austinberries

right; the talking heads elicit very little in the "music that generates emotion" dep't - they were basically a fun, slightly wacky dance band. in retrospect, david byrne's relentlessly cryptic lyric schtick gets old fast. they did pull in some great, creative musicians at their peak to play w/ them, like adrian belew & bernie worrell

wow, my original post has morphed into something all its own w/ about 20 different heads here, like a hydra... after being a big talking heads fan for years, i now stand in the 'david byrne is way overrated' camp, based on his catalogue since the band. i mean, his world music stuff is ok, but in the end it's just another white guy mining the world music fields as alluded to here, holding a melody is not his forte - but then, we are all spoiled being fans of raspberries/eric drenching songs w/ plenty of melody & harmony

As of today, there's some health news in a personal message from dave about an upcoming medical procedure/surgery posted on the raspberriesonline.com mssg boards at the end of the 'general discussion' section; that, plus he dangles a carrot for possibly a little something for us to look forward to in the spring, it would seem - or at least you could read into it that way. here's to him pulling thru his surgery & restored health!

this was pretty coincidental, thought i'd share it w/ y'all: last night, i went to my niece's choir performance here in texas. her school's new ass't choir director was introduced to me after the show by a mutual friend/musician who says "he's really into this band called the raspberries" (my friend doesn't know them & was puzzled by the reference). his name is phil ajjarapu & he plays bass for a mean (grammy nominated) chicago jazz/funk band called liquid soul. turns out he also played in qwasi qwa, a band w/ raspberries guitarist wally bryson's son, who told him "you should check out my dad's band, the raspberries". so he did, & he says he was like "holy sh**! who are these guys & how did i miss 'em?!?" anyway, he now counts himself a huge fan & is currently aurally consuming their catalogue, & i tried to bring him a bit more up to speed on the reunion (tho' he said he almost attended one), some history, their influence, etc. he is currently writing/recording in the power pop genre, by way of their influence, after having come from such a different background. he is a monster player - you have to be to play w/ liquid soul, all their musicians are highly regarded (he is also an endorsee for lakland basses, a high-end bass mfgr out of chicago) so, it was kinda fun meeting someone, & a great musician at that, out of the blue who is a proclaimed fan & can be added to the list of folks who've recently discovered what we knew all along - that the Raspberries wrote the book & slammed it all the way home on power pop/rock (ballads included)!

i think 'i can remember' is stunning... re: uploading more video: heave bernie, heave! ;-)

I'd like to suggest that for bonus material typically included on dv's these days that you guys include a healthy dose of video footage of classic/original Raspberries performances/appearances if you haven't already planned to & if you can acquire (or already have) the rights. that way we can stop depending on youtube to watch tiny, compressed versions of you guys & your music!

eric - the set lists for the reunion shows were fairly lengthy & comprehensive (which, btw, made me regret even more missing out on the shows). my question is this: which trax will not be included on the cd, & why were they/will they be omitted - was it b/c of performance, lack of space/formatting on the disc, problems w/ the recording/capture process, band member &/or engineer preferences, etc.? presumedly the dvd will have more/all of the trax performed? also, fans have always read that Jimmy Ienner loomed large in the Raspberries' early career - is he still around or has he passed on? thx again for staying on board w/ your fans out here

fyi, webmaster jim has posted a few snapshots of the grand marshalls of cleveland's winterfest parade

my understanding was that the warehoused stuff was lots of older shows (before/during/after raspberries) & was not archived anywhere else, which was why many resented dick clark for holding the material so close to his vest & not allowing backup archives, thereby unable to prevent the ultimate loss. he apparently did not have the foresight or desire to do so, holding out in the name of the almighty $$$, so his "shrewd business sense" did not serve him, or the rest of us, well in this tragic case

there is *plenty* of amazingly creative (& musical) rap music out there, extremely multi-faceted & well-crafted; however, the shock-and-in-yer-face stuff gets a lot of attention, like it's supposed to, just like the hair-metal bands of the 80's successfully mined the lowest common denominator factor/market w/ their own version of shock appeal. welcome to america, where blatancy & extreme overstatement rules the day every time...

