Daily Archives: September 6, 2009
Sunday Night Music Byte
Raspberries are a power pop/pop rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the 1970s music scene with their crisp pop sound, which Allmusic later described as featuring “exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies.” The members were known for their clean-cut public image, with short-hair and matching suits, which brought them teenybopper attention as well as scorn from some mainstream media outlets as ‘uncool’. The group drew influence from the British Invasion era — especially The Beatles, The Who, The Hollies, and The Small Faces — and its mod sensibility. In both the U.S. and the U.K., the Raspberries helped pioneer the power pop music style that took off after the group disbanded.
The group’s orginal lineup consisted of Eric Carmen (vocalist/guitarist/bassist), Wally Bryson (guitarist), Jim Bonfanti (drummer), and Dave Smalley (guitarist/bassist). Their best known songs include “Go All The Way“, “Let’s Pretend“, “I Wanna Be With You“, “Tonight“, and “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)“. Believe me, you know them all. The group broke up in 1975 after a five year run, and Eric Carmen proceeded to a successful career as a solo artist. Bryson and Smalley resurrected the group’s name in 2000 and continues to tour, taking in indie pop singer/songwriter Scott McCarl working as the vocalist.
They must have been good because even John Lennon was seen sporting one of their t-shirts. How Cool is that? See the photo here.
This is a clip of The Raspberries performing Go All The Way and I Wanna Be With You live.
This is a clip of the band consisting of a medley of their hits played live.
Saturday Night Music Byte
Happy Labor Day Weekend to all of you. Have some fun. If you happen to be looking at this blog tonight, we’re going back to Beantown in the mid 1960’s to look at a terrific lost band known as The Remains. They were a mid-1960s rock group from Boston, Massachusetts, led by Barry Tashian, who later was harmony vocalist and guitarist for Emmylou Harris and part of the duo, Barry and Holly Tashian. They are best known for being one of the opening acts of The Beatles‘ final US tour in 1966.
Although associated with the garage rock scene, the Remains were highly accomplished professional musicians and their recordings, while hard-edged, are notably well-produced and arranged. The band enjoyed a local hit with their version of the Bo Diddley/Willie Dixon classic “Diddy Wah Diddy“. Despite considerable local success and strong critical acclaim (including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show), the band failed to break through on a national level and folded in late 1966. However, in common with many of their garage rock contemporaries, the Remains gradually acquired a cult status, and eventually reformed to play at several garage revival shows such as Cavestomp in New York City during the late 1990s, Las Vegas Grind in 2000 and a tour of major European cities in 2006. They recorded a new album in 2003.
The band’s first and last singles, “Why Do I Cry” and “Don’t Look Back” respectively, are both featured on the Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era box set.
Their single “Why Do I Cry” is featured briefly in the film Superbad (2007) when the character, McLovin is being taken to a party in a police car.
In 2007, Epic/Legacy came out with a reissue of The Remains‘ 1966 album, which received the following review from rock journalist, Mark Kemp, in Paste Magazine (June 2007): “Had these Boston bad boys stuck it out beyond their 1966 debut, we might today be calling them–and not the Stones–the World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band. As it is, The Remains most certainly are America’s greatest lost band.”
The first clip below is a tiny little introduction of the band in a documentary film made a few years ago. It gives a taste of the era and the band. If you pay close attention to the clip, you will notice that the narrator is none other than Peter Wolf of The J. Geils Band (the subject of an earlier Music Byte on this blog).
Here is Don’t Look Back
And here is Why Do I Cry