WHEN I was young, his music defined my world. You’re The Inspiration played to my first slow dance with a geeky boy from church. He had acne and our parents were standing on the fringes of the dance floor ensuring via their stares that there was a reasonable enough space between our bodies that could accommodate a baby elephant as we shuffled awkwardly on the dance floor.
His passionate song nevertheless made the night special. The boy was inconsequential. However, the former Chicago frontman wasn’t. No one who lived through the 1980s and the 1990s will be able to forget a Peter Cetera/Chicago song and the distinctive moments when it was first heard. I certainly can’t.
Never mind my not-so happy ending, Peter Cetera ruled my world. His distinctive tenor filled my ears and his songs became my anthems. Many a night, I’d wave a hairbrush like a microphone and belt to his songs. Glory of Love, If You Leave Me Now, Love Me Tomorrow, Hard To Say I’m Sorry — what’s not to love about his love songs?
The Chicago native best known for being the original member of the rock band Chicago from 1967 to 1985 went on to launch a successful solo career, scoring six Top 40 singles including two that reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1986. Glory of Love, the theme song to the movie, The Karate Kid Part II, was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best original song.
Here, Cetera talks to Vibes about music, inspiration and what keeps him going after all these years.
How did you develop your distinctive style?
It was a long journey. When I started out playing in little bands in Chicago, every street had a club and every club had a band. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore. I’ve always been working since I was 16, and I’ve always been playing in a club. You’d start out by doing the top 40s, learning your craft, trying out everything and eventually, you discover your own voice.
My parents wouldn’t buy me a guitar so they got me an accordion instead. I was kind of a polka prodigy! When I finally got to my sophomore year in High School, l bought myself a cheap guitar to learn a few songs. There was a guy a couple of years ahead of me who was playing the guitar. I gravitated towards him, we started singing together and he told me I could sing pretty good. After a while, we decided to start a band and it was decided that I pick up the bass so I went ahead and bought a bass guitar. When he graduated, I got more guys in high school to join in. In my junior/senior year we played at all the high school dances... we were ‘the band’!
Your musical inspiration?
My biggest musical inspiration was the Beatles because they opened everything up for guys like me. A friend’s father who was a music teacher was pretty wise. He told me: “You know, you must learn something from everybody you hear. Either you learn what not to do, what not to play, what not to sing, the what-nots. or you learn what you want to do.” So I constantly do that. I take what I like and leave what I don’t like. And that’s how I found my own way.
You still sound amazing after all these years. How do you preserve your voice?
I try to stay as healthy as I can, try to stay somewhat in shape, and I don’t drink or smoke. I’ve done all that, you know. And then I realised it was important NOT to do it. I try and get rest and exercise and I don’t stay up late anymore.
So no wild rock and roll moments?
Maybe back then. When you’re young and crazy, you try all sorts of stuff. But when you’re a little older, you get a little wiser. You realise that you only have so much time left to sing so I want to make the best of it. I love doing it more now than I ever have. Once I’m on the stage, I have a fantastic band called The Bad Daddies and I have great fun. My standard line now is that I play for free, I get paid to travel! That’s kind of what it is now.
You’ve been in the music industry for decades and have seen music evolve over the years. Your thoughts on current music and singers?
So much of today’s music sound almost alike. I think this because a lot of the young singers don’t have enough time to discover their own voice. The music industry keeps churning out singers who’ve yet to find their own way. There are so many talent shows out there and a lot of these youngsters who are on these shows are made to sing before millions of people before they’re ready. And we’re talking about more people than I’ve sang to in my whole career! It takes a while to develop a style that’s your own. They don’t have time to do that and develop their own ear. It’s inevitable that most don’t last. But that’s today’s world. Nothing is made to last.
Advice for people starting out in the music industry?
You know that’s funny because my oldest daughter has wanted to get into the music world and she’s been trying for years. And seriously, there’s nothing I could say to help her. “If you do this and this and this...” There’s no magic formula. It’s all hard work, a lot of luck and being true to yourself. When someone asks me this question, my standard answer is this: be on time and be in tune! Outside of that, you’re on your own!
Lyrics or music?
Music. I’m a very simplistic lyricist you know. I write what I feel as opposed to flowery words because I’m not really a wordsmith. The melody is what comes out of me first. By singing a melody, a word or phrase would pop out. Most people would be more familiar with the melody than the lyrics. To me the melody is the thing that sticks in your heart.
Among the many songs you’ve written and sang, what’s your favourite?
There are no favourites. It’s like asking, who’s your favourite child? Every song means something different in their own special way so it’s hard to say. Even the songs that weren’t hits, I love. Those songs that were never meant to be hits, I also love. There are special reasons for them.
How would you want your fans to remember you as?
Passionate. That’s the way I sing, that’s the way I write. Everything is done with heart and soul. elena@nst.com.my
Showcase review
There’s no escaping the endless drizzle and traffic jams but that didn’t seem to deter the audience who’ve faithfully packed the seats for Peter Cetera’s concert at the Mega Star Arena recently. “We’re not the only geriatrics around,” I whisper loudly to my Editor. It’s Cetera and we’re two rabid fans who grabbed the chance to hear him sing live. Never mind that like old aunties, we sneak in burgers and chips into the arena. There’s nothing more distracting than a rumbling stomach, we deduce. And we do not want to be distracted.
When the lights go down and the familiar slow-burner 1992 hit Restless Heart rings out, the crowd sways and sings along for the majority of the 90-minute set. Putting aside all sense of decorum, I scream like a teenager as I catch sight of the 74-year-old superstar.
Backed by his band The Bad Daddies, Cetera’s distinctive voice carries the songs despite the less-than-favourable sound system that does little justice to his vocals or the stellar music. I catch sight of a young couple swaying and singing to his songs and I recall Cetera’s remark the day before: “Young people are rediscovering the older songs because it has more meaning.”
There are certain songs that one expects to hear from Cetera, and the powerhouse doesn’t disappoint. Fan favourites Glory of Love, If You Leave Me Now, Next Time I Fall In Love and You’re The Inspiration sound just as good and evoke so much memories.
“Through the years of touring and trying, I do what I’d expect to hear when I go to hear somebody. I want to hear the songs that I came to see because I like you. So I try and make the songs sound like how people remember them by. And they’re fun for me,” reveals Cetera. He does exactly what the scores of fans who’ve turned up wants him to do — play most of those hits and make them sound pretty darn close to the recordings they’ve embraced for years.
One pet grouse: there’s only one seating level at the arena, and the stage isn’t really all that elevated. So if you have the misfortune of a tall person seated in front of you, chances are you’d be doing a little dance in your seat as you try to move around his head to see the stage. Not exactly the view I’d want considering the hefty price of the ticket. And tickets start from RM350! What’s more, there are none of the usual large screens for the audience seated at the back.
Nevertheless, we sing, we sway and at one point, I may have dropped my half-eaten burger in excitement when the first few familiar notes of You’re The Inspiration fills the arena. He may be old-school but to the many Malaysian fans who braved the rain, traffic and steep ticket prices, Peter Cetera has proven to be a Hard Habit To Break.