pierson

the only 'Berries song that comes close to being "Bubblegum" is "I Wanna Be With You"... and of EC's I'd put "Hey Deanie" as a contender, too, although they've got more depth than what usually constitutes a bubblegum song... Bubblegum is basically the music that came in the wake of Saturday Morning Cartoons, TV shows & cereal-box records (i.e. Archies, Buggaloos, Banana Splits, & the whole Kasenetz-Katz crew)... bands like The Monkees & Paul Revere & The Raiders were above the order, but were, at times, labeled as such... since glitter & glam took cues from this stuff, it's all a bit incestous... The 'Berries, like The Ramones, were smart enough to realize there was some inspiration to be gained from this stuff (what is "Loco-Motion" if not a bubblegum song???) and their music definitely has elements of bubblegum in it... cool

FYI: Eric Carmen & Jon Brion sat at the same table at Tommy Allen's wedding back in the early '90s... also, in all the vast blather of producers, engineers, musicians etc... I CAN NOT think of anyone more attuned and understanding of what GREAT pop can be than Jon Brion... he is by far the most adept, inspired, and aesthetically sound (KEY!) musician/producer going in the 21st century...

and that's the amazing thing about this site and this message board!! I think it's a VERY beneficial thing for those of us who want the TRUE inside story... it is difficult for people to gauge and/or balance truth from fiction and to understand when someone is being sincere and does not have an agenda besides trying to give people some truth... It's very easy to acquiesce on an artist's board and be a sycophant... but this board is very open and liberal (sorry, Tony) with its boundaries (bar some off-kilter ravings & verbal savagery that mess w/ everyone's feelings) and has shown amazing tolerance, all things considered. I think it's been clear from the onset (and with the numerous "ec" posts) where Eric stands and what his motives are... and for us who have met him, it's an easy endorsement... the cool thing about such a relationship, is that now if there's a bone of contention and/or issue that needs to be addressed, it can be brought up with the artist, if done with discretion and sincerity... by the way has ec replied to Tony's question about that "Devil..." song???

i apologize if anyone else mentioned this, but i forgot all about the bee gees' "Nights On Broadway" which has that long passage which really is a whole 'nother piece of music... BUT it's pure genius.... one of the coolest "out of the blue" turns in a major pop hit...

most of my favorite live recordings have come from bootlegged audience tapes where you really get the best sense of the sound & power of the show (if properly caught on tape/disc) so my choices are very personal, although i can not live without side one (or 2,3 & 4) Kiss Alive... 1. SCREEN TEST (aka The Flashcubes minus 1)- Hello Suzie (cover of The Move song) live at The Lost Horizon unreleased 2. SOMETHING HAPPENS- Forget Georgia (live at The China Club) unreleased 3. NEIL YOUNG- Motion Pictures (live at The Bottom Line) unreleased 4. JONI MITCHELL- A Case Of You (from "Miles Of Aisles") 5. THE CLASH- Complete Control ("From Here To Eternity Live") 6. HAMELL ON TRIAL- 7 Seas (from "Ed's Not Dead: Hamell Comes Alive") 7. RADIOHEAD- Fake Plastic Trees (live on Conan O'Brien) unreleased 8. JOHN WESLEY HARDING- When The Beatles Hit America (live on KROQ) unreleased 9. GRANT LEE BUFFALO- Fuzzy (live on Conan O'Brien) unreleased 10. EVAN DANDO- My Drug Buddy (live at McCabe's) unreleased 11. BIG STAR- Motel Blues (from "Big Star Live") 12. DAVID BOWIE- Hang On To Yourself (from "Bowie At The Beeb" both versions)

THIS "DOCUMENTARY" is in many ways far superior to "This Is Spinal Tap"-- especially the aformentioned tunes, "Cabbage Rolls & Coffee" and Rick Mornais' Comic Apex: The medley where he sings The Doors' "Touch Me" and "On The Road Again"-- PURE COMIC GENIUS!!!!!!!! It's long out of print & fetches a pretty penny these days.....

