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Eric Carmen: Boardwalk Baby


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The year was 1988. Eric Carmen had just staged a major comeback with "Hungry Eyes," a song written by John DeNicola and Franke Previte for the feature film Dirty Dancing. It hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. With that success, Eric turned to longtime songwriting partner Dean Pitchford. The song they wrote together was "Make Me Lose Control." It rocketed up the charts and managed to top "Hungry Eyes," scoring an impressive #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song spent 13 weeks in the Top 40 along with three weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart.

The time was ripe for another smash hit. Arista honcho Clive Davis had a feeling Eric was onto something with "Hungry Eyes." He suggested Eric sing some songs by other songwriters instead of limiting himself to his own. That logic sounds faulty considering Eric's own-penned song charted higher, but back to the story.

“I met Diane Warren at a party sometime in the late ‘80s and we really hit it off," explains Eric. “We found we had a lot in common and I really liked her quirky personality. She and I would talk on the phone and she’d play me songs she was working on, and ask me if I thought they ‘sucked.’ Most of them were very, very good."

“There was one song of Diane’s that I liked called ‘Boardwalk Baby.’ Diane told me she had been inspired to write it after hearing ‘Make Me Lose Control.’ We booked my buddy Steve Lukather to play guitar, and Mark Williams—son of John Williams, the great film composer—to play drums, and Diane and I sang the vocals. Diane, by the way, is a great singer! She’s got a really cool voice, kinda raspy but very emotional. She reminds me a little of me. I used to tell her she should do a record of her own stuff. Her reply: ‘I wouldn’t waste a good song on me.’ She could actually sing a lot of her songs better than the people who recorded them."

So what happened, you might ask? According to Eric, “Clive didn’t like it. We were shocked. And bummed out."

Well, now...for the first time ever, EricCarmen.com proudly presents Eric's long lost (but now found) follow-up to "Make Me Lose Control." Just in time for summer, hold onto your hats (and beach blankets):

ERIC CARMEN - BOARDWALK BABY

Bernie

PS: A special "shout out" to Tommy Allen for re-mastering this gem after I blew the dust off the 20-year-old tape!

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Now I'll really have a hard time at work with this tune in my head, and anticipating reading Marathon Man in the morning! Gonna be a long, long, LONG night at work! laugh

I love this song, and don't understand Clive's problem with it!

It has HIT written all over it!

Seriously, thank you soooo much, Bernie! Without you, I'd continue to be without Eric! A very sad state for me!! :thanx:

Kim smile

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Get an ec song or a Springsteen anthem on the car stereo while racing down the Garden State Pkwy toward Belmar on a summer friday night in the 80's. Damn it doesn't get better than that!!!

This would've been HEAVY rotation! Love ec's voice on this song. Would've loved a lengthy Lukather guitar solo on it.

BTW.....although a genius...sounds like Clive was a real stubborn son of a gun!

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Gosh...

I was just in an Eric Carmen video where the boy does get the girl in the end...and gives her a big smooch with the sound of the crashing waves and a vision of the setting sun in the background.

Then, the music stopped. frown

Thank you...I love it Bernie! I think I shall listen to it yet again and do a revised version of the video in my head. I have a wild and vivid imagination! wink

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A new winner for my summer rotation!!! Top Down Summer, Drivin' Around, Cruisi'n Music, and now Boardwalk Baby! It just doesn't get any better than this. I am absolutely thrilled. Thanks Bernie, you are the greatest. Way to go, Mister C. That is a great tune to make my summer shine! insane

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There's never been any doubt about two things:

1) Dianne Warren has a commercial ear, and knows her way around a song

2) Thanks to his vocals, Eric has the uncanny ability to take control of any song.

This song follows the "Hungry Eyes" pattern of Eric taking someone else's song and making it his own. In my opinion, this song is waaaay stronger than "H E." It's a shame that it never saw the light of day, or, that the fans had to learn about its existence so many years after the fact.

I say make this download-able. NOW!

Thank you Pat, for letting me know about this.

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Whoa! I come home from work to find this GEM! Catchy as all get out!!

Something else I remember when Eric was talking about Diane- she didn't have any formal training on songwriting! Hard to believe, listening to her catalog!

Thanks for the treat, Bernie!

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BTW.....although a genius...sounds like Clive was a real stubborn son of a gun!

Of course, we're analyzing things 20 years after the fact, but I was talking to Tommy Allen about how this certainly sounds like a blockbuster hit to us. The only thing Tommy could come up with is that Clive didn't want another "Make Me Lose Control." My question is why ANYONE wouldn't want another HIT?

Originally Posted By: marvin
There's never been any doubt about two things:

1) Dianne Warren has a commercial ear, and knows her way around a song

2) Thanks to his vocals, Eric has the uncanny ability to take control of any song.

The other thing I absolutely love about this recording is the thought that while Eric was in the booth, Diane was there... singing, tweaking and working side-by-side with him to make this truly special. I mean, how many times does that happen?

Bernie

PS: You were my...Board-walk...Ba-by, You used to...drive...me...cra-zy, all of those night, ALL of THOSE nights, when YOU were MI-IIINE!

grin

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This song, again has 80s all over it...I can see why Clive didn' like it...the lyrics are lie something I would write (lame and predictable), the melody goes nowhere...the only this this has going for it is the "summer groovy-feeling"....and of course Eric's raspy voice....

I wouldn't buy it, and one listen was enough for me...at least they didn't use the almost expected a key-change at 4:32....

3/10

I still say Eric on a piano singing HIS songs are way better than anything others have written for him and sometimes with him...and with a big studio production...yuck!

bahoo-ey

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Really enjoy this song and have played it several times since hearing it.

To Eric, Bernie, or anyone else who might know, I have to ask, though, after Clive rejected it, why didn't Eric tell him to stick it (maybe he did) and take it to someone else to release? Was he tied into Arista at the time and couldn't go elsewhere? Was Jimmy Ienner involved in this record,too?

If you put "Hungry Eyes", Make Me Lose Control", and this tune on an album and add in some Eric penned ballads, ("Devil And The Deep Blue Sea"?) you have a fantastic record! Just don't know what Clive was thinking ...or hearing. This is a perfect complement to MMLC and I have always thought it was interesting hearing Eric use the term "son of" as in record execs wanting "Son of All By Myself", "Son of Go All the Way", etc. This record seems like "Son of MMLC" and would seem what they would have craved at the time and would have been a monster hit!

Thanks for posting this song, a real treat for all!

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