seattlesteve

Give him a break. He's a musician/composer not a social worker. I for one have no doubt whatsoever that he is touched by the support that radiates from this website. We have one guy to talk about, he has thousands of fans, it's overwhelming. I was around in the days when Eric was a regular poster in his own forum, and he had to divide his time between proving who he was, and defending himself over some divisive issue. His "Ask Eric" column has incredibly indepth insights, and how much time do you think he spent with Bernie recalling the past for our subsequent collective indulgence. Cut him some slack and let's give Eric time to produce a reunion show (fingers crossed) that very well may exceed any show he's ever done. If this does goes through, there's going to be a lot of pressure on Eric. I say let him work on the music rather than craft daily responses to us. He reads our stuff though, look closely you can see his fingerprints all over this board... ;-) Seattle Steve

That makes sense. Speaking of classic rock dj's Norm Gregory is an aquaintance of mine, and I am a neighbor here on the island, of Rockin' Ric Hansen, both long time KJR DJ's. Ric's on the air early evenings again, thinking of slipping him copy of Never Say Die at our next yacht club meeting. Seattle Steve

Check out Jim's drums on Ecstasy... he can handle Overnight Sensation and then some. Seattle Steve

How cool is this news. You know when you read the new book, and realize how much they went through, and how naively influential they were at the time, one can only say regarding a reunion today, why not? It seems as if all they really need is a good and solid offer, and they're willing to go for it. Really cool... Seattle Steve

Eric did a killer version of Desperate Fools at the HOF show. SS

Here's why I'm excited there is a chance this time.. Having gone through this a few years ago, perhaps some issues came up they hadn't planned on. Now they collectivly know what are "drop dead" points, and "have to haves". If promoters were throwing around offers that they would laugh at, there would be no rumours. My guess is there is a quasai offer, or a "what if" offer that meets preliminary Raspberries requirements. Someone mentioned whether it would be a one shot deal or a tour. Unless it was an offer to join a don't miss bill (EG: Farm Aid) I would think it would have to be a tour. There was a lot of rehearsal for the HOF show and it wasn't that long. It just doesn't make sense to rehearse that hard, unless you could spread the effort over many dates. If a tour did indeed come about, it would also make fiscal sense to be selling/promoting something besides T-Shirts. Box set/rarities would be great, as well as a new song or cd. I don't think the money issue personally means much to EC, except for the fact that the bigger money gets you in better places, with bettert acoustics, equipment, etc. My guess he's more interested in making sure they have the best sound available. Financially it may make sense to a promoter to put them on with someone else, like the aborted tour with the Knack that was announced in 99. I have one request for Eric: FILM EVERYTHING. Don't pull a Carnegie Hall on us. Just remember what Jim said when he called his wife during their very first reunion rehersal in 99 "It sounds like Raspberries" That guy in Seattle

If it happens anywhere, solo or group, my wife and I are there, I just hope someone on this board slips me a heads up... ;-) Seattle Steve

Billy K.... was that on KJR FM? Seattle Steve

Here's a twist. There are so many obvious piano pieces to play, what if you were just sitting around the camp fire and Eric had an acousitic guitar, what would you want to hear? For me, I'd pick "If You Change Your Mind" Then he could slip into "It Hurt's Too Much" and "Make Me Lose Control" That acoustic medley would make my camp fire. Seattle Steve

"Tony I'm a pretty regular guy - especially when I eat properly! As far as rare videos go, we each had to sign a contract with Bernie that no info would be shared outside the confines of 62 Creamer Drive." Oops. My post above was based only off this thread. Read on later and saw the above quote. As much as I wish I was there and in on it...If anything went down on the hush hush, I encourage the attendees to honor the gag order, and not screw it up for future encounters or put Bernie in a compromised positon. I'm going to make one of these. Serious about the West Coast version. Seattle Steve