quite the improbability since Bea suffered from the same dilemma that forced Joe Lynn Turner to wear a wig.... so any "hair" form Bea's concert days must've been from one of the numerous custom head pieces she had designed... our Bea was "clean" as they use to say...

amen to that

but the way she sings "there was something in the air..." kinda doesn't sit right... the double LP set "Bea Rocks: A Night Of Enhancement" is now available on a single CD from the Japanese label, Grumfrut founded by former sumo wrestling champ, Changmu Chitzi... Chitzi once appeared on one of Bea's live TV specials for CBS (i think in 1973)... he played the role of an angry Asian butler in a skit that did employ his wrestling skills... he tossed Sherman Hemsly near across the stage... there was also a dance ruotine w/ "What's Happening!!"'s Shirley Hemphill (pre-What's Happening, mind you) where they shook their big tuckuses all over the place... everyone was in stitches... needless to say, Bea repaid Hemphill the favor when she appeared on Hemphill's singing debut, "Just Me And My Cookbook." Bea & her duetted on the obscure Anka/Sedaka-penned number, "The Life We Live (Not So Fast)."

Exactly... and Eric CLEARLY explained in his posts the deal with the creation/writing of "Go All The Way." Too bad there was a "crediting" mishap that's f'd the whole thing up... and being that such a mishap could lead someone to get a little more pocket change, there's a bit more fuel to the fire... Unless Wally "thinks" he actually wrote those notes to the riff, he should understand Eric's point and realize the REALITY of the "crediting" ...and that Eric's decision is not based on any personal animosity or anger, but a simple clear distribution of what's deserved.

this (along with a lot of RAM) has been a very tough thing to find live versions of... (or even rehearsals of)... as far as i know, i don't think there's a live version of it anywhere...

ALSO...FYI: Susie fans & Bangles fans... You must seek out & hear the RAINY DAY record she performs on... it's from 1983 (on Llama Records) and it's an LA "supergroup" consisting of many of the old paisley underground scene... Susanna does an amazing version of the Velvet Underground's "I'll Be Your Mirror" (arguably the best version of the song) & Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine."

mamacote & moi have discussed this before.... and no one seems to understand how untouchable of a song "go all the way" is... it's more than the sum of its parts-- which is tough to explain... all i know is that whenever anyone has tried to cover it, it has sounded dreadful or boring... since we're talking about sid & susie, i think bahoodore had it right w/ his choices... "let's pretend" might fall short unless they could muster a good amount of emotion...

Which points out something that I've always thought was a bone of contention w/ the concept of songwriting credits... and at times something that gave guitarists the shaft... although, in the case of "Go All The Way" it's purely Eric's song & the riff is taken from Eric's creation-- I would think if any guitarist comes up with an original riff for a song (that's a major source of its HOOK) and is NOT derived from any part of the material written prior, he should get credit... from the sound of it, Johnstone's riff sounds like it's derived from the song... if not, Elton needs to buy him a house (just kidding)... Great posts Eric, regarding this topic!!!! They definitley give us all more insight into the process...

Being that you're from the Syracuse area, I hope you've heard Hamell On Trial's song "7 Seas" which is all about his guitar & how they "met"-- it's pure genius.... the guitar did speak to him as well... AND it's truly a part of his sound

ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY PERFECT SUMMARY OF THE BEATLES!!!!!!! You should copyright this quote... also: for some reason, Ringo's inclusion is also freakish too... i've seen too many bands without the "right" drummer and/or comic foil... the fact that they sought him out and got him is par for their magic streak...

HELLO??????????? 1. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 2. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 3. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 4. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 5. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 6. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 7. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 8. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 9. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries 10. GO ALL THE WAY- Raspberries Get The Message??? IMHO the Über BRIDGE in "Go All The Way" is the "Pet Sounds" of bridges... just absolutely spectacular & so defining....

