Why weren't the Raspberries bigger?

Capital finally figured out how to market this style of music, in 1979 with The Knack. Several people have made the argument that the Raspberries were too late, but it could also be argued that they were too early.

 

Van Halen got pushed insanely by all the Guitar magazines. Nobody actually liked them. But kids wore out records trying to learn Eruption while watching themselves playing in the mirror. haha

 

And very few stood in front of the mirror trying to look like this band.

 

When I first heard "Overnight Sensation" and its false fade, I cranked up the volume to try to hear what was going on during the fade. I got walloped by McBride's kit crash and jumped out of my skin. It did what it was intended to do. Even the supposedly more compressed single mix of the song packs as much dynamic punch there as the album version. The end of "Overnight Sensation" is pure bliss. I'd call it the group's most transcendent moment on record. It just soars.

 

Had they dressed in ratty t-shirts, played on the Stiff Records tour with Rockpile and Costillo, and followed that with a short stint at CBGBs they might have gotten more respect. But records sales would have been the same, or even worse.

 

Here's another clip...

I Can Remember - Raspberries Live

EC was not the be all of the Raspberries.

I just like the song.

Darryl

 

I've been reading this thread (and some of it's posts), wondering if some people just can't appreciate a band, if they're from Cleveland? Cleveland, Ohio, for one reason or another, is allowed to have "The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame", but, good luck to any real talent that comes from these parts. While I'll admit that The Raspberries may not have been completely original, they did mix an interesting brew of The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Who, into their sound and I like them. If you listen, instead, with no background knowledge of their origins, you'd swear that they could be one of the greatest overlooked bands of the '70's.

Here are the classic 4 CD's (Pastmasters from Japan), all with the sound that they wanted. Dated and compressed to hell for sure, but it's the sound, like it or not, of The Raspberries!

 

The James Gang are well appreciated... and for good reason. Just to name one. I don't think Cleveland has anything at all to do with it.

 

and not enough rain!

 

Oh well, I guess that it must be the suits then? I'd love to have seen in all of your closets back in the early '70's and if you were like I was, there was more than one embarrassing huge collared shirt in there, plus a pair or two bell bottom jeans that only ever looked good, on porn star Jamie Gillis.

 

I think it was more a matter of bad timing than bad suits. But you gotta admit, that second album cover just makes the band look...well, dorky. Which is a shame, because they were GREAT and it's undeniable when you listen to the music, bad production and all.

Image was everything and album covers went a long way in creating that image in the minds of listeners (a lost art, here in the age of CDs and digital downloads.) Sadly, most people listening to rock music in '73 probably wouldn't be caught dead leaving the record store with that album under their arm.

 

It wasn't the music. If you like classic Powerpop, you'll love the Raspberries. I still listen to their stuff and get a great a deal of enjoyment from them. However, I side with the majority in the belief that it was the way they were packaged. They just seemed to be a half-step behind the times.

 

Absolutely killer guitar intro and middle eight. It MADE the song! I recall reading that Wally thought he should have gotten credit for co-writing the song, but Eric didn't want to give it to him for just contributing a guitar riff (!!!) or something to that effect.

 

How about that town's Adam Blessing & the Second Damnation ...or just Damnation for their last two LPs.

Blend the BEST early Grand Funk with the Joe Walsh era James Gang. They're that good. And yet barely known. Absolutely bizarre.

 

No Rachmaninoff.

 

Yeah. Both bands followed too close to the Beatles timeline. If folks wanted Beatles, they were either still around or Paul and/or John were releasing solo albums. I loved Badfinger and Raspberries during their day but I think time has made their music shine brighter.
And, yes, Overnight Sensation is one of the greatest overlooked songs. Other than the Rolling Stones nod, it didn't get it's rightful attention.
As noted by many, I blame the suits and the goofy teenybopper smiles. Ten years too late for that look. And as I said in an earlier post, if they came out a few years later, they probably would have clicked better with the public.

 

For those of you that ARE fans, here are a few rare Raspberries related discs...

Note on the Scott McCarl CD, Scott does a nice cover of The Beatles, "Yes It Is" and he also released a 45 rpm, which I have, that features a great cover of The Beatles, "This Boy"

 

Scott McCarl's cover of "Yes It Is"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWpB36jy09w

Scott McCarl's cover of "Nobody Knows"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDbDTm18Ulc&feature=related

 

For you Eric Carmen "solo" fans...

Here is an unbelievably catchy and radio-friendly single, that Eric wanted to release as his follow-up to 1988's, "Make Me Lose Control", but ARISTA's Clive Davis vetoed it...What a jerk, as this song could have been a smash...

http://www.ericcarmen.com/mp3/eric_carmen-boardwalk_baby.mp3

 

Sorry but those 80's Eric Carmen songs just make me cringe!

 

I find it amazing that 2 of the best songs from Starting Over, "Play On" and "Cry" are not on any of the best of's.

Great album although I think "Hands on You" should have been left off, maybe a single B side.

Tim

 

I'm from Cleveland (now in LA after years in NYC) and I don't think that it's because they were from Cleveland. If you read the excellent book about Eric, Marathon Man, it talks about their early, successful local days at places like Hulabaloo in Mentor, but goes on to say that as they achieved national acclaim, the local scene ignored/rejected/dismissed them. Kind of sad. Yeah, maybe it was their image - the "Who's the foxiest member" probably didn't help. But I grew up listening to Eric, being a Clevelander in the '70s and '80s.

It's easy to think it's the Cleveland association, simply because of what happened with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB for us locals). Superstars in Cleveland, but beyond a couple of regional success stories here and there, they were pretty much ignored by the rest of the country, and it's hard to figure out exactly why. 3 different major labels each gave them a shot, but it simply never happened. A couple of songs each scraped the bottom of the Top 40, but why "Lover" wasn't a national smash the way it was in Cleveland is beyond me.

 

No Bio-engineering?

 

It's a fair comment - but Eric was more into plagiarising Wilson and Townshend during his time as a Raspberry. I dare say some Rachmaninov or other classical composers' work found its way into a few Raspberries tunes too, if rather more subtly than with "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again".

Of course, he never made a secret of his penchant for "borrowing" melodies or styles - and it produced some great new music in its own right.

For me, it's Eric's piano playing (both the technique/feel and the composing/arranging) that's the main attraction with the Raspberries LPs. On top of that you have Wally's great chiming guitars and Bonfanti's great drumming. The other members all had their moments too - McCarl wrote the heavenly "Rose Coloured Glasses" a had a hand in writing a few other classics on the last album and McBride was a decent enough replacement for Bonfanti although those were big shoes to fill. Even Dave Smalley had some decent writing credits here and there (and some not so decent ones...).

Then there's the invaluable team of Ienner and Yakus behind the glass.

There really aren't that many groups I can think of with all that going for them. I mean, I like The Who but they were no Raspberries!

 

Well, that's kind of the whole definition of "powerpop" isn't it? Being deliberately retro and continuing to party like it was still 1966, while the trend in Rock in the early 70s was to become serious or at the very least, bludgeonly heavy. Otherwise, you were just considered bubblegum.