austinberries Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 i may have missed this somewhere in another thread, but i haven't seen such a video clip in my hunt for old raspberries video footage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Raspberries did appear on American Bandstand, along with the Rollswagen! Unfortunately, the master tape for this appearance was destroyed in a fire and a videotape of the appearance has never turned up. But there is an audio tape of the band's interview with Dick Clark in existence—probably taped by a fan off of the TV back in the day!Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordharris Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Bernie, let's get a hold of Columbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Mississippi Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I remember seeing them; Dick referred to them as the next Beatles and Eric responded something like "If we have to be compared, it's great to be compared to the best..." They performed I Wanna Be With You if my memory serves me... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 In the "American Bandstand" book back in 1986, the Raspberries did "I Wanna Be With You" & "Let's Pretend" back in May of 1973. In November or December of 1973, they did the song "Tonight". Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinberries Posted November 12, 2006 Author Share Posted November 12, 2006 ok, is this excruciating to know, or what? & the rollswagen was there too! i remember hearing a number of years back that a warehouse of dick clark's stuff had burned. i remember he was widely derided for refusing to license any of it out previously or otherwise provide some form of backup/archival assurance. wow, what a tragic cultural loss, this is like losing the american encyclopedia, or library for that matter, of pop music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Okay, so I unearthed my old cassette tape and made this rough transcription. Rough, because the audio is pretty degraded and it's a little hard to make out who is actually talking at times. Still, here is the VERY FIRST time this appearance has ever been documented so fully. I also have a photo of the Rollswagen on the "American Bandstand" stage that I'll dig up later. Until then, read on…- - - -AMERICAN BANDSTANDMarch 31, 1973DICK CLARK: Hey, welcome to American Bandstand. We're delighted to have you. Our special guest of the day…the Raspberries![Applause]LIP SYNC PERFORMANCE: "I WANNA BE WITH YOU ." DICK: I should do some introductions…Eric Carmen…let's start with the man over here on our right… ERIC: Dave. Dave Smalley.DICK: Dave. Pleasure to meet you, sir. And the man next to him?ERIC: Wally Bryson.DICK: Hello, Wally. My pleasure. The man over here?ERIC: Jim Bonfanti.DICK: Hello, Jim. How long have you guys hung around together…known one another?ERIC: We've known each other for about eight years.DICK: Did you collaborate on this car at all?ERIC: [Laughs] We didn't have too much to do with actually putting that car together.DICK: I want to read you something. But first of all, my very good friend George Barris, who did the paint job and some of the "fru-fru" that's on here. There's a long list of credits that I will never get through but just cruise around and take a look at this car and then we'll talk music and Raspberries stuff. They're giving this thing away in a Raspberries sweepstakes…the Raspberries Rollswagen sweepstakes. All of the details are on your single record. That's a new twist. I haven't seen that before. How many hits have you had? Two? Three?ERIC: Two. We've had two.DICK: By the time this airs we may be working on our third, hopefully. What is the most difficult thing, gentlemen, about getting a rock and roll band off the ground? I mean, there's 500,000 musical groups out there…all would like to do what you've done. How did you do it?ERIC: We made some demonstration records and sent them to some managers that we had at the time, which was a rather unpleasant situation, but, the one thing they did do for us was send these demonstration records that we made to a producer named Jimmy Ienner.DICK: First of all, good management is an important key to remember, right?ERIC: I agree.DICK: How long ago was this?ERIC: That was about two years ago.DICK: What kind of places were you playing then? Back in Cleveland somewhere?DAVE: We were playing all of the local bars and teen spots around.DICK: Were you reasonably good or mangy?