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Eric: If You Had One Question To Ask US...


AnniekNY

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I'm with you, Bob. I hate the "dumbing down" of the English language and the coarseness of the expression. It completely removes beauty, sensuality, love and every other good thing from the equation, and reduces humanity to the level of zoo animals. Music should lift you up. Listening to "My Hump" is like watching mindless hamsters "mate" in a pet shop cage. I'd rather not watch, thanks. ec

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From my point of view, Raspberries/ec music is just about perfect. It may have been about the time (high schoool, college, carefree days) or it might have been about the "connection" with Brush High, or it might have been about the great melodies and excellent performances BUT the band is sooooooo much better today than they were back in "the day". Sound quality is superior (equipment and technology play a big role here) and the performances are darn near flawless (with four--plus Overdubs--gifted and experienced musicians who strive for perfection, why not?). But it's still about the music. As Tony said, it's the "hook". I hear a 'Berries or ec song that I haven't heard in a while and I find myself singing it(well, humming it to myself)for the next few days. I can't get it out of my head! Sorta like the musical equivalent to the oriental restaurant that drugged the food so their patrons would keep coming back. Well, hafta go now..."That's Rock and Roll" is playing in my head and I want to join in.

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Back to the point...very simply, Rasperries music continues to appeal due to the combination of its solid structure plus the personal ingredient - the emotion in the vocals. The songs are well crafted, and the strong lyrics FIT the beautiful melodies.

It continues to appeal for similar reasons as good literature.

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Good point, and for similar reasons it is hard to write literature that is considered classic. Dont confuse "fads" with "hits".

Literature has gone through different mediums as well -- books on tape, ebooks, and don't forget the internet that has sucked people out of the libraries, and "google" has replaced picking up a book for research.

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I think Eric answered his own question. Beauty, sensuality, love, and every other good thing. I think the music expresses what is noblest about the height and depth of human emotions, and that's what keeps us all coming back.

It's almost like the music itself is holding a mirror up to each of us, saying, "Here is the best and the worse of it all. You can make it through; you're not alone." Even in the midst of the saddest song, there is that glint of optimism that makes one smile through the tears. If music *that* beautiful is in the world, there is reason not only to go on, but to be happy. "Boats against the current..." :)

:) --Darlene

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I have to laugh at Eric's comments about "All Through the Night." Kind of glad you feel you've outgrown it! LOL, even at 13 I thought that song was quite sexist...and at 13 I don't think I even knew exactly what it was all about! Many years later, I heard the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "What's Your Name," and was reminded very much of ATTN...in fact, I would not have been the least bit surprised to have learned that they got the inspiration for it from ATTN. Musically and lyrically it was almost exactly the same song...except they seemed to care about actually seeing the chick again when they rolled back into town "next year"...LOL!

Anyway, to get back to the original question, why do I think the music has lasted for us? I can speak only for myself. Is there anything more sincere, naive and purehearted than an 11-year-old girl who's just starting to figure out what life is all about? What it feels like to look at a boy and feel that "glow" that she never understood before now? And you take that girl and you put her within earshot of the Raspberries and what you've got is...music and melody and harmony that hits her right where she lives. Music that hit her in a way that the stuff that was SUPPOSED to be hitting her that way (Partridge Family, Osmonds, etc.) never did. I don't know why. All I know is that the music and the voices and the lyrics and the craftsmanship all blended together and made it magical for me in a way nothing else quite was.

And add to that the fact that these were her *local* guys...guys from right where she lived, who had made good, who were still around and who supposedly she might run into on any given day...I mean, I grew up surrounded by people who did. Whether it was my next-door-neighbor Bonnie who used to do laundry for the Choir (and let us borrow the 45s they gave her--where we first fell in love with "It's Cold Outside" and "When You Were With Me") or Mrs. Waldman down at the library who said the 'Berries used to practice in her garage (do you remember that, Eric?), it seemed like everybody had a connection so you just never knew what might happen. And to know that they had made the "big time" was such an ego boost for someone growing up in those dark days when Cleveland was the laughingstock of the nation. Sure, they could laugh at us, but where else could have produced our Raspberries?

I guess it's normal to have the music you listened to at that special time in your life imprint itself on you, but then again, some of the stuff you liked when you were that young you'd just as soon forget. That's never been the case for me. I've always felt just that little bit ahead of the crowd because I was a Raspberries fan when being one was not cool. And that's why I'll always be one...because a long time ago, it burrowed its way deep down into my soul, and there's no way to uproot it now.

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Eric - going back to a few posts ago under this topic. "All Through The Night" is one of Raspberries all time classics for me. The lyrics don't really matter - it's just a classic rock n roll record. It's putting over the same message as say Lynrd Skynrd's "Freebird" as in "...I must be travelling on now.." only in a far more direct and "horny" way. My wife absolutely LOVES that track and always insists it gets played when we have friends over for parties. It's that track that her made her appreciate the band and not just consign them to the list of other bands I like that she doesn't know the name of! Looking forward to a live CD of the tour, she's going to be one disapointed bunny when she finds out it's not on it!

I'm thinking of starting a petition for the ressurection of ATTN! Please, it's too good to discard.

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If "All Through The Night" is too good to waste musically...Maybe you could update it...With lyrics more relevant to your current condition...There are opportunities for humor that might be too good to pass up...Doing that could help atone for the version you recorded when you were younger...

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danmichel said:

If "All Through The Night" is too good to waste musically...Maybe you could update it...With lyrics more relevant to your current condition...There are opportunities for humor that might be too good to pass up...Doing that could help atone for the version you recorded when you were younger...

So now I'm thinking,

"All through the night,

You know I like my diapers tight.

Gonna make you check,

If my Depends are wet,

Now don't say I didn't warn ya...young lady." :angry:

Is that what you were thinking, Dan?

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