Jump to content

The Raspberries Phenomenon


BEATNUT

Recommended Posts

What is it about this band? They are so amazing and I pray to God they come back to New York.

I would really like to see them do the Westbury Music Fair, also now known as the North Fork Theater.

I just don't know why a band so talented like The Raspberries couldn't fill madison Square Garden or even the Nassau Coliseum.

Is it the lack of good promoting that causes this?

It's not like no one's ever heard of them. I would think that heavy marketing and promoting might do the trick, but when I was at the Highline ballroom show on Sunday 10/14 there was maybe 175 people there. I mean come on what's the deal?? Don't get me wrong I would love to have them all to myself in an intimate setting like that night, but these guys should be rocking to much larger crowds.

My fear? That enough people don't show up to make it worth them touring.

What do you guys think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are not obscure, but lack of obsurity is a far cry from filling a large venue. Before leaving for the last NY concert, I was asked by my law partners at lunch what Anne and I would be doing in the city. When I told them that we were going to see the Raspberries, a look of recognition came over their faces and one remarked that he just loved GATW. Now, if the Raspberries came to Atlanta, would they go? Probably not. A lot of people remember and like them but that doesn't, in itself, mean at all that they would show up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eric said it all in the other thread. We live in a youth driven culture, with a 5 minute attention span. Entertainment nowadays is driven by cel phone & ipod. Yesterday's hero? Dogmeat. Look at Britney Spears. Just 3 years ago, top of the world, ma! Today? a punchline on Leno, an episode of cops.

Lindsay Lohan? Who? Hannah Montana better enjoy her year at the top, by this time next year, she's roadkill. By the time she's 18, a footnote. Remember her dad? Billy Ray What? And you expect the Me generation of the 70s, most of whom are now grandparents and struggling working 2 jobs to make ends meet to care about a band they liked 30 years ago? Contemporaries of the Raspberries, like Cheap Trick and Blue Oyster Cult, both multi platinum artists have a hard time selling a couple hundred tix, how in reality could you expect the Raspberries to fare any better? Be grateful for what you've seen, and pray for more miracles to come. The only forward motion for them is with new recordings, the best bet is to give away tracks for free to every producer in Hollywood, and light candles that they use one in a film & it catches on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hear what you're saying. However, I was never into Blue Oyster Cult ..a little into Cheap Trick..believe it or not I can only remember the song Surrender by them and BOC I have a hard time remembering anything by them.

Though they may have been contemporaries of the Raspberries I think they( the raspberries) fared a lot better with their 15 minutes of fame.

Believe me i'm very grateful for having an opportunity to meet the boys and now my 20 year old son has all their albums downloaded on his Ipod...hahaha...

As for struggling grandparents working 2 jobs to make end meet, all I can say is thank God they don't charge what they're really worth to see them.

Try seeing Macca or The Stones and paying $250 a pop...the Raspberries are a bargain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently had a friend of mine, who is a huge Cheap Trick fan, ask me to make him a 5-10 song sampler CD of what I thought would be "Raspberries Best". He said to me "you are always talking about the Raspberries, and Go All The Way is a great song, but I never heard of anything else...if they are so great, turn me onto them!"

His response upon hearing my "sampler"?

"Pat, the song, "Ecstacy", Oh My God! The drums, the guitar, the singing, Oh My God! How was this not like the biggest single of the 70's? This band is terrific. Is this really the same guy that sand All By Myself, too?"

With a little direction from me, he has since bought both the "Greatest Hits" and "Sunset Strip" CD's and told me last week he got Eric's "Best of" CD and is listening all the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheap Trick had a smash with that "Live At Budoken" album, they had quite a few big songs. Blue Oyster Cult's, Don't fear the Reaper is still one of my favorite songs. Both of those group's have continued to record and tour....the "berries took 30 years off, and to pull off the re-union tour in and of itself was quite an accomplishment!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, I'm not saying the Raspberries might not be better than those bands, I'm just saying they were bands of the time that had much more success commercially then the Berries, but they still struggle to draw, at prices substantially lower than the Berries charge. Might be fairer to compare the Berries to the NY Dolls, both majorly influential acts that broke up in the 70s without a ton of commercial success. But the Dolls get the street cred of being called "Punk godfathers" and outdraw the Berries. However, they are also committed to working full time as a band, have one recent LP, and this year recording another and also a live LP is on the way. And tickets for the current tour are $17-25. The real money in rock right now is on the European/Japanese festival circuit, and I don't think the Berries could or would subject themselves to that kind of show. Stripped down bands like Iggy or the Dolls can get away with it, but the Berries would suffer at the hands of limited soundchecks, using unfamiliar gear & short sets.

I think in some ways the Berries hurt themselves by not releasing the full show DVD separately commercially, as music on DVD right now way outsells CDs. And people seeing the band would win over new fans. You can't really compare the Berries to the Stones or Macca, both have had mega millions in sales over the years, and I think Zeppelin's upcoming tour will blow away Miley Cyrus' ticket prices & sales. If/when that happens, I predict you will see $1000 tickets from the box office.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hollies, on the same night, with the regular sets both bands play live, I'd choose the Raspberries too:) Seen Trick way more times, plus they have been playing almost the same show since the 70s! I wish the Berries could/would do what Trick did though, and play a multi night show, with each night featuring one LP in it's entirety & then the hits. Trick did that in the mid 90s, what a tour, songs I never expected to hear live.Starz did the same thing a couple years back, 2 nights Starzfest, and played the first 2 LPs with the original lineup, and the last 2 nights with the later era lineup. And as a bonus, they did a Stories set each night with Ian Lloyd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hanna Montana is an act for the moment. She is going to sell because you don't know if / when the excitement will subside.

