After "The Flame" topped the American Billboard Hot 100, a cover of Elvis Presley's " Don't Be Cruel" peaked at #4. Ĭonsidered as the band's comeback album following the commercial failure of the 1986 album The Doctor, Lap of Luxury spawned three top 40 hit singles and one minor hit single.
The video was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich. In the video, Nielsen can be seen using a guitar designed after the band's previous 1986 album The Doctor.
In 2021, Nielsen emphasized that he did not dislike "The Flame" and thought there was "Probably more good than bad on it." Ī promotional music video was created for the single, receiving frequent airplay on MTV. Reportedly, the band disliked the song at first Rick Nielsen disliked the song so much on first hearing that he yanked it from the tape player and ground the cassette beneath his boot heel. We really didn't like that song anyway, so 'Sure, we'll do 'The Flame.' We're game.'" He goes, 'We got one for you and one for the group Chicago, but you can have first choice.' He said, 'I think the one 'The Flame' would be good for you guys.' The other one was 'Look Away,' and it sounded like some girl singing on the demo. Carlos recalled that "The Flame" was offered to the band by the vice president of Epic Records along with the Diane Warren song " Look Away" " told us he had these two songs and they're both gonna be #1. "The Flame" was written by Nick Graham, a former member of the British rock band Atomic Rooster, and Bob Mitchell.Ĭheap Trick drummer Bun E. Prior to being offered to Cheap Trick, "The Flame" was first offered to British blues rock singer Elkie Brooks, who turned it down. During the recording of the Lap of Luxury album, Epic Records asked Cheap Trick to work with outside songwriters, a request which guitarist Rick Nielsen, the band's main songwriter, was apprehensive about.