"Clock Strikes Ten" is a song released in 1977 by

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American Rock music, rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, ...

on their second album, ''

In Color In Color or In Colour may refer to: * ''In Color'' (album), a 1977 album by Cheap Trick * "In Color" (song), a song by Jamey Johnson * ''In Colour'' (The Concretes album), 2006 * ''In Colour'' (Jamie xx album), 2015 * '' ...In Color'', a 2008 ...

''. It was written by Cheap Trick guitarist

Rick Nielsen Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...

. It was released as a single in Japan, where it was a major hit and reached No. 1 on at least one singles chart. Its success, as well as the success of two follow up singles, "

I Want You to Want Me "I Want You to Want Me" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick. It is originally from their second album ''In Color'', released in September 1977. It was the first single released from that album, but it did not chart in the United St ...

" and " Surrender", paved the way for Cheap Trick's famous concerts at

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts co ...

in Tokyo in April 1978 that were recorded for the group's most popular album - ''

Cheap Trick at Budokan ''Cheap Trick at Budokan'' is the first live album by American rock band Cheap Trick, and their best-selling recording. It was first released in Japan on October 8, 1978, and later released in the United States on February 1979, through Epic R ...

''.

Lyrics and music

"Clock Strikes Ten" is a fast-paced song that begins with guitar notes struck to sound like

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The official ...

's chimes (full hour). Robert Lawson described it as "a take on a fun mid-60's rock'n'roll number," praising the "angry authority" with which lead singer

Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...

sang it. The song has similarities to the 1950s song "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the Twelve-bar blues, 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful ren ...

". Bruce Meyer of UPI called "Clock Strikes Ten" a "nearly perfect rock construction, using established forms without a hint of cliche." Nielsen has described the theme of the song as "Simple fun and games. People are going out on a Saturday night, going completely nuts, people that live for the weekend, and who doesn't?" Dave Marsh of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' said that the song "can only be compared to

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

playing 'Rip It Up,' easily his silliest song, on guitar."

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' described it as "frenzied," calling it one of the highlights of ''In Color''.

Other versions

"Clock Strikes Ten" was often played as an encore in live shows, and it was the final song played in the encore of the Budokan concerts. The live version was released as the final song on the ''Cheap Trick at Budokan'' album. The live version was also released as the B-side of the live version single of "I Want You to Want Me" that was a top 10 hit in 1979. In 1978, Cheap Trick played "Clock Strikes Ten" and "I Want You to Want Me" on the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

television program ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

''. "Clock Strikes Ten" has since been released on several other compilation and live albums, including ''

The Greatest Hits The Greatest Hits may refer to: * ''The Greatest Hits'' (3 Doors Down album), 2012 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Amii Stewart 2005), 2005 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Australian Crawl album), 2014 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Baby Bird album), 1997 * ''The ...

'', ''

Sex, America, Cheap Trick ''Sex, America, Cheap Trick'' is a 1996 box set by the rock band Cheap Trick. It includes 17 previously unreleased songs (among them the earliest studio recording of the 1979 hit "I Want You to Want Me"), as well as the band's biggest hits. A co ...

'', ''

The Essential Cheap Trick ''The Essential Cheap Trick'' is the fourth compilation album by Cheap Trick and part of Sony BMG's ''The Essential'' series. It contains at least one song from every album up to ''Special One'' (including ''Silver''), except the commercial failu ...

'' and ''Live in Australia''. In 1997, Cheap Trick and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

recorded a version of "Clock Strikes Ten" that was never officially released, but which Tom Beaujour of ''

'' described as "impossibly heavy." Beaujour proclaimed that in Albini's version one can hear why Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain once stated that ""We sound just like Cheap Trick, only the guitars are louder." It has also been covered by The Electric Ferrets on their album ''Ferretzilla''. Famous Monsters covered the song on their album "Into the Night!!!"

References

{{Authority control 1977 singles 1979 singles Cheap Trick songs Songs written by Rick Nielsen Number-one singles in Japan Song recordings produced by Tom Werman Epic Records singles 1977 songs