Don_Krider

This is neat --- WCBS-FM in New York City has Raspberries in its "Hall Of Fame" at http://www.wcbsfm.com/hall_of_fame.php . The Raspberries entry is at: http://www.wcbsfm.com/hall_of_fame-artist.php?id=000000000000048 ... considering the few acts they've chosen, Raspberries are in a small but very impressive club. Also found an interview with Eric Carmen and Jim Bonfanti from 2005 that I hadn't read before at the "Scream If You Want It" website --- http://www.screamifyouwantit.com/mambo/content/view/28/29/ --- written by Hank Magitz. Kind of interesting to read sales figures for the albums "Raspberries" (200,000 copies) and "Fresh" (300,000 copies). I like Eric's comments at the end of the interview about the "challenge" of writing new songs for the band. Don

Nicely done, Eric. Don 🙂

I did find the rest of the Record World Hot 100 information, so I can also note that "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" reached #89 on that chart and "Tonight" peaked at #43 in Record World. Wally's band Fotomaker's singles performance on the three charts in 1978: "Where Have You Been All My Life?" - peaked at #81 in Billboard, #88 in Cash Box and #84 in Record World. "Miles Away" - #63 in Billboard, #70 in Cash Box and #85 in Record World. And for you Euclid Beach Band (produced by Eric Carmen) fans: the band hit two of the national charts with different singles --- peaking at #82 in Record World in 1978 with "There's No Surf In Cleveland" and at #81 in Billboard in 1979 with the Eric-penned "I Need You." In case anyone isn't aware of it, both songs appeared on the 1979 LP "Euclid Beach Band" that was reissed a few years back on CD in Japan (and Eric plays on the album, too). A trivia bonus --- Euclid Beach Band's Pete Hewlett was most recently in the Hewlett-Anderson Band: http://www.hewlettanderson.com/bios.htm#Pete ; pretty impressive bio. LC, I'm compiling the EC singles data (now that I have all three Hot 100 charts) and it will appear here next... Don

hosskratz, I look forward to that interview with Wally and Jesse. I hope you can get it in Guitar Player because I believe it has the largest circulation of any of the guitar magazines. There have been a couple of good guitar magazine interviews with Wally in the past decade, one in the February 2005 issue of Guitar Digest (which is online at http://www.raspberries.net/GuitarDigestStory.htm ) and a great one in the October 1997 issue of 20th Century Guitar ( http://www.tcguitar.com ) that are worth seeking out. The 20th Century Guitar article was written by Ken Sharp and features photos of many of Wally's guitars, with Wally describing which guitars he used on which songs on Raspberries albums. When I read Ken's article in 1997, I was amazed to find out that Fotomaker's "Come Back" was originally written by Wally around the time of Raspberries "Fresh" album but wasn't included on "Fresh" (as good as the Fotomaker version is, I bet Raspberries could do it better --- "Come Back" probably didn't fit the spirit of the "Fresh" album, but it would have sounded great on "Side 3"). And, to Gene, great photos! Don

Eric, I think that's a cool decision. And a thank you to you and Bernie for making it happen. Don

Paul, "I'm A Rocker" is listed above. "Party's Over"/"Cruisin' Music" didn't chart. "I'm A Rocker" was the "spotlight dance" in 1973 on "American Bandstand" (the band wasn't on the episode, but Dick Clark introduced the dance segment and said something like "these guys have been here a few times" and introduced the song). "Party's Over" did get played on the Rate-A-Record segment of that series when it came out. Looked like the "American Bandstand Dancers" enjoyed moving to it, but the two people who rated it gave it a "60" score. Myself, I love that song. Don

Sounds like they did some neat covers, too --- I love The Beau Brummels "Laugh, Laugh" and The Zombies "Tell Her No." Don

