challer

I just got into Brian Ray a couple of months ago. His 2 albums, Mondo Magneto and This Way Up, are absolutely amazing. All aspects: lyrics, arrangements, musicianship, vocals, and of course guitar parts/solos/sounds. Same with his band The Bayonets (in Susie's post above). If you like power pop, mixed with some other elements of his vast influences, these could well be your new go to CD's. I know they are for me. Please listen to them, and post your reviews.

Richard Cheese does some fantastically strange covers. Here's one.

https://woodsonrva.com/2020/05/24/essential-pop-rock-songs-of-the-70s/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/green-day-billie-joe-armstrong-eric-carmen-thats-rock-n-roll-1001720/

I was listening to the Sirius Beatles channel on 11/1/19, specifically 'Breakfast with the Beatles' , when the host Chris Carter (after playing the Raspberries 'Nobody Knows'), mentioned that they had Brian Ray, the guitarist in Paul McCartney's touring band, on the show last month, and Brian mentioned that he's going to be writing songs with Eric. Did anyone else hear that?

And yesterday (3/1/19), the Beatles channel played Scott McCarl's 'Yes It Is." Somewhere working there is a Raspberries fan.

At the Rock Hall, they currently have a 'Cleveland Rocks' exhibit, and Raspberries are well represented in this display. One of the items is the handwritten lyrics to Hit Record, eventually titled Overnight Sensation. An interesting part is that Eric had some extra lyrics in it. Not sure if it these were meant for a 2nd bridge or what. "Make a demo, add some harmony Seems we've used up all our money But it sounds real good." "in my head I hear the final mix Why, it's one of this weeks spotlight picks! Oh, I knew it was good."

Hi everyone- I was driving home on Monday (11/19/18) evening in Cleveland, listening to the Sirius XM Beatles channel, ~ 4:55 pm. Suddenly I hear 'No Reply', but it's the Raspberries version from Pop Art Live that I had listened to on my phone just that morning. So I thought maybe my car radio had somehow switched to Bluetooth mode and was playing the last album I was listening to. But it didn't switch: it was indeed the 'No Reply' from the latest Raspberries CD, with Wally and Eric doing their harmonies. Did anyone else happen to catch it? (I haven't posted for ~8 years or so - not sure why.)

I'd like to pass along some info on a new singer/band I've heard about: Brian Lisik. He and his band (the Unfortunates) are from the Akron area, and they have a great new CD out next month. Cool title: Curtisinterruptedus. Here's an article giving some comparisons to Eric and the Raspberries. http://coolcleveland.com/blog/2015/03/chamber-strings-brian-lisik-play-cleveland-pop-beachlandcle/ "Although northeast Ohio’s music scene has always been incredibly diverse, its image as a fountain of power pop has been bandied around since the Raspberries broke out in the early ’70s. Perhaps it’s because the style, while seldom getting much traction with the listening public, is deeply beloved by music critics. And literate musicians love to reach back to the treasure trove of power pop influences. Longtime Cleveland musician Brian Lisik, for instance, sounds like he spend a lot of time listening to the Raspberries prior to recording his new album Curtisinterruptedus. His vocals on the album’s three opening tunes owe a lot to ‘berries lead yelper Eric Carmen and the songs sound like long-lost Raspberries B-sides. Much of the rest of the album digs into a sort of earnest blue-collar folk rock —“Normalcy†sounds like the usual sort of song written by songwriters who grew up on Springsteen, Mellencamp and Petty. Bur he keeps slipping back into the Carmenisms, as on the piano ballad “Born on Needles and Pins.†It’s Lisik’s fourth solo album since he released his first, Baggage, in 2004. Lovers of both tuneful retro pop and rust-belt rock should check out him and his band the Unfortunates when they play at the Beachland Tavern Sat. 3/28." And here's a link to another story and a track from the CD: Jan. 13: http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/brian-lisik-delivers-curtisinterruptedus-april-28/ Thanks

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/eric_carmen_goes_all_the_way_a.html

New Wendy's commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6nw8lo-5Ic

This may be old information: In the excellent 2010 book "You Never Give Me Your Money" by Peter Doggett (a story about the Beatles break-up), here is a quote from pg. 191: "Acts who consciously maintained the Beatles tradition, such as the Electric Light Orchestra, Badfinger, and Raspberries, endured jibes about their outdated, 'retro' sound."

