LC Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Here's a neat thread from way back in 2002 started by Bernie himself; he called it "I Can Remember" but it's really about "Go All the Way": Bernie describes the first time he heard "GATW," and it reminded me of how cool it is that music—our favorite music—can serve as such a perfect time machine. It takes us back in time, and we may remember what we were doing and where we heard it. Bernie, I bet you remember the moment just as well now as when you wrote your thread-starting post in May 2002. The thread inspired 18 replies, and the memories are relatable, for sure. We hear from a number of recognizable EC.com members, including Jenn (AggiesJC), Darlene, Craig, Dave (LobsterLvr), and others. Special mention goes to Russberry, an Australian, who reveals a pretty "personal" moment that coincided with "Go All the Way." I hadn't ever read Russ's post until now, but... wow! Hey, what else would you be doing while listening to that song...? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Lovin' the LC time machine... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Benfer Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Isn't it fascinating how many fans discovered the Raspberries several years after they were no longer together? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 I´d never heard of them until after they broke up. The only song the radio played of theirs in Columbus was "I Wanna Be With You". I knew the song, but not the group. I discovered them by back tracking after falling in love with Eric Carmen´s first album. I then bought the "Raspberries Best, Featuring Eric Carmen" and was FLOORED at the quality of songs wall to wall on that album. I then back tracked some more and bought all 4 studio albums. I´d suspect there are many more like me, who discovered Raspberries through Eric Carmen´s solo career. The Raspberries probably owe Eric´s solo career a greater debt than most of us realize. James 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 On 1/9/2019 at 10:10 AM, James said: I´d suspect there are many more like me, who discovered Raspberries through Eric Carmen´s solo career. The Raspberries probably owe Eric´s solo career a greater debt than most of us realize. James James, that is a great point. Eric’s quick solo success really put Raspberries on the map for a lot of us. I loved “Go All the Way” as one great and irresistible single but it was “All By Myself” that sent me back to give the rest of the first Raspberries LP a listen—and, yes, even to flip the record over and discover the epic “I Can Remember” (which at this age and stage has a lot more to connect with than it did at 17). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 On 1/9/2019 at 10:10 AM, James said: I´d never heard of them until after they broke up. The only song the radio played of theirs in Columbus was "I Wanna Be With You". I knew the song, but not the group. I discovered them by back tracking after falling in love with Eric Carmen´s first album. I then bought the "Raspberries Best, Featuring Eric Carmen" and was FLOORED at the quality of songs wall to wall on that album. I then back tracked some more and bought all 4 studio albums. I´d suspect there are many more like me, who discovered Raspberries through Eric Carmen´s solo career. The Raspberries probably owe Eric´s solo career a greater debt than most of us realize. James I'm in the same boat (so to speak) as you James. I found out about "Raspberries" from another site that Eric Carmen and I were friends on. I was kind of too young back then for "Raspberries" but do recall hearing Go All The Way on the radio. But...I knew of Eric's music and from there that's how I was, so called introduced to Raspberries stuff. P.S I'd like to just say "you guys are doing a real fine job keeping the posts up" Thank-you. Nancy. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 And of course, the greatest addendum to this story was my brother came with me to see Raspberries play at B.B. King's. After the show, we went backstage, and my brother had something he wanted Eric to sign for him. It was THE ACTUAL LP he was playing in his room when I heard "Go All The Way" for the first time. We related the story to Eric, who then signed my brother's LP: "To Jim, If not for your impeccable taste in music... Eric" Bernie 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 Great story, and a fitting way to thank your bro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 There was a night in 1972 when our family was visiting relatives somewhere — I don't even remember where. "Go All the Way" was still on the charts — that's how long ago it was — and I was in a guest bedroom listening to a Top 40 countdown show. And I remember, quite distinctly, hearing the host describing that this new band was made up of former members of The Choir, which I heard as "the choir" (lower-case). So for a long time, I thought of Raspberries as a group associated with... a church choir! Weird, no? And "Go All the Way" was the antithesis of church music. But what did I know? And for the longest time, I totally thought Raspberries was a British band. They HAD to be. It just made sense. Something about Eric's phrasing made him sound (to my pre-teen ears) like he was a Liverpudlian singing in American English (no British accent). Sensible, right? The British Invasion was still a relatively recent thing, from less than a decade earlier. Clearly, Raspberries was an extension of the British Invasion. And considering that I lost track of the group after "I Wanna Be With You," I still thought Eric Carmen was a British fella when "All By Myself" came out. It would have been around that time that I finally started reading about Raspberries and EC history and found their roots were Cleveland, Ohio, USA. :-) Meanwhile, a young Bernie — instead of collecting baseball cards, fishing, or playing sandlot football — was already plotting and scheming EricCarmen.com, with a goal of setting "mission impossible" into motion: a Raspberries reunion! And the rest is history. