Madcity Music Sheet

madcity music sheet magazine

The MadCity Music Sheet magazine, the MadCity Music Guide and the MadCity Music Mirror were published in Madison, Wisconsin, USA from 1976 to 1983. They were distributed in southern Wisconsin and surrounding mid-western states.

The front cover of this issue displays a reversed photo of Tom Petersson and Rick Nielsen. The section devoted to Cheap Trick is actually three different articles that discuss band history, concert reviews and an interview with Rick Nielsen. Outside of the photos displayed here and a stylized illustration, there is no mention of the 12-string bass.

madcity music guide

This 8-page music newspaper devotes one of those pages to Cheap Trick. Two photos of the Hamer Double-Cutaway 12-string bass are included in the article.

While the 12-string bass is not specifically called out, the author of the article writes, “Tom Petersson plays bass. Bass is probably the most misunderstood (and often misused in context) rock instrument, mainly due to the fact that you have to really listen to the musician to really hear what he’s playing. In hard rock, most bass comes out as either ‘thumping throb’ or ‘ominous drone’. Tom plays a combination of the two for a total fill sound for the guitars and a sharp attack on the accents with Bun E. With the amount of improvisation incorporated by Nielsen in the course of a set, it takes a very aware, tight bass player to make all of his power chords effective and all his stops on the money. Petersson is there, although many times all you can perceive is his smirk and his eyes glowing out of deep colored shadows, he’s the bass player.”