[Laughter]ERIC: We weren't so bad.DICK: Where have your travels taken you since those days? Have you travelled a lot, or no?DAVE: Oh yeah, we've travelled a lot since the release of our first album. We've been to Europe…France, Germany, England…and all over the United States.DICK: Next week here on Bandstand we have a group, the Sylvers, who returned recently from Japan. Have you worked the Orient yet?DAVE: No, we tried to go, I'd say, in September.ERIC: July.DAVE: July? Oh! July.DICK: Where does the…I'm gonna get tangled up in this, that's for sure…where does the music for the group come from…internally or do you seek it out?DAVE: No, we write our own stuff.DICK: Is it a collaboration of all four?DAVE: Well, sometimes we write together and sometimes we write separately. You know, we just…I don't know. It all comes from us.DICK: That's the important part. Eric, one last question, do you plan to stay in Cleveland or are you gonna move away from there?ERIC: Well, we're currently debating this between the four of us. Three of us want to come to Los Angeles, and one of us, who shall remain nameless…DICK: Is that the one on the end or right here? [Laughter]ERIC: He's not sure yet.DICK: We wish you the best—wherever. Gentlemen, your next location is over here. You go do that and I'm gonna study this car and we'll give everyone our best to everybody back in WEWS-TV-land in Cleveland, Ohio. I've spent a lot of time there myself. What a wild looking wagon! Ladies and gentlemen, again if you will, please…let's greet, the Raspberries![Applause]LIP SYNC PERFORMANCE: "LET'S PRETEND." - - - -Bernie 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Oh, one more thing. Raspberries appeared a second time on American Bandstand where they lip-synced "Tonight" on September 29, 1973. Unfortunately, no copies of this appearance has ever surfaced. It, too, is presumed to have been destroyed by the fire that wiped out several generations of American Bandstand programs.Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 It's so great to be able to read this transcription, Bern! Thanks a million for putting it up. Thanks, too, Paulie, for your post. It's pretty cool that Dick called them "the next Beatles." WOW! This is great fun! --Darlene 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordharris Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Bernie, The American Bandstand studio, was it totaly burnt down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally G Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Yes, sounds like a case for Inspector Clouseau... It's a shame so much valuable footage is either lost or damaged from shows of this era and much earlier days of television. When you think about it, the way this priceless stuff has been (mis)handled, it's a miracle we've still got as much stuff archived as we do these days... *sigh*... --Joyce-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bessieboo Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 It sounds like a Epic Quest.. Search for the Holy Grail...The Arc of the Convent...Additional copies of the Raspberries on American Bandstand.Are there worthy Men searching for the treasure?I would Love to see the interview and performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LobsterLvr Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 There is something so gentle and genuine about this conversation between Dick and the band. I can't imagine this kind of interview happening today on any tv network or show (except maybe a local 'waynes world' kind of program). ah the good ol days.dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllvnbil Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 The Dick Clark theater in Branson has a restaurant connected to the theater. I was having lunch one day and on the TV screens all over the restaurant was ERIC!!! They constantly show American Bandstand clips and on came Eric lip syncing 'Hungry Eyes". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordharris Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 That Americanbandstand clip, was it ever on e.c. com?And if it was not, Bernie, can you get that for your site, I would love to see that clip.That restaurant owner probably has more hidden secrets of Eric that he is not telling.Burned in the fire huh? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinberries Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 my understanding was that the warehoused stuff was lots of older shows (before/during/after raspberries) & was not archived anywhere else, which was why many resented dick clark for holding the material so close to his vest & not allowing backup archives, thereby unable to prevent the ultimate loss. he apparently did not have the foresight or desire to do so, holding out in the name of the almighty $$$, so his "shrewd business sense" did not serve him, or the rest of us, well in this tragic case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew Bundles Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Just out of curiosity Bern, do you know which one of the guys was the one who did not want to move to LA? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 I'm going to guess Jim, since he was the only one married at the time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Yeah, that American Bandstand cassette tape recording would benefit from a good filter- it sounds like it was recorded from the t.v. with a portable recording device- hard to make out what they're saying at times! The picture of the Raspberry Rolls on stage is very cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liseli Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Thanks for transcribing the American Bandstand interview! Three times guests on AB--the broadcasts must have been classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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