Working late nights playing small clubs and dives in the windy city of Chicago, five musical students of DePaul University would later become one of the all time best selling rock n' roll groups across multiple categories. Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, James Pankow, Lee Loughnane, and last to arrive Robert Lamm played music under many names eventually settling on Chicago, the name that would become a staple throughout rock n' roll history.

Chicago

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Introduction/History

Working late nights playing small clubs and dives in the windy city of Chicago, five musical students of DePaul University would later become one of the all time best selling rock n' roll groups across multiple categories. Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, James Pankow, Lee Loughnane, and last to arrive Robert Lamm played music under many names eventually settling on Chicago, the name that would become a staple throughout rock n' roll history.

Progression

Practicing out of Parazaider's small apartment in Chicago, Illinois, the musical troupe first started their careers under the name 'The Big Thing,' which covered top forty hits upon first starting out. After receiving small bits of local recognition, the ensemble began to focus on their own original scores under the review of friend and manager James Guercio. As most managers would, Guercio convinced the group to move to L.A. in order to gain a wider berth as musicians.

Upon arrival in Los Angeles, the group signed under the record label of Columbia and changed their named to 'The Chicago Transit Authority.' Oddly, their first release as "The Chicago Transit Authority' was a double album, a rarity in almost any musical genre. With the addition of FM bandwidth to public radio, the group began to receive significant airtime bringing attention to their more poppy tunes such as Beginnings and Questions 67 and 68. Threatened by the actual Chicago Transit Authority due to name infringement, the band decided it best to shorten their name to simply Chicago, which primed the pump for decades of success.

Winding Up

A second album, also a double LP, reinforced the band's popularity with mainstream pop culture and was self titled Chicago. Pankow's endearment of classical music created a cornerstone on the album known as Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon, which he composed as a 13 minute piece that begins with the band's horn section giving a lesson on scales to its listeners. During the 1970's, the group released one album for every year with different titles but also following a canonistic approach where as the albums were each labeled by a successive roman numeral.

Although creating a solid foundation of loyal fans and releasing Chicago at Carnegie Hall (eventually a best seller box set for fifteen years), Chicago could not quite manage any major awards from their work. It wasn't until 1976 when Peter Cetera's If You Leave Me Now reached number one on Billboard charts and went on to win a Grammy in 1977 under the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

After this breakthrough, the group would play on for the next three decades without any major interruptions going on to produce one of the greatest album collections ever recorded by a single original group. Over their years together, the group has over 33 albums in circulation, nine of which have gone multi-platinum and nine that have remained platinum. Their albums consist of studio, live, compilation, and import releases, which continue to grow to this day. Many internet websites have free music downloads and downloads for a fee as mp3's.

Tragedy Strikes

With the detachment from their manager James Guercio and the tragic accidental death of their lead and front man Terry Kath, the group experienced dark times. A drunken Terry Kath accidentally shot himself on January 23, 1978 in front of Don Johnson, the group's guitar technician. Considered the heart and soul of Chicago by many of its die hard fans, Kath's death threatened the existence of the group as a whole. However, with support of many friends within rock n' roll as well as its unrelenting fan base, Chicago powered through the rough times. Kath was eventually replaced by guitarist Donnie Daccus who held a commanding stage presence similar to Kath.

Common Era Chicago

Interestingly, through their trials and tribulations, Chicago is still together in present day and boasts one of the best records for original member retainage, having four of the founding members still part of the group. The band still performs a light schedule touring many international venues and in 2008 released the album Stone of Sisyphus. In 2009 they reunited with "Earth, Wind, and Fire" on a joint tour. Although as of yet to be inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, Chicago's fan base has created petitions year after year hoping one day the music of the band will live with eternal recognition in the ranks of rock n' roll legends.

Did You Know?

• Chicago has release over 63 singles for public review during its legacy.
• The logo that appears on Chicago's album covers was thought to be patterned after the Coca Cola logo.
• According to Parazaider, in 1969 the group toured 360 out of 365 days of year, which is said to have ignited the spark for their first album.

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