And so the story continues... "Go All The Way" is still a very tough song to explain to people... & hearing/reading these comments from Wally & Eric about the record, just makes it even more interesting... despite the "bickering".... I think it reflects the nature of the concept which was a revolutionary juxtaposing of pop and rock... AND in 197f'n2! People seem to forget what the zeitgeist of rock was and where trends had been since 1968 and where they were heading... And since I always thought that Eric had to WORK to get his ideas across and to fruition with a ROCK BAND, it's not a surprise to hear this schism reappear... If anything, Eric sounds like Elvis P on the verses (especially on one of the live boots I heard from '72 or '73)... using "Bing" as a reference just overstates the concept... (and probably Wally's discomfort with the way Eric sings "I never knew how complete love could be..." which to me is pure genius after the intro, but still a shock) the "trite" remark isn't so far off base when one looks at what people were writing about in rock music... a song like "Go All The Way" immediately differentiates the 'Berries from all the boogie heads, progs, and anti-war hippies... it was also pretty far away from where their heroes (Kinks, Who, Lennon & McCartney, Beach Boys) were aesthetically at in 1972... a song about teenage angst in 1972 by a rock band can easily be judged as trite when seen on paper... the genuis of Eric & the Berries & the producers, was that they pulled it off... it also sealed their fate... WAY TOO ahead of its time...

You shoulda told 'em at Capitol when they "printed" the lyrics for "Raspberries' Best"-- i double checked... that's what's printed... absolutey pure rock & roll genius... like Spinal Tap says it's a fine line between sexist and sexy... or something like that!!!! and the colored girls go, "do do do do do do do..."

This is amazing news!!!! as much as I'm not a fan of Mike Love and most recent incarnations of the "Beach Boys"... I'm very happy to see this bridge mended... It will hopefully make Brian more content and happy...

bop-om-doo--doh-woh--mop-shoo

i doubt VERY HIGHLY that they have the rights to whole catalog of both labels.... just the smaller artists who don't warrant reissues on major labels

well, judging from the "single" you'll be f'n blown away-- it's really as great as anything they've laid their name on... production wise it's a damn masterpiece both performance & sonically speaking... wow

a close second to sir bonfanti's performance on "Ecstasy" would be sir tommy allen/mamacote's 1983 live take of The Move's "Hello Suzie" with his then band Screen Test... truth be known (and this is THE TRUTH, I swear on Koin Grümmer's grave), Tommy's other band The Flashcubes are in the midst of recording a full-blown studio version of the Move song as we speak... Screen Test, on the other side of the KOIN, will FINALLY get their just deserts this summer when the Japanese label Air Mail Recordings releases the best of their '80s recorded output which nary a freak outside of Syracuse, NY caught wind of, but was still one of the brightest lights of pop and power pop for that decade.

Respective marriages aside, Ernest Borgnine and Beatrice Arthur's very secretive tryst during the second season of "McHale's Navy" did result with at least one love child who was put up for adoption and raised by hippies in Laurel Canyon. They gave him what was an atypical name for the time, Cyrstal Deemer Vutzer. Vutzer (aka Britt Vala) went on to become a slightly respected bit-part player on '80s sitcoms with recurring roles on the off-shoot of "Family Ties," "Blood Don't Run" and the short-lived Martin Short vehicle, "Broomsticks And Noodles." He also had a gossip column ("Just Sayin'...") for the LA Weekly in 1989. Vutzer disappeared from the limelight in the '90s but made a respective TV comeback in the 21st century on the USA network drama, "Flatline Stat," which co-starred Torey Spelling as the troubled co-ed who couldn't cut med school because of her drug problems and an "on and off again" affair with Corey Feldman (played by Corey Feldman!). When asked if he had any comments about the split between McCartney and his gal Heather, Vutzer said, "Well that's the way love goes sometimes don't it. Sorry to see it didn't work out. I hope they can mend their bridges and get on with things without all that messy stuff that famous couples go thorugh. I should know, I'm a love child of one the oddest couples in Hollywood history." Vutzer is set to be part of VH1's next season's "Surreal Life." Once again, to paraphrase Eric Carmen, everything written here is pure unadulterated rubbish.