January 03, 2024

CHICAGO's Lee Loughnane - 56 Years at the Top and Still Loving It

52 minutes

Chicago was one of the most successful bands of the rock era, racking up 21 Billboard Top Ten hits between 1970 and 1990. They were a band that placed equal (if not greater) emphasis on horns as guitar and picked up where Blood Sweat & Tears left off.

Chicago quickly learned how to channel their expansive sound

into concise pop songs, scoring hits in the early 1970s with punchy tunes like "25 or 6 to 4" as well as producing sweet melodies like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Saturday in the

Park." As the ‘70s went on, the band began to emphasise their softer side with bassist Peter Cetera singing mellow standards like "If You Leave Me Now," "Baby and "Hard to Say I'm Sorry."

The band kept the same sound after Cetera’s departure in the mid-1980s. They continued touring and producing albums despite the fact that hits dried up in the ‘90s. Despite this, Chicago remained a pop/rock institution, with original members keyboardist Robert Lamm, trumpeter Lee Loughnane and trombonist James

Pankow.

Our guest today is Chicago co-founder Lee Loughnane who had been a music student at DePaul University with reed player Walter Parazaider and trombonist James Pankow. The three had moonlighted in St Louis’ clubs, playing everything from

R&B to Irish music but it wasn’t long before organist and singer Robert Lamm was asked to join the band. The new group started playing around the Midwest and soon the sextet became a septet when Peter Cetera became the group’s third lead singer.

In 1968, they moved to Los Angeles and the album Chicago Transit Authority was released. The album reached the Top 20 and was certified gold. It went on to sell more than two million copies. The band shortened its name to Chicago and the second album in 1970 vaulted into the Top Ten even before its first single, "Make Me Smile," hit the Hot 100. It went on to reach the Top Ten, as did its successor, "25 or 6 to 4." The album quickly went gold and eventually platinum. "Does Anybody Really Know What

Time It Is?" drawn from the group's first album, as its next single; it

gave them their third consecutive Top Ten hit.

Chicago III came out in 1971, Chicago V in 1972 spending nine weeks at #1, spurred by its gold-selling Top Ten hit "Saturday in the Park.” The next Top Ten hit, "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long," was released in advance of Chicago VII while Chicago X included the

Grammy-winning number one single "If You Leave Me Now." Chicago XI in 1977 generated the Top Five hit "Baby, What a Big Surprise."

By 1984, the band released the biggest-selling album of its career, Chicago 17. It spawned two Top Five hits, "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration." At the turn of the '80s into the '90s, Chicago underwent two more personnel changes. In 1998, they released Chicago 25: The Christmas Album. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Their documentary “Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago" debuted in 2017. Chicago received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and their 38th album was released in 2022.

Our guest today is co-founder Lee Loughnane who discusses how and why after 56 years, 100 million in album sales and 21 top 10 singles, the Chicago band are still rolling.

If you'd like to know more about Chicago head for the band's website https://chicagotheband.com/

If you have suggestions for future guests or would like to get in touch with feedback or comments please email me through my website https://abreathoffreshair.com.au/

I hope you enjoy this week's episode.

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By Sandy Kaye

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