Bon Jovi on the other hand, have been playing NJ for more times than anyone can count, and each time multiple shows. No disrespect to them, but they're on the road every other year or so. You can only milk the same people so many times before you have to move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johnny Bongiovi can thank his lucky stars his uncle Tony used to let him sweep up at the Record Plant, and record there in off hours. Of course, he never gave him any credit, nor paid him back for the thousands of hours of time or reels of tape:) He admitted in a recent interview to selling drugs until the band took off. The funny thing at a Bongiovi concert is the girls that are stuck in the 80s, with the big hair and spandex, my sister went to see them for free last year and had some great stories about the crowd afterwards!

Like I said, Hannah is a disposable hero, next year this time, the only place you'll see her face is at Big Lots and the Dollar Tree. At least she was smart enough to tour during the writer strike.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If Ms. Cyrus were smart she would pack in the Hanah thing ,after making some millions, and not prolong it too far ruining her chances to have a prolonged musical/acting career. That is the mistake so many of the real young stars made and they were type cast before they knew it, never to be taken seriously again. Never to be given new opportunities. The smart move, walk away at a good point and preserve the ability to launch a career as an entertainer as an adult for many years to come. As a recent example, it can be argued that the Brittany Spears career died some years ago and has just been kept alive by all the negative publicity. A tabloid career really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's too late to escape the type casting already, she's just a commodity to her TV producers, and they are plastering her all over everything. She's stuck with it, might as well roll along until the road ends like her Achy Breaky dad did. At least she'll maybe get .10 cents on the dollar of what she's making for producers, managers & record labels.

Nowadays TV contracts are written for 7 years, with minor built in pay rises, so she's basically stuck until they decide to drop her. Or she can go the Elizabeth Berkeley/ Anne Hawthorne route, and try to do risque roles, once she's 18. Didn't work for them, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Oh crap! My first hijacked thread.

There's many groups from days gone by making a comeback today.

I wish the old timers come back and show everyone how it's done. The music/crap today is not even worth a listen.

RAP makes me have to go on blood pressure medication...

The only music that puts a smile on my face is The Beatles, Raspberries, Moody Blues, George Harrison, and Sparks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My thoughts on this,

There are some great artists from yesterday that I still enjoy like the Eagles,Chicago, Eric Burdon, Bon Jovi, Hall & Oates, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Donnie Iris, and a few others. I can go on and on...but, there are a lot of newer artists that I enjoy just as much like Nickelback ( I just love them). I also enjoy Kenny Chesney, The Clarks (my hometown boys), The Foo Fighters, Hinder, Audioslave, and Finger Eleven. I really like Paralyzer!

I just love good music! No rap though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I posted before, same 4 Raspberries albums went from derivitive to influential.

I love Cheap Trick, but they are rarely cited as influential.Perhaps in the genre of live albums, as just like in that period Kiss Alive, Frampton Comes Alive, and Cheap Trick at Budokan, and Wings Over America pretty much blew the roof of the theory that the fidelity of live albums suck.. those 4 , especially the first 3, were far better than their studio releases.

30 years later.. Raspberries have pulled it off.. Live Sunset Strip is better than the studio, IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find there is no identity in music today.

When my 20 year old son is downloading Eric or the Raspberries I feel proud. He listens to a lot of music from the 80's, which to me was the last decade that anything worthwhile was produced.

Yes, i've seen Bruce, U2, the Stones blah blah blah...U2 though i'm ok with, I find there music videos almost like they'll never end...it gets to be very draining..but still better than any other garbage out there.

I like Bono because he's a gigantic Beatle's fan.

I think i've figured out the problem today..nobody sings about love anymore..there's no connection, no one to identify with...how about some Barry White?

Now come to my house and you'll find me watching The Concert for George, The Travelling Wilbury's, The Moddy Blues, The Raspberries (finally) I still get chills watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964...

I love anything (video) Lennon, and Harrison...

Paul from his 2002 and 2005 tours..(saw him 10 times)

..and let's not forget Ringo... well, just because he's Ringo... :)

You have to go far back to find anything really worth listening to or watching..i'm sure I said it somewhere before, I didn't get anything out of the 90's... and since the turn of the century nothing but Rap shit garbage..ok, you want to talk to me about Cold Play, Dave Matthews..fine.

A certain example in futility would be a thread about your favorite Rap song lyrics :angry:

It's amazing how they burned Beatle records because of Lennon's misinterpreted Jesus remarks, or they burned Disco records and went on a huge Disco Sucks campaign, yet this Rap shit continues to produce more Rap shit..I don't get it..that stuff they don't burn..

OK, I think i'm done rambling here. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

P.S.

Here's a scenario...

How EFFIN great would it have been if The Raspberries caught on as good as the RAP shit did? I think the 'phenomenon' is that how did the world let this music pass them by?

Maybe our only dilemma would be that Eric might not have as much time for us as he does now, and couldn't be as personal with us.

On second thought...I think we should keep Eric all to ourselves, don't you agree? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...