pierson

I don't know where to start... if Bruce Springsteen is Parade Rock & Styx is a legitimate player (s)... I can't think of any way to reply, except that that's your opinion... It's a bit irrational, but you're allowed to have it, and if you believe it, that's fine... it still doesn't validate your point beyond your home address... if you didn't see Bruce perform "Kitty's Back" on Conan, I would suggest trying to seek it out-- He is a great guitar player-- that or maybe check out Warren Zevon's "Disorder In The House" where Bruce's lead cuts as hard & fierce as anything Angus Young ever put on tape... not that Angus is Steve Vai or any of those other highly touted "blow hard" guitar virtuosos (i.e. Satriani) who've never written a song 1/10th as moving "The River" which is a song that's delivered by someone who can "write strong songs and actually sing and play well."

Well, unless you can point out another artist (Prince, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick & Bowie are close, but they come off as "Pros"--Bruce makes you feel like he HAS to do it)-- Bruce is the only one I've seen who's able to reconnect to spirit and energy that created the music almost 3 decades ago... without looking or sounding like an old fool... 99% of the artists lose that edge and energy once they've been thru the storm & back...

Yes... and that is an extremely tacky habit... just say you like The Association, Neu, Bread, Hawkwind, Carpenters, Eno, Paul Williams, and The Jam and get on with it...

I'm not a 'fan' of Bruce's but anyone who doesn't realize his passion is extraordianry, just doesn't hear it... his over-exposure may have something to do with it... but a not-so recent (2002) appearance on Conan saw him doing "Kitty's Back" and his guitar solo was as edgy, cutting and awe-inspiring as anything I've ever seen... he truly means it... and he does not falter... very very very few artists that age can claim that.... he really has moved the bar way up for aging rockers... and far as stories go... his early stuff are as crammed full of tales of yonder (life) as anything any rock/pop artist has spun... "Growin Up" ain't the work of a hack... unless you've heard everything the man has done, don't slag him... if you have and still do, you're too cynical... that's just my opinion, though...

Marvin,it's extremely difficult to get enthralled by anything via internet soundbites... and unless you here "Oh Babe" in its entirety, there's nothing there that's gonna immediately smack like "Go All The Way" or "Tonight." Hard to say if it will move you as much as Bob & I, since your faves lean towards things like Dan Fogelberg, Don Henly and Andrew Gold and not stuff like Big Star... if you really like Paul McCartney's early '70s stuff, Todd Rundgren 70-75, and Emitt Rhodes, this is a must... in due time i should finally be getting around to putting Artful Dodger's stuff on CD and Van Duren's

Back in the days of cloning, pop freaks quickly seeked out Pete Ham & Eric Carmen's kin in the summer of '72 and asked for samples and set up petrie dishes... science had advanced so that said experiment, sir Van Duren, had grown up to be a budding 20something pop god all of his making by 1975--3 years after the Ham/Carmen explosion; remember those airwaves batting around "Day After Day" and "Go All The Way" not too far from one another....sheesh.... some demos were cut in '75 with Big Star's Jody Stephens... finally by 1977 Jon Tiven and Big Sound Records gave Van a shot and this miracle of science caught magic in a bottle unlike anything in the waning years of the '70s (despite great efforts by Twilley & Artful Dodger--Van Duren was by far the closest to Eric Carmen & Pete Ham's spirit, but NEVER a mere rip-off--This was expansion)... since Big Sound was an indie label, no one heard Van Duren, except the few freaks & those religiously listening to NY's WPIX 'godhead' phase in '79-80... Years later, those who hung on to their copies of "Are You Serious" buzzed ga ga & even pop freaks in Japan caught word... 'tis the Japanese label Airmail Recordings who finally resuscitated Van's legacy... The album is a head-to-toe winner & something that bears rewards after spinning adnauseum in the car, on the beach or where-ever... Choice cuts: "Oh Babe," "Love That I Love," "Stupid Enough," "Guaranteed," "Grow Yourself Up," "This Love Inside" & "Chemical Fire."