I was just comparing the well-known Billboard chart statistics vs. the lesser-known Cash Box and Record World chart statistics for Raspberries singles in the USA. Kind of interesting in that Raspberries charted much higher in Cash Box and Record World in some cases than they did in Billboard. Note: I have access to the Billboard and CashBox Hot 100 lists, but I can only find the Record World Top 40 singles lists, so I can't provide data on anything that Record World may have charted below its Top 40 singles. Thought the info might be of interest: "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" peaked at #86 in Billboard and #90 in Cash Box (but it was on the Cash Box chart for three weeks, a week longer than the Billboard chart). "Go All The Way" peaks were #5 in Billboard, #4 in Cash Box and #3 in Record World. "I Wanna Be With You" peaks were #16 in Billboard, #10 in Cash Box and #7 in Record World. "Let's Pretend" peaks were #35 in Billboard, #18 (for two weeks) in Cash Box and #14 in Record World. "Tonight" peaks were #69 in Billboard and #37 (for two weeks) in Cash Box. "I'm A Rocker" peaks were #94 in Billboard and #75 in Cash Box. "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" peaks were #18 in Billboard, #24 in Cash Box and #26 in Record World. Only the first and last Raspberries chart hits charted lower in Cash Box than they did in Billboard. Raspberries have one Top 10 single in Billboard, but have two in both Cash Box and Record World. All three charts give the band three Top 20 singles (both have "Go All The Way" and "I Wanna Be With You", but "Overnight Sensation" is the third one in Billboard, while "Let's Pretend" is the third one in both Cash Box and Record World). Raspberries have four Top 40 singles in Billboard and Record World, but had five in Cash Box (the extra being "Tonight"). Amazing that "Tonight" could reach #37 (for two weeks) in Cash Box but inched to only #69 in Billboard). Similar to that huge difference for "Let's Pretend" on the three charts (#14 in Record World and #18 (for two weeks) in Cash Box, but only #35 in Billboard). From a marketing standpoint, Raspberries can actually claim two Top 10 hits and five Top 40 singles via the Cashbox chart. Kind of makes me wonder about the accuracy of chart sales/airplay data since the record industry relies so much on Billboard rankings (rarely does anyone note the Cash Box or Record World (which folded in 1982) rankings in liner notes or band promotions by record labels). The case of The Choir's "It's Cold Outside" is another interesting one: peaked at #68 in Billboard, but hit #55 (for two weeks) in Cash Box and rose to #49 in Record World (according to a magazine article reprinted in Ken Sharp's book "Overnight Sensation: The Story Of The Raspberries")! Sources: My own collections, as well as Joe Whitburn's "Top Pop" books, and two wonderful online resources: the Cash Box Hot 100 Singles charts compiled by Randy Price at http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/randypny/cashbox/index.html and Mark Z's Record World Top 40 charts at http://www.geocities.com/muggy59/index.html . Don

Here's how Eric's "All By Myself" did in Canada --- the CHUM 1050 chart shows it peaking at #2 on March 10, 1976, in Canada (kept out of the Canadian #1 spot by another Arista Records act, The Bay City Rollers "Money Honey"). The song was Top 30 in Canada for 12 weeks, with 5 weeks in the Top 10. (For our Australian fans, it peaked at #7 there.) What is the CHUM 1050 Top 30 Radio Chart? They describe it as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil Young told Rolling Stone that going to bed with his radio tuned to 1050 CHUM was "when he really became aware of what was going on in music". Mike Myers remembers collecting CHUM Charts and listening to Jay Nelson. When the Barenaked Ladies hear the name CHUM, their first thought is the historic red neon sign. On May 27th, 1957, the late Allan Waters backed by a bunch of crazy deejays and the rest of the CHUM radio family turned 1050 CHUM into Canada's first 24-hour Top Forty radio station. Music, radio and Toronto have never been the same again. CHUM was the first radio station in Canada to play Elvis and the Beatles. And 1050 CHUM is honoured at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The CHUM Chart, the CHUM music and the CHUM deejays continue to influence generations. While the world famous CHUM neon sign remains a beacon that shines brightly at 1331 Yonge Street. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's an actual scan of the chart (as distributed to record stores in Canada) at: http://www.1050chum.com/charts/chartview.aspx?img=19760310 A more readable version of the chart info is at: http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?chart=999# One final note: in that chart scan, the Top Canadian albums section has Eric's first album at #12 (interesting since the USA Billboard magazine peak was #21; and for you folks "down under," the chart peak in Australia was #15). Don

Cleveland Plain Dealer article: http://www.cleveland.com/music/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/114137887257270.xml&coll=2