no intent to split hairs on the word 'update', but at least it's something to give us some sort of a time frame reference, based on it's relation to the other, current ongoing projects, esp for those of us who didn't get to see any of the previous shows

bernie - do you know, from what performance is the photo of the raspberries on the ec.com front page (w/ eric & dave in shiny silvery shirts) taken? do you know if there is video out there of this performance, in addition to the still shots? thx-

to read (from eric's own fingers) the current status of any potential upcoming 'berries performances, check the 'eric's spring orchestral performance' thread in the 'inside story' section of the boards

beware, fellas - this is the video that will rope in your girlfriends/wives... after i showed this video to my girlfriend, she had her hair cut (coincidentally) similar length to eric's from that era & now comes out of the bathroom after styling it w/ (her words) the 'eric carmen look' - i kid you not!

i've read reference to an upcoming concert w/ the cleveland orchestra. very few pop artists are asked, or are able, to do this. my question to eric is this: does this mean you will be pulling out your classical chops, & that they, in turn, will also be coming your way & playing pop selections & ballads w/ you? & one other question: someone recently told me that a signature Rachmaninoff piece ending typically hits 4 notes (or chords) based on adapting the meter to the 4 syllables of his name - (for example, a 3/4 piece would be ended w/ a quarter note, 2 eighth notes, then another quarter note) - true 'dat? good luck w/ this performance, btw & finally, we'd prob all like to congratulate you on maintaining the mind-numbing, deafening silence regarding any potential upcoming Raspberries performances; feel free to break the silence at any time... & actually, while i'm dragging out a long post, do you remember playing any Raspberries shows here in Texas back in the day, & if so, where? as always, thanks for your feedback to this group/your fans

bessieboo - welcome to the cult! ;-) you should get yourself all 4 raspberries cd's/albums & be further blown away..

i posted this in the 'inside story' section, but w/ a non-specific subject title. i believe this is new content on the raspberriesonline.com site & hopefully gives us something to look forward to:

wow - helluva songlist!!! this sounds like a blast, & is the first time i ever wished i lived north of Waco, TX ;-)

umm, right... call me skeptical too...

hmm... well, its just that speculation & conjecture are sometimes offered up as actual fact or inside knowledge, which adds confusion to the boards, i think; & then eric chimes in w/ info that represents the actual, real perspective & which tosses said conjecture out the window. so, w/ eric on board, even tho' he can't, (nor does he need to) respond to every post, there really should be little room or reason for this to happen unless someone takes it upon themselves to do so - w/out eric's clarification sometimes, it's just like gossip being tossed up for random consumption at times..

'pulverized' is right - now maybe the great percy sledge can get some sleep ;-)

honestly, some of these comments sound rather presumptuous & presented as gossip ingredients in place of fact, & as inappropriate jest, in addition to the fact that they fly in the face of the Raspberries' amazing harmonic re-convergence. they didn't go thru anything that thousands of other bands haven't gone thru (& i speak from experience, as well), & old wounds or natural differences shouldn't be prodded & poked at like this in a public forum, even w/ 'humor' as a facade. these guys have obviously grown in so many ways & directions since then, & their reuniting is a gift from them based on our gift (of keeping them alive in our hearts & minds) to them all these years. their music speaks for them, our support speaks for us, & Eric should be the one speaking for himself - & he has! we are very fortunate to have his banter onboard, & i would hope folks would refrain from speaking in his stead. if the Raspberries develop some new material, then all we have to do is count ourselves lucky & not second-guess if & how they came about doing it along the way, what might get in the way, etc. co-songwriting / arranging / performing / producing *always* involves a natural progression & combination of negotiation, disagreement, trial & error, complementing forces, dominance, diplomacy, compromise, etc etc etc... our role should be to sit back, support them, & let it happen if the opportunity presents itself among them!

did i miss something - who is dean pitchford? was he involved w/ writing raspberries material at all, or just someone eric has worked w/ since then? maybe he wrote some lyrics for eric's solo stuff?

ok, is this excruciating to know, or what? & the rollswagen was there too! i remember hearing a number of years back that a warehouse of dick clark's stuff had burned. i remember he was widely derided for refusing to license any of it out previously or otherwise provide some form of backup/archival assurance. wow, what a tragic cultural loss, this is like losing the american encyclopedia, or library for that matter, of pop music

i may have missed this somewhere in another thread, but i haven't seen such a video clip in my hunt for old raspberries video footage