pierson

If that pandering CHANGES the soul & essence of their music & what made them special in the first place, then the fans feel betrayed, and rightfully so. The most egregious cases took in place in the '80s when the record companies became more corporate and less artistically driven. Think Rod Stewart. On the other side: In many cases (like in the UK) the "fans" and media are totally guilty of not sticking by the artists they helped break & totally jump to the next train and it's just as heinous an act as selling out.

the only part i would disagree with (or have trouble completely endorsing) is that he is a "great singer." I think he's a "strong" singer, but his use of affectation and enunciation can often times be dreadful & completely ruin a great song. Often times he reminds me of Jerry Lewis (and that's not a good thing). Still on the upside, his version of "Vienna" on Conan a few weeks back blew me away. Shortly thereafter I caught the repeat of the show and saw the other song he performed & it was totally lame.

The name of the street I grew up on in Lyndhurst, Ohio......Emmit Road. Lived there from 2nd grade through junior high.... The (Bu)Cyrus Erie company's address was on Raspberry Street. We had absolutely no knowledge of that.... That is beyond weird. ec CALL IT INCREDIBLY WEIRD... especially for those of us who align Emitt Rhodes so closely with the 'Berries... those rare & few gifted artists in the early '70s who took the Beatles' (or, for more specificity, THE LEFT BANKE) lead & tried to keep a certain kind of music alive... Amazing...

but Kelly C was the only one who scored a memorable hit song-- via Max Martin-- the rest are Vegas material

I apologize for taking this thread too off topic... and i really wanted to get back to more of Eric's points... it's way too easy to be a pompous elitist and spew didactic crap about MOR American pop, although i like the discussion and it helps some of us sharpen our point of view and gives us more insight as to why someone like Huey Lewis does or does not matter... and why EC & Raspberries are so damn special... per a recent discussion, it dawned on me that with a lot of MOR rock/pop artists (i.e. Doobie Bros, John Mellancamp, Hootie & The Blowish) there's a dilineation of artistic sensibility and mere product. (Doobies & Mellancamp have an artistic sense, Hootie don't). And this is the reason why i pointed out Huey Lewis & the News (in comparison to the Raspberries) in response to Eric's Olympic thought. With HL & The News there is VERY LITTLE sense of the artist creating the music. The deeper one senses the disconnect the less important the music is. Unlike Billy Joel, who is almost always deeply entrenched in the music he creates (which will always give him credability and resonate deep with his fans), Huey sounds like he wrote his hits for soundtracks or for the band down the street to cover. Not bad if you want the next Pablo Cruise. Tragic if you're expecting the next Raspberries. EC's passion for detail and overall quality control is why those incredible records were & are incredible. There are so many "wow" moments on the 'Berries records where you know the band is pushing to rise above the fray-- it's what draws most us in and always makes us shake our heads in disbelief... the most recent live shows only EXPANDED this experience... the "wow" experience... it ain't no MOR crap- no complacent by the numbers music- no uber studio-giz that squashes the incendiary spirit- it's the balancing act & the ability to capture magic in a bottle... I do want to hear the live DVD of "I'm A Rocker" even though I already know HOW MUCH BETTER it was live (I saw it twice and was blown away). Eric is absolutely right... both times i saw the band they made that song grow and transcend.. & it's what I usually point out to non-believers as the place where EC proved his true depth as a rock & roll singer. ERIC CARMEN: "Every performance better than the last. Learning from every performance. Fixing mistakes. Continually striving to be better. Never being complacent. Never accepting "good enough." The job was not designed to win a popularity contest... You can't get a great performance with a battering ram. I respect and care about every person on that stage. I HATE bombing and I HATE polite applause and I HATE mediocrity. I want our music to be transcendent."

Talent-wise they rate about the same... although Kihn has a better "pop" voice (at least for us fans of 'Finger, Twilley, 'Berries, Big Star)... a few other Reasons why Greg Kihn is better than Huey Lewis: 1. "Hurt So Bad" 2. his cover of Bruce's "For You" 3. "Museum" 4. more good taste in covers: "Sheila" & "Roadrunner"

