Eric Carmen passed away over the weekend. Aged 74. And this morning, when I saw the news of his passing, I realized that for a time in the 1970’s and 1980’s, if you wanted a mixture of power pop and symphonic bombast in your Top 40 tracks … you could count on Eric Carmen without question.
And on this episode of K-Chuck Radio, I’m sharing several of Eric Carmen’s greatest hits … starting with his time in the Cleveland power pop group The Raspberries. Because if you want the holy trinity of power pop – the three major bands that gave us these great songs with haunting lyrics and a thick, thick sound – it’s Big Star, Badfinger and the Raspberries, in any particular order you choose.
GO ALL THE WAY
Yep, this totally thick, sonically processed 3-minute little symphony introduced this rock band from Cleveland to the American top 40 charts.
I WANNA BE WITH YOU
The Raspberries’ first two songs went with very short lyrics and a long, powerful refrain – and then repeated the process over and over again. And got big hits out of them.
LET’S PRETEND
But a song like “Let’s Pretend” signified what Eric Carmen was bringing to the table. A strong ballad with more hooks than in a fisherman’s tackle box.
OVERNIGHT SENSATION (HIT RECORD)
But if I’m going to pick my personal favorite Raspberries track, it’s this one. This song brings everything – ear-catching lyrics, a trick false ending, and a sonic sound effect that sounds like the record was processed through an AM transistor radio. And if you’ve got the audacity to call your song “Hit Record” and expect DJ’s to announce it that way, then you’ve already won the game.
ALL BY MYSELF
Re-using the musical chorus from the Raspberries’ hit “Let’s Pretend,” and blending in a Sergei Rachmaninoff piano concerto into the bridge, you have Eric Carmen’s first solo hit and his most popular solo track by far.
NEVER GONNA FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
Using another Rachmaninoff piano concerto for the melody, Eric Carmen followed up “All By Myself” with this swirling, melancholy, armor-plated heart ballad.
SHE DID IT
Tracks like “She Did It” showed that Eric Carmen could still pen a fantastic love song almost on will power alone. And this sounds almost like a Raspberries song that he tweaked and re-tweaked to bring back to life.
HUNGRY EYES
By the mid-1980’s, Eric Carmen was a fixture on album-oriented rock, and this song, originally used in the motion picture Dirty Dancing, was just as strong as any other track that came from that film. I wonder what it would have looked like if Johnny and Baby did their final number using this song instead of “I’ve Had The Time of My Life,” but that’s just me.
MAKE ME LOSE CONTROL
Eric Carmen will be missed by all his family and friends, and by everybody who enjoyed his power pop and power ballad songs for these past several decades.
Rest in peace, songsmith. On K-Chuck Radio.
Chuck The Writer 
Been listening to Make Me Lose Control all morning…
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