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Benfer Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 On 1/9/2019 at 10:10 AM, James said: I then bought the "Raspberries Best, Featuring Eric Carmen" and was FLOORED at the quality of songs wall to wall on that album. I then back tracked some more and bought all 4 studio albums. It's quite possible that there has never been an album that left as immediate of an impact on me as this one. Just one listen and I was hooked. The only Raspberries song that I had ever heard was "I Wanna Be With You". I purchased this "Raspberries Best..." purely out of curiosity, and I probably wouldn't have had I not loved IWBWY so much. That moment when I spotted the cassette of Raspberries Best Feat Eric Carmen was one of those light bulb moments that I will never forget. I was shocked and maybe a little embarrassed that I had not known that Eric was the singer of the Raspberries tune. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doreen Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 I'm one of those who fell in love with the band in high school with the release of the first single and kept following when Eric went solo. I remember trying to win a Raspberries concert for my school-we lost- and finally getting to see them live when they came to town. Have to see if I can dig up the pictures 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew Bundles Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 Great to see new member Doreen here... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 Hello Doreen- welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Welcome, Doreen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LobsterLvr Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 In my post (18 years ago!) I mentioned hearing GATW for the first time on a gray AM radio. That particular radio is long gone, but I had such an affinity for it that, a few years ago, I hunted for a picture of it on line...and voila...there it was! A grayish green SEARS Silvertone AM Radio...exactly like my old one. I posted the pic on my FB page (with some fond memories of listening to one just like it). Within a day I had an Instant Message from Doug Preis (the voice of the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, and dozens of other characters, who I had worked with during my cereal commercial writing days). He told me a package would be arriving soon. Sure enough, 3 days later a grayish green SEARS Silvertone AM radio, exactly like the one from my childhood, arrived at my door. And it works! I've yet to hear GATW from its 50+ year old speakers, but I'll keep tuning in until I do! Dave (LobsterLvr) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Great story, Dave! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 Love it, Dave. I had an old Bradford (WT Grants) radio next to my bed growing up, and it filled my head with staticky music and Yankeesgames (Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto, Bill White, Frank Messer). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 I was privileged to see them at my senior prom in 1971. It was at a private , all girls Catholic school in Cleveland. Ohio. The nuns were none too happy with our class when we told them we were hiring them, but our teenage hormones prevailed and we raised all the money. Those poor nuns were even more unhappy when they heard the "Berries songs all about lust, etc. We all adored them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 Good story! Now, 1971 was a little before their first album (with "Go All the Way") came out. Did they have it in their repertoire at that time? And do you remember any of their set list? I bet the 'berries had no problem doing an all-girls school gig.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 LC, I do believe they did play "Go All The Way", and the nuns were quite uncomfortable as I recall. Much to my embarrassment however, I don't remember too much of the concert due to the fact that my prom date got me drunk before the dance. I was being a bad Catholic school girl that night. Now how I wish I had my full faculties so I could have appreciated the band to the fullest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted February 11, 2021 Author Share Posted February 11, 2021 Ha! The teen years. We were so... unaware. Maybe the nuns thought they were saying "Please go away" (as I did back in the day). PS: I went to Catholic schools too. So I always got a kick out of Bily Joel's song "Only the Good Die Young." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 I know. Us Catholic school girls get no respect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof2setsoftwins Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 Michelle How much did they charge u for that gig?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 We paid $1000 to hire the 'Berries. We held car washes and bake sales to raise the money plus whatever we had in our senior class treasury to pay for their "services". Those nuns were so mad that we were paying so much, but our teenage hormones prevailed and we booked them. I just found out today from a former classmate that they were not allowed to sing the words " go all the way" when performing the song. But we can't remember what words they substituted. Oh those crazy Catholic nuns...were were doing it the parking lot that night anyway so it didn't really matter what words they banned. We knew what go all the way meant! Duh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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