Tim From Wisconsin Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 A tough one to call - I like both the original and Joan's version! Tim Sweet Joan Jett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkpat Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I give the tip-in to Joan for the video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I don't even have to listen to it. Joan Jett. Joan's authentic. Sweet were silly Led Zep wannabees. I toured with them, and they were a bunch of wankers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elle4ec Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I like Joan's version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim From Wisconsin Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Eric Carmen said: I toured with them, and they were a bunch of wankers. I've heard that about them. Joan's version of this song and Pat Benatar's version of "No You Don't" have more guts to them. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Joan is definitely the rocker in that bunch - I'd pick a Joan cover pretty much anyday over anyone else's attempt - except for maybe uhhhhh... the Raspberries doing Beatles or Byrds covers that is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Michael Page Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Did she decorate your Melody Maker or something? Looks that way.BMP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I'll take Sweet only 'cos it's the original. Joan's does rocker harder, but that's 'cos it's got the 30 year advantage of better production / sound, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlesteve Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Joan in spade's. She is the female Springsteen. She won't remember, nor will EC, but when I talked with her, and mentioned Eric, this female bad ass who hates everything, said EC was really cool, and more impressive, she dug his tunes and melodies.. white guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathie Phillips Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Was Janna Allen, of "Kiss On My List" and many other Hall & Oates songs, with Joan @ the time you toured? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim From Wisconsin Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hello Cathie - Welcome to the best message board in the web! Eric was referring to when he toured with Sweet, which would have been a few years before Joan did any solo touring. He certainly is a fan of Joan Jett though! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John P Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Eric Carmen said: Joan's authentic. Sweet were silly Led Zep wannabees. I toured with them, and they were a bunch of wankers. For Sweet's version of the tour with Eric turn to page 156 of Steve Priest's autobiography "Are You Ready Steve?" It involves piano's and soundchecks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave from Equinox Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Was Sweet touring in support of their "Give Us A Wank" LP at that time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hey, JohnI can't find it. What did he say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Yeah, can you post a link or copy that here??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John P Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Eric Carmen said: I can't find it. What did he say? If you want to know Eric here it is straight from the book. "When the tour started we were being supported by a young singer named Eric Carmen who had a song on the charts called All by myself. It was at # 1 at the time and he had the attitude to go along with it. He insisted on bringing a grand piano with him on the tour. This was a major pain in the rear end. As anyone will tell you, every time a piano is moved , it needs retuning . We had to listen to a blind piano tuner ply his trade at every sound check. It drove us nuts. We ended up calling him Eric Cardboard because he was so stiff. He didn't end up doing the whole tour. I think he pissed Ed (Sweet's manager) off and we decided to part ways." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 That's pretty hysterical stuff, Steve! Hahahahah! I feel really sorry for you, having to listen to a blind piano tuner tuning a grand piano for your support act every day. So sorry for the inconvenience, you f*#%ing WANKER!Here's my story. The first night of the tour, after my band finished playing, we went out into the audience to hear Sweet.With great fanfare, the house lights dimmed, the stage went dark, and out of the sound system came the roar of a huge pipe organ, followed by a gaggle of great sounding acoustic guitars. The stage lights came up, and there they were, a guitarist, a bassist a drummer and a singer, all standing there dramatically with their backs to the audience. The pipe organ and the acoustic guitars continued for a bit and after another minute or so of the intro, the band turned to the audience and, for the first time, began to play their instruments. We were puzzled for a moment, wondering where the great pipe organ and acoustic guitars were coming from, and then we realized they must be on tape, because there weren't any more musicians onstage. When they hit the chorus of the song, the lead singer was joined by six or eight more voices, even though there were only three people onstage singing. Ah, tape we assumed. The voices are on tape, too.Somewhere about two-thirds of the way through their set, it was time for the always-popular drum solo. The three non-drummers left the stage, and the drummer began. He drum rolled through all his drums, and crashed his cymbals and did all the boring things that all drummers do, and then he jumped out from behind his drum kit and began to pound on anything he could find. He beat on the sides of the drums, the amps, and he even came out front and....wait for it......he began to drum on the wooden stage! Well, as you can imagine, the crowd went wi........no, the crowd applauded somewhat politely and the drummer now went into reverse and worked his way back across the stage to his drum kit, and eventually was rejoined by the other bandmembers. They did this every night, and we began to marvel at the way the drummer seemingly played the same solo and moved across the stage the same way every night and never missed a beat, until, one night, the tape broke.There he was, out there in the middle of the stage banging away with his sticks on the floor, except.....there was nothing coming out of the sound system. That was when we all realized the drum solo was on tape, as well.Every morning we'd get up and pack, and then head to the airport, and there they'd be, with their long leather dusters and sunglasses and boots. They sure did LOOK "important." We tried to strike up a conversation a few times. but they were way too cool to bother with us. Why they were Brit's, they were, and they seemed to THINK they were Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and John Bonham. At any rate, after a few tries, we gave up attempting to befriend them. After that, we just laughed at them, especially the night the tape broke during the drum solo."All By Myself" continued to climb the charts, and then it was time for me to leave the tour as I had six sold out shows at the Roxy Theater in L.A. booked. When I hit L.A., ABM was still only at number 20 or so on the charts, but still climbing.I blew the roof off the Roxy, and Robert Hilburn, the LA Times critic, gave me one of the best reviews of my entire career. I think he said I was "rock'n roll incarnate" live. That review made my year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 It sounds like the guy from The Sweet had no idea of Eric's history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMMY TUNES Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story Eric! Did they perform "Little Willy"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna R Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story. Thanks for sharing it, Eric.wankers...love that word! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim From Wisconsin Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story Eric! I'm glad that the days of the seemingly endless drum solos are behind us - I can't believe he taped his solo! The intro is excusable, but once you start the show leave the tapes off.Thanks for sharing, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 One of my band mates is from the UK and he uses the word "wanker" all the time. Nice to see it in context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 John, thanks for passing along that passage, and Eric, thank you for setting the record straight. The paragraph from the book sure seems like a case where a guy went way out of his way to take a gratuitous swipe at someone else. As if wanting your piano to sound right is a bad thing! And considering that you were a separate act with your own band and instruments, I don't see how your routine was a pain in their rear end. Weird. Well, it seems that we run into a never-ending stream of wankers in life, don't we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwannabebymyself Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I remember going to see Eric when he opened for Sweet in either Akron or Cleveland..I can't remember. I was about 14 or 15 and a huge Eric fan. I couldn't care less about Sweet and was standing by a door in the auditorium when they were playing. The door opened and Eric walked out. I could've died!! I kissed Eric and got his autograph. I remember him telling whoever he was with something like he picked the wrong door to come out of. Hey Eric...why didn't you want some crazy 14 year old coming after you!!lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RP50 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Gotta go with Sweet - the rhythm player is better and really drives the song. As far as Eric's comments, sometimes you have to remember the old adage - "trust the art, not the artist." They may have been wankers personally but Desolation Boulevard's got some great stuff on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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