“You know what happens with bands. Usually it’s a woman or something. It’s usually sex, drugs or money. When the lawsuits got filed, it ended up to be money.”
That’s how drummer Bun E. Carlos sums up his recent disagreements with the other members of Cheap Trick, who threatened to send the former bandmates in front of a judge before Carlos ultimately decided to settle. In a new interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Carlos commented on his current status with the group, which leaves him out of the recording or touring lineups, but allows him to continue to hold a 25 percent stake in their shared business interests.
“In 2010, I got notified and was told, basically, to not show up for the next gig,” Carlos explained. “One guy doesn’t want me there, and the other guys were fine with that. They asked if they could use my drums. I said, ‘Yeah, go ahead and then send them back to me, please.’ That is basically what happened.”
Laughing that he “must have pissed somebody off,” Carlos maintained that everything’s technically settled between himself and the remaining members of the band, but he allowed that the way he was bumped aside — and the financial arguments that followed — have complicated his feelings regarding Cheap Trick.
“Looking back on it, the way I was treated by their people was really an insult,” said Carlos. “The music speaks for itself. You either like it or you don’t, or you’re somewhere in between. That doesn’t change whether I’m in the band or not. The legacy doesn’t change because of that. I get asked around town if I still talk to these guys and if I am still good friends with them. I just go, ‘Well, you know, good friends don’t have to sue their friends in federal court.’ As far as being good friends, well … there you go.”
These days, Carlos isn’t recording or touring with Cheap Trick, but he’s still keeping busy musically. “These days I mess around locally with a couple of bands. We play around town and that is something to do,” he said when asked to talk about his current activities. “I practice every day and that kind of stuff to maintain my musicianship. I’m still involved in the business of Cheap Trick, so I keep my eye on that kind of stuff.”
additional source: ultimateclassicrock.com
12 Responses
Sad. I saw them last year, and I wanted so badly to hear Robin yell, “On the drums … Mr. Bun … E. … Carlos…!” “Twas not to be.
“brad is mad” . great drummer
I saw his band advertised around Rockford often.
Really quite a shame, once again, but as I’ve said before, it seems most people don’t care who is actually playing in the bands anymore.
If Nielsen gets the boot can still be Cheap trick? I dunno, Foreigner seems to get away with having literally nobody original in the band at times, when Mick wasn’t up to playing.
Ultimately, Bun E. didn’t write anything and they get in a fight over publishing, made easier, for the guy who pretty much wrote everything’s son to come in. Bun E. was part of the brand however, but unfortunately, we live in a culture that tolerates people as expendable parcels, hello, all you Richie Faulkner fans. We should be celebrating the decades of service, but I guess that’s just too time consuming. But, at least Bun E.’s bank account is none the worse for wear, and make no mistake, he earned it.
It wasn’t Rick….Robin was the one wanting Bun E. out of the band. Bun E. had pretty much ran the band for many years and Robin became tired of it…BEC never wanted to change the setlist, only wanted to play an hour and overall got to hate travelling & touring. BTW Bun E. has been credited with writing a few songs in the band’s discography.
This looks like a classic case of “take a cut in the publishing, and stay in the band, or keep your publishing, and take a hike…”
None of the hits, and a songwriting credit for a drummer on a few songs, so then, that’s a definite cut in the publishing!
They still dont play much longer than an hour double bill or not.
The setlist still dosent change much( Even the hard core fans on their site complain)
Thats why I stopped seeing the a long time ago. Greatist hits/short setlists
Replacing an original band member with someone younger always seems like a good idea,…until you’re the one being replaced.