Paul, I believe you are correct on the Denver chart, just wish I could find that week's chart in order to post it (shows that The Choir were Top 10 in more cities than just Cleveland)! Here's a scan for Raspberries fans: WAKY-AM, Louisville, May 23, 1973, Raspberries peaking at # 21 for two weeks with "Let's Pretend" (which peaked at # 35 nationally in Billboard): http://www.79waky.com/surveys/WAKYSurveyMay23-1973Inside.jpg Just shows how in some areas the guys were bigger stars than they were in other areas of the country. Don

One last chart among many: The Choir did pretty well in some cities --- KIMN-AM 950 in Denver, Colorado, ranked the song at # 11 in its July 15, 1967, chart (there's a scan of the chart on the webpage): http://las-solanas.com/arsa/surveys_item.php?svid=1155 It's fun to see the acts they are ahead of on the chart. Don

The Choir did well in Boston on June 22, 1967 --- reaching # 25 on their Top 40 at WRKO --- jumping from # 30 to # 25 past Herman's Hermits, Procol Harum, The Turtles and The Hollies): http://web.utk.edu/~gallant/radio-surveys/wrko1967/wrko22jun67.html Don ...feel free to tell me if these chart posts are boring and I'll stop...

Something neat: The Canadian Top 40 of CHUM Radio, June 19, 1967, lists The Choir's "It's Cold Outside" at # 35 (links to a chart scan and webpage are below). What is the CHUM Radio Chart? They describe it as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil Young told Rolling Stone that going to bed with his radio tuned to 1050 CHUM was "when he really became aware of what was going on in music". Mike Myers remembers collecting CHUM Charts and listening to Jay Nelson. When the Barenaked Ladies hear the name CHUM, their first thought is the historic red neon sign. On May 27th, 1957, the late Allan Waters backed by a bunch of crazy deejays and the rest of the CHUM radio family turned 1050 CHUM into Canada's first 24-hour Top Forty radio station. Music, radio and Toronto have never been the same again. CHUM was the first radio station in Canada to play Elvis and the Beatles. And 1050 CHUM is honoured at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The CHUM Chart, the CHUM music and the CHUM deejays continue to influence generations. While the world famous CHUM neon sign remains a beacon that shines brightly at 1331 Yonge Street. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A scan of the CHUM chart with "It's Cold Outside" on it (hard to read) is at: http://www.1050chum.com/charts/chartview.aspx?img=19670619 The chart as it actually reads: http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?chart=540 On another note: WKSU radio (an NPR service of Kent State University) lists The Choir reunion as a "Hot Pick" this week at: http://www.wksu.org/hotpicks/ Don

I was thinking more of "Make Me Lose Control": "...my waist is over the edge, my pants are tight..." Don

Paulie, I imagine Clive Davis probably was breathing down Eric's neck pretty hard --- in Eric's interview with Crawdaddy magazine in August 1977 - http://web.archive.org/web/20020827193900/www.ericcarmen.com/archive/090177.html - the writer notes that the "Boats Against The Current" LP cost "$358,000 before final mixing". Then if you read further, the writer, John Grissim, writes about asking Clive Davis "if he was nervous about having invested so much money in the production of this latest album. Davis quipped: 'It's his investment, not mine...'" Don

Darlene, I think Rhino Handmade would be a good fit for a "Boats Against The Current" limited edition reissue, which is all that I was thinking about. I definitely agree with you that any new Raspberries release would be better off on another label. And Pyramid Records did do a horrible job with "I Was Born To Love You." I checked out their current web page --- http://www.pyramidrecords.com --- and the only thing active on it is the label history apparently. Pyramid went from Sony distribution to Warner Brothers distribution and then to its current Fontana/Universal distrubution deal. Don

The Cleveland Scene article on the Choir reunion is also online at: http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-03-01/music/music2.html Don

I'd keep counting... (scenes of The Count on Sesame Street..."one record company...two record company...") Don

