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Michael McBride


DeanTylerVO

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Why would someone soo talented, well-respected and loved by this very special community, NEVER

involve himself in ANY way, shape or form? No interviews, pictures, comments, in-person appearances..nuthin..?

Met him at a home improvement store in high school, a thrill, but he was short with us, never smiled, and reacted to our joy in seeing him by chance like it was a death notice.Don't mean to judge him at all, I don't know him, but does ANYBODY? Just seems sad, and I am sure there is much we don't know that backs alot of this up. But if anyone has a morsel of info, thoughts, sightings..hell..ANYTHING about Michael, I'd love to hear it. Also, if you dig deep enough, I have read a few times that he was a VERY good vocalist also, EC..anything you could share?

Thanks gang.

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Right after Eric Carmen: Marathon Man was published, Ken Sharp and I set up an "almost" Cyrus Erie reunion in Cleveland.

Pictured above are Michael McBride, Wally Bryson and Bob McBride. Eric (represented in this photo by his likeness on the cover of Marathon Man) spoke to his former bandmates via telephone. It was during this visit that Ken and I first learned of plans for a Raspberries reunion.

I can report that Michael seemed to be in good health, although I don't believe he has played drums for a number of years. One thing is certain, he was an INCREDIBLY TALENTED drummer and a fine singer. In fact, he was usually tapped whenever Cyrus Erie performed a Rolling Stones cover as he did a "letter perfect" Mick Jagger!

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Mike was a great drummer and a energetic front man. Before the Raspberries I was the roadie/guitar tech and FOH engineer for Target a rockin' band that played all over Northeast Ohio. Comprised of Mike McBride - Drums & vocals, Bob McBride - Bass & vocals later replaced by a a guy named Vic (can't remember his last name) Wally Bryson - lead guitar & vocals, Mike Chandler - Rhythm guitar & Vocal and then another drummer named Butch (can't remember last name) was added so Mike could stay up front. No band and I mean no band could touch the energy and sound as they performed Rolling Stones, Mountain and other rock music. In addition I don't know of any other drummer that played as hard as Mike. We had a drum board made from two pieces of 3/4" plywood that the drums were set on. I used a 4" x 4" block bolted through the plywood to keep the bass drum from moving and all of the cymbal stands were held in place by 2 screen door springs. Back line was made up of double stack Marshall's for Wally & Mike and a double Traynor set up for the bass rig. Sound was run through six Shure columns with a single mixing head and 1 extra power amp. Monitors were the Shure mini- monitors. Somethings never change; I can remember Wally yelling at me that he could not hear the monitors and I remember yelling back that it was OK cause I couldn't hear the mains. They played those Marshall's pegged at 10. And yes, Wally played the double neck, Flying V and Rick during that time. What great memories and stories I have of those days.

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I don't know how accurate this is but the last I heard he is diabetic and has vision problems. Can anyone confirm? I sure don't wanna start a bad rumor.

I saw Michael with the 2nd edition of the Berries in '74. Yep, he was a kick ass drummer - lotsa power and flash.

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...it had been a number of years since we last spoke...we talked of the 'berries reunion, among other things.........i mentioned that it would be awesome to see him and scott playing again with eric and wally......he said, "that would be great!"..........indeed it would be!

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I don't know if this info helps or not, but at the 2006 Taste Of Cleveland Show, Steve Brigida mentioned to me that the drummer sitting in on Beau Coup's set was Mike McBride. Steve talked with him for a short time. From what I understand, Steve and Mike would converse quite often back in the day. All I can say is that the he played really well, especially the jazz number, "Linus & Lucy", with keyboard player Dennis Lewin.

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I had heard somewhere that Michael was doing Scottish field drumming at one point, then I heard that soemthing happened to his hands and he couldn't play anymore.

I had very few exchanges with Michael back in the day, but I do remember him smiling when I complimented his playing. He was a great guy, as I remember, and very nice. I remember him as a man of few words, but not aloof. Maybe shy?

:) --Darlene

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