or Tortoise and Shellac

Those are not styles of music insofar as they are Tags/labels made up by music journalists who think they're being clever.... Shoegazers (and dream pop) are basically straight-ahead Rock bands by nature with either a fetish for noise/drone (i.e. My Bloody Valentine) or drawn-out dynamics (i.e. Adorable, Ride, Catherine Wheel) or ethereal soundscapes (i.e. Cocteau Twins). The Stone Roses were a rock/pop band who dabbled in psychedelia, neo-folk, and techno. Electroclash means absolutely nothing, except that it's supposed to mean all the new crop of indie bands who are making "alternative" techno, electronica and synth based rock which all boils down to that it sounds like new wave/synth pop a la 1978-85 that was inspired by Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Bowie, Neu--so you have Le Tigre, Fischer Spooner, The Faint etc. making modern retro/new wave music.... I have no idea what anyone means when they say post-rock, except that it makes them sound like an idiot...maybe it's nu-metal like Tool & System Of A Down or nu-post punk like The Rapture, The Walkmen, Modest Mouse etc... Americana basically sounds like what it's supposed to be which is American singer songwriters/bands with roots to Neil Young, Byrds, Gram Parsons--Mainly it's folk-rock or country-rock... another stupid tag that's useless.... I HOPE that most fans of soft adult contemporary pop music (which is soft pop for an easier generalization) know nothing about these labels and just go, "Oh, that's alternative music or new wave" when they hear it. That will save everyone a lot of time and useless dribble... and be more concise & accurate than the aforementioned labels given by carmensmalley, which helps no one and makes things more confusing....

too bad more will vote "no".... despite the inanities of some of your "political" discussions w/ tony.... noting's more important than people going back & forth about such things, whether or not it's on an "Eric Carmen" website... people should not be so close-minded, whether or not they don't dig the bickering... it's pretty easy to just avoid it....

the best place is Tower Records... but the new issue is going to the distributor who gets it into Borders and Barnes & Noble... since it's being published once a year... it's kinda hard to find...

CREEM & Bomp (& Trouser Press) have yet to cease to be cutting edge--one can learn more from one of Lester Bangs' or Greg Shaw's record review, than almost anything being written today.... and you probably don't know that Yeah Yeah Yeah is my own magazine...

Creem, Bomp, and Yeah Yeah Yeah

Power Pop was a phrase coined by Pete Townsend, but made popular by Nick Lowe (i believe) during the new wave era... during the new wave era, everyone stated the Raspberries as being the first true Power pop band, even though no one was calling them such when they making records...

DRAMARAMA my children. "What Are We Gonna Do"---it's april 21st and everybody knows today is earth day happy birthday to everyone who's being born...... it's on their 1992 LP "Vinyl", the definitive earth day song, if there ever was one...

Yeah, i noticed in recent photos he looked like he was injured... However, he's always looked like an onion (check out the back shot of "Life Goes On" LP)... due mainly to the glasses, hair and shape of his face... he's a sweetheart... everyone should check out his 70-72 material--pretty much solid top drawer soft pop at its best...

Is Paul, Irish or Scottish? HE'S WHITE... AND HE'S AN ONION....

[ And, finally, a real gem of an artist named Van Duren. His 'Are U Serious' from the late 70s is a must have for any pop devotee. Cheers, Bob Allen Syracuse, NY [/QB]

AS FOR PAUL WILLIAMS... i would never expect critics to like him... although those slags that were "posted" are way off... Williams could easily slide into schmaltz and jingle like melodies, but at his peak cut much deeper with pop as moving as Bacharach and Nilsson--check out the 1972 "Life Goes On" LP which features his version of "Out In The Country," "Traveling Boy," "I Won't Last A Day Without You" and great undiscovered gems like "Rose" and "Little Girl"--arguably his best stuff--and still holds up well... these days he's been honored by NYC's Loser's Lounge who did a tribute night to him.... he's also been working with Richard Barone of The Bongos...

