RASPBERRIES REUNITE
'70s Power Pop Quartet

By Chuck Darrow

Stylistically, the likes of Jon Bon Jovi, Axl Rose, Bruce Springsteen and the late Kurt Cobain are about as disparate as you can get. But all have at least one thing in common: a fondness and appreciation for The Raspberries, the early-'70s "power pop" quartet out of Cleveland whose ringing guitars and vocal harmonies propelled such songs as "Go All the Way" and "I Wanna Be with You" into the pop charts.

More than 30 years after the original lineup of Eric Carmen and Wally Bryson (guitars), bassist Dave Smiley and drummer Jim Bonfanti dissolved their partnership, the Raspberries are back, doing a series of House of Blues dates that Saturday brings them to the Atlantic City branch inside Showboat.

Unlike so many bands, The Raspberries' fissure—Bonfanti and Smiley bolted in '73—wasn't a result of the standard-issue personal or creative conflicts. Instead, say Carmen and Bonfanti, it was a lack of superstar-level commercial success combined with what Carmen describes as "the worst management of anyone in the business," that led to the break.

"When we formed the band in 1970, we set out to try to write great songs like the songs we heard when we were growing up," explains Carmen, referring to such pop titans as the pre-Sgt. Pepper's Beatles and Beach Boys.

"We thought there'd be an audience for that kind of music, and there was—rock critics and 16-year-old girls, but not the great mass of 18-year-old guys who bought records, and who decided it wasn't cool to listen to music their sisters listened to.

"Out of pure frustration, we pretty much imploded."

Especially Bonfanti, who was so disillusioned with the music industry, he actually sold his drums in the late-'70s and didn't get another set until 1992. Carmen, on the other hand, fared better. Under the patronage of legendary record company executive Clive Davis and his Arista label, he embarked on a chart-topping solo career that yielded several hits including the smash ballad "All By Myself."

Although celebrated by critics and musicians for three decades, it looked unlikely The Raspberries would reunite. But, fate, as it often does, intervened. In June 2004, the band Bonfanti was in at the time did a gig attended by a House of Blues executive.

"The guy proposed the idea to get the Raspberries back together for the opening of the Cleveland House of Blues in November 2004," says Bonfanti. "I told him I didn't think it was possible, but that I would try."

Carmen, who had spent years playing venues with inferior sound and lighting systems, was immediately receptive when contacted by Bonfanti.

"A couple of years earlier, I toured with Ringo Starr and played the House of Blues in Chicago. I remembered being struck by how (well-run) it was," says Carmen, who eagerly agreed to be part of the reunion.

That gig went so well that House of Blues subsequently offered other dates, including Saturday's Atlantic City booking. As for the future, Bonfanti and Carmen acknowledge the music industry has changed dramatically since their band's heyday, and as such, they won't commit just yet to a return to the recording studio. Instead, they and their teammates are content to do the occasional HOB show and let the chips fall where they may.

"It's just a great joy to get back together on a stage 30 years later and be able to do it," says Carmen.

"It's not just one of these reunions where it's the original drummer and three guys you never heard of."

Cherry Hill Courrier-Post / September 16, 2005