife — the 'plants and birds and rocks and things' aspect of it.

"I wrote it in England sitting in a bedroom while it was raining, drawing from that imagery and those memories. The horse is just kind of an enigma; a vehicle to get you out there. The sites and sounds of the desert is what I was trying to grab."

The sons of U.S. Air Force officers stationed north of London, Bunnell, Beckley and Peek started playing together in 1967 while still in high school. The trio secured a record deal with Warner Bros. before youngest member Beckley's graduation, and began recording its self-titled debut in the fall of 1970.

With the Neil Young-reminiscent "Horse" and Beckley ballad "I Need You" as hits, "America" rode to the top of the Billboard album chart in 1972. The band self-produced its next two albums before hooking up with Beatles producer George Martin in 1974. The resulting five-album relationship with Martin spawned some of America's most memorable recordings ("Tin Man," "Sister Golden Hair," "Lonely People").

America was pared to a duo after Peek's 1977 departure, muddling through two disappointing albums before 1982's "View From The Ground" and its Top 10 hit "You Can Do Magic" returned some of the band's luster. The duo hasn't charted an album or single since 1984 but remain steady concert draws at more than 100 shows a year. America songs have been sampled, re-recorded or given props by artists such as Janet Jackson and The Neptunes.

"The music keeps us together," Bunnell said of his long recording partnership with Beckley. "We enjoy each other's company. We've grown up together. That's the way it works. Until there's a reason to stop or something stops us, we're gonna keep goin'."

Now, about those alligator lizards, Dewey ...