BERRY, BERRY GOOD

By Ken Sharp

Lauded by the likes of John Lennon to Elton John, Paul Stanley of KISS to Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, Axl Rose to Jon Bon Jovi, the recently reunited power pop band, Raspberries, are garnering rave notices on their reunion tour from such heavyweight publications as Billboard, Rolling Stone, Variety and Entertainment Weekly. But perhaps Raspberries’ most vocal champion of recent times has been long-time fan Bruce Springsteen, who’s spoken enthusiastically about the band at three shows on his just completed U.S. solo tour.

At his August 2005 date in Milwaukee, prior to performing "All That Heaven Will Allow," Springsteen recalled, "I had this white Ford pickup and it was completely trashed and rusted out in the back, but I went all over in that thing. I always picture me headin’ down to the bar on this thing and there’s somebody down there and I had this old cassette... It was The Best of the Raspberries. They were a Midwest thing. The group got no respect. All the power pop and everybody lookin’ back to find great bands always forgets the Raspberries. The Raspberries had all those great hits. And they made this one record, 'Overnight Sensation.' It’s one of the best little pop symphonies you’ll ever hear. Go out and download it but pay for it. (laughter) It’s 'Overnight Sensation' by the Raspberries. If you haven’t heard it you won’t be disappointed. So, I’ll dedicate this to them tonight."

Eric Carmen spoke to Retro-Active and revealed that Springsteen’s raves meant a lot to the group. "Coming from a guy who obviously knows what he’s talking about is wonderful. I mean, to have the biggest rock star in the world saying he likes our music? It’s great! And the other reason it was so nice is because he has integrity."

Adds lead guitarist Wally Bryson, "When Bruce singled out 'Overnight Sensation' on stage it made me feel very proud and vindicated. When someone like that comes out and supports us it’s a real stamp of approval proving that we’re not the ‘teen scream’ that we were originally marketed as, we’re actually musically valid."

Signed to Capitol Records in 1972, Raspberries scored a string of brilliant and exhilarating hit singles including "Go All The Way," (a Top 5 smash also featured in Cameron Crowe’s Academy-Award winning film, Almost Famous), "I Wanna Be With You," "Let’s Pretend," "Tonight," "Ecstasy" and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)." The latter song was selected by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 100 singles of all-time. Criminally underrated, the band’s legacy has grown dramatically through the decades via shout outs from such acts as Cheap Trick, Matthew Sweet, R.E.M., and Fountains Of Wayne. Once considered "uncool" by short-sighted critics, Raspberries are now routinely hailed as the quintessential power pop group.

Inspired by the overwhelmingly positive public and critical accolades afforded them on their reunion tour, lead vocalist/guitarist Eric Carmen exclusively revealed to Retro-Active that "it would be very interesting at some point if some brave record label said, ‘Hey, maybe we ought to get those guys back into the recording studio.’ I often wonder what kind of songs would we write if given the chance. You don’t want to go back and be a parody of your former self. I can almost see us going into the studio with someone like Trent Reznor as producer—something that was totally modern, something totally unexpected."

Fresh from an SRO two-night stint at New York’s B.B. King’s, which featured E Street members Little Steven and Max Weinberg, Jon Bon Jovi, and noted songwriter Desmond Child in attendance, the band is currently finishing up the last leg of their 2005 reunion trek. They take their show to L.A.’s House Of Blues on October 21, marking their first concert in the area in over 30 years.

Retro-Active / October 11, 2005