I wasn't trying to fault Billy Joel, even though I don't like him-- I do think he's extremeley talented & a very good songwriter-- Huey Lewis by comparison is just a very boring dude w/ songs that don't have any big aesthetic quality to them-- they're very faceless, albeit hummable, which some people think is a mark of talent- they're a lot like jingles yes I knew he was part of Clover, but that doesn't make him a great singer & songwriter... He does have a good sense of humor and is a good actor-- a much more welcome presence on the screen then on the radio... i will remain an elitist when there's LOTS of great music out there to be discovered by many that (to me) rates as high as the greatest Raspberries stuff.... stuff like Huey Lewis & The News just gets in the way of good stuff- even good bubblegum

Here it is plain & simple... Huey Lewis & the News are mere crap-- or Lowest Common Denominator Pop (take your pick) the success of "Sports" compared to the lack of success of say "Starting Over" should IMMEDIATELY scream injustice to anyone with a good set of ears... YES, Huey Lewis & his band worked their asses off... BUT it's the music that lacks depth and any true sense of inspiration & conviction, let alone passion and any sense of importance... it's all crappy jingle junk for stoopid white people... Huey Lewis' music is so vapid & devoid of personality that it makes Billy Joel sound like John Lennon...

[QUO But where in the heck are the Pernice Brothers?????? ec [/QB]

Unlike the Olympics, some of the GREATEST stuff never comes close to receiving accolades (or what would be the equivalent to a gold medal)... I would even say in the Raspberries case the rewards don't equate with the brilliance of the music made. Case & point would be songs like "Let's Pretend" and "Overnight Sensation" which in a perfect world would be far more popular & well known than stuff like the "Theme From S.W.A.T." or "Convoy"... or for more timely parallels, "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" or Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling"... You don't have to be "better" than the next band... you just have to have a lot of luck... how else could anyone ever explain Huey Lewis & The News????

Being that one of my best friends is a Todd Rundgren freak (Todd prod. TPOH's debut) I caught wind of them fast... and "She's So Young" was an immediate fave... Wax i heard about through Tommy Allen...

This is a point in the history of pop and rock & roll where I wish such things would become "public domain" or at least be of free use to the artist... you know, unless you were Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or The Beatles (something of insane monumental impact) it should be given a certain amount of grace/leniency out of respect to the band's legacy... especially since this is ONLY a part of a montage (i.e. It's NOT as if you are selling the fans the complete Don Kirschner episodes) god knows, at this point you're definitely not "in it for the money." I know that still sounds funny

well... besides Let Me Roll It, he wrote a response to How Do You Sleep very shortly after hearing it... that would be "Dear Friend" on Wildlife

i still listen to too much music that's not readily available on CD... and there's a lot i'll never slap down more than a buck for... so vinyl is still very vital to me... & very user friendly, still... and the best pressings still sound amazing-- especially the Raspberries stuff...

i gots me my computer, a cute lil' iPOD, burning software, itunes/crap tunes, bit tornet/tornado friends, record stores that sell loads of vinyl dirt cheap, CD burner that burns cassettes & vinyl very easily, a great turntable that i use regularly as much as my CD player... the perfect world is here... u need to make sure u have every possible format at your fingertips... i just wish i had my friends' reel-to-reel players... they sound amazing...

I quote the poet Homer Simpson: "Doh!!!!" For the upcoming US releases of the Beatles' Capitol albums, the label scrwed up in a major-league way... As I was discussing this issue with a friend the other day, there was only utter disbelief that they did NOT notice that both versions of "I'm Looking Through You" had the false start; something that should've immediatley alerted them to the mistake! Reason why is because for BEATLES freaks, this is the EXACT reason why these reissues are coming out. It's for the small rare differences (& reverb and mono, of course). here's the note i was sent from a friend: 'Today Capitol Records issued the following statement regarding the manufacturing of "The Beatles: The Capitol Albums Vol. 2," specifically in reference to the stereo to mono mixdowns for two of the albums, "Beatles VI" and "Rubber Soul." Some of the mono tracks from the initial manufacturing run of "The Beatles: The Capitol Albums Vol. 2" were not the original mono masters that were intended to be included on this historic re-release. The third party mastering facility incorrectly sent step down masters instead of the mono masters ordered by the label to the manufacturing plant. As soon as Capitol Records became aware of this, the correct masters were sent and the adjustment was made in another manufacturing run. Although there is no discernible difference in the sound quality in the initial run, Capitol made the adjustment for historical accuracy. Information for any consumers who wish to obtain a replacement copy (with proof of purchase) will be issued shortly.

back-up boi... w/out vinyl it's a pain in the arse to get artful dodger, stories, april wine, pagliaro, dirty looks, blue, tin tin, tommy jitro, hawks, joey wilson, interview etc in premium shape (i.e. not p2p damaged)... i've got some 'mamacote' files from the hard drive... i had to go back to the vinyl...

