Robin Zander Band to perform in Newton

At the risk of making an obvious joke, Robin Zander wants audiences to want him.

Zander knows that most people associate him almost exclusively with Cheap Trick, the band that he has fronted for more than 40 years. The group’s catalog includes such staples of 1970s rock as “I Want You to Want Me” and “Surrender.”

.But Zander’s love of music extends beyond just the songs of Cheap Trick. That is why, since 2013, he has interspersed his Cheap Trick appearances by touring with the Robin Zander Band.

Zander says the distinction between the two groups is subtle but important. “Cheap Trick has its own style. It’s a recognizable sound. When you’re in a band, it’s like Congress. You have to have a consensus.”

“But with my band, I’m free to do what I want,” he continues. “We can play all types of styles. We can play songs by Rod Stewart, Hendrix, Badfinger, Led Zeppelin. It’s a different feel.”

The Robin Zander Band will perform at the Newton Theatre this Saturday, September 20.

The RZB, as Zander calls them, consists of three other seasoned performers. Mark Hitt has played guitar with the Tubes and Jack Bruce of Cream. Bassist Larry Hobbs was a member of the Juice.

Drummer Steve Luongo has backed a host of musicians, such as the late John Entwistle, Leslie West of Mountain, Todd Rundgren, and Ann Wilson of Heart (who recorded the ballad “Surrender to Me” with Zander).

Luongo may also be familiar to long-time rock fans who remember his tenure in the band Rat Race Choir, which frequently played in New York and New Jersey in the 1970s and early 1980s.

“These guys are no slouches,” says Zander. “They’re tried-and-true. We’re all friends, and we’re all from the same era.”

Shuttling between two bands may seem demanding, but Zander states that he has never wanted to do anything but play music.

“I grew up on radio and vinyl records. I grew up on the British Invasion,” says Zander. “I remember going on vacation and my father turning on the radio. I heard ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and ‘Ferry Across the Mersey,’ and that did it for me.”

Zander had learned guitar by the time he was 12. During high school, he played in a string of bands. In the early 1970s, he was performing in Wisconsin Dells, a popular Midwestern resort.

In 1972, Zander was tapped by drummer Bun E. Carlos to be the lead singer in a band that Carlos had started with guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson. The group had lost its vocalist, Randy Hogan, just as it was about to record its first demos.

The band became Cheap Trick. With Zander as lead singer, the quartet went on to achieve considerable success overseas. Its popularity in the U.S. soared in the wake of a 1979 live album recorded the previous year at Budokon, Japan.

For Zander, the essence of rock is in its roots. “When I was growing up, it was about Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley,” he says. “The British Invasion was based in the blues. Rock is growing in different directions, but it’s always done that.”

Zander dismisses most of what he hears nowadays. “But about 25 percent is really great music,” he says. “There are some great young rock bands out there making a go of it.”

For the moment, Zander is concentrating on select appearances with the RZB, with whom he might record a live album. “This is not something that’s going to end soon,” he says. “We’re happy with this line-up, and I think it shows.”

ROBIN ZANDER BAND

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20

WHERE: Newton Theatre, 234 Spring St., Newton

TICKETS: $37 to $47

INFORMATION: 973-383-3700 or www.thenewtontheatre.com