Released in Japan on this day in 1978, at Budokan is a live album by Cheap Trick. Cheap Trick found early success in Japan and capitalized on this popularity by recording the album in Tokyo on April 28 and 30, 1978, with an audience of 12,000 screaming Japanese fans nearly drowning out the band at times. The album was intended for release only in Japan but with strong airplay of the promotional album From Tokyo to You, an estimated 30,000 import copies were sold in the United States and the album was released domestically in February 1979.
In honor of the anniversary, learn more about this landmark release. An unusual aspect of the album release in the UK was the use of colored vinyl, then primarily restricted to singles and EP's, and soon replaced as a marketing gimmick by so-called "picture discs". A prominently displayed sticker on the sleeve of "Live at Budokan" announced that it had been released on "kamikaze yellow vinyl", and, unlike most colored discs, which were usually as opaque as the conventional black vinyl records, the disc in the album is translucent.
In the U.S., the album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and became the group's best selling album with over three million copies sold. The single "I Want You To Want Me" reached number seven on the singles chart. The second single, a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame" also charted, reaching number 35.