YEP... and EC couldn't have stated it more clearly... there's always going to be things that get under someone's skin... the bones of contention... I've seen it countless times with bands I'm very close friends with... it's never an easy deal... I just hope that Kay can sit down with The Beatles Biography and read what John Lennon had to stop doing onstage to appease Brian Epstein... the balancing act in that case was one where Lennon had to tidy up his look and be forced to bow at the end of every set... He hated it... They also had to stop swearing onstage... Most people who saw The Beatles live after Epstein came through saw a band loaded with compromise & image control... John didn't buck it because he understood the price for the band's success was worth it...

but is it as good as "Sundown" his HIGH-POINT w/ Edgar Winter (or even "Autumn")

i have an iPOD (thanks Tommy Allen) but I have yet to start using it... once i learn how to program it, i'll be addicted... i have a gazillion CDs 3000 vinyl LPs Hundreds of cut-tapes i use everything for my radio show-- right now the easiest way for me to use stuff is burn the vinyl & tapes to CD and use the CD--- Some vinyl sounds better than the CD equivalent... (i.e. Smiths) Cut-tapes, like cut-CDs are how i prefer to listen to music while driving a car... As far as what's best as an overall item to store music, I would say it's vinyl mainly because it's very hard to misplace/lose and the sound quality holds up better if you care for it... space constraint is its only drawback... plus it's very easy to find lots of stuff for dirt cheap in the dollar bins... most people who store music on their hardrives without backing it up somewhere else, will eventually lose it when their hard drive dies...

i left out canada... 1. APRIL WINE- Like A Lover Like A Song 2. PAGLIARO- Some Sing Some Dance 3. PAGLIARO- Loving You Ain't Easy 4. EDWARD BEAR- Masquerade 5. EDWARD BEAR- Close Your Eyes 6. OCTAVIAN- Round & Round 7. APRIL WINE- Cum Hear The Band 8. APRIL WINE- Tonite Is A Wonderful Time To Fall In Love

I just want to give props to Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin & Tommy Allen (3/4s of The Flashcubes) who performed as the Neverly Brothers on Fri March 31st (a prep show for their Flashcubes gig on April Fools Day)... The Neverly Bros did 3 sets on Friday night which ran deep with many '70s pop classics that dug deep into their roots: Raspberries: It Seemed So Easy & Nobody Knows Eric Carmen: Hey Deanie Badfinger: No Matter What, Baby Blue, Come & Get It Artful Dodger: Silver & Gold Hudson Brothers: So You Are A Star Marmalade: Reflections Of My Life Albert Hammond/Terry Sylvester: For The Peace Of All Mankind Dusty Springfield: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

There's not many in that league... and probably all of the ones that might RATE most of us know... That said, try these ones (if you're looking for big scale): BLUR- The Universal VERVE- Lucky Man RADIOHEAD- Fake Plastic Trees other contenders: PERNICE BROTHERS- Weakest Shade Of Blue JAYHAWKS- Blue or Smile PERNICE BROTHERS- Amazing Glow ELVIS COSTELLO- Man Out Of Time KEANE- This Is The Last Time ED HARCOURT- Watching The Sun Come Up GRANT LEE BUFFALO- Mockingbirds JON BRION- Here We Go GENE- Let Me Move On or Olympian DUSTY SPRINGFIELD- What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life

Did she finally get fired???? Where's the party?!!!! Nancy Grace is/was one of the worst people to ever land such a lofty position on any such network. She was worse than being "mean." She was short-sighted, myopic, ignorant, dumb, crass (not in a good way), a buffoon, and a disgrace to all women reporters and newscasters. And she was a bit scary looking. good riddance

PAUL-- it's funny because as soon as i was looking at this thread I was trying to think of a song that "no one" has heard... the best example that came to mind was the song Arty Lenin sang the night before his Flashcubes gig, when he played w/ Gary Frenay & Tommy Allen as the Neverly Brothers... one of his most recent tunes which i think you probably know from being in attendence, is a tune called "Lehigh Valley"-- Arty has a different working title, but that's the key phrase in the chorus... THAT to me is one of the finest pop masterpieces no one's heard yet... I'm begging Tommy Allen to get it recorded this year... 2. VAN DUREN- Andy Please (the demo version) 3. FLASHCUBES- Tell Me It's Alright Now