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Eric Carmen Of The Raspberries Is Gone At 74
He had hits with The Raspberries (like "Go All The Way," "I Wanna Be With You" ("Hit Record) Overnight Sensation" and more) and solo songs (including "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again," "That's Rock and Roll," and "All By Myself.") And he was the singular voice for a different kind of pop music in the 70s.
Now that voice has been stilled with the news that Eric Carmen has died. He not only sang on The Raspberries hits, he wrote many of them, including their first big smash "Go All The Way."
”When I was writing ‘Go All the Way,’ I’d seen how the Stones were forced to change their lyrics on Ed Sullivan,” Carmen said in “Overnight Sensation,” Ken Sharp’s history of the group. “And I was listening to [the Beach Boys’] ‘Pet Sounds,’ where Brian Wilson is talking about sleeping with his girlfriend, but in an innocent way, and getting away with it. ‘I thought, If we sing this like choirboys and put the words in the girl’s mouth, maybe we can slide this by radio!’ And it worked.”
I always remember the song for it's amazing guitar intro, which every Top 40 jock worth his salt would talk up to the opening line in the intro, "Mama Yeah!"
No cause of death was given, but the singer was 74 years old.
Eric Carmen, Raspberries Frontman and ‘All by Myself’ Singer, Dies at 74
- Chrisphen
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Re: Eric Carmen Of The Raspberries Is Gone At 74
I always confused him with Paul Carrack.
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Re: Eric Carmen Of The Raspberries Is Gone At 74
My favourite Carmen song was always "Let's Pretend," which unfortunately was not one of the Raspberries' bigger hits. But it's a great tune and has the same theme as the Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
But Carmen may be best remembered for "All By Myself," not because it was his best song but because it wound up being used constantly in a host of TV shows, sometimes in a comedic way to show the sad state of a character. I'm surprised how often it turns up.
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Thread Starter- Paul Jeffries
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Re: Eric Carmen Of The Raspberries Is Gone At 74
Another notable single from Eric Carmen was his 1977 hit, "She Did It", which was inspired by the 1968 hit single "Do It Again" by The Beach Boys, and also included harmonies from Bruce Johnston and Brian Wilson from the band. Burton Cummings, Andrew Gold and Jeff Porcaro also performed on the track.
Carmen was touring with Hall & Oates around that time and in turn, "She Did It" was said to be the inspiration behind their 1982 hit single, "Did It in a Minute".
PJ
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Re: Eric Carmen Of The Raspberries Is Gone At 74
Carmen had a big hit with " Hungry Eyes " . 1987 .
- Shorty Wave
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Re: Eric Carmen Of The Raspberries Is Gone At 74
In 1976 I was living in Africa and my dad went on a business trip to the US. I asked him to pick up a copy of Patti Smith’s “Horses” album for me, as some albums were hard to get there. When he got back, he gave me the sealed copy of Horses which I hastily opened only to find Eric Carmen’s first solo album instead of Patti Smith’s debut. Nothing against Carmen, but boy was I bummed. They were both on Arista so a factory mix up happened no doubt! R.I.P. Eric, I forgave Arista, eventually!