Eric Carmen and The Raspberries bestowed Cleveland’s ‘Music Keynote to the City’

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The legacy of Cleveland’s ‘70s hit pop band The Raspberries and their late lead singer, Eric Carmen, will be bestowed with the second annual “Music Keynote to the City.”

The announcement comes exactly four months after Carmen died on March 11.

PREVIOUS STORY: Eric Carmen, Raspberries frontman and ‘All by Myself’ singer, dies at 74

The band also includes drummer Jim Bonfanti, lead guitarist Wally Bryson, and bassist Dave Smalley.

The honor will be given at a special event at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame where the members will also receive a resolution from Cleveland City Council and a proclamation from the City of Cleveland.

Carmen’s widow, Amy Hasten Murphy, will accept his posthumous award on his behalf.

The City of Cleveland also announced that Aug. 11, Carmen’s birthday, will be declared Eric Carmen Day.

“Eric Carmen is – by far – the most successful musical artist to call Cleveland home,” stated Councilman Brian Kazy, who last year spearheaded this award which was given to KISS. “He was a great musician who played multiple instruments and his passing in March was a great loss.”

Carmen graduated from Brush High School in Lyndhurst in 1967.

Just a few years later, he graduated to the Billboard charts, first with a top ten hit “Go All The Way” with the Raspberries.

After the group broke up in 1975, Carmen had three more top ten hits as a solo performer, including “Hungry Eyes” from the movie “Dirty Dancing.”

His music also influenced generations of musicians.

“Bruce Springsteen said, when he was making ‘Born to Run,’ he listened to ‘The Raspberries Greatest Hits’ on his way to work every day,” David Spero, Eric Carmen’s friend for more than sixty years and his former manager, said. “Because [Springsteen] said this was the greatest pop record ever, and that’s what he was going to do with ‘Born to Run.’”

Carmen and the Raspberries are part of an exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Carmen’s handwritten lyrics to songs like “All By Myself,” “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record),” and “Go All The Way.”

“Why were the Raspberries, particularly here in Cleveland, so important?’ asked Jason Hanley, Vice President of Education and Visitor Engagement of the Rock Hall. “They were one of the first power pop groups, ever. Bands were kind of taking what the Beatles had done in the sixties and turning it into great rock and roll.”

That dream took him from Cleveland, around the world, and right back to Cleveland.

“That’s the music that fans are going to listen to for generations to come, classic rock and roll songs, right out of the heartland in Cleveland,” said Hanley, “While it’s a terrible, sad loss to think of this I also just feel uplifted thinking of the music he created in his career both with the Raspberries and as a solo artist.”

A double CD, compiled by a friend, shows Carmen’s influence in all genres of music.

“Diana Ross, Vanessa Williams, Olivia Newton-John, Jewel, Frank Sinatra (I think you’ve heard of him), Sheryl Crow, Hank Williams Junior, Celine Dion, Motley Crue. It just goes on and on the people who covered his songs,” said Spero. “I think when all is said and done for Eric Carmen, he’s going to go down as one of the greatest American songwriters of all time.”

The City of Cleveland Office of the Council shared this history lesson on the local legends:

As lead singer and songwriter for the Raspberries, the band had numerous hits including the top-5, million-selling “Go All The Way,” “I Wanna Be With You,” “Let’s Pretend,” and “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” – one of Rolling Stone magazine’s best records of 1974.

Eric and the Raspberries released four studio albums before disbanding for a time. In 1986, Eric released the song “The Rock Stops Here,” which sold thousands of copies locally as part of the fundraising efforts to land The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. (The Hall of Fame Foundation chose Cleveland as the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1986.)

The classic lineup reunited in 2004, playing 16 shows to sellout crowds across the country, the first of which – in Cleveland - sold out in 4 minutes. Afterwards, the Raspberries released two concert recordings, 2007’s “Live On Sunset Strip,” recorded at the band’s 2004 first reunion concert. The band’s last performance was at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum as headliners for a private VIP concert during 2009’s Induction Week festivities. Prior to the band reuniting in 2004, he toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band.

Eric also had success as a solo artist, with hits including “All By Myself” (a top five hit for both Eric and for Celine Dion), “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again,” “Hungry Eyes” (the top-5 hit from Dirty Dancing), the top 3 smash “Make Me Lose Control,” “Almost Paradise” (Love Theme From “Footloose”), “Hey Deanie,” “That’s Rock ‘n Roll,” and “She Did It.”

Eric’s songs have been recorded and performed by a diverse group of dozens of international artists including Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Ann Wilson, Sheryl Crow, Patti LaBelle, Axl Rose, Motley Crue, Hank Williams Jr., Henry Mancini, Diana Ross, Olivia Newton-John, The Bay City Rollers, and Frankie Valli. Eric has written and/or recorded songs on various albums and soundtrack recordings that have sold in excess of 100,000,000 records worldwide, either as a solo artist, with Raspberries or by artists covering Eric’s songs.

Eric was a co-star of the 1987 “Dirty Dancing” Tour. Eric is featured on several mega successful soundtracks, including 1985’s “Footloose” (Eric was nominated for a Grammy as co-writer of the top-5 hit “Almost Paradise,” 1987’s “Dirty Dancing” (Eric sang and produced the top-5 hit “Hungry Eyes”), and 2014’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1.”

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