Hi all- I was reading a story about Wings guitarist Laurence Juber, and suddenly he referenced Eric: "Here’s a funny story: years later I played a guitar part for Eric Carmen on a song called “Make Me Lose Controlâ€, which became a hit. As the record was about to come out, I got a call from a company who wanted me to be in the video. Well, they had no idea I had played on the record and thought I would be mimicking someone else’s performance. So I got to mimic my own." http://daytrippin.com/2010/08/09/exclusi...ney-university/

I went on the DailyMotion web site just now, and this video (in the link) was the home page video - a 2009 greeting. (I hope the link works) http://www.dailymotion.com/us/featured/video/x7lm64_happy-new-year-2009_fun

A question about Be My Baby: Is it Wally singing the falsetto background vocal?

Hi everyone- I thought I could help and share this software tip again on how to download/save the audio gifts underneath the tree on Christmas morning from Bernie. There is a small freeware PC program called 'CacheSort"; the link for the download is below. Download and run the program after you have found all of the gifts and played them. When you run Cachesort, a folder icon will show in the taskbar as it sorts all of the images, audio files, movie files, etc. that have been recently played on your system. After you give the program a few minutes to sort the files out, right click on this folder icon in the taskbar, and choose 'Explore Sorted cache'. It will open the folder with the cache files: then open up the MP3 folder. All of the files (5 from Christmas day) should be in the folder. Also -- this same program works for the audio and video files in the Multimedia section. Thanks Bernie, for the holiday gifts once again. Conrad http://www.softpedia.com/downloadTag/CacheSort

Hello. In Cleveland this week, on WTAM radio (1100, at WTAM.com), they are featuring the Raspberries on the daily morning trivia question. Today was "what was the date the Raspberries broke up?", with the answer being 3/16/75 (or something like that, I already forgot). It airs around 6:40 am, and is being given by the producer (Scott 'Scooter' Reese). I think the prize is free tickets to the December show. Bye

Here's a nice review from last week; not sure if the link was already posted: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/07/25/033953.php

Hi All- A quick note: I just got back with my family from Cedar Point today (an amusement park in Sandusky, OH): One of the live performance shows there this year is 'Rock N Country.' The opening song is some song about radio, and in the middle of it, the band & singers sing the chorus to Make Me Lose Control. I don't know anything about fractional royalty payments to Eric and Dean, but it was cool to hear. Thanks

Great video. I just noticed that on the wall, just behind Eric, one of the album covers is from the band's 1st release. Maybe everyone already noticed that from before (the I Wanna Be With You video), but it took me until now.

A quick question about this song I have had for years: at about 2'46" into the song, there is a mumbled, spoken line: something like "There are things that are real...". I have no idea what it is. Can someone let me know what is said and who said it? Maybe it's a backwards loop or something. Thanks, Conrad

Here's one way I found to save things on a PC (both videos and sound files): Use a program called "CacheSort.exe"; below is a link. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64168-order,1-page,1-c,peripherals/description.html Start the file playing you want to save, and then run this program (choose Run after double clicking on it). It will then show up with an icon in the system tray. Right Click on it and chose 'Explore Sorted Cache." This will open a folder, and check in the MP3 or MOV folders for the saved file. Good luck. It's worth the effort. Conrad

From the Feb. 10th edition of Entertainment Weekly, pg. 133, 1st paragragh in a review of Il Divo: "The demand for an operatic rendition of Eric Carmen's 'All By Myself' is finally answered with Il Divo's Ancora......". That's all the review mentioned.

Now that someone also remembered it, I did a search and found this from an episode summary: "Henderson and Williams sang a tandem, she singing "Traces" and he singing Eric Carmen's "All By Myself." It was easily the most poignant moment in this series." Would anyone like to bet whether or not Bernie has both this video clip and the song? Maybe it could be the '06 Christmas present. Or maybe not.

Almost in line with the talented Il Divo, I need to ask this (maybe a repeat from the past): I have a vague memory of the Brady Bunch becoming a variety show in the U.S. after the sitcom was cancelled (which would be ! 1975 or so). They were still the Brady Bunch, but also sang and did skits. In one episode, Greg Brady moved out of the house. Soon after, he was singing 'All By Myself' in his new apratment, which then turned into a duet with Mrs. Brady on a split screen. Can someone please tell me that my memory is correct? And if it is, has anyone got a copy? Thanks