Raspberries
The Cleveland power pop band whose "Go All the Way" reached 5 in 1972.
From the Choir and Cyrus Erie
Raspberries grew from two Cleveland bands. The Choir, originally the Mods, had a Cleveland number one with "It's Cold Outside", which reached 68 nationally on Roulette; Cyrus Erie was founded by Michael and Bob McBride, and Eric Carmen joined it in 1967 and persuaded Wally Bryson to join, after which it became the Quick. The first Raspberries line-up in 1970 was Carmen, Jim Bonfanti, Bryson and John Aleksic. Aleksic left at the end of 1970 and Dave Smalley, Carmen's original choice for bass, joined in April 1971, with Carmen moving to bass. The first stage performance was October 16, 1970 in North Ridgeville, Ohio, with a Beatles cover.
Managers gave the producer Jimmy Ienner a demo, the band signed to Capitol, and in the winter of 1971 they moved to New York to record. All four 1970s albums were produced by Ienner. They played Northeast Ohio high schools deliberately, were bigger in New York and Los Angeles than in Cleveland, toured Europe and played Carnegie Hall between 1973 and 1975.
Four albums
Raspberries came out on April 10, 1972 and reached 51 on the Billboard 200, with a scratch-and-sniff raspberry sticker on US and Australian copies. Fresh followed on November 13, 1972 and was the highest charting at 36, with "I Wanna Be with You" at 16 and "Let's Pretend" at 35. In late 1973 Smalley was ejected after the Side 3 tour over musical differences and Bonfanti left soon after; Scott McCarl and Michael McBride joined in December 1973. Side 3 appeared on September 10, 1973 and Starting Over on September 16, 1974, whose "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" reached 18. Rolling Stone named Starting Over its rock record album of the year for 1974, and AllMusic's Mark Deming called it a fine farewell.
They broke up after a final gig at the Masonic Temple in Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 19, 1975. Carmen went on to a solo career with "All by Myself" (2 in the US, later covered by Celine Dion) and "Hungry Eyes", and Bryson joined Fotomaker in 1978. Eric Carmen died on March 10, 2024, aged 74.
Reunions and legacy
Four originals reunited to record on March 24, 1999 at Metrosync Studio near Cleveland, after which Carmen and Bonfanti dropped out; the EP Refreshed followed in 2000. The original four reunited at the House of Blues in Cleveland on November 26, 2004, toured in 2005 and 2007, and played their last show on April 3, 2009 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pop Art Live, from the 2004 Cleveland show, came out on Omnivore on August 18, 2017.
AllMusic praised their exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies. Wikipedia lists admirers including Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Paul Stanley and Axl Rose, and says Max Weinberg based his drumming on Darkness on the Edge of Town on McBride's style. Carmen said that Pete Townshend coined the phrase power pop and it stuck to them like glue. Ken Sharp wrote Overnight Sensation: The Story of the Raspberries (1993), and a 37-track tribute, Play On, came out on September 12, 2025. Cleveland declared August 11 Eric Carmen Day after his death.
Albums
Songs
- Go All the Way Raspberries · 1972
Carmen's single of July 1972, a number 5 hit banned by the BBC.
Sources
- Raspberries (band), Wikipedia
- Raspberries, Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
- Starting Over (Raspberries album), Wikipedia
- Play On tribute, The Second Disc