Thanks for the photos! Alright what kind of rare/unrelesed music/video showed up, and what leaks came out about what's going on now? ;-) Seattle Steve

Wish I was there. If no web cam, how about throw us a bone with an occassional digital picture? Steve

Disregard the above typos, I was too excited. SS

I'm across the continent in Seattle and I just got mine today, about 10 minutes ago. Reading about behind the rehearsals for the HOF show. I can barely put it down to type this. Only 10 minutes in to it, and I can beleive the depth of the behind the scenes quotes. That must have taken an amazing amount of time to research. Just like Eric, Bernie's a perfectionist and nailed it. It was well worth the wait. The quality of the book is amazing and I know Bernie must have been presented with all kinds of publishing options, many cheaper I'm sure, but he stuck his neck out, timewise and finacially, and put out something I'm positive, even Eric is proud of. I'll have a lot more comments after I dive into this. Thanks Bernie and Ken, and obviously Eric, for taking time to greenlight the project and provide Bernie the contacts and recollections. Bernie if you need any help on the obvious second printing, call me, I'm a marketing guy. Eric, let's get out and sell books and your new cd on a limited tour. Ring up Burton. I'll have this entire book read by Monday. Gotta go, gotta read. Seattle Steve

I have all the Badfinger albums so I'll dust it off and give it another listen. Thanks! Seattle Steve

Same here Darlene, I bought both versions. Seattle Steve

I agree, I love their greatest hits, but don't find myself getting a lot deeper in their catalogue. No Matter What and Day After Day are great. They had every advantage being supported by the Beatles. Makes you wonder what would have happened to the Raspberries if Apple and the Beatles had back them, or if Paul was given them songs, or better yet, collaborating with Eric. Somebody out there has the Raspberries covering No Matter What from the early days. If so, email me, I'm sure I have some trade bait. Seattle Steve srychard@aol.com

So nobody likes me? ;-) I'd like to see more of another long time EC forum guy, Ronsu. We both go back to the aol days. Seattle Steve

Oh I almost forgot, you wrote the soundtrack to my life... thanks. Seattle Steve

Happy Birthday Eric, you da man, and a class act. With all these forces coming together, new book, new finished and polished song, the apex of your website activity, I hope you at least consider a new cd (I know it's not that simple with all the legal and business issues). Hey all the work is in composing, the bulk of the cd can be drawn in from your already unreleased material, plus some new gems I know you have, with the title track of Never Say Die, what a great comeback song name. You know the musicains to ring up and rerecord the unreleased and the new stuff, just rent Beechwood for 2 weeks, and let's make this. I'll bet you can get Jim to give up a week on the Raspberry to come in and lay down some tracks. Be sure and video the making of the CD, as that will also be a hot DVD seller. Then your website fans will all fly in for the making of the single video as free extras. No record deal? So what let's do it anyway and sell it on the Internet. Bernie didn't have a publishing deal either, but man his book is a hot item. I always tell my kids, when you're reflecting on your life, the number of things that you did and regret, will usually pale to the number of things you didn't do, and now regret. What the heck..? We're behind you no matter what, but I thought I'd take a shot and throw in my 2 cents.. Happy Birthday my man! Seattle Steve

I'd be glad to host and throw in a pool party and boat sightseeing tour. Seattle Steve

West Coast! Which area of the West coast do we have the most fans? I would guess LA, but Billy K and myself could make a good case for the Seattle area. Seattle Steve

Thanks Bernie for taking the time and financial risk to get this thing done. When I get mine, I'm taking the day off, and heading over to my pool with the book, a bunch of EC cd's, and a frosty blender, where I will read and relax for hours. Seattle Steve

Badfinger it is. Direct quote from their recentdocumentary DVD as posted on Amazon. What a similarity. I remember when the Raspberries first hit Eric saying something to the effect of he wanted the sound to be more American then the Beatles, and more British then the Beach Boys. Seattle Steve

McCartney 1997, After the Break-up, 99