Still Colouring The World

Fan demand Chicago keep the hits coming

The classic rock band Chicago has sold more than 100 million records in its nearly 50-year career. The group visits the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion on Sunday.
The classic rock band Chicago has sold more than 100 million records in its nearly 50-year career. The group visits the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion on Sunday.

Forty years ago, the musicians of the band Chicago learned they needed to give fans the hits they craved. Of course, by 1975, they had already released dozens of radio hits, including "Beginnings," "Colour My World" and "25 or 6 to 4."

"You can't play too much of the new stuff and still satisfy the audience," trumpet player and founding member Lee Loughnane says by phone before a tour stop in Chattanooga, Tenn. "We found out they definitely wanted to hear the hits."

FAQ

Chicago

WHEN — 7 p.m. Sunday

WHERE — Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers

COST — $42-$97

INFO — 443-5600 or arkansasmusicpavili…

It's a mantra the performers follow now, too. The legendary rock-meets-brass band released a new album, "Chicago XXXVI: Now," just last year, but on its current tour, the band is only playing one song from the new album. The rest of the setlist is filled by the hits known to anyone who remembers them -- or listens to oldies or classic rock stations. Fans in Northwest Arkansas can expect the same hit-filled concert when Chicago performs at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion on Sunday evening. The show begins at 7 p.m.

That fans demanded the hits even in the band's early years ago is ironic, considering many of the songs the band wrote in the late 1970s and early 1980s would become hits as well. The songs "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break" were both on the band's 1984 album "Chicago 17," which became its best-selling release of all time. In total, Chicago has sold more than 100 million records in its now 48-year existence.

That feat of longevity still surprises Loughnane, who tours with fellow founding members Robert Lamm on keyboards, James Pankow on several instruments, including trombone and percussion, and Walter Parazaider on woodwinds. They are surrounded by a cast of talented musicians.

"I'm loving it more than I ever have," Loughnane says. "It's probably the best band that we've ever had, and the push to be better is stronger."

Loughnane says the newest record helped proved that point. The band recorded the album while on last year's tour, using portable equipment on the tour bus and in hotel rooms.

"We recorded anywhere but a studio," he says. "You can record a quality album anywhere in the world." Like always, the band members traded songwriting duties with Loughnane's contribution the song "America." Like many other Chicago songs, under the sheen of catchy pop and jazzy horns rests a political message. Loughnane says the message of the song, and the album as a whole, is to encourage everyone to do their part in the world.

Loughnane's role in the world, like this fellow band members, is to continue making music, even when things around them are no longer the same. Traditional pop radio doesn't play their new material. And at 48 years old, Chicago has outlived many of the venues it once played and many record labels.

Chicago remains because its ubiquitous hits remain as well.

"I think it's the music," Loughnane says about the band's longevity. "For all generations, the songs resonate."

NAN What's Up on 05/01/2015

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