The Kiwi Connection

Having been a Raspberries and Eric Carmen fan since the mid 70's, and living in New Zealand I felt very much All By Myself.The radio stations here only played a few of their songs. As the years rolled by I managed to find all of theirs and Eric's Albums(more through good luck than good management)During this time I was teased mercilessly by my younger brother. I often wondered what became of them, so one day in 2005 Murray said "lets google "Eric Carmen", so we did and the rest as they say is history. Not only did I discover there had been Reunion concerts there was also an Eric Carmen website. Having signed up I soon found there were many like minded people. We both became members of the website, and spent many happy hours taking part in all sorts of things like games, a chat room and I'll never my 1st prom.(it's not something we have here). Then we discovered Weekend at Berine's .We were able to see pics and read about all of the antics that went on. Not to feel left out we had our own Weekend at Bernie's Down Under, and as part of that we phoned them and they passed the phone around.It was way cool cos I got to speak to Jim The following year there was talk of Eric doing a solo concert so we decided to go for it, but for a number of reasons it didn't happen.So we decided to go to Weekend at Bernies. It was amazing to finally meet so many of the people we'd interacted with on EC.com.But the biggest shock was when Eric arrived.(BTW we really didn't know he was going to be there!!) We thought that that was going to be out "trip of a lifetime", but we have been very blessed to have had 4 more visits traveling all over America and meeting a large number of wonderfully kind and generous people As Murray would tell our friends here when they'd ask us about all our trips and friends in America , "It all started with the music" So thank you Bernie for making it all possible by starting EC.com

So sorry to hear that you've had such a rough time these past few months. Hugs and prayers coming your way my friend.

I've missed this wacky but caring family. Thanks Bernie 👏👏❤️❤️😍😍

Thanks Guys, we really appreciate your thoughts. It's been a tough few weeks since we lost Grayson, but we're getting there.

Very sad news indeed. Met her at WAB. Heartfelt condolences to Jay and all her family.

I have just seen on Facebook that Kholvn has passed away. For those of us who hung out in the Soda Shoppe he will be remembered for his story telling

Pleased to hear your mum is on the mend. They do say that Dr's and nurses make the worst patients!

When I joined this forum in 2006 little did I (and Muzza) realise just what it would lead to. Through the interactions of the people here we got to know (and meet) many great people and even attend the last WAB which turned out to also be Eric's birthday party. Muzza and I will be forever grateful for this forum and the people who made it what it became. Because of the generosity of so many people here we have been able to make 5 trips to the USA, stay with many and experience their generosity, families and day to day life which is very different to ours. Some of the lasting memories are the Soda shoppe (and Sugar), the Hayride and Hoedown, and the Prom! Other moments were Kholvn telling his stories and the many competitions. Of course attending WAB, Lew and Tunesy in their grass skirts, Jim, Barb, Eric, Suzy and Al arriving while many were watching the Sunset Strip DVD and us receiving our copy personally from Eric and Jim. What more could a gal from New Zealand wish for than to meet her teenage idol in person! SO..... thank you Bernie for all you did to bring very diverse people together in a way which brought so much satisfaction and enabled us all to feel like one big family! We will never forget the joy and opportunities that came because of EC.Com. Kiwi and Muzza

Happy Birthday from New Zealand Prettymom. Hope you had a great day.

Happy Anniversary EC.com. Can't believe I've been a part of this great family for 11 years. Like most family's we've had our highs and lows Without a doubt the highest high was WAB 2007!!!!

We've had no end of problems with Windows 10. From not being able to burn music to CD's to not being able to find photo's because of the way it stores them. We've had to have our "computer man" out to fix things a number of times.

Just been watching a British programme called "24 hours in A and E". There was a 6 yo with his mum and sister waiting to see the Dr when he suddenly started singing the chorus of "ALL By Myself"!!!!!!! That lad has a fine taste in music!!

HAPPY Belated BIRTHDAY Diane! Hope it was a great one!!!!!

Another great musician gone.

I remember it well!!!! Those were good times!!!!!