The Cleveland Free Times article on the Choir reunion is ONLINE Don

LC, count me among the people who bought that magazine with your article. I saw that Arista display only in a mall location for Vine Records in Louisville --- either the other retailers didn't get it, or they didn't set it up. Paulie, you're probably right --- I imagine Arista saved the "good stuff" from promotions for shopping mall locations or larger record stores. The guy at Vine Records was a Raspberries fan who also stocked Fotomaker and the Scene Records version of the Euclid Beach Band's "There's No Surf In Cleveland" with a picture sleeve. I imagine he kept the "Boats" display material. I do have a hard plastic Raspberries album "bin talker" from 1972 --- it's vinyl LP size and the top rises above where the album would be with a "Raspberries For Sale" sign at the top. Imprinted on the plastic below are the cover shots of the first two albums. I have similar "bin talkers" for The Sweet and The Beach Boys, but those are in cardboard. I got the items for $4 apiece from a former Capitol Records employee who was cleaning out his garage! Don

Bernie, Rhino Records might be a good bet since they have those limited edition, 5,000 copy collection reissues in the "Handmade" series --- http://www.rhinohandmade.com/ . Maybe Ken Sharp still has some contacts there (considering his work on the "Poptopia" collection for them). They have a suggestion box for albums they should release at: http://www.rhinohandmade.com/suggestions.lasso --- should we "fill 'er up" with suggestions??? Since Rhino reissued Eric's first Arista album with bonus tracks, "The Fotomaker Collection" anthology and the 3-volume "Poptopia" set (with commentary from Eric in the liner notes), I bet Rhino Handmade could produce a pretty nice package for "Boats" (toss in "Temporary Hero"). Really exciting idea, Bernie. Don

Reading Bernie and Ken's "Marathon Man" book, I was struck by Eric's set list for the November 9, 1979, Yamaha World Popular Song Festival --- according to the book, he did seven songs, six of them originals, and three of the tune's came from "Boats Against The Current": the title track, "She Did It" and "Marathon Man." I liked Eric's comments on the song "Marathon Man" in the book, too. There's an interesting article by Jane Scott, Cleveland Plain Dealer, from September 11, 1977, when the "Boats..." album had been in release for about a month --- http://web.archive.org/web/20030110143834/www.ericcarmen.com/archive/091177.html --- in which she notes sales figures up to that point. According to Jane Scott, the single "She Did It" had sold 254,000 units nationally (22,000 copies in Cleveland) and the album had sold 343,519 units nationally (34,913 in Cleveland) --- certainly showing a good level of Cleveland support for Eric. That album really deserved to chart better than peaking at #45 in Billboard for two weeks. Don

I found this while skipping across the waves of the internet ocean at http://oneamericanagainstsonymusic.com/p.html --- it's the blog of Steve Popovich of Cleveland International Records (the label of Meat Loaf and the Euclid Beach Band, among others). He's leading the fight against "payola" and I like his comments about what's wrong with Top 40 radio these days (I'm not sure when he posted this, but it's obviously from 2004 or 2005): ---------------------------------------------- "In the last two weeks, I’ve seen some amazing concerts by Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Raspberries with Eric Carmen, and the James Gang with Joe Walsh. All four acts had an amazing connection to the audience and created excitement for doing at least an hour or two of songs that everyone in the audience knew and could sing along to. All those hits happened when radio was exciting and took pride in breaking new music through." --------------------------------------------- So, next time you're at a Raspberries' gig, look around and you might see a record company president! (I know of one other, whom I won't name here, who wrote me that he was blown away by Raspberries' July 2005 show in Cleveland). Raspberries concerts attract the most interesting audience members, but you guys and gals already knew that! Don

I hope the live DVD does come out and I imagine the guys will want to package it for greatest sales potential (to come out when something is generating interest, like a tour or when there's a CD out) --- just a guess. The Knack's "Getting The Knack" (released as a 25th anniversary celebration of "My Sharona," which was the biggest-selling single of 1979) DVD in 2004 involved Ken Sharp and included commentary from Cherie Currie (Runaways) and Rick Springfield. Pretty darn good documentary --- I hope Raspberries do a "documentary" like that for the 35th anniversary of "Go All The Way" in 2007 (might make the expense of licensing footage from TV shows worthwhile). Just think of the celebrity commentary they could get for a documentary ("Hi, I'm Bruce Springsteen, I loved the music..." or "Cherie Curie here, I loved the tight pants..."). Don