Fuse was an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois, in late 1968, after Rick Nielsen proposed the merging of two local bands: The Grim Reapers and Toast and Jam. Managed by Ken Adamany, Fuse's line-up consisted of Rick Nielsen (keyboards/guitar), Joe Sundberg (vocals), Tom Peterson (bass guitar), Craig Myers (lead guitar), and Chip Greenman (drums/percussion).  They recorded their one and only album in 1970, a masterpiece of psychedelic rock full of soulful vocals, crunchy guitar riffs, and of course, 70's style keyboards (which does not sound anything like Cheap Trick, who Peterson and Nielsen would later form).  Rick Nielson either loved or hated the album, depending upon which internet story you believe.  From Wikipedia:  

 

Nielsen has nothing good to say about the Fuse album, stating "Tom Petersson and I were in a Midwest band called Fuse. The guys we were with were all rinky dinks; they’re probably pumping gas now. Tom and I had the stick-to-it-iveness and positive thinking to know what we wanted to do, so we split the band and went off to hang out in England.... That Fuse stuff stinks. We don’t stand by it.

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However, from several other sources :   

 

The guys we were with were all superior musicians—they’re probably in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now. Tom and I had the stick-to-it-iveness and positive thinking to know what we wanted to do, so we split the band and went off to hang out in England. That Fuse stuff was my finest work. We stand by it and wished Cheap Trick played that well!

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HMMMMMMMM!   We here at Robscurities choose to believe in the latter assessment - this stuff rocks! 

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