WANTING YOU TO WANT ME.(Cheap Trick's promotional in-store appearance in Virgin Megastore in Times Square, New York City)

When a rock band has conquered the world, sold millions of records, been the top of the pops and the toast of the town, seen its fortunes fall both critically and commercially, as an autumn leaf falls from a tree, and then watched as, in strict defiance of the descensional behavior of autumn leaves, its critical reputation rose once again, only to be met by stubborn indifference on the part of the record industry and the consumers who follow its lead, what's next?

The promotional in-store appearance, of course. And so the four members of Cheap Trick--the guitarist Rick Nielsen, the singer Robin Zander, the bassist Tom Petersson, and the drummer Bun E. Carlos--came to the Virgin Megastore in Times Square last week to celebrate the release of the band's sixteenth album, "Special One." Twenty-five years ago, the band played a series of dates at the Budokan arena in Tokyo; documented on the succinctly titled "At Budokan," the concerts were filled with the sound of ten thousand Japanese fans stretched to the breaking point by their fervor. The crowd at the Megastore, clustered around a small stage in the sub-basement level, was the same, give or take nine thousand eight hundred and fifty people. Most were in their mid-thirties or older; several wore T-shirts or hats from past Cheap Trick tours; and a few had toddlers on their shoulders.

After a few remarks from Eddie Trunk, of the classic-rock station Q104.3, Cheap Trick took the stage. In its heyday, the band had a sharply defined image that turned on the contrast between its two halves: Zander and Petersson were the pretty boys, the pinups; and Nielsen and Carlos were the cartoons, one a hyperactive schoolboy, the other a cigar-chomping lout. Time has made something of a mockery of these characters. Zander, the youngest member, is fifty; and Nielsen, who once leaped around the stage flinging guitar picks and making smart-aleck remarks, ...