Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
July 28, 1991
When the hard rock group Extreme boarded the Trinidad for an hourlong cruise along the Chicago River last week, several hundred fans, waiting on deck, were surprised that the band had four members.
“Who’re those two guys?” one young woman said to no one in particular. “Are they roadies?”
“We get that a lot since `More Than Words’ got to be a hit,” drummer Paul Geary said, laughing. “The newer fans know who (guitarist) Nuno (Bettencourt) and (vocalist) Gary (Cherone) are from the video, but they stare at me and (bassist) Pat (Badger) to try to figure out why we’re there, ’cause we’re hardly in that video at all. But we’re not too bummed about it because once they find out, they’re really happy. Besides, our core following knows what Extreme is all about.”
Since hitting No. 1 with the ballad “More Than Words,” Extreme has been more popular than either David Lee Roth or Cinderella, the band’s touring partners. While this might cause ego problems on the road, Bettencourt said everything worked out fine because the band members kept things in perspective.
“It’s true that we have a bigger hit than those guys at this moment,” Bettencourt said. “But we all know that tomorrow, things could be reversed and no one might want to come on a boat ride with us.”
Sponsored by Chicago’s WYTZ-FM (94.7), the cruise gave 21-and-older contest winners the chance to munch on pizza, sip beers and get autographed CDs and posters. Security turned down the oft-repeated requests for photos with the band.