THE 'BERRIES ARE A TOUGH ACT FOR CRITICS, AND GOD BLESS THEM FOR BEING SO... MANY CRITICS IN THE EARLY '70S WERE EITHER NOSTALGIA FREAKS WHO QUICKLY ENDORSED ANYTHING REMINSCENT TO THE MID-'60S WITHOUT GIVING IT A BALANCED VIEW, OR WERE STEADFAST ON LOOKING FORWARD AND COULDN'T UNDERSTAND BANDS LIKE RASPBERRIES, BADFINGER, DWIGHT TWILLEY BAND, AND BIG STAR... ALTHOUGH BIG STAR FARED BETTER W/ THE CRITICS (A BIT HEADIER IN THE LYRIC DEPT--AND MORE MUSICALLY ADVENTUROUS)...THE 'BERRIES WERE MOST LIKEY, NOT HILLBURN'S CUP OF TEA, AND INSTEAD OF SLAGGING THEM, HE DIDN'T REVIEW IT AT ALL. (HE PROBABLY KNEW THEY WERE GOOD AT WHAT THEY DID, BUT DIDN'T LIKE IT.) IT ALSO DOESN'T MAKE SENSE THAT HE WOULDN'T LIKE THE "STARTING OVER" ALBUM... BY THEN MOST SERIOUS CRITICS (I.E. ROBERT CHRISTGAU, DAVE MARSH) WERE ON THE BAND'S SIDE...

The musical resemblance is definitely there... you may be hearing the more obvious "differences" which are Eric Carmen and Alex Chilton's vocals, the band's lyrics and their artistic MO. An easy way to explain it is that Big Star leans closer to the "Lennon" side of The Beatles and Raspberries lean towards the "McCartney" side. Both bands tried and excelled at recreating new rock/pop music for the early '70s that captured the essence of 1964-1966, before drugs and hippies took over rock. Big Star were more influenced by The Byrds and The Kinks while the Berries were more on the side of Who, Beach Boys... Both of these concepts, in 1972-1974 sounded fresh and exciting when the majority of bands were far far away from doing such things. Thus the resemblance... Here's my choices of Big Star songs that are kindred spirits to The Berries': "September Gurls"--definitely inspired from similar emotions Eric was dwelling, most prominently heard on "Let's Pretend" and "Go All The Way"--these are pop/rock songs with a yearning and musical expressiveness extremely rare and totally moving... "13" and "Ballad Of El Goodo" are something akin to "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" and "I Saw The Light"... albeit a bit folkier/Byrds-based others: "My Life Is Right," "Give Me Another Chance" "Back Of A Car".... these kinda parallel stuff like "Cry" and "I Can Hardly Believe You're Mine"-- stuff off "3rd": not really Berries territory, but Left Bank-ish and Lou Reed/John Lennon-ish... "Stroke It Noel," "For You," "Nighttime," "Thank You Friends" and "Blue Moon"

Who said we don't like Suzi Quatro???!! Actually, her records don't hold up nearly as well as Sweet or Slade's... very 2nd rate (ersatz-glitter)... but "48 Crash" is fine...

yes and no... in other words, there were songs on Raspberries albums that wouldn't qualify as "power pop," but AS A BAND, they most definitely were a Power Pop Band. Their concept was just that: A reaction to the bloated excess of late '60s early '70s rock... They set out to bring certain things back in the mix of current popular music that were missing since 1968... That's the Power Pop concept-- basically under 4 minutes concise pop songs centered on male/female lyrics, but with the power of The Who and The Kinks... From "Go All The Way" to "Play On" they held true to such an aesthetic-- songs like "Go All The Way" and "Tonight" are the blueprint for Power Pop and are what